Tricled lighting question

[Fat Baxter]

I have a brand-new Spyder dealer in town (currently sells Honda & Yamaha). I approached them about installing a Bajaron sway bar (since I don't have the means at home to lift the bike), and Ticled's "safety bundle" of amber and red front fender lights, and red saddlebag lights. I'd like to support my dealer when I can, plus they said they have lots of experience tarting up Gold Wings.

Their response was .... odd. They did some research on my druthers, and decided to pass on any non-OEM suspension upgrades. They also decided to pass on Tricled, as they are outside their normal suite of aftermarket suppliers (for example, Kuryakyn). Their claim on the latter is that, if something goes wrong, they can't mediate with the supplier to get a fix; I'd be on my own for any claims.

They're begging off on my preferences, stating that they're still new at this Can Am thing and that as they gain more experience with them, they might modify their position; but for now, no. I guess I can understand their position; they're just being very conservative at this point in their dealings with Spyders.

They did drop one odd nugget: they said they normally have no problems wiring in aftermarket lights as long as they can wire them straight to the battery. BRP told them not to wire things into the existing harness. If I read things correctly at the Tricled site, their lights plug into the harness somewheres.

Can anyone clear this up? Does BRP have issues with how aftermarket lights are wired in?

Like I said, I'd like to support my dealer, but I have another local alternative to getting the mods installed, so I'm not very worried at this point. But I am curious about the wiring concern.

Thanks for any insights!

[cuznjohn]

to install the lights are fairly easy. i did all mine myself. as far as brp not recommending them, i doubt it. now with the bar, my dealer did mine so i am guessing your dealer just doesn't want to do it

[Bob Denman]

This sounds a bit more like the Dealer is unsure of their capabilities right now.
The products from TricLEDs are pretty easy to install. After all; I managed to do it!

[jtoro1]

Call spyderpops he is a nice SL sponsor out of Arkansas he can do it.

[Ex-Rocket]

Call spyderpops he is a nice SL sponsor out of Arkansas he can do it.

[finless]

I am going to say right now that when you start adding crap to your ride that EFFECTS how a dealer might have to service the thing... YES IT DOES EFFECT THEM.

Please think about that and use some common sense. I just did a my own LED lighting system and had to PLAN out how to make things easy when it comes to taking my Spyder apart! With that said, there is NO WAY I would expect my dealer to know about this when they start taking the thing apart!!!!! I will have to tell the mech myself about these add-ons and how to deal with them!

With that said, I could understand a dealer worrying about working on a Spyder with all kinds of mods that could effect their service time!
Could you imagine Phil's Spyder (Darth II) going into a dealer for service with all the lighting he put on and not telling them anything about it?

The minute you stick on lighting systems that a dealer mech might not know about, you just introduced problems! I do not care if it is TricLed or anything else! If they follow standard procedures to say, remove the frunk, and you have stuff attached to it they do NOT know about.... What do you expect to happen?

I will give another example.... I added Kuryakyn grips to my spyder.... Now lets say I had a grip heater failure and took it into the dealer to get fixed. DO YOU expect the mech to know how to deal with those, fix the problem, and put them back?

Just saying.... some mods are transparent SOME are not!
If you have a dealer that won't work on stuff you modded, then figure out how to work with THEM on it!
Oh and expect to be charged more service time if they have to spend more time removing your stuff for service.

Based on my experience, LIGTHING is GOING to require education of the dealer mech knowing about it, and possibly TIME COSTS to deal with it!

Bob

[Fat Baxter]

Finless said: "when you start adding crap to your ride that EFFECTS how a dealer might have to service the thing... YES IT DOES EFFECT THEM>"

OK, I understand that. But all I want to add is the Tricled fender lights and the saddlebag lights. If the plug right into the harness (part of my original question), I don't see those as major problems. And the swaybar is an item-for-item swapout that should be transparent to a mechanic; it's either there or it isn't.

At this point, I don't envision adding anything else. So it's not like I intend any major mods. I rode BMWs for 32 years and they were mostly stock; I'm easy to please.

As far as my dealer is concerned, I believe they're at the low end of the learning curve and they'd like a little more time dealing with Spyders before they take on some aftermarket mods. I can understand that.

[Phil]

Bob is right about the education. And sometimes, THAT doesn't work as well as you'd like. So far, my dealer has cut wires when I CLEARLY showed him where the connectors were (his cut was about 6" from the connector). That was about a year ago and I havn't been back since.

ONE way you can approach it (not ideal but it will work) is to take off the tupperware and any really special lighting mods before you head to the dealer. It'll look goofy on the road or trailer, but....

FB... couple of comments---- there ARE dealers that are VERY comfortable with Reggy's LEDs. I'll tell you from personal experience that both BRP and the Dealer and TRICLED are all right. The reason is that it depends on what you are connecting. If it is TRICLED's turn signals and DRL running lights, there is ZERO issue hooking them to the bike's existing wiring. IF it is a butt load of LEDs and 20w extra fog lights, THOSE need to go to the battery, *OR* to an added fuse block that is then connected to the battery. Make sense?

Your dealer just doesn't have experience with the Spyder and is understandably skittish. They'll get there little by little. I'm happy to talk to them if you like. feel free to email me - genesis@genesisworld.com and I'll give you my cell.

[trikermutha]

when I put on my fender lights I went with plug and play..everything can be disconnected and still get things off if needed..
I used several of TRICLED wire harnesses..Worked perfect for me..There was only once place I put a splice connector on was for my lower HWY lights and used POSI TAPS>>

[finless]

When I added my fender lights, the harness runs up the struts in through the frunk, and up to the turn signals. Thus to take off the frunk the dealer has to be aware of them. If the dealer just follows standard frunk removal, he will rip the wires out.

So just saying depending on what you put on, you need to show your dealer how to handle that area.

Bob

[trikermutha]

I also added weatherpak connectors just in case things have to be removed later on..Kinda planning ahead. MAkes things easier in the long run..

[Phil]

This is a lousy couple of pics, but these are some of the connectors used to get the lighting to the frunk----

[jneg2]

I just brought my F-3 to the dealer to install the Aux Lights, so I figured as long as he was doing this anyway that he could install my new LED headlight bulbs. He claimed that he had issues before with aftermarket bulbs causing problems, and suggested that I do not change them. Since I have the 4 year warranty, and not wanting to "rock the boat", I agreed, and am sending then back.

[Fat Baxter]

Thanks for all the feedback. I was able to dig up some more info about the particular kits I want. The curved amber and red rear fender lights tap into the wiring that powers the existing LED marker light on the forward tip of the fender. All the wiring seems to be do-able beneath the fender brace. The saddlebag marker lights tap into the tail-end lights (which may be a pain, given all the tupperware one must work around). The US flag light taps into the license plate lights.

I don't think Tricled would be marketing these if they were known to overload the existing circuits. It would be bad for their reputation (which I hear is quite favorable). If their lights needed to be on separate circuits, I imagine that's what they'd recommend just to keep everyone out of trouble.

But I'm still going to hunt for someone who's done this before.

[Phil]

1. Again... in summary.... if you do only the ones you mention you WILL be fine.

2. AND... remember, as full disclosure, if you have any issue with the bike and take it to a dealer that is skiddish about LEDs, their goto will be- "I told you so" when there is a 99% chance that the LEDs are not even closely related to the issue.

3. There are HUNDREDS of us running HUNDREDS (and thousands) of LEDs (including headlights and fog lights) on Can Am Spyders (RT, RS, F3, etc ) with ZERO bike issues.

[Questions]

Phil. On your pictures i see a few harness,s with labels on them. Do they identify the wire and its use such as turn , brake , run lights. I got the best leds and they have directions . But they are minimal. Thanks for your help. Dave stumped1@bell.net


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[ursamajor35126]

But I'm still going to hunt for someone who's done this before.

I had Pat Bradford at Lynchburg Outdoors do my LED installs.... going up next week to get him to add the flag to my ryde...... I don't know where Deatsville Al is but I'm in Leeds (B'ham) and you are welcome to ride up with me to get Pat to do yours. Contact Pat @ 931-632-5007 Tell him Mike sent you.

[Phil]

Phil. On your pictures i see a few harness,s with labels on them. Do they identify the wire and its use such as turn , brake , run lights. I got the best leds and they have directions . But they are minimal. Thanks for your help. Dave stumped1@bell.net


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Sorry for the delay Dave. I don't check SL every day, these days....

I added the labeling for my own sanity. After adding all the LEDs and floods to the frunk, I needed a quick disconnect method to be able to take the frunk off, so to keep my mind straight... the labels. ACTUALLY.... I had the frunk off and up on a turntable bench to do all of the LEDs on the frunk to make it much easier to do. I brought all of those wires to connectors on the frunk. Then made the matching ends on the bike frame. THEN added the labels when I forgot which was whitch

You're correct on the minimal instructions that come with LEDs. This is where TRICLED shines. They pretty much idiot proof things. There are a few of us that are in 12 step programs for being adicted to LEDs so we immediately throw out any instructions and do what we want

[Questions]

12 step,,,,,,,, my wife wants me in rehab with no lights.. Thanks for your help . Dave H


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[joet82]

Thanks for all the feedback. I was able to dig up some more info about the particular kits I want. The curved amber and red rear fender lights tap into the wiring that powers the existing LED marker light on the forward tip of the fender. All the wiring seems to be do-able beneath the fender brace. The saddlebag marker lights tap into the tail-end lights (which may be a pain, given all the tupperware one must work around). The US flag light taps into the license plate lights.

I don't think Tricled would be marketing these if they were known to overload the existing circuits. It would be bad for their reputation (which I hear is quite favorable). If their lights needed to be on separate circuits, I imagine that's what they'd recommend just to keep everyone out of trouble.

But I'm still going to hunt for someone who's done this before.

On my 09 RS, I installed $1500 worth of lights including TricLED's fender strips. they are an easy install and I highly recommend them for visibility. all that you need to so is pull the teardrop light out of the front of the fender, and conect a T-splice to both wires. once it's in, test out which is possitive and which is negative and once settled, lock them in and tuck everything in.

I can't comment on the rest as I has an RS, and the rest of my lights were from Custom Dynamics, but what I can tell you is that the LED's wont affect any of the lighting if you have them hooked up properly.

and to comment on the dealer's concern. they're just covering their asses as it's a company and products they are unframiliar with and so if anything goes wrong, they don't want it to come back on them. On that same note though Reggie at TricLED takes care of his customers. everytime there was an issue with one of his products that i've either experianced or read about, he has taken care of the customer without hesitation (unless he's on a road trip to SpyderFest or something like that).