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LED rear strip - brake/turn share same wire

2K views 11 replies 7 participants last post by  Teazer 
#1 ·
When I received this 1981 Kawasaki KZ650 bike last summer, there were no original taillights. So in my endeavor to turn this bike into a cafe/brat style, I purchased this LED strip for my running, brake, and turn lights. However this strip has a shared turn/brake wire.
Does anyone know how I could modify the wiring to make this work? I have reached out to the company (Mictuning) but have not heard back yet.

Thanks guys.
 

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#2 ·
You are wasting your time if you plan to license that motorcycle in Canada with novelty lights in place of your DOT certified lighting.
They don't even know how to spell reverse, seeing as that little light makes white light for backing up that should give you a hint it is a car accessory light.
 
#3 ·
Hey there, I can offer some suggestions, Custom Dynamics USA, has a small harness adaptor called a run/stop harness. Basically consists of a resistor with 2 wires on one end and a single on the other, I used to make my own version years ago including 2 diodes but probably not needed. If you want to make your own you will need to match a resistor to the amount of LEDs your dimming and how much dim you want. Here is a pic of a larger watt resistor than you need. But a similar colour code bands will dim 20 led to a good tail light brightness. To solder it up, trim the tails on the resistor down to suit, on one end solder 2 wires, one is your + to the LED and the other wire running away from your lights, this goes to your brake light switch. This setup is to bypass the resistor with full power. The unsoldered end of the resistor can now be attached to you tail light power supply. Which will dim your lights down.
104804
 
#9 ·
"why does everyone think I'm waving at them?"
 
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#10 ·
LED rear lights are a great upgrade from old technology incandescent bulbs. Coopster offered a great way to use the same LEDs for turn signals and for brake lights and that looks like a neat solution.

I'm not sure that it's needed though. the issue is that the turn/brake LEDs are fed on the one wire and I can't see how that would work. Surely, if one turn lamp is powered up, that power would also "back feed" through the brake light wiring to the other turn/brake light and bot would flash, or does it have built in diodes to avoid that?

I have used a few different LED rear lamps and they often use the same intensity for brake and turn signal. They are internally wired to light up the right way.

If you haven't already done so, I'd suggest wiring it up as per the first picture and see what happens and forget about pipe sniffers and arm waiving...
 
#11 ·
Nope, Coopster is right.
You apply about 11v by going through resistor to have ordinary light then brake switch activates to supply 12.5~13.5V.
You may need a couple of diodes for turn signals but they are usually part of the original internal wiring.
Few years ago I made some bar end indicator repeaters with amber LED's and minimal resistor/diodes. It was easier than I thought (the hardest part was getting LED's into the acrylic 'plugs' and sealing everything)
 
#12 ·
Pete,

Not saying that he can't do what you describe or that it's not a great idea, but he should try wiring it as the manufacturer suggested to confirm what it does. It may have internal diodes to stop cross feeding though I suspect the brake and turn signals will be equally bright. The question is with brakes on and indicator flashing, is it clear from behind what he is doing? With one solid bright and one flashing bright, it is probably OK and if not, add resistors.
 
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