quote:
it's for a 'glass seat i'm laying up. i'm gonna run it by a close deputy friend of mine to see what i can reasonably get away with. michigan vehicle code is horribly vague like that. i do know you poor suckas out east have it much worse than we do...at least in terms of codes and requirements. you don't even need winkers in michigan...regardless of whether or not your bike came with 'em. do you guys need two mirrors too?
the same company that's selling that tiny pair in that link also sells banks of three. i don't see why i couldn't also just use as many as necessary to meet any wattage requirement i might find.
N.C.N.R
The Taillight standard is the national DOT standard, so Any DOT approved taillight will work. Any vehcile pre-DOT standards can use what was factory stock or period for the time.
That being said, the standard I usually go by is 1) is it as big as an 1157 bulb? and 2) is there decent surface area to tell the difference between brake and taillight from 100 yards back? Surface area of the lens makes a big difference in being able to tell the difference from far back, my optomologist friend explained it to me once but I wasn't listening...something about rods, cones and inverse reflection.
Personally, I do not understand why people want to put the smallest taillight they can find on their bikes. Bikes are invisible enough, why make it harder for the cages to see our safety lights? I don't mind doing without signals, there are plenty of bikes out there without them and before the 70's bikes did not come with them, but to reduce the brake light size to me just seems stupid.
This is going to sound kinda funny, but what about generic truck and trailer lights? Many of them are flush mounted, they are LEDs, they are not that expensive at truck stops, and you could mount it under the seat instead of in it.
How about being creative with other lights (you can get LEDs to replace 1157 bulbs)? MY cafe cb750f uses some swap meet turn signals with red lenses as the taillights. Both work as running and taillight and I think they look kinda cool. There are all sorts of harley style Signal lights that would look cool as this (HD now does this on their new sportster the nightster).
I have been toying with the idea of replacing the lenses with 1959 caddillac taillights, just so it looks way more out there, like I have afterburners at night and shit like that.
As long as you are laying up the glass yourself, why not take a page from the 1950's hot rodder tricks and french a round taillight in there. Mooneyes has a ton of vintage style taillight assemblies you can french into the back (everything from rat fink to 50 pontiac) and even sells the recessed buckets to do it.
I have always loved these 40 ford taillights and at $30 from mooneyes they are a good deal:
here is a neat one for $40 that you can use as a motorcycle tailight and mount under the bubble, it even has a light for the plate:
http://www.mooneyesusa.com/catalog/...d=860&osCsid=325794d64ff7db6c1502ab06caf55476
Edited by - Geeto67 on Apr 17 2007 4:30:32 PM
