My wife wants me more visible... so do I

Not too long ago, before I owned a motorcycle, I was told that motorcyclists have either been in an accident, or will be. Then I was hit from behind.

Has anyone else noticed how the XJ750RK Seca can be very hard to see from behind? I am asking for advice on installing some additional running lights (and/or reflectors). I have the trunk and hard side luggage on my bike, and would consider lighting up all of it. I want people to know I am there, day or night.

I know that there are considerations of battery load and power, and I would like to keep additional wires hidden.

Does anyone have experience with adding lights? Where did you buy yours? How do you hide the wires/run the wires? Thanks.

 

I've got a backrest/luggage rack on my Maxim.
When I've got the tail trunk on there, it's got running/brake lights in it (I've replaced the originals with LED modules to cut down on power usage).
When it's off, I've installed a couple of LED/reflectors on either side of the tail light close to the hand rail -- they've got 6 bright LED's in the centre, surrounded by a larger reflector -- they're wired in as brake lights only.
I'm planning on adding a strip of LED's to my luggage rack to act as another brake light as well.

I'd love to get the LED conversion kit for the rear signals that converts them into running lights too. Still a bit spendy for me, and I like having yellow/amber turn signals so don't really want to go to red.

 

I have added the lit license plate but will be adding the hard bags and trunk shortly. I have been contempating the addition of LED panels to the back end due in large part the minimal current demands of the panels. In addition, they have a very thin profile and can "wrap" around gentle curves. The wiring I have invisioned will be internal with connectors to allow for ease of removal.
Converting the rear lights for running is easy. Simply replace the bayonet base inside the stalk with an 1157 base and run the third wire up to the running light circuit (handily nearby in the tail light housing).

 

I have red LED neon stripes under mine. Thinking of adding some more up the rails on the sissy bar and hooks diodes into the brake light for added power.

 

You know there has been a lot of talk about lighting and the effect of LEDs. The other day I was following a vehicle that had LED center stop lights and regular bulbs in the taillights. Now I had read that LEDs were faster by fractions of a second, but in this car, the LEDs were at least 2 or 3 tenths faster. The difference was surprising and really caught my attention, simply because the LEDs were obviously brightly lit while the bulbs were not. This could mean the difference between getting home and becoming lunch meat.

With that in mind I am sure many of us would love to convert to LEDs but as electrical stuff to me is kind of like Martian, I need a hand. Do any of our members have experience with conversions or additions with pics that could help us that are electro-challenged?

Tygor - give your wife a hug, she deserves one. Great question and a real good update for our old iron.

 

All you have to do for the brake light is replace the bulb with an led bulb (1157).
Turn signal bulbs can be changed too but require either a resister inline OR a NO LOAD flasher. The flashers are kinda pricey but tons easier.

 

Not only do you need more lights but you need to have them as high as possible and with a modulator on them.

I added a stop/tail light up on the sissy bar ($7 trailer lamp from Wal*Mart). I ran the wires up the sissy bar and wire tied them on. The wires (yellow, black, and brown) aren't that noticeable because I routed them toward up the seat side of the bar.

I put a brake light modulator in, but only on the higher light. It seems to be very effective because when I hit the brakes most of the people behind me get into a different lane! WarDog12 also said it was quite noticeable when he was behind me.

The next one I do I'll use LEDs.

If I didn't have the bar, and had attached bags I'd put a bunch of LEDs on each bag and use a wig-wag module. I've seen them on some Wings and they are attention grabbers.

You can get modules and LEDs at Signal Dynamics.

 

On installation:

I didn't want to cut into my stock harness. On the XJ650 all the lights plug into the harness on the right side, under the seat and just behind the battery. I went to RadioShack and got some bullet connectors and made myself I short patch / Y cable to go between the pigtail on the taillight and the harness. Then the leg of the Y goes to the auxiliary light.

I then ran the leads out from under the seat to the sissy bar. I coulda done the same thing with a trunk or bags. To just drill a hole in the trunk or bags near the attachment point and run the wiring on the inside. Seal the hole with a bit of RTV. Anchor the wires to the inside of the luggage so you don't catch them with cargo. If your bags or trunk are removable just get a good quick connect for the wire.

I suspect on the Seca you'll find that the lights also have a pigtail on them that plugs into the harness in the vicinity of the fuse box.

 

Anyone in the Southeastern Ky or N eastern part of TN interested in any led mods give me a yell..I run my own lighting install shop and will give you a good rate...

The Led Pods I plan on using are three inches long and paper thin..four leds per pod with 3m backings..The current draw is less than .1 amp.

And Im thinking of putting a sho-me module on them set to double rapid fire.

That should give a good jolt to anyone not paying attention when I hit the brakes.

 

I put a trio of LED's on the rear of my Max on the plastic tail piece between the rails on the sissy bar. They are Red and fire with the Brake Light.

What I'd like are strips of Red LED's thin enough to surround the License Plate.

The whole rear end is going to flash red pretty soon. I popped for the "Back-Off" Brake Light Modulator from Signal Dynamics.

I still want the Back-end lighted and if possible ... some orange or yellow LED's to wire where the under-tank reflectors are located.

What have you got for that?

 

These are the 3 inch led strips I plan on using.


Ran accross this while surfing around.