Rear Lighting

[Coconut]

You may have seen my original "How To" article for adding a pair of LED Stalk Lights
to the rear of my Trophy ...... HOW TO : Add rear LED Stalk Lights

I've now added two more Modifications to the rear lights.

The first is a simple swap out of the stock Tungsten Filament Indicator Bulbs,
for a pair of LED Bulbs that are MUCH brighter. 

I bought a set from eBay that cost GBP £13.95 for the pair including UK Postage,
and are "CANBUS Compatible" needing no additional Resistors etc,
and which could also be used for the front Indicators, which take the same Bulb type  :




Next, I re-jigged the wiring to the additional Brake Lights of the Stalk Lights,
and fitted a HealTech Brake Light Pro Programmable Modulator, ( GBP £39.99 )
so that the Stalk Lights operated independently of the Trophy "Main" Brake light.

Here's a video showing the original modification,
with the stock Indicator bulbs, and no Brake Light Modulation.

Notice the slight delay between the Stock Indicator bulbs and the LED Stalk lights,
due to the Tungsten Filament bulbs having to "Heat up",
compared to the LED's that don't ! ....

Now here's a Video showing the latest modification, with LED Indicators,
and the Brake Light Modulator fitted ( Set to "Program 11" ! ) :

Cheers 

[earthman]

Thanks for the link, I were only thinking about upgrading the indicator bulbs to LED yesterday funny enough.

[STJIM]

  NICE IDEA !!!!   I LIKEE !!!!  But I may steal it !  I already have a modulator connected to my brake / tail light but since  I have seen your set-up, I may add the small LED brake / turn indicators as you have, Coconut.   I think I have a pair in my pile of stuff in the basement.

[Coconut]

STJIM - It's always been a "thing" with me - just having ONE Red Light at the back
that is on all the time, and gets brighter to become the Brake Light when you brake.

It's still just ONE red light and if the idiot in the Cage behind me doesn't notice
that single red light get brighter - because they aren't paying attention ( like they do )
at the precise moment that I apply the brakes, then they may not realise I am slowing down
soon enough to prevent themselves ploughing into the back of me !

Adding those two Stalk lights makes the Brake Light much more obvious,
and even more so with the addition of the Modulator which is a real attention grabber,
though not strictly road legal in the UK. 

The system I now have installed can be disabled if required at the push of a button.

Cheers 

[STJIM]

A modulator may not be legal in Michigan either, but I've never heard of anyone getting a citation for having one.  Having said that, I'll probably be the first !

I'm with you Coconut,  I think the more lights the better.  I have added an extra flashing brake light on all my bikes.

But I'm now also looking for some extra LED turn signal indicators to back-up the OEM lights in case they burn out, although I recently replaced them.  I like to replace all my incandescent lights every few years before they burn out or get darkened.

Have you seen those modulators that have a built-in accelerometer ?  The faster you stop, the faster they blink.  I really like that idea, but they are pricey.  If I could find an accelerometer chip cheap, I could build one pretty easily.  I'll let you know if I find one.

[earthman]

It's always been a "thing" with me - just having ONE Red Light at the back
that is on all the time, and gets brighter to become the Brake Light when you brake.

I agree with this 100% and haven't been happy with the design of the rear lights/tail unit on the Trophy since day one, I fitted a pair of these on the top box just to act as brake lights some time ago.
https://www.bikermart.co.uk/HIGHSIDER-STRING-LED-Motorbike-Stop-and-Tail-Light-Red-or-Smoked-Lens

I had been looking at fitting an extra reflector, below the number plate, I have the extender already fitted on my mudguard, then I saw this and thought why not have an extra tail light and brake light instead. Just fitted and wired it up today funny enough.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12V-Motorcycle-24SMD-LED-Rear-Tail-Light-ATV-Scooter-Bike-Brake-Stop-Lamp-Red-S/143063779185?hash=item214f440771:g:o-sAAOSwa1hcID82   

[GarminDave]

Reading this thread I thought yes I'll have some of that.  I ordered the exact LED Lamps and easily fitted them to replace all four indicator lamps.

Here is the results (I know I need to work harder on my editing skills)

First ride with them today and the right turn failed to work a couple of times?  Any ideas what I should look for or have done wrong?

[Coconut]

Hi Dave,

Editing looks pretty darned good to me !

The only thing I can think of is to make sure the contact on the base of the LED bulb,
and it's sides are all clean, and the same for the Bulbholder on the bike.

If all are good, I would suspect a faulty bulb,
so send it back and ask for a replacement -
they're probably from China after all ! 

Cheers