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[Midnight Rider]

Purchased a Red LED Tailight array for my bike from Custom Dynamics (talk to Christine...she's a sweetie) to install in place of the regular 1157 clear bulb.

The install requires that you remove the lens, heat the epoxy like substance sealing the chrome reflector into the lens, and remove it.  It's a bit aggravating to do, but if you heat it up and use a very small screwdriver it will come out.  Took about 20 minutes to get the thing out of the lens.  You then stick (the LED array has the sticky tape on it) the part on the chrome reflector.  It basically sticks on the four corners....sorry, no pics of that part of the process.  I then reinserted the chrome reflector and sealed it in place with black silicone and let it set up overnight.  The connector for the LED is a plug and play, so no issues there.  I also have amber arrays coming for the turn signals.  The main reason I did this was to get a brighter light down low, since I already have the LED strip on the tourpak, and the 1157 was pretty dull in comparison.  I am not going to do the turn signals in red run/stop/turn, as in my opinion from a distance at night, with the bullet turn signal bar on the back of our bikes making the signals so close together, it all looks like a red blob, and is difficult to distinguish the turn signal if on because it is no longer amber.  Amber is a more visible color from some of the safety articles I've read, so I'm just going with a plug and play amber LED array for each side and keep my smoked lenses.

The LED tailight array has three whites on the back top, which shine through the clear part of the lens...they have a bit of blueish tint to them that is hard to see in the pics, but it looks pretty cool, IMO.

First pic is the old tailight in run position...

[Midnight Rider]

Here's the LED array...pretty much fills up the back of the lens.

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Installed...

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A shot of the clear part of the lens and the white lights that shine up and back onto the license plate...

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another from the side...

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Last one...the light is BRIGHT...the pics don't really do it justice.

[Fired00d]

Terry,
That looks good. You can definitely see the difference in the amount of light produced.

 
Ride Safe,
Fired00d
 

[Midnight Rider]

Oh...forgot to mention that if you put an LED IN PLACE OF a regular bulb, you need to put a load balancer in the circuit as the LED's don't pull much current, so the system will think you have a burned out bulb and do funky things like make the turn signals blink fast.  Custom Dynamics sells these small (about the size of a box of matches) devices as well.  Take off the seat, find the harness going to all the lights on the back of the bike, and plug this device in series...it's a plug and play device with the right connectors, so it takes about 5 minutes to plug in in and tie wrap it out of the way just behind the battery box.  Pull the maxi fuse before doing this so the device will power up from scratch when you get it all hooked up.

[Bagger]

Oh...forgot to mention that if you put an LED IN PLACE OF a regular bulb, you need to put a load balancer in the circuit as the LED's don't pull much current, so the system will think you have a burned out bulb and do funky things like make the turn signals blink fast.  Custom Dynamics sells these small (about the size of a box of matches) devices as well.  Take off the seat, find the harness going to all the lights on the back of the bike, and plug this device in series...it's a plug and play device with the right connectors, so it takes about 5 minutes to plug in in and tie wrap it out of the way just behind the battery box.  Pull the maxi fuse before doing this so the device will power up from scratch when you get it all hooked up.

Terry, that definitely makes a huge difference, and it looks great.  About that load balancer thing......I chose to make my turn signals red run/stop/turn, which means I already have a device plugged in series where you added the load balancer.  Do the instructions say anything about stacking devices at that union, like can it be done?  Is there an order in which they are installed?  Also, can you provide a little more detail about why the maxi-fuse needs to be pulled?

[Midnight Rider]

Terry, that definitely makes a huge difference, and it looks great.  About that load balancer thing......I chose to make my turn signals red run/stop/turn, which means I already have a device plugged in series where you added the load balancer.  Do the instructions say anything about stacking devices at that union, like can it be done?  Is there an order in which they are installed?  Also, can you provide a little more detail about why the maxi-fuse needs to be pulled?

Henry,  Yes, according to the directions that came with the load balancer, you connect it and any other devices in series with each other.  Typically, the load equalizer would be last in the series before the tailight.  There are pictoral diagrams included, and there's room for both. Actually, the instructions recommend removing the wires from the battery.  Maybe there is power to the flashers even when the maxi is out?  Never tested that, but I do know with the maxi pulled, when you unbolt the wire to the battery, it removes power from some circuit uneffected by the maxi, 'cause you can hear it.  According to the instructions, it is necessary for there to be NO power to the device when you plug it in...then bolt up the positive side of the battery first.  I thought I had a defective unit, as when I got through the right signal would blink too fast...after several minutes of cussing, I finally figured out that I had a blown right FRONT turn signal bulb, which was causing the right signal to blink normally 3 or 4 times then begin flashing too fast.    

Talk to Christine if you call them....she's very knowledgable, not just a telephone sales person.  You should get the 14.7 LED strip for the tourpak...

IMO, that thing is the single most visible thing on the back of the bike, and it's right where the cagers are used to seeing a light.  I just added this LED to balance the light out a bit, so now the whole back of the bike is lit up well.  I have the LED tailight from HD on the Vrod too, but they don't make one yet for our scoots.  Night and day difference on the V.

[ultrafxr]

Terry, looks really good.  I've run the Kurykayn Panacea system for about 5 years for the same reason, all LEDs and much brighter.  Anything to get some more visability back there is a good thing for sure.

[Twolanerider]

Not saying that it will, but just to be on the safe side park it in the sun sometime.  With the sun behind the bike.  Walk back a ways and have someone hit the brakes for you.  Some of the LED arrays are bright, look great, but "wash out" in bright sunlight.  Just because they are brighter in the dark they can be almost impossible to see in the sunlight (even compared to a standard 1157).

[rubaga]

Nice looking lightning you have on your bike.  Congratulation on a good set up.

Looks good.

[WFP]

You are right on Don about the sun affecting the LEDs...I have the Panacea set up.

/Bill

Not saying that it will, but just to be on the safe side park it in the sun sometime.  With the sun behind the bike.  Walk back a ways and have someone hit the brakes for you.  Some of the LED arrays are bright, look great, but "wash out" in bright sunlight.  Just because they are brighter in the dark they can almost impossible to see in the sunlight (even compared to a standard 1157).

[Twolanerider]

You are right on Don about the sun affecting the LEDs...I have the Panacea set up.

/Bill

A lot of them have the same handicap Bill.  I had the light that was just the center light from the Panacea system without the rest of it.  Nice bright LED.  You put that thing on, prop down the brake pedal, walk back behind the bike the evening you're working on it and see so much new bright light you think "EVERYONE can see this!".  Then in bright daylight with the sun behind you you find out NO ONE can see it. 

One of the good bright Silverstar 1157s is what I ended up changing mine back to after it was pointed out to me.  Though not immediately after. 

Someone pointed the problem out to me.  I glanced at it at a motel later that evening.  Noticed how bright it was.  Immediately thought the friend who'd pointed it out in the sunlight was obviously an imbecile.  Then a few days later heard that pucker inducing sound of a cage briefly locking up its brakes behind me as I was stopped at a stop light with no room in front of me to get out of its way.  That night I put a bulb in that was recognizable in all conditions rather than more recognizable at night (which is when the bike gets far and away the least amount of its riding anyway).