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Message started by T-Mack1 on 10/02/07 at 13:46:18

Title: Aux LED Brake Light ("Third Brake light
Post by T-Mack1 on 10/02/07 at 13:46:18

I have been thinking of that helmet mounted third brake light that's been listed here. See: http://www.webbikeworld.com/r2/riderlight/ I thought it would be nice to wake up the cager's talking on their cell phones. But, I couldn't afford it……. BUT....... I could build a non-helmet mounted wired one.

A $9.99 LED side marker from Auto-Zone and some wire, some slicing and double sided tape, and tada.......
http://www.users.fast.net/~tommack/100_2017.JPG
See bigger picture at: http://www.users.fast.net/~tommack/100_2017.JPG

http://www.users.fast.net/~tommack/100_2024.JPG
See bigger picture at: http://www.users.fast.net/~tommack/100_2024.JPG

NOTE : The light on http://www.webbikeworld.com/r2/riderlight/ looks a bit Wimpy (from their full rear view picture) (watch batteries……go figure). The 12V marker light is that obnoxious bright LED red. Pictures do not do it justice (I think the camera auto-adjusts brightness). It is about as bright as the regular brake light. Sunday ride in full sunlight, my friend riding behind on his Yammy XT550 said it was very easy to see.

Then........I thought to myself, when I commute the back pack would
hide the light, Cager's are the worse during the commute ....... back to Auto-zone, ............ another $9.99 light and a $1.99 connector, and some more slicing....

http://www.users.fast.net/~tommack/100_2019.JPG
See bigger picture at:
http://www.users.fast.net/~tommack/100_2019.JPG

http://www.users.fast.net/~tommack/100_2018.JPG
See bigger picture at:
http://www.users.fast.net/~tommack/100_2018.JPG

Title: Re: Aux LED Brake Light ("Third Brake light&a
Post by FreeSpirit on 10/02/07 at 14:16:58

That is so cool! and I love cheaper fixes :-)

On a scale of 1-10 how hard is that to do?

Are there instructions anywhere?

Title: Re: Aux LED Brake Light ("Third Brake light
Post by T-Mack1 on 10/02/07 at 20:29:20

Free Spirit,
Very, very easy. The brake light wire is under the seat. The Marker light is internally wired so it connects to positive & negative either way. (Technical talk here, it's wired like a bridge rectifer)

Instructions:
1) Pop the seat(s) off.
2) Find brake wire, (On my '01 it's the white wire w/black strip) . You may want to double check yours before cutting wires.
3) Add wire to light to get correct length. Just a few inches
4) Connect ground to bolt holding the .....(aaaa.... here get manual out and see what the thing is) regulator/ rectifier module.
5) other wire to brake light wire.
6) wipe light and sissy bar down with alcohol to clean off the waxes and oils. Let dry.
7) mount light with double sided tape.
8.) Optional: rip off light because it was not quite straight and repeat 6&7.

(the back pack was a awl to pop in some holes and some fender washers, some wire and some thread to hold wire from moving in back pack. and a wire tie to only let the wire out so far before stopping)

Title: Re: Aux LED Brake Light ("Third Brake light&q
Post by SavageDude on 10/02/07 at 20:44:12

T-Mack1;
Love what you've done with the light. But what kind of luggage rack is that ? :o I would love to slap 1 on mine ;D Where can I get my hand on 1 of that?

SavageDude

Title: Re: Aux LED Brake Light ("Third Brake light&a
Post by FreeSpirit on 10/02/07 at 21:54:20

So you can put that extra brake light anywhere just about that you want to? Although I do think on the backrest is a great idea.

Does that double sided tape stick/hold good?

And...If you wanted to add the Brake/turn/running lights like ,I think it was Rob and paladin,did....could you still do this also?

(Dumb question for some folks,but not ever having wired anything before,just wanted to make sure:-)
And thanks a bunch for the instructions!!

Title: Re: Aux LED Brake Light ("Third Brake light&q
Post by Jack_650 on 10/02/07 at 23:14:19

When I hung my 4 1/2 gallon tour tank off the back of my sissy bar I quickly realized that anyone behind me closer than about 50' couldn't see my tail/brake light. So I got one of the 6"-7" LED oval b/t lights that you see on the back of the semi's on the road. Anybody doesn't see that sucker come on when I hit the brakes needs a dog in a harness to lead them around. I just put it in a routered out oval in an oval shaped block of 2"x6" pine, sprayed it with black bedliner coating and used the tank bracket to mount it smack dab in the middle of the tank. Looks like it was meant to be that way.

http://bikepics.com/members/jazzcarter/00savage/

Jack

Title: Re: Aux LED Brake Light ("Third Brake light&q
Post by FreeSpirit on 10/03/07 at 00:14:23

Jack_650

What kind of seat do you have on your bike?
And you have a trailor hitch?

Title: Re: Aux LED Brake Light ("Third Brake light&a
Post by islandwahine on 10/03/07 at 01:23:17

Jack_650 wrote:

I love what you did with your bike!
Kinda reminds me of a Saint Bernard's dog with that barrel! LOL
Love the seat!

Title: Re: Aux LED Brake Light ("Third Brake light&q
Post by Jack_650 on 10/03/07 at 06:54:36

The seat is from a V-Star and makes a B-I-G difference when you do 600-700 miles in a few days in a row. It sits a little too high in the air for my prefs, but the only way I can figure to lower it is to loose my back seat. After seeing how good the stock fender looks after grinding and filling I may just go that route this winter.

I had a local, rural welder out in western S. Dakota make the hitch for me. Nobody who makes hitches for bikes would do one for bikes as small as ours. I told him my ideas. he sat down with a pencil and a scrap of envelope and came up with a sketch. You see the results. Works great and comes off in less than five minutes if need be. Now if the bike had bigger tires and better brakes so's you could feel more secure when you might need to stop quickly.

Jack

Title: Re: Aux LED Brake Light ("Third Brake light&a
Post by T-Mack1 on 10/03/07 at 17:48:07

SavageDude,
see the "Ain't whistling dixie no more....." thread for more info on the rack and more pictures.
http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?board=RubberSideDown;action=display;num=1190410150

Your best bet to find one is ebay, search for : " Honda (sissy bar, backrest, luggage rack) " and keep looking for the slider bracket type.

FreeSpirit,
If you use the good double sided tape and make sure surfaces are clean of oils, grease and waxes, it holds for long time. I used 3M heavy duty tape (white). I know they make stronger stuff (Black ??).

As for adding more lights,...depends. These are LED lights and they don't draw very much current. The more lights you add the more current draw . Adding turn signals also affects the flasher unit which has a working current rating. If you keep existing lights and just adding a few LED lights, you should be fine. If you are going the Christmas tree route, well.....that would require somre thinking.

Jack_650,
How many miles can you go before re-fill??? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

T.Mack

Title: Re: Aux LED Brake Light ("Third Brake light&a
Post by FreeSpirit on 10/03/07 at 18:15:09

T-Mack1 wrote:

FreeSpirit,

As for adding more lights,...depends. These are LED lights and they don't draw very much current. The more lights you add the more current draw . Adding turn signals also affects the flasher unit which has a working current rating.

If you keep existing lights and just adding a few LED lights, you should be fine. If you are going the Christmas tree route, well.....that would require somre thinking.

T.Mack

Didnt want to add any more lights/fixtures....except wanted to add the brake light fixture on the backrest and the ones Rob used which I think are LED's(no extra fixtures)....as far as Christmas lights.....I have kidded about that,but wasnt going to do that....maybe just the blue lights underneath :-)

Thanks for the good,and clear answer :-)