$10 integrated taillight

[Guest]

Well, I was bored, so I bought some resistors, 5mm wide angle orange LEDs, and went to work. I've always hated the giant silver flashers that hang off the back of the bike and one of mine was cracked anyway, so I came up with this. It's a lot more orange and quite a bit brighter than what the cell phone video shows, but I think it looks pretty good.

[7981GS]

Looks great!
And, a great looking bike also.
If you would like to sell the remaining T/S's please send me a PM.

Eric

[gearheadE30]

Thanks! I am eventually going to sell them, but as I just moved up to Michigan for the summer for an internship, I don't really have access to them. They're sitting in a box in my basement now.... If I remember when I get back, I'll send you a PM though.

[Matt-Indiana]

Very cool.......nice job

[rich001]

Hi e30

Really impressive work. Looks really neat and unobtrusive and very bright (reminds me of me actually).
Good job. Was there any fancy wiring to be done? I assume you have normal filament front indicators?? How does that go????

Rgds
Richard

PS I too am bit of an e30 fan. I have 2 x 1985 323i coupes for my daily drivers (when I need a car as opposed to two wheels).

[rwcfrank]

Nicely done!

[TheCafeKid]

Very cool!! You should make a "How To" thread as this would be a great mod for a "race replica" project to keep the lines clean. You migh also consider changing to dual colour LEDs so that when you hit the brake they flash both sides in red (just brakes) or one side red and the other flashes orange (brake and signal) for higher viz when stopping. I'd really like to see how you put that together as I'd like to "borrow" that idea on my upcoming project.

[crazy5]

I'm liking that a lot! Have pics of the insides?

[gearheadE30]

Sorry for the delay; I am now settled in in Michigan and finally have internet in my apartment haha.

Rich: I do indeed still have the factory front lights, with incandescent bulbs. Basically, the bike "sees" the LED's as the same resistance as the bulb would have. If I remember right, the factory signal bulbs are 21 watts, which is the power they consume when they are on. Power = voltage^2 / resistance, and you know that the voltage of the motorcycle is right around 12 volts. That equation will give you the total resistance that the circuit needs to be. E30's FTW; you should check out r3vlimited.com if you haven't yet.

I'll come back here later with pics of the insides and a little more detail regarding how I wired it all when it isn't night, hah. It's actually quite easy to wire and install, and I'll try to find a way to diagram how I located the holes, and how I drilled them to keep the plastic from cracking.

For what it's worth, I did consider using multicolor LEDs, but they aren't rated to be as bright, nor could I find any in a 5mm wide angle size with just amber and red. I did also have to trim the taillight reflector slightly to allow all of the wiring to fit.

[crazy5]

Any more info on this setup?

[1980GS1000E]

That is a great setup that you came up with. Practical and functional.