Car tail lights on a motorcycle?

[mezalaja]

I was pondering over this for a while now. And, seeing as I'm by no stretch of the imagination an electrician, I was wondering... could you put an led tail light from a car on a motorcycle?

I have a 2003 750 Kat. I have an extra tail section that I was going to custom paint and perhaps add some fibreglass to redesign it to fit an led array of some sort to act as my tail / signal lights. I already have the sequential integrated tail / signal lights from clear alternatives (which might be up for grabs if this latest project works out) But I wanted something that was a bit brighter. I figured why not a car led?

Any thought would be appreciated and remember, I'm a laymen when it comes to wiring,... I'm not a complete idiot,... but simple / explained terms would be great. Thanks!

[nealy212]

I was pondering over this for a while now. And, seeing as I'm by no stretch of the imagination an electrician, I was wondering... could you put an led tail light from a car on a motorcycle?

I have a 2003 750 Kat. I have an extra tail section that I was going to custom paint and perhaps add some fibreglass to redesign it to fit an led array of some sort to act as my tail / signal lights. I already have the sequential integrated tail / signal lights from clear alternatives (which might be up for grabs if this latest project works out) But I wanted something that was a bit brighter. I figured why not a car led?

Any thought would be appreciated and remember, I'm a laymen when it comes to wiring,... I'm not a complete idiot,... but simple / explained terms would be great. Thanks!

well one thing i have found from the kr forum, WHERE THERES A WILL! THERES A WAY!!

[David F C]

Can be done, no problems.
It does eat more power so bear in mind you should get according wires.
And you may have to switch the relay ?( not sure) Anyone?
I guess you'll have to try it out.
Just keep a fire extinguisher near you when you light it for the first time in case the bike catches fire..... jk

[mezalaja]

Just keep a fire extinguisher near you when you light it for the first time in case the bike catches fire..... jk

lol,... will do!

But does a car led draw more power than an incandescent motorcycle bulb?

[David F C]

Maybe, maybe not. You'll have to check specs on the led bulb.

[uno]

lol,... will do!

But does a car led draw more power than an incandescent motorcycle bulb?

Shouldn't. LED's have a much smaller draw than a regular bulb, so you shouldn't have to upgrade the wiring. As for how the tail lights work on the bikes, I believe there's just a positive wire and a negative wire. That means you snip, splice and go.

If you snag the manual for your bike from the wiki, it should have wiring diagram in the back telling you which wires are which back there.

[rexazz2]

LEDs usually only work with correct polarity
so you pretty much have a 50 50 chance of getting that right the first time , they usually just dont work if polarity is wrong

LEDs use much less power than a incandecent bulb so unless there is a 1000 being used I probably would not wory about the load

you could bemch test using a car battery and see if you can make it work before cutting into the KAT or fabricating anything

[GSXFJim]

just replace the old bulbs with LED replacements... they make ones that will replace the 1157 bulbs

[KatanaBrett]

It will work no problem they both work off 12 volts.

[mezalaja]

just replace the old bulbs with LED replacements... they make ones that will replace the 1157 bulbs

Replacing the old bulbs with LED's was one of my very first mods. I found that the cluster that I used wasn't bright enough during the day. Or should I say only bright from one viewing angle?

In any case I was always under the impression that the LED's used in Car tail lights seemed bigger / brighter and had a wider viewing angle.

[rexazz2]

Replacing the old bulbs with LED's was one of my very first mods. I found that the cluster that I used wasn't bright enough during the day. Or should I say only bright from one viewing angle?

In any case I was always under the impression that the LED's used in Car tail lights seemed bigger / brighter and had a wider viewing angle.

OE car taillight units are probably better spec. and quality units than most of the stuff we can buy off the internet

[mezalaja]

Thanks for all the advice! I think I am going to invest the $50 for the LED's and see what happens. If I can't make it work, well at least I'll have some interesting Christmas lights for next year.

Meza

[GSXFJim]

Replacing the old bulbs with LED's was one of my very first mods. I found that the cluster that I used wasn't bright enough during the day. Or should I say only bright from one viewing angle?

In any case I was always under the impression that the LED's used in Car tail lights seemed bigger / brighter and had a wider viewing angle.

It depends on the type of unit.. cluster style are the best.