Author Topic: LED tail light new Update: 4-22-09 Vids & PICS (Read 19399 times)

UnCrash · « **Reply #50 on:** April 02, 2009, 04:52:59 AM »

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i've added more relays for the coil and the brakes and the horn. i will post pictures when its all done.

Could you tell a little more about the benefit of relays, which ones you chose and, and how you wired them in? It may be more appropriate for a different thread, but many of us would get a lot out of the information I'm sure.

Ecosse · « **Reply #51 on:** April 02, 2009, 10:01:29 AM »

thought this could be helpful. i regret i don't remember where i got this but it was from our forum.

ev0lution7 · « **Reply #52 on:** April 02, 2009, 10:23:56 AM »

benifet of relays...

instead of having full circut current going though the swtich you use the switch as a "trigger" so the relay only requires 200mA or less to trigger it so you basicly supply the relay with power and the switch lead comes from the switch you ground the relay and then have a "power out" to the "horn" that way you get DIRECT voltage from the battery with only .2 or less volt drop that is to say that most of the items on our bikes see LESS than battery voltage when the bike is running due to VOLT drop..

do a simple test.
1. Start you bike with the headlight just sitting there apart.
2. take your multimeter and put the black wire to ground (green wire) and put the positive wire to white...
3. most motorcycles (with out relays) will have about 2Volts +or - .4 at the head light....
4. do the same thing on your car (ALL newer cars use RELAYS)
5. bear in mind that different voltages effect Amp readings...

so your bike is running your charging system is in presto shape.... you have 13.4 volts with the bike running your Low beam (if you are running a 55/60w car bulb) if you had NO voltage drop your amps would be 4.1A now if you had volt drop of 2volts now that SAME headlight now needs 4.8A just to turn on.... now do you see why honda used a 7.5A fuse just for the headlights?? now lets look at the high beam..
same as before your High beam uses 5.3A with a 2volt drop if you had a relay that would supply full battery voltage to the headlight then you would have 4.4A at the headlight...

the reason this is important is our charging systems are antiques and there isnt much capicity.. (Amps) and so if you have voltage drop you have RESISTIVE LOAD... meaning that that voltage drop is sucking up Amps you could be using to power the headlight... or run a cell phone charger.. heated grips... aux lights... heated vest... not to say that you could run all of those at once but at least you could pick one.. that is why i'm going LED to free up Amps for accessories!!!

remember voltage is like water pressure in a pipe... if it is low ... slow water flow...
AMPS is like the size of the pipe... more amps.. more water..
BUT more voltage is better because it is the "push" in the wire and if its low you can have ALL the amps in the world and if you dont have enough VOLTAGE to get it there it wont matter....

ev0lution7 · « **Reply #53 on:** April 02, 2009, 10:32:16 AM »

ya since i'm redoing my WHOLE wireharness.. (it wasnt really broke i just wanted relays... and to make my gounds bigger) that is what i did...

BobbyR · « **Reply #54 on:** April 02, 2009, 05:33:13 PM »

EVo I have been following this and i must say you are probably among the top three clever people on here. You take complex issues and make them understandable. BRAVO!!!!!

beta1042 · « **Reply #55 on:** April 02, 2009, 06:43:03 PM »

I would be eternally grateful if someone could compile a paint by numbers instruction on how to install relays (and what relays) into my electrical system. I'm not riding to work with my bike yet because my headlight isn't putting out enough light to feel safe riding in the dark. I can follow instructions though. Darn black magic!!

GammaFlat · « **Reply #56 on:** April 02, 2009, 06:48:06 PM »

My K6 has no way to turn off the headlight. People have talked about putting an extra switch in and others (like evo) have talked about using relays. I thought it would be interesting to kinda do both.

My thought is that I don't want the headlight on right after I start the bike but once I turn it on, it's ok if it stays on. This can be done with the horn button or any other momentary switch. Once on, the relay powers itself - the power feed to the headlight also feeds the coil of the relay. So, there's no way to turn the device off until the key is turned off (assuming your power source is switched by the ignition) - in this application, that's ok for me.

The alternative which might be better for others is to have an on/off switch controlling the relay so you could actively turn the device on and off. I'm trying to not need extra buttons or switches though.....

ev0lve · « **Reply #57 on:** April 02, 2009, 07:24:35 PM »

Quote from: beta1042 on April 02, 2009, 06:43:03 PM

I would be eternally grateful if someone could compile a paint by numbers instruction on how to install relays (and what relays) into my electrical system.

Second that!

super pasty white guy · « **Reply #58 on:** April 02, 2009, 07:33:09 PM »

Beta-

A relay is an electric switch. So instead of turning on the light with the headlight switch, you use that to control the relay.

Here's how to wire it up. Pick up two 12v relays from the autoparts store and some spade connectors (or plan on soldering everything). Open up the headlight. you've got 3 wires going to the light (High, Low, Ground). turn on the light and unplug the wires to determine high and low beams (or consult the wiring diagram).

One relay will switch the low and one will switch the high. printed on the relay will be a diagram. two pins will be connected by a spiral. That represents the electromagnetic coil in the relay and is the switch "signal". Connect the low beam wire from the handlebar switch to one of the coil posts. Connect the high to a coil post on the other relay. Connect the other side of the coil to the bike's ground. you should now be able to hear the relays activate when switching from high to low. Now, connect one of the remaining relay terminals which should have a diagram sign something like this ( ____/ . ). Connect one of these pins to the matching wire on the headlight bulb. Do the same for the other relay.

Almost there. Run a wire from a ring terminal connected to the battery to a fuse and then up to the bucket. Connect this wire to the remaining terminal on each relay.

Enjoy you new found relay power.

spwg

beta1042 · « **Reply #59 on:** April 02, 2009, 07:48:21 PM »

SPWG (abbr. your name sorry)

That is the positive lead correct? Sorry, my expertise is in composites, not spark chasing. I think it is fear that has kept me from updating my electronics. I guess I should have done it when I worked with Hondaman. Doh!

I appreciate the help, I really do. I went to the cycle shop today to see what the selection of LED's was. Looks like the auto shop is next.

super pasty white guy · « **Reply #60 on:** April 02, 2009, 07:59:40 PM »

Yes, sorry. that was imprecise. Connect the positive from the battery to fuse to the switched terminal on each relay.

spwg

Ecosse · « **Reply #61 on:** April 02, 2009, 08:10:18 PM »

Quote from: beta1042 on April 02, 2009, 06:43:03 PM

I would be eternally grateful if someone could compile a paint by numbers instruction on how to install relays (and what relays) into my electrical system. I'm not riding to work with my bike yet because my headlight isn't putting out enough light to feel safe riding in the dark. I can follow instructions though. Darn black magic!!

check out the pdf i posted, it might be helpful. there's some additional info for this and it may be in the faq section.

GammaFlat · « **Reply #62 on:** April 02, 2009, 08:24:07 PM »

Quote from: beta1042 on April 02, 2009, 07:48:21 PM

That is the positive lead correct? Sorry, my expertise is in composites, not spark chasing. I think it is fear that has kept me from updating my electronics. I guess I should have done it when I worked with Hondaman. Doh!

I have gotten lots of help from this forum. Just to name a few... HondaMan, TT, SPWG, PinHead, ev0lution7, the list just keeps going.

I was where you're at now. The electronics scared me. With the help of the above-mentioned folks' guidance, postings, calls, etc., I'm now feeling great about re-working the charging system, replacing connectors, etc. I don't want to go all melancholy or psycho-analyze too much but I've got a lot more confidence in what I'm doing both on my bike and else-where directly and indirectly related to the help I've gotten on this forum.

DIVE IN! ASK QUESTIONS! DO! Once started on those things, my greatest fear was being too much of a pest. It's easy to turn this stuff into a passion. For me, it was great to learn all the "why's". I'm not an expert but I'm much further along than I was.

I have parts of my project coming in the way of a posting. It's mostly related to what PinHead did with his charging system mods. If you're having electrical problems (problems charging, low voltage), my bikes have been in trouble mostly right at the connector. Cleaning, or better, replacing the 6 and 8 conductor connectors (at the alternator, rectifier and fuse holder) makes a big difference in the electrical performance of the bike. Having said that, HondaMan directed me to replace my rectifier (it was 1/3rd cooked) and evo has me convinced to put at least one relay in - and probably some LEDs. This stuff is too much fun.

Ecosse · « **Reply #63 on:** April 02, 2009, 08:54:32 PM »

ok found it. dunno if this helps.

http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=20498.0

78CB750CAFE · « **Reply #64 on:** April 03, 2009, 05:08:03 AM »

Quote from: Iggy on April 02, 2009, 07:24:35 PM

Quote from: beta1042 on April 02, 2009, 06:43:03 PM
I would be eternally grateful if someone could compile a paint by numbers instruction on how to install relays (and what relays) into my electrical system.

Second that!

there atre a few already. search the sight for headlight relay

here is my thread on the subject
http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=45894.0

ev0lution7 · « **Reply #65 on:** April 03, 2009, 07:55:20 AM »

just remember that honda was smoking a different kind of crack when the wired these bikes... than the rest of the industry at the time...

Green= Ground(12-)
Black= swtiched lead (12+)
Red= battery (12+)
brown= tail light
Green w/yellow strip= Stop light
orange w/ white= front marker light
brown w/white = instrument lights

there are the basic wires remember that most items in the bike use a BLACK (and color wire) and the items are gounded though the frame. the bike uses a "harness" ground which was very advanced for the day so all those green wires in the headlight and all the way back to the tail light are connected to the SAME wire that pokes out and connects to the coil mounting stud! this type of gound eliminates EMI it makes a cleaner ground and reduces VOLTAGE DROP it can help if you want to make smaller gauge wire do the work of larger gauge wire... remember that electrical thoery is that electrons (-) flow from - to + so if you have a good grounds then your electrons will flow better...

Inigo Montoya · « **Reply #66 on:** April 03, 2009, 08:04:12 AM »

I remember someone saying that and got jumped all over by a know it all.

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remember that electrical thoery is that electrons (-) flow from - to + so if you have a good grounds then your electrons will flow better...

I agree though.

ev0lution7 · « **Reply #67 on:** April 03, 2009, 08:10:19 AM »

funny thing to think about ... honda's electrical ideas almost seemed as though they ment the bike to have a computer....

they used harness grounds..
resistors on the spark caps..

they really went extra to make the bike EMI friendly you can run electronic ignition with no issues.. can could in theroery run F/I i think there is a guy on here doing that with CBR600FI throttle bodies. its just odd that they did that.

Inigo Montoya · « **Reply #68 on:** April 03, 2009, 08:15:39 AM »

Well if you look at it, the 79 did start going electronic. So maybe our bikes were test beds on that road.

ev0lution7 · « **Reply #69 on:** April 03, 2009, 08:17:43 AM »

so has anyone else tried the tail light LEDS???

Ecosse · « **Reply #70 on:** April 03, 2009, 10:54:26 AM »

some good info here... thanks!

ev0lution7 · « **Reply #71 on:** April 03, 2009, 12:58:21 PM »

A re-cap of this project...

Changed stock tail light into LED
Changed rear turn signals into LED
new 4 wire plugs in head light
new 6 wire plugs in head light
relay for HORN
Relay for COILS
Relay for Brake light
relay for Low Beam
relay for High beam
new brake switch (the cause of this re-wire and it seemed like a good time)
new ignition switch (mine was pulled from a gold wing and didnt look right

)
new wire loom to protect my harness from heat and fire (says on the package its flame retardant

)

well all the wires are soldered and ready to be installed now i made my headlight so that if the relays faild for some reason i can go back to stock by opening up the head light and pluging the wires back into the stock harness! as far as the rest goes i will just carry an extra relay! so far its looking good i will post pictures of the wire harness when its done and hopefully i will have a youtube video of my new turn signals and brake lights and my head light bucket turn signals! so keep it here and check it out!

edbikerii · « **Reply #72 on:** April 03, 2009, 01:48:04 PM »

That's some beautiful work. I'm afraid I'm far too lazy for that, though. I purchased this:

http://www.superbrightleds.com/specs/115x-xLX3.htm

And plugged it right in. It is FAR BRIGHTER than stock, and it has a wide 130" angle which exceeds that of the reflector in the housing anyway. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

The only problem I had with this was that there are no white lights on the license plate, so your fix for that would still be necessary in order to satisfy the tax collectors. Or, you could just glue a single white LCD to the clear window, splice it in, and be done with it. I just ride the bike without the white lights, as I doubt any police officer would even notice, nor would they care. Inspector at DMV didn't notice, either.

andy8190 · « **Reply #73 on:** April 03, 2009, 08:41:52 PM »

I have tried it. Got the LED mounted in the tail light case and will finish it sunday after the gasket cures. here are some pics

andy8190 · « **Reply #74 on:** April 03, 2009, 08:44:43 PM »

Quote from: ev0lution7 on April 03, 2009, 12:58:21 PM

A re-cap of this project...

new 4 wire plugs in head light
new 6 wire plugs in head light

What are these two things?

News:

Author Topic: LED tail light *new* Update: 4-22-09 Vids & PICS (Read 19399 times)

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Author Topic: LED tail light new Update: 4-22-09 Vids & PICS (Read 19399 times)