Wiring Brake/Running Light!

[Sarge707]

OK- My License reflector fell off?:gaah:SOO I bought a Brake/Running light from AutoZone BUT only connected the Orange to Red and Black to Black from the wires there. The light bolted on and is said to be self grounding.
How would I turn this into a True Brake/Running light?? It uses the 2357/1157 type dual purpose bulb but I,m only using it as running the way its wired?

Could be a cost effective additional brake light to go with the Center Light I just purchased! Thanks!!!!!

 

[NancysToy]

The black wire is your ground. You need to run an additional wire from the stoplight circuit in the tail, to the new light. I ran one down and out the front of the under-tail panel, along the swingarm in the cover for the other wiring, and up the rear fender. The white wire running to the taillights is your brake circuit.

 

[BRPjunkie]

OK- My License reflector fell off?:gaah:SOO I bought a Brake/Running light from AutoZone BUT only connected the Orange to Red and Black to Black from the wires there. The light bolted on and is said to be self grounding.
How would I turn this into a True Brake/Running light?? It uses the 2357/1157 type dual purpose bulb but I,m only using it as running the way its wired?

Could be a cost effective additional brake light to go with the Center Light I just purchased! Thanks!!!!!

I converted the license plate light to a working brake/running light using a $5.95 tail light assembly from Walmart. As Scotty noted, you need to tap into the white brake light wire and run it down inside the rear fender. See my 9/19/09 post for my write up and photos of the finished result. I'm using a standard 1157 dual filament bulb.

 

[Sarge707]

I found your post!!
Originally Posted by BRPjunkie
Not a fan of Walmart, but they are the only store with the light. It fits perfectly. I did not have to drill any mounting holes in the fender since I drilled two in the mounting plate of the light and used the same holes that mounted the original. I also used a spare piece of clear plastic for the bottom of the lens for the plate illumination so my original light assembly is still intact. It looks like original equipment and adds a nice visual light pattern from the back. This is clearly not a NMN set up, but it does add a little extra light to the rear, which BRP should have done in place of the silly reflector. There is not as much light on the plate with the 5 watt filament hooked up as the stock 10 watt light, but I doubt any police officer would notice. I tried to use the high filament wire, but at 21 watts, it looked too bright next to the 5 watt tailights.
Went back to the tail light mod and decided to test the theory that nanny doesn't monitor added loads on brake light. Ran a wire from the white brake light wire down to the dual filament tail/brake light and connected it to the 21 watt lead on the bulb. The 5 watt lead was already connected to the license plate wire. The result, a working 5 watt tail/ 21 watt brake light. These are identical to the stock tail/brake watts so it looks good from the back as all are the same intensity. Tested on 10 mile ride with over 50 brake applications to see if nanny would act up. Not a conclusive test ride, but seems to confirm that adding load (at least 21 watts) to the brake light system doesn't upset nanny. Upside might be that with three lights on that circuit, even if two burn out which would normally trigger nanny, the remaining load should fool it until I can get some place safe to change out bulbs. Since the tail/brake/license circuit is a 10 amp fuse, the 16 watts of load should not overload the circuit (original license bulb was 10 watts, so 5/21 dual nets to 16). Clearly this is not Magic Man LEDs with their visibility, quality and durability, but it does add some needed light to the rear for $5.95 and a couple hours labor.
__________________
Question? My AutoZone Brake/Running is the same as your pictures but only has a red(Orange) and black wire.
Right now I have the wires to the Red and Black of the Spyder.
If I did a Posi-lock Tap into the white brake wire and ran it down to the fender would I then connect the White and Red Spyder wire to the Red (Orange)AutoZone Light wire and the Black to black I assume?:dontknow:

 

[BRPjunkie]

I found your post!!
Originally Posted by BRPjunkie
Not a fan of Walmart, but they are the only store with the light. It fits perfectly. I did not have to drill any mounting holes in the fender since I drilled two in the mounting plate of the light and used the same holes that mounted the original. I also used a spare piece of clear plastic for the bottom of the lens for the plate illumination so my original light assembly is still intact. It looks like original equipment and adds a nice visual light pattern from the back. This is clearly not a NMN set up, but it does add a little extra light to the rear, which BRP should have done in place of the silly reflector. There is not as much light on the plate with the 5 watt filament hooked up as the stock 10 watt light, but I doubt any police officer would notice. I tried to use the high filament wire, but at 21 watts, it looked too bright next to the 5 watt tailights.
Went back to the tail light mod and decided to test the theory that nanny doesn't monitor added loads on brake light. Ran a wire from the white brake light wire down to the dual filament tail/brake light and connected it to the 21 watt lead on the bulb. The 5 watt lead was already connected to the license plate wire. The result, a working 5 watt tail/ 21 watt brake light. These are identical to the stock tail/brake watts so it looks good from the back as all are the same intensity. Tested on 10 mile ride with over 50 brake applications to see if nanny would act up. Not a conclusive test ride, but seems to confirm that adding load (at least 21 watts) to the brake light system doesn't upset nanny. Upside might be that with three lights on that circuit, even if two burn out which would normally trigger nanny, the remaining load should fool it until I can get some place safe to change out bulbs. Since the tail/brake/license circuit is a 10 amp fuse, the 16 watts of load should not overload the circuit (original license bulb was 10 watts, so 5/21 dual nets to 16). Clearly this is not Magic Man LEDs with their visibility, quality and durability, but it does add some needed light to the rear for $5.95 and a couple hours labor.
__________________
Question? My AutoZone Brake/Running is the same as your pictures but only has a red(Orange) and black wire.
Right now I have the wires to the Red and Black of the Spyder.
If I did a Posi-lock Tap into the white brake wire and ran it down to the fender would I then connect the White and Red Spyder wire to the Red (Orange)AutoZone Light wire and the Black to black I assume?:dontknow:

My Walmart lamp has two wires also a red and a black. I connected the orange from the Spyder to the red on the lamp which powers the 5 watt license filament. I took the white lead from the brake circuit wire and connected it to the black on the lamp which then powers the 21 watt brake filament. The black ground wire from the Spyder I clamped between the new lamp metal bracket and the metal backing plate of the license plate light mount to give me my ground.

 

[Sarge707]

My Walmart lamp has two wires also a red and a black. I connected the orange from the Spyder to the red on the lamp which powers the 5 watt license filament. I took the white lead from the brake circuit wire and connected it to the black on the lamp which then powers the 21 watt brake filament. The black ground wire from the Spyder I clamped between the new lamp metal bracket and the metal backing plate of the license plate light mount to give me my ground.

Thanks!!!:clap: I swear my light is identical . So I,ll leave red - to:spyder2: orange. Tap the white :spyder2:to the Lights Black and :spyder2:black ground wrapped around one of my 4 mounting bolts .
Makes sense because the light kit said self-grounding in installation plate.

Even as a simple running light its much better than the License reflector AND with a little effort will really be Great as an Additional Brake light to go along with my ESI Center light!!

 

[BRPjunkie]

Thanks!!!:clap: I swear my light is identical . So I,ll leave red - to:spyder2: orange. Tap the white :spyder2:to the Lights Black and :spyder2:black ground wrapped around one of my 4 mounting bolts .
Makes sense because the light kit said self-grounding in installation plate.

Even as a simple running light its much better than the License reflector AND with a little effort will really be Great as an Additional Brake light to go along with my ESI Center light!!

One final note. If you don't cut out a portion of the bottom of the new tail light assembly and replace it with a clear lens, you will not have any illumination for your license plate. Most LEOs probaly would not notice, but I carefully cut out part of the red bottom lens and replaced it with clear plastic (from and old cassette tape case) which I super glued and siliconed in place. The 5 watt filament is not as bright as the original 10 watt license plate bulb, but at least it does light up the plate enough to get by a picky LEO.