SuzukiSavage.com - adding a second tail light

misterbbq

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Acworth, GA
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adding a second tail light
09/23/12 at 17:39:52

after a tailgating experience today whereby a jacked up pick up truck was so close to me i could only make out the side of his truck in my right side view mirror. flashing my brakes did no good so i eventually just moved over even though i was doing the speed limit. he went blasting past me only to slam on his brakes a little later when he noticed the georgia state patrol car on the side of the road lol.

in any case....got me to thinking. could a second brake light be mounted somewhere higher (like say mounted to the top of a sissy bar)? will the existing electrical system handle that?

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Greg Serious Thumper Offline Molon Labe Posts: 1251 Southeast PA, uSA Gender:	Re: adding a second tail light Reply #1 - 09/23/12 at 17:48:58 They sell brake lights that are wireless and mount to your helmet. http://atlantispowersports.com/wirelesshelmetlight.htm
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rfw2003

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Re: adding a second tail light
Reply #2 - 09/23/12 at 18:01:15

If I was to do that, I would definitely do it as a LED light. They can be brighter and use alot less power then regular incandescent bulbs. Just make sure you get one that is designed as a LED and not one that uses one of those replacement LED bulbs that fit in the regular incandescent sockets.

Myself when I changed out my signals to LED units I got 3 wire ones, and also installed a trailer wire converter so that the lights work as run/turn/brake lights, so in effect I now have 3 brake lights on the rear of mine.

R.F.

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1996 Savage, Corbin Seat, K&N filter, Slip Streamer Enterprise II windshield, LED bullet signals, Cat's eye LED tail light Ryca reverse cone long muffler

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misterbbq

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Re: adding a second tail light
Reply #3 - 09/23/12 at 18:02:03

very interesting....thank you for the link.

being that i don't use my pillion.....i'm now thinking of adding some sort of a trunk with integrated tail light.

bozo today probably didn't care that i was flashing my taillight....but he was so close to me that i wonder if he even saw my taillight at all.

i like the idea of the helmet light quite a bit....

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Serowbot

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OK.... so what's the
speed of dark?

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Tucson Az
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Re: adding a second tail light
Reply #4 - 09/23/12 at 18:04:32

If that's all you've added,.. then, yeah, it'll handle it... tungsten or LED...

LED's pull next to nuthin' but most aren't very bright...

I have dual tungsten tail/brake lights... but I've disconnected my front running lights...

Yes,.. what he said...
rfw2003 wrote on 09/23/12 at 18:01:15:

Just make sure you get one that is designed as a LED and not one that uses one of those replacement LED bulbs that fit in the regular incandescent sockets.R.F.

... but, the a-holes will still be a-holes... Huh

...

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Ludicrous Speed !... ... Huh

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Charon Serious Thumper Offline Posts: 1811 Harvard, NE Gender:	Re: adding a second tail light Reply #5 - 09/23/12 at 18:12:15 A brake light of almost any type wouldn't be a problem, because they are used for short periods of time. The alternator has plenty of time to recharge the battery between applications. Only problem might arise if you used a light of such high wattage that the switches couldn't handle the current.
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misterbbq

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Re: adding a second tail light
Reply #6 - 09/23/12 at 18:12:33

rfw2003 wrote on 09/23/12 at 18:01:15:

If I was to do that, I would definitely do it as a LED light. They can be brighter and use alot less power then regular incandescent bulbs. Just make sure you get one that is designed as a LED and not one that uses one of those replacement LED bulbs that fit in the regular incandescent sockets.

Myself when I changed out my signals to LED units I got 3 wire ones, and also installed a trailer wire converter so that the lights work as run/turn/brake lights, so in effect I now have 3 brake lights on the rear of mine.

R.F.

have any photos of what you have done?

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rfw2003

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Re: adding a second tail light
Reply #7 - 09/23/12 at 19:34:01

misterbbq wrote on 09/23/12 at 18:12:33:

rfw2003 wrote on 09/23/12 at 18:01:15:

If I was to do that, I would definitely do it as a LED light. They can be brighter and use alot less power then regular incandescent bulbs. Just make sure you get one that is designed as a LED and not one that uses one of those replacement LED bulbs that fit in the regular incandescent sockets.

Myself when I changed out my signals to LED units I got 3 wire ones, and also installed a trailer wire converter so that the lights work as run/turn/brake lights, so in effect I now have 3 brake lights on the rear of mine.

R.F.

have any photos of what you have done?

This what you wanted the pic of?

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1996 Savage, Corbin Seat, K&N filter, Slip Streamer Enterprise II windshield, LED bullet signals, Cat's eye LED tail light Ryca reverse cone long muffler

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misterbbq Full Member Offline newbie Posts: 157 Acworth, GA Gender:	Re: adding a second tail light Reply #8 - 09/24/12 at 02:46:17 yep. very cool....and i see you've made a mod or 2 to your bike!! lol. still trying to figure out what i want to do....but i might just get a helmet light to start with. don't know how one of those trunks with a tail light will work on the pillion itself as they all seem to be designed to attach to a 'shelf'.
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rfw2003 Serious Thumper Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 1108 Yantis, TX	Re: adding a second tail light Reply #9 - 09/24/12 at 03:18:56 It's changed abit more since that pic as well. I'm constantly doing something new to the little ole' savage
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Digger Serious Thumper 2005 No Login Offline Ya gotta be tough to ride singles! Posts: 1604 Colorado Springs, CO Gender:	Re: adding a second tail light Reply #10 - 09/26/12 at 19:28:30 I put brake lights on my trunk a while back: I've had several people tell me that the lights are quite attention-getting. FWIW, here is the build thread: http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1278562220/6#6
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Cavie Full Member Offline My wife made me do it Posts: 107 Port charlotte Fl Gender:	Re: adding a second tail light Reply #11 - 09/26/12 at 20:12:44 here's what I put on my Vol.
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misterbbq Full Member Offline newbie Posts: 157 Acworth, GA Gender:	Re: adding a second tail light Reply #12 - 09/27/12 at 09:16:03 i like both of those ideas quite a bit! i'm slowly researching what i want and will post some pics of what i decide to do. i like the trunk idea and i like the idea of mounting it IN PLACE of the rear seat. i have a single seat but found a cheap 2 piece set on ebay for $25 (they need recovered).
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teabowl13

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Re: adding a second tail light
Reply #13 - 09/27/12 at 11:28:44

On my Nighthawk, I installed four small flush-fitting LED turn signals above the taillight and wired them all together into the brake light wiring.
That bike has a tail section where the Savage doesn't; so the mounting couldn't be the same, but the idea worked really well. I don't have pictures, but they are small and unobtrusive until they come on; they were cheap, only one LED bulb per signal, so they aren't as noticeable in the daylight, but they are VERY noticeable at night, and that's what I wanted...

Mine were this style, but any flush LED turn signal would work....
http://www.ebay.com/itm/UNIVERSAL-LED-MOTORCYCLE-FLUSH-MOUNT-TURN-SIGNAL-CHRO...

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tomw

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Re: adding a second tail light
Reply #14 - 10/05/12 at 17:20:04

BE carefull when buying Led some are less bright then stock especaily blinkers I bought a break/running led bulb choice clear or red I bought the clear thinking that it would be brighter then the red led it was brighter all right, it was so bright running light looked like break light was on, that's ok but when the break was applied light looked bright pink color. Well order a red led and couldent be happyer I well keep the clear for a extra???

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