LED tail light

[hzbloke]

As the days get shorter in this part of the world I find myself riding in the gloom quite a lot so I bought an LED tail light. I've read about these but never seen any decent photos or info on how they fit etc. So here it is:



The front is covered in LEDs (that glow red), the back has a row of 6 white LEDs at the bottom for the number plate. The connectors are male spades that plug straight into the bike's wiring. Brown is earth, yellow is brake and black is the tail light. There are two earth wires on the original loom (one for each light), I just taped one out of the way. The whole thing is coated in some sort of epoxy so it should be vibration and water proof.



You remove the entire insides of the light and the SS brackets on the board fit over the plastic lugs of the tail light housing.



Put the lens back on and the job's done.

The big difference is that all of the LEDs glow at half strength when the tail light is on. They then got to full strength for the brake light. It means that the lit area for the tail light is three times the standard size and the brake light is 50% bigger. And brighter. I haven't been able to take a meaningful photo yet to prove this.

I got it on Oz ebay from a bloke in Queensland who goes by the name 'motorallyrider'. There was a bit of a brouhaha about him on another forum as it seems he was touting his goods on the forum without declaring who he was. I don't care. It's a brand new, well built item that I suspect is the same as the one sold by a well known US parts dealer. Only this one was here in Oz, buying it was easy and it cost AU$72.50 delivered.

It's been nearly a week now and I haven't been rear-ended so it must work. The previous 20 years have just been luck.

Cheers
Ray

[SteveD]

Pure luck I expect!
I had one of those but sourced from the USA. I found the solder points for the wires to the board failed, but were easily resoldered. It eventually failed again and I recently sold it as requiring repair. Beautifully bright f'sure but be careful that the wires are well positioned.

[chasbmw]

I have one of those variants on my r90/6, it's a lot brighter than the original set up and looks very well made. It's lasted 12 months so far! I think that they are made in Taiwan by Emerald Isle who make the Nippon denso starter and the original 450w alternator kit. All good stuff and available in the UK from Motorworks

[buzz]

Fitted the LED tail light to my R100GSPD obtained through John aka 'Motorally Rider' a few months ago - still going fine.

Previously blown bulbs were a regular event due to vibration. Time will tell.

Riding buddies have commented on how bright it is.

Gary

[dougie]

Had the same one. It was great.
The only trouble I had was that bouncing/vibration eventually broke one wire where it comes around that bracket (2nd pic). After a difficult tiny solder repair, I immobilized that area with clear silicone. You might consider doing a dab of silicone as a preventive measure.

[Chuey]

It's been nearly a week now and I haven't been rear-ended so it must work. The previous 20 years have just been luck.

Cheers
Ray

If you think about this much, you will realize it is your loud pipes keeping you alive.

Chuey

[Major Softie]

It's been nearly a week now and I haven't been rear-ended so it must work. The previous 20 years have just been luck.

Cheers
Ray

If you think about this much, you will realize it is your loud pipes keeping you alive.

Chuey

That's Science right there, that is.

[Ken in Oklahoma]

That's Science right there, that is.

Maybe empirical. Look at all the bikers running around with loud pipes, still alive. Why, some of them have spent decades doing that and they aren't dead yet.

It could very well be that loud mouths are much more dangerous than quiet pipes.

Ken

[The Veg]

I had a similar item in my '95 R100R, I think also from Emerald Isle but purchased from Motorrad Elektrik in USA. During the initial test, with the lens not yet in place, I pretty much blinded myself. Only time in my life I've ever been happy to be blinded, as I knew that this light would be well-visible! The only problem I can recall having it that *ONE* LED failed, and it was one up in a corner so it was sort of expendable. Best $37 I ever spent on that bike!

[She'llbe]

I've had one for a couple of years now and it was glowing very brightly yesterday. I agree with Veg, happy to be blinded in this case.