| Author | Message | ||
     Fltwistygirl |
After much research and months of talking about it, we finally have gathered everything needed for this mod and my better half is generously planning to carve time out of his busy schedule to get this done. We are using Alpena max red LEDs that we got for about $35 from our auto parts store. I tend to commute to and sometimes from work in the dark this time of year, and he sometimes has morning meetings 100 miles away so anything that makes us more visible makes me very happy. In addition to the light mod, we are considering adding a cell phone charging station within the top case. Bell makes a couple versions sold at tractor supply and this solves the problem of charging my phone in the rain. (In dry weather I have an automobile charger that I plug in and run thru my tank bag but when it rains, the tank bag stays home). I keep a mini LED flashlight handy in the topcase so no real need for lights inside the topcase at this time. So, a couple options I'd like to fly by you BB & D ers: -We got 2 12" strips of LED's. From a visibility standpoint, is it better to wire one for braking and one for a running light or both for braking? If I am slowing down, ever, I am tapping da brakes. -He gave me the option to set it up where the bike does not need to be running for the phone to charge. I could see where this might be a benefit (dead phone, bike no starty = yikes). However, this scares me a little as I am the dummy that once left my aftermarket heated handgrips on long enough to drain my battery on my city-x. D'OH! As a sidenote, I don't usually let my cellphone run out of charge, but stuff happens. Thoughts appreciated, thanks in advance! BeLinda. | ||
| Ratbuell |
I have one of these hooked to the brakelight in my Uly topcase, and another to a pair of wig-wag brakelights inside the S2's stock taillight lens. I also had one on my old FLHP. Been using them for years and they ROCK: http://www.swps.com/11flmoformil.html Probably smaller than a cell phone, I have the one in the Uly mounted under the taillight, in the little space between the license plate and the undertail plastic. I run the stock taillight as the only taillight. I have a Whelen TIR3 mounted where the tag light used to be, hooked steady-on to the brakes (I use LED tag-bolt-lights for lighting the tag). I wired one channel of the Sho-Me box (it has a Left and a Right) to the stock brakelight, and the other side to the new brakelight in my topcase lens. There is a wire on it that, when you touch to 12v+, will change the flash pattern. I have mine set on a fast strobe setting, but some folks I ride with keep theirs on "random", where it scrolls through the presets on its own. Personal taste. And damn, I just saw they're only $19. Maybe I should get some spares, in case I decide to make the other bikes a little "flashier" lol... I didn't add a taillight, mainly because I used extra heated gear plugs to hook up the topcase (easy unplug/remove), and they only have two leads. That, and I have my bags lined with reflective pinstripe tape, and have retroreflective stickers on the topcase supports. And I have reflective decals on the lids of my operators canisters - a red "fuel" logo on one, and blue medical cross on the other (bonus points if you can figure out what goes in each one!). This is just a crappy point-n-shoot camera flash photo, to show the "array":  I doubt anyone this side of Stevie Wonder will ever rear-end that bike. For the battery-hot cell phone charger - it doesn't draw enough amps to ever kill your battery, unless you leave it hooked up to a non-running bike for days and days (and by then you'll probably be wondering "where the hell's my phone?"). I have an old car cig lighter outlet with a flip-cover, that I wired to a coily-cord, and I keep it stowed under the seat, loose, and use it if I'm camping to charge the phone at night. I've also charged my iPod, and my Scala headset. Anything USB is going to pull milliamps of power; your heated grips pull tens of amps. I wouldn't sweat having a battery hot plug back there, just remember not to plug in anything bigger than a USB charger if the bike isn't running. And just to be safe...any time you make a change to charging system stuff (adding outlets, or lights, or whatever), make sure this is one of your first mods: http://www.americansportbike.com/shoponline/ccp0-prodshow/16076.html I have mine on the GPS mount, wired to dash lights. You can keep an eye on system status at a glance, any time the bike is running. Saved my ass an hour and a half from home, the night my 77 connector quit. Pulled over, roadside-fixed it (at 10pm), made it home. Next day, the previously-melted plug was fused solid and I had to cut it out and replace it. But since I fixed it within an hour of it failing, it didn't take any other components with it. I have one on every bike and they are WELL worth the money. | ||
| Motorbike |
From a visibility standpoint, is it better to wire one for braking and one for a running light or both for braking? I wired my LED strips so they are both dim for tail lights and then both become bright for brake lights. To do this, you will need to include a diode and resistor in the wiring. I used instructions from Mikef5000 to complete this task. Works great! I did not include the interior trunk lighting as I avoid riding at night, if at all possible. Too many deer in this area. Here is mine: http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/142838/593002.html?1308546995 Mikef5000 post: http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/142 838/521239.html?1260337121 (Message edited by motorbike on December 28, 2011) | ||
| Motorbike |
Let me try this again..... http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/142 838/593002.html?1308546995 | ||
| Mikef5000 |
Hey cool! Thanks Motorbike for posting my link! BTW, my bike's been through hell (and 25,000 miles) since my original install of this setup, and I've had no issues yet, other than the adhesive on the interior LED strip failing (which I just used clear silicone and solved the issue). | ||
| Fltwistygirl |
Fabulous info, you guys. Rat, you've a whole lotta stuff going on there, but it's all good. The voltmeter shall be placed on my wish list. We've got a bunch of reflective tape that we can use to enhance what is already there. We rode around downtown St. Augustine one night last week looking at Christmas lights and I got a chance to check out the retroreflective stickers and piping on the X for the first time since we added that this summer. We swapped bikes a couple nights ago and rode around the neighborhood just so we could see what could be improved on the XT. The lights were the biggest must do therefore #1 on to do list. "bonus points if you can figure out what goes in each one!" medical-first aid kit other-petrol I like that muay functional totally tubular set up, but I love my first aid kit that also functions as a hi-vis road triangle and a toiletry bag when I travel by bike. My sister and my niece were both a little startled when they saw me carting it around the house last summer. Not exactly Estee Lauder fashionable, but it works for me. Motormike- What an easy solution on the brake/running light quandry. Thank you for pointing that solution out. Thanks for taking the time to reply to the post. Any other ideas are welcome. When we do the mod will try to post pics. BeLinda. | ||
| Ratbuell |
Toiletries? I'm a guy. Just have to pick what species of tree needs water the most  And for emergency "flare" use, I have a 3x5" LED emergency light off an ambulance. On-board flash pattern generator (this one I *do* have set for "random"), 15' power cord wired to a heated suit plug. Issue? I pull over, set up the light, plug it into my heated gear controller, and turn it on.  Wrapped for travel:  On and blinding the camera:  | ||
| Ratbuell |
Oh, and if you're ever stuck in St. Augie's...send me a PM and I can get you my folks' number. They're in Marsh Creek, on the island. Not very handy (he's over 80, she's not too far behind)...but if nothing else it's a bed, shower, garage, and phone if you're stuck. No internet (or call waiting)...but usually the neighbor's wireless is unlocked They do have some nice "Nights Of Lights", don't they? | ||
| Motorbike |
Hey Ratbuell, where did you get that LED light from an ambulance? Great idea! Come to think of it, I did see an ambulance the other day that was missing a red light.... | ||
| Ratbuell |
I actually got it from a decomissioned DC Metro FLHTP; they use these on the rear of the topcases, and they're also used on ambulances. I want to say it's a 600 series Whelen - they pop up on ebay quite a bit. | ||
| 7873jake |
I took Mikef5000's plan from a few years ago and did the same thing to my top case. No regrets. Recently added Whelen Linz 6 LEDs to each side of my license plate and tied them to a BackOff XP module for some added irritability. I think I might order the module Ratbuell linked above from SPS simply because its so cheap (the XP flasher is about $40-45). For the Linz 6s: http://www.swps.com/linz6.html | ||
| Fltwistygirl |
"They do have some nice "Nights Of Lights", don't they?" Yep. St. Augustine rocks, especially during the holidays. We'll keep your parents in mind if we ever have any issues when we are up there, thanks for mentioning that. Your parents sound very groovy, love to hear about retirees who get out and live life. And hey Jake, those light heads look pretty effective. Post a pic please if you order it and add it on. Meanwhile, here's wishing you all a safe and Happy New Year! Thanks for all your help in 2011, here's hoping for an awesome 2012 with miles of smiles!  | ||
| Fltwistygirl |
Well, five days into 2012 and hooray, there are now functioning topcase brake/running lights on the XT. Seems we are back into the foggy morning weather pattern so I'm relieved to have it completed. The project turned out as well or better than expected and involved only minimal cussing. It took about five hours to complete, including a couple extra trips to Lowes and the auto parts store. We decided to go with the Bell "cupholder insert" style charging dock for the phone/mp3 so hopefully that will work out well. When not in use on the bike, it can provide a stable place for charging my phone in the car also. Much thanks to the fine folks on badweb for being such an awesome resource for this project. Will try to post pics tomorrow. B. | ||
| Fltwistygirl |
Thanks for all the assistance. Here is our finished project!  Put foil tape under the reflector before mounting the LED's   Utilized a 4 wire trailer plug to make the connection. The pigtail can be tucked away under the seat if the topcase is removed.    Wanted a dry place to charge the phone and possibly other electronics, so velcroed this in to expand my options  Thanks again Badweb!! | ||
| Fordhotline |
Looks good, i will be doing shortly for sure. | ||
| Kmb |
It looks great. I have wanted to do this very same mod, but add break/turnsignals to the givi side cases I have. Only one problem though, I am not very electrical savy. I can hook the wires up, but its the box with the circuit board and resisters that throws me. I have looked at the one mikef5000 did and I still dont get it. Maybe one of you will take pity on me as I am here in Germany for the next couple of years and walk me through it step by step. KMB | ||
| Motorbike |
Kmb, you really don't need the box with the circuit board and resistors. That's just how I did mine because I like to do stuff like that. Not really necessary. You can just follow mikeF5000's wiring schematic as shown and just make sure all bare wire connections are either wrapped in shrink tubing or taped up so they do not short out against anything. Do you have specific questions about this project, now that you know you really don't need the circuit board? Please feel free to ask, there are plenty of of people waiting to help you with this. Thanks. | ||
| Badrap |
Extra visibility = extra safety = extra good! Looks great, nice job! | ||
| Fltwistygirl |
Thanks for the positive feedback. We just got back from running errands on the bikes and I rode the X behind the XT and saw the new bright topcase lights at dusk: it looks fabulous, like they were meant to be there. Kmb-don't worry about feeling less than electrically savvy on this project. As mentioned above, there are plenty of good peeps here to assist. It had been 25 years or so since Greg had picked up a soldering iron, but when he had any questions, he popped back in the house and referred to Mikef5000's schematics. There were a couple slower going parts of the process, but considering we added the extra step of installing the charging port, I think it went smoothly. p.s. edited because my typing skills need to be improved. MUAY! ftg. (Message edited by fltwistygirl on January 11, 2012) |
