Phil's 2014 (neww) DARTH Mods

[Phil]

ime stuck on stupid with LED light too lol.... But cn I get more info on how u installed lights in the compartments of the spyder?

HA! LEDs are very simple and it's like how you eat an elephant.... one piece ar a time. So, here's the idea of how to do LEDs in the compartments....

1. Go to PepBoys and get a package of the WHITE 12" LED strips. There will be 2 strips in a package. You can also order on line- http://www.pepboys.com/product/detai...n_lighting/led

2. LED strips like these most always have 2 things in common-

a) They mount easily via double sided adhesive tape that is affixed to the LED strip. Once you figure out where you want to mount it (I put it on the top of the compartment near the front), you peel and stick. OK... you should use something like denatured alcohol and a clean cloth to make sure the plastic is really clean before you stick the LED strip to the plastic.

b) They have 2 wires coming out of one end. One of the wires (in the case of these strips) has a white line on it and the other doesn't. The one WITH the white line goes to +12volts. The one without the line goes to -12 volts (also called 'ground' on Spyders). These lead wires (lead as in leader) are pretty long and the insulation is already stripped off a little on the ends for you.

3. HERE"s a potential heart stopper- you need to drill small holes to get the LED lead wire from inside the enclosure out to a convenient place still inside the tupperware, but out of sight. I drill my holes in the 90° bend of the compartments. Make the holes small, but large enough to push the wires through. Then, if you really want extra points, put a dab of silicon seal back in the hole to seal it up.

4. Now... wiring them up.....
a) If you are wiring these on the back compartments, the smartest place to hook up the LED leads is around the rear light housings. The leads will be long enough, easily.
b) I HIGHLY suggest using PosiTaps for this next step-- http://www.amazon.com/Posi-tap-Conne...-tap+connector They really make wiring easy. You CAN get wire taps from PepBoys as well, but they'll work very differently. In any case, the idea is to not permanently hurt the stock Spyder wiring, yet make it easy to 'tap on' to that wiring to get the +12 volts and ground.
c) Assuming you have taken off the back tupperware and removed the back light housings (about 10-15 min to do that step), now the wire tapping begins.
d) I'm NOT going to get into wire colors (much) since it can vary by the year and model Spyder a little. So here's what I do.... BLACK wire on the Spyder is almost always -12volts (ground). So use the wire tap and attach the LED lead that does NOT have the white stripe to most any of the black wires.
e) Now we might have to experiment..... (electron guys, just work with me here)... I turn on the power to the bike (key on) so that the back lights come on steady (meaning not the turn signals or the brake lights). I then get a small safety pin. Wedge the bare portion of the LED lead wire that has the white stripe into the curly bit of the safety pin. Then, CAREFULLY push the pin into the non-black wires that run to the rear lights until your new LED strip lights up. YIPEE! You have found the +12volts source you need. Now CAREFULLY remove the pin (you don't want that pin touching anything metal). Immediately turn off the power to the bike and tap the LED wire with the white lead properly with the PosiTap or other splice to that wire you just found.
f) Do the other side the same way (likely it will be the same color wire) then test your work before the next step.

5. Tidy up extra wire. I usually make it into a loop and put a tiewrap on it. TEST it again!

6. Put the tupperware back on.

7. Turn on the key, stand back and say WOW... lookie dat!

Now... you say how to I get them to go off when the compartment is closed? I say don't worry about it. Unlike incandescent bulbs (the old ones with filaments that got pretty hot), LEDs barely get warm. At lease the ones we're talking about here barely get warm. There IS some heat, but it is really small and dissipates pretty well. So I let mine stay on all the time that the bike power is on. Remember that these LED strips draw VERY little power. VERY little. And they last for 20,000-50,000 hours (about 70 years in case you're curious). So, like the light in your fridge... don't worry about it!

NOW.. as with everything... you do this at your own risk. But the risk is very low on LEDs. Go light up your world!!