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After not being able to scrounge a good lens for the tail light of my '81 GS850G, I decided I wanted to put in an LED. After a few minutes of looking at it, I realized the opening in the tail piece was just about as big as a standard tail light on a tractor trailer. I slipped down to my local truck stop and big truck dealer and picked up some parts.
From Left to Right
1- 6.5 x 2.25 LED Tail/Brake/Turn light. There are many different styles and LED patterns and quantity to choose from in this standard size. I just personally liked the looks of this one. $29.99
1 - 6.5 x 2.25 Rubber Grommet. $2.30
1 - Oval L bracket. $4.99 (Had to go to the big truck dealer to get this)
I then pulled off the rear body panel and removed the 3 bolts holding the factory tail light to the fender. Using the factory mount as a pattern, I marked and drilled 2 holes in the short leg of the bracket to use the factory mounting holes in the fender. The drill bit was a 7/32, but if you don't have that size, 1/4 should would just fine.
(side note) I cut 1/2 inch off each side of the long leg of the bracket so that I could clear the outer taper of the rear body work. As long as you are pulling the rear body piece to do the conversion I don't believe you will have to do this and I might wind up buying another bracket and replacing the cut one eventually anyway.
(I am showing how to assemble off the bike, but it is easier to bolt the bracket on first then assemble.)
Assembly:
First place the grommet in the bracket and make sure it is in the groove securely.
Next push in the light from the front until you feel it snap into the groove (may feel like you pushed it too far the first time you do it). The face of the light will be flush or just slightly recessed from the bracket
What it looks like with the body work back in place.
Mounting with the tail piece removed. (I put washers under the bolts after this was taken.)
The wire colors for tractor trailer lighting is a bit different then our Suzukis. You can either buy a pigtail to match the light's (at the truck stop or dealer) or you can cut the pigtail off and splice directly to the factory wires. I chose the latter.
The wire colors match up as follows:
Light--------Bike
White ------Black
Red -------Yellow
Black-------Brown
Here is the vid
From Left to Right
1- 6.5 x 2.25 LED Tail/Brake/Turn light. There are many different styles and LED patterns and quantity to choose from in this standard size. I just personally liked the looks of this one. $29.99
1 - 6.5 x 2.25 Rubber Grommet. $2.30
1 - Oval L bracket. $4.99 (Had to go to the big truck dealer to get this)
I then pulled off the rear body panel and removed the 3 bolts holding the factory tail light to the fender. Using the factory mount as a pattern, I marked and drilled 2 holes in the short leg of the bracket to use the factory mounting holes in the fender. The drill bit was a 7/32, but if you don't have that size, 1/4 should would just fine.
(side note) I cut 1/2 inch off each side of the long leg of the bracket so that I could clear the outer taper of the rear body work. As long as you are pulling the rear body piece to do the conversion I don't believe you will have to do this and I might wind up buying another bracket and replacing the cut one eventually anyway.
(I am showing how to assemble off the bike, but it is easier to bolt the bracket on first then assemble.)
Assembly:
First place the grommet in the bracket and make sure it is in the groove securely.
Next push in the light from the front until you feel it snap into the groove (may feel like you pushed it too far the first time you do it). The face of the light will be flush or just slightly recessed from the bracket
What it looks like with the body work back in place.
Mounting with the tail piece removed. (I put washers under the bolts after this was taken.)
The wire colors for tractor trailer lighting is a bit different then our Suzukis. You can either buy a pigtail to match the light's (at the truck stop or dealer) or you can cut the pigtail off and splice directly to the factory wires. I chose the latter.
The wire colors match up as follows:
Light--------Bike
White ------Black
Red -------Yellow
Black-------Brown
Here is the vid
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