Whew, done the tail lights finally!

[Macguyver]

Well, I have been building a lot of parts I need for my 650G customization lately. So far I have completed the fiberglass rear fender lower and brake/running lights. Now I remember how time consuming making one-off components can be.

The rear fender lower takes the place of the rear fender and is bolted into the fairing which covers the key lock for the seat, and is held in by bolts which previously just held the chrome trim on.

The 2 brake/running lights are going to be integrated into the rear fender lower, and are comprised of high intensity LED's. 7 LED's for running light in each light cluster, and 24 LED's for brake light in each cluster. I built them out of perfboard, and had to machine down some reflectors for lenses. When I hooked them up to battery to check intensity, I darn near blinded myself! They lose some intensity shining through the lens, but should still be plenty bright for my needs.

The covers are standard 4-1/2" x 2" oval truck reflectors, which I had to machine the reflector off of the inside of them. For this I had to make a mini sanding pad to use in the drill press. Once the first rough cut was done, the reflector material was removed down as far as I felt I could go without compromizing the lens integrity, then sanded using 400 grit and brasso. They turned out pretty nice, but I might hit them with some 800 and brasso to get all of the fine scratch marks out.

The soldering of the lights was pretty easy, albeit time consuming. I would say each light, start to finish will have about 3 hours invested, not including drying time for the chrome paint I sprayed the "show" side of the perfboard with.

I will edit with pics when I get home tonight, then I need to cut out mounting holes in the fender lower and make some gaskets, then install, take pics, and update again. Hopefully I don't run out of light tonight.

Man, I wish I had a shop to work in. Maybe I'll pick up one of those little pup-up motorcycle shelters so at least I will be out of the elements when working on the bike. Hmmm, we'll see how inexpensive I can find one.

[spyug]

Thanks for being a big tease Sounds like you're doing interesting things.....but its hard to visualize (I know, you said you'd post pics but how can you let work get in the way of something so important to us ?)

Formosa eh? Home of the lovely Formosa Springs brewery. Is it still with us? I remember back in the late 70s doing a bank audit up there and kwaffing many an FS ale. Hadn't thought of that in years thanks for bringing it to mind.

Sorry to hear of your lack of work space that really puts a kibosh on bike work. Luckily I have the man room sorted with one less bike so I can slide in another winter project soon....all I need is to locate one.

Now where are the damned pics

cheers,
Spyug

[Macguyver]

Ah, the brewery!

Yes, the brewery is still with us.
I think they mainly package there now, and brew some brick beer if I remember correctly.
I believe they are the only place to buy beer around here on Sunday.
Not that I have done a beer run on a Sunday morning...

Pics are forthcoming, I just need to figure out a way to make time slide by faster while at work so I can get home and get the satisfying work done.

Just a heads up, the rear fender is part of a full fairing upgrade I am doing, so it may look a bit out of place on the bike at the moment, but it will blend in well with the chin fairing, headlight/windscreen/gauge cover, and exhaust mods I have planned out.

I really think I should have taken some "in process" pics of the brake lights, but it's nothing too complex, if anyone needs a write-up or more info, feel free to drop me a pm after I upload pics tonight.

[Steve]

[Macguyver]

Let there be PICS!!!

So the rough hour of light I've had once I get home at night to work on the bike has since disappeared because of the time change...
I completely forgot that. GRRRR.

Oh well, it's raining cats and dogs out anyway, so I can't work on the bike tonight. That gives me more time for doing up pictures!

And here they are.

The first one is of the new fiberglass rear lower fender. I know there is a gap between the seat and the fairing, it's not bolted up yet. I am waiting until I have the lights in place.

[Macguyver]

Pics part 2

Here it is from the rear.
There is a channel molded in to the lower that matches up with the original splash cover in front. I haven't decided if I want to do up a new piece for that as well.

[Macguyver]

More Pics

Here are the LED brake/running lights.
Shiny side is painted with plasti-kote chrome paint to act a bit like a reflector. The LED's are set up in a series string of 4, with a pull-up resistor of 1k Ohm.
You can see there is still a bit of a pattern left on the lens cover from the reflector moldings. I may take this down to the point there is none of it left and the inside of the lenses are completely flat, then polish the bejebers out of them to get them clear. I just need to get another set just in case first, since I think I may have issues with thickness.

[Macguyver]

Last but not least.

Here is a pic set of the lights in action.
1st is just running lights, 2nd is brake lights, 3rd is both.
So what do you think?

[Macguyver]

Also...

Here is a rough draft idea sketch of what I plan for the mods.

You can see the angle I need to work with on the rear fender, so the LED lights are angled on the perfboard so they are shining parallel to the road for maximum visibility when mounted to the bike.

The flat bulge on the top of the tank is a small solar panel so I do not need to hook it up to a battery tender if I don't ride for a while.

I am also covering the front shocks with motocross fork sleeves, and plan on building a hugger fender for the rear to mount the plate onto, as well as a couple more LED lights.

As you can see, it is an idea in evolution, so I will likely change my mind a few times about certain details, especially when it comes to the front chin/lower fairing. I am still looking to see what I like, what I don't, so it may change drastically before I buckle down and build it.

I also have to settle on a windscreen/headlight/gauge cover. That will depend on what gauges I choose, etc... down the road a bit.

I think the next part to manufacture will likely be the rear hugger fender so I can at least have the bike road legal with a licence plate and all.

[spyug]

Very interesting project and well executed. I like the idea of the LEDs but it seems like quite a bit of work. Could you not find any commercially produced lights that would have worked?

I'll be interested to see how the whole composition comes together with the chin spoiler and rear hugger so keep us in the loop.

Hope you can find some shelter to work in over the winter by the by.

Cheers,
Spyug

[TheCafeKid]

That looks like a neat project, and IMO I think you've got some really good ideas going there. Its almost like the Military Spec GS...LOL So far, they look executed cleanly. Looking forward to the finished product.

[Macguyver]

First off, thanks to all for the words of encouragement. I merely do the best I can with with what I have.

Very interesting project and well executed. I like the idea of the LEDs but it seems like quite a bit of work. Could you not find any commercially produced lights that would have worked?

Because of the angle of the rear lower fender I could not use commercially available LED lights because of the way they are focused to shine perpendicular to their mounting surface. They would light up the ground about 3 feet behind me quite nicely though. They LEDs in the array would need to be angled upward so they could be seen by traffic behind me, and I could not find anything commercially available with angled LEDs.

So I made my own. Problem Solved.

Finding the parts I want to use is hard sometimes because it seems they don't make them.
That, and making my own parts is the only way I can get exactly what I want, and I know exactly what they can handle since I built them.

Which reminds me, I need to sketch out an idea I have about foldaway rearsets...

I still have some cleanup to do on the lights, and I confirmed that I need to replace all of the resistors on the boards.
It seems that the resistors the vendor of the LEDs sent me are way too high in resistance. I worked out the math of it today and figured I should be using a 10 Ohm resistor, not the 1000 Ohm resistors I had received with the LED's. I used an online resistor calculator to confirm the proper value, and tested the value tonight by assembling a test circuit and leaving it on for 2 hours. And the LED's are still super bright, not melted, or even warm to the touch for that matter. Also quite a bit brighter than they were before with a 1000 Ohm resistor!
Now I know the lights will really get a driver's attention!

[Macguyver]

LED accent lighting pics!

So I took some pics after I got home from work to satisfy the image-hungry.

top left is complete assembly, room lights on
top right is LEDs on, room lights on
bottom left is LEDs on, room lights off
bottom right is the glow they cast on the ceiling.

The LED sets are 5 superbright LEDs in series with a 1k Ohm resistor. Sealed with dual-wall weatherproof heatshrink, crimped on the ends.
All controlled by a 20 Amp single throw, single pole switch with a safety cover on it. When I mount this on the bike I will be putting a waterproof boot on the switch so I do not need to worry about shorts in the switch.

And I plan on adding 8 more sets of LEDs.
Overkill? Maybe, but my bike should look great at night.