Turn Signal / Brake Light - LEDs installed (w/pix)

[Motavar]

My LEDs showed up. Install time!


Before we begin here is a picture of the type of Resistor I picked up online from v-leds.com
6 OHM 50W. You will need this later for the brake light install


FRONT TURN SIGNAL INSTALL:

The left side blinker was plug-n-play but the right side would not light.
Right side blinker = (left side if you are facing the Spyder head-on)

You would think this would be some type of issue with the computer but it is not.
LEDs are polarity sensitive. On my Spyder the blinker was wired backwards.
This is okay for traditional light bulbs but for LEDs this will not work.

Time to find the connector and flip the wires


Behind the dash there are two connectors for the blinkers.
The one with the yellow wire in it was for my right side blinker.
Easiest way to find out is put your hazards on and pull the plug to find which one goes out


Snip Snip and some soldering and problem fixed


Off..


On

[Motavar]

For the blinker I chose the following bulb from v-leds.com
V-LEDS AMBER 20 LED 7W BLINKER/TURN SIGNAL LIGHT BULBS 7507 BAU15s



BRAKE LIGHT INSTALL:



For the brake light I chose the following bulb from v-leds.com
V-LEDS RED 92 M-SMT TAIL/BRAKE LIGHT BULBS 1157 2057
You can see the size difference from the original bulb.
Will it fit? Lets find out!


We have plenty of room



Picture inside the housing


Turned the lights on to see what they look like.

[Motavar]

Looking directly at the back of the brake light.
The light is diffused because of the housing. With the reflector you get a nice sparkle


Side View


How did you hook it up?
Take the brake light connector off the Spyder
Remove the shrink tubing that protects the 3 wires


Look at the connector and note wires #2 and #3
You will hook the resistor up to these wires.


Here is an example of the resitor hookup.
Unfortunately this was my first try and I used wire #1 which turned out to be incorrect.
I had 2 load resistors on the first wire and nothing was working.
That is when I realized I needed the load to be seen on the high power brake light wire #2
So this is an example of what not to do (but it shows the setup so you get an idea)

[Motavar]

The resistor will get hot. To the point where you will burn your fingers
For now I wanted to mount it to the frame and the best spot I found was behind the battery.
For the brake lights you only need (1) resistor. In this picture there are two shown because I was thinking of using the other one for my turn signals eventually.
I recommend that you mount the resistor to the metal bracket with screws as tie-wraps may melt.


Close-up of the gel filled splices that come with the resistor. No cutting required when you do the tap.


Another shot of the setup


Lights on

[Motavar]

[Motavar]

[Motavar]

The bar you see on the top of my license plate is a 3rd brake light I picked up at Cycle Gear.
I hooked that into the high side #2 wire on one of the brake lights so it fires when the brakes come on.
I also hooked a $5 flasher to it so when the light comes on it strobes for a second then goes solid.
Grabs the attention of drivers behind you. I think Mercedes s600 has the flashing brake light or something.


(Reserved)

[krb1945]

It looks like you are using the LedLight.com 48 Led bulbs on the rear... are you using the red leds or white leds? The reason I ask is in the photos they appear to be white.

I use these LEDs on the Spyders and my GL1800. One problem with the GL1800 though... I cannot run the LED in the lower right brake/blinker because it blows the LED the very first time you use the signal or brake. Regular bulb works fine. Thanks for any tips/suggestions. Ken krb1945

[wyliec]

It definitely looks like you put a lot of thought and effort into it.

Me, I'm a little lazy and went the ESI route; no thought, just install.

[Roger]

Great light but i would be to nervous on the resistor.

[SpyderWolf]

Another good install thread with detailed instructions that should be easy for anyone else to duplicate. Good job on that, and thanks for sharing it.

[fastfraser]

Great job .



Not for me though ! I would be very concerned with attaching anything to the spyder that would burn your fingers. Also concerned about warranty issues .

[Phil]

Great post!!! As an electrical guy... I appreciate all that you did.

About the hot resistor... IF you ever get the mood to redo anything... I'd keep it away from the battery. You might want to find a metal heat sink that you can mount it to. This is the same kind of thing they do on computer CPUs. I see heat shrink on the terminals to keep you safe, that's good. You can find a heat sink and the grease that you put between the resister and the heat sink all at Radioshack, all for about $5. The resistor appears to be solid enough to handle the heat, but... you'll get longer life if you can help it get rid of that heat.

[IWN2RYD]

Great post!!! As an electrical guy... I appreciate all that you did.

About the hot resistor... IF you ever get the mood to redo anything... I'd keep it away from the battery. You might want to find a metal heat sink that you can mount it to. This is the same kind of thing they do on computer CPUs. I see heat shrink on the terminals to keep you safe, that's good. You can find a heat sink and the grease that you put between the resister and the heat sink all at Radioshack, all for about $5. The resistor appears to be solid enough to handle the heat, but... you'll get longer life if you can help it get rid of that heat.

I use these all the time... (Link) That link gives you many options, colors and metals. I used the originally on high-end computer systems I built. But now use them for those and many other heat generating items... They may not be what you need.. Just trying to "Broaden" your options...

[SpyderGirl]

Thanks for the detailed install instructions. Looks great!!

[Campverdefela]

I was wondering why I couldn't replace the turns with LED's, now I see you have to re-orient the wires in the appropriate connector, thanks!!!!

[Roger]

That is to much work for me tricled.com has a high mount turn signal that stick on the back of the passenger grabbars. I ordered them and when i attach them i bet i could remove the original turn signal stalks for a cleaner look but i will have to check them out first!

[Campverdefela]

I was wondering why I couldn't replace the turns with LED's, now I see you have to re-orient the wires in the appropriate connector, thanks!!!!

Just tried it didn't work on my 09 SE5. I installed the right turn signal led bulb, it flashed fast then installed the left led bulb-nothing. So then I reversed the polarity in the left socket-nothing, tried it a couple more times-blew the fuse.

[SpyderWolf]

That is to much work for me tricled.com has a high mount turn signal that stick on the back of the passenger grabbars. I ordered them and when i attach them i bet i could remove the original turn signal stalks for a cleaner look but i will have to check them out first!

I installed a set of these as well. They connect to the current turn signal wires using Posi-Taps, and work very well. The set I got will not allow you to remove the turn signal stalk, but you might be able to replace it with something smaller like the sniper lights. The main thing is the connection still needs to be there between the current wiring harness and the turn signal in order for them to function properly. If you disconnect one of the turn signals, the others will flash very quickly. Best of luck with your plan, I would like to see what you come up with.

[Motavar]

You get hyper flashing because you need to have a resistor installed.

[Motavar]

Just tried it didn't work on my 09 SE5. I installed the right turn signal led bulb, it flashed fast then installed the left led bulb-nothing. So then I reversed the polarity in the left socket-nothing, tried it a couple more times-blew the fuse.

Did you put the LED into the socket that works to confirm it's okay?

If that works.. then put the normal bulb back into the socket that works, and put the LED into the socket that doesn't work and let me know if it fires up.

[Motavar]

Just like with cars the two ways you get LEDs to work is:

1: A resistor to fake the computer into thinking the old bulbs are still in place
or

2: You replace the blinker module with a module designed for LEDs. I didn't have a chance to find the blinker module on the Spyder. If I find it I'll look online to see if there is a replacement to support LEDs. Only drawback with replacing the blinker module is cost.

[Motavar]

It would be cool if they made Type-2 Switchback 7507 LEDs.

Switchbacks run 6k White in color.. then when the blinker is turned on they flash amber. After the turn they go back to being white again. So they made for some trick daytime running lights.

Type-1 blink white-amber-white-amber.
Type-2 blink amber-off-amber-off.

I guess if someone wanted to..they could take 1157 switchbacks and cut the end off and then solder on the 7507 bottom on and make their own. Unfortunately I already have daytime running lights so I don't think it will be legal for me to have another set of daytimes on the bike.

[Campverdefela]

Did you put the LED into the socket that works to confirm it's okay?

If that works.. then put the normal bulb back into the socket that works, and put the LED into the socket that doesn't work and let me know if it fires up.

I've gone down this road before, even installing resisters, just doesn't work for me. Do you have a RS-09 SE5 also?

[Motavar]

I have an 09 Phantom GS - SM5.
Which is a RS. It's all the same crap.

So the bulb fires in only one of the front blinkers but not the other.
And you flipped the wires? When you flipped the wires.. does the original bulb still work in that spot?

There has to be a way to make it work.
Do you have a web link for the type of LEDs you purchased or did you pick them up from a store?
Would you happen to know the wattage?