Create your own integrated LED taillight for ~$40

majesticmoose · October 21st, 2013, 12:06 PM

Hey there!

This is my first time posting on a forum ever so sorry if I make a mistake with the rules and such! Or if I just seem like a rambling nut

So for a while I've been wanting to get an integrated taillight, one reason being the typical; I really didn't like the rear fender. But also because the previous owner of my bike got into an accident, and the front signal lights were mashed up, so if I integrated my tail, I would be able to move them to the front without spending extra cash

.

Anyways, after some initial frustration, trial and error, and eventually success, I turned my EXISTING taillight into an integrated one with LED license plate lights!

It only cost me about $40 for the parts/shipping, and provided you have the right tools, it won't cost you anymore than that!

This is actually my first DIY, and I would say it's relatively easy as long as you are confident in what you're doing and follow my example! I played this by ear and ended up with a good result, despite using most of these tools for the first time!

On to the fun stuff!

Tools and Materials
-Universal Custom Motorcycle LED Tail Brake Light w/ Turn Signals from kapscomoto, $28.99+$8.00 shipping anywhere in N.A.!
-Solder
-EP34 Tridon Flasher $8-$15
-Connector tabs $3
-Ring terminal tab $3
-Tools to take off rear fairing and driver seat
-Standard electrical wire "primary wire"
-Some electrical solder
-Electricians tape

Notes
-If you install this taillight with stock front signals, all four will illuminate and stay solid when trying to signal. If you install this taillight with aftermarket LED front signals, they will all blink very fast. Therefore you must replace your current flasher with a Tridon EP34 to regulate the flashing rate. You can use resistors on the taillight if you wish, but I find it is a lot more work with splicing and is not feasible if planning on changing front signals someday. More is explained about this in other threads on the forum.

-The solder I used was a butane solder from Canadian tire, it was about $30, and admittedly not the best solder, but will do for this application. I'm sure you can use an electrical one, just have a couple extra tips because you will be melting plastic as well as electrical soldering.

-The connector tabs I used were male/female terminal lugs, just for easy disconnect if I ever need to.

How to
1) Disconnect and remove stock taillight, bolts are under passenger seat as well as under the fairing itself. The taillight will be stuck to the fairing with 3M mounting tape, don't be afraid to rip it off.

2) Remove bulb from inside taillight, just turn and pull out.

3) Now you have an empty shell for the LEDs!

4) Take aftermarket tailight and disassemble the casing, there are two screws
to take off the light from the license plate holder, then two more to remove the casing.

5) You should now have a circuit board with LEDs on it, connected to a bunch
of wires

6) Try to put it inside the stock taillight housing, realize it doesn't fit. Cry a little bit

HERE COMES THE FUN PART FIRE WOOO

7) Take your butane solder with a knife tip or standard soldering tip and start melting the back of the stock housing, removing the circle where the stock bulb sits, as well as creating a sideways rectangle hole so that the LEDs can fit in.

Notes
The plastic dries really fast, so it's kinda hard to burn yourself, I recommend to do this outside or in a well ventilated area, as some of the melted plastic will burn if you hold it in one spot for too long, and those fumes can't be good for you. I also kept the aftermarket license plate nearby and scraped the black plastic off of the solder with it. Don't worry, it just solidifies and you can pick it off, it won't affect the appearance!

8) Take the aftermarket led piece, and carve around the two black screws with the solder, so as to remove them from the plastic. Be wary of the heat from the solder, I did mine in portions because I'm not to savvy with electronics and wasn't sure if exposing the circuit board/LEDs to a lot of heat would damage it.

9) Now you should have a circuit board connected to a oval shaped black plastic piece. I melted off excess plastic from the top and bottom portion of the oval, being careful to leave the board intact with the rest of the plastic.

10) This is where you now become a surgeon. Take the aftermarket circuit board and place it into the stock housing, it should now fit. Now what you want to do is melt the plastics together. You can kind of just put the two parts together and make "stitch" looking melts into the pieces, which should bind them minimally, and then just melt it all together. When I was doing it, it kinda reminded me of taking two cold sticks of butter, and using a knife to drag the butter edges onto each other to form one piece of butter. I don't know if that helps

11) Great! Now you have an integrated LED taillight! And it's actually pretty durable too! You can take bits of plastic that you melted off before and melt it into crevices and what not to create a stronger product if you like!

12) Turn the taillight over and you'll notice the there are 3 downward facing LEDs that are white, but shine through red, how is that supposed to illuminate my license plate? NO FEAR. WE GOT FIRE.

13) Now at this step particularly you're going to want a really clean solder tip, take the solder and let it heat substantially. All you're going to is make three holes directly below the LEDs, so that the white light can shine through. I noticed that if you go directly through, then pull it out quickly, the melted plastic will form a ring onto the solder and leave a nice clean hole.

14) After making the holes, take the solder and just kind of make a cone out of the hole, so if you were to look at it from a really close sideways profile, it would like a cone. this allows more light to travel through and not directly down, but more to the sides and whatnot.

15) Re-wire your taillight/signals, it's a lengthy process but inevitably worth it.

Notes
I don't really want to explain the rewiring process, it is confusing at first but simple afterwards, basically all you're doing if finding the corresponding wire, snipping it, crimping it or soldering it into one of the male/female connectors you bought, finding the wire on the taillight that corresponds and doing the same, then wrapping it in electrical tape.

16) Now you should have an integrated LED that works wonderfully!
I currently kept my stock license plate light on as well, with the stock license plate, just as I don't have time to do surgery to the rear fender as of yet. But when I do, I'll definitely update this on how I did it, and how it looks.

p.s. I forgot to include how to install the ep34 flasher, it's really easy, just unplug the stock one (it's under the driver seat on the left side), and plug in the ep34. There will be one exposed prong, just take the wire you bought, crimp or solder the ring terminal connector to one end, and a female connector to the other, slide the female connector onto the flasher, and screw the ring terminal under any random screw, so as to ground the flasher.

Conclusion
I hope this will contribute to the forum and hopefully help people. And if people are really interested in doing this, please ask me any questions and I'd be glad to answer what I can! Also if requested I can take some pictures and maybe better explain the electrical work (which wires correspond to which)
As for the aftermarket wires, this is what they are:
black - ground
brake light - red (the brighter/activated brake light)
left turn signal - orange
right turn signal - yellow
running light - green (this is for the running brake light AND the license plate
light, so when it's all done you'll have an extra wire hanging around from the bike, just tape it up out of the way)

Note
The LED stuff only requires one ground wire, where the stock set up was all separate entities, so they all had their own grounds. You just need to use one of them (I used the one from the stock running lights.) If I remember correctly, the ground wires were black with yellow on it. The other one beside it would be the running light/brake light/turn signal ect

Well I really hope this makes some sort of sense. I'd love to make a better "how to" with pictures if people are interested in the project.

p.p.s. It looks really good! although the process sounds "sloppy" the final product when installed looks like you bought an integrated taillight online for $120!

majesticmoose · October 21st, 2013, 12:30 PM

oops can a moderator move this to the ninja 250 farkles? my bad.

ForceofWill · October 21st, 2013, 02:09 PM

That is a lot of work to save $50. Plus you still have the red plastic look and not clear/smoked from a Custom LED one. Mine also has the rapid flash on initial brake pull you don't have.

Props for the DIY tho. Add some pics.

Motofool · October 21st, 2013, 07:02 PM

Welcome to our site, Kyle !!!

It is remarkable that your very first post has been a great contribution.

Kudos to you

csmith12 · October 21st, 2013, 07:11 PM

majesticmoose · October 21st, 2013, 10:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ForceofWill

That is a lot of work to save $50. Plus you still have the red plastic look and not clear/smoked from a Custom LED one. Mine also has the rapid flash on initial brake pull you don't have.

Props for the DIY tho. Add some pics.

Will do, Pics on their way! Haha well maybe more "hobbyist" a.k.a. poor motorcyclists like me will like this, it only took me about an hour and a half start to finish! Although the red cover is still there, the turn signals come through as an orange beautifully! To be honest I think I actually prefer it, giving more of a stock look! Hopefully my pictures will be able to better articulate it! Also if anyone is interested in having the rapid flash on initial brake pull, you could also wire in a "back off" module ($40)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Motofool

Welcome to our site, Kyle !!!

It is remarkable that your very first post has been a great contribution.

Kudos to you

Thanks for the welcome good sir! I've learned quite a bit from this website over this past season, I just figured to pass some knowledge from experience back!

JohnnyBravo · October 22nd, 2013, 07:09 PM

Great first post!!!

thanks!
Welcome to the forum, enjoy the ride!!

n4mwd · October 26th, 2013, 05:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by majesticmoose

oops can a moderator move this to the ninja 250 farkles? my bad.

Great first post. @Alex is the moderator here. You're right, this should go in the newgen farkles section and not the 300 section.

Alex · October 26th, 2013, 10:53 AM

/moved to new-gen farkles

October 21st, 2013, 12:06 PM	#1
majesticmoose Canadian Name: Kyle Location: Guelph, Ontario, Canada Join Date: Oct 2013 Motorcycle(s): Ninja 250r 2010 Special Edition Posts: 3	Create your own integrated LED taillight for ~$40 Hey there! This is my first time posting on a forum ever so sorry if I make a mistake with the rules and such! Or if I just seem like a rambling nut So for a while I've been wanting to get an integrated taillight, one reason being the typical; I really didn't like the rear fender. But also because the previous owner of my bike got into an accident, and the front signal lights were mashed up, so if I integrated my tail, I would be able to move them to the front without spending extra cash . Anyways, after some initial frustration, trial and error, and eventually success, I turned my EXISTING taillight into an integrated one with LED license plate lights! It only cost me about $40 for the parts/shipping, and provided you have the right tools, it won't cost you anymore than that! This is actually my first DIY, and I would say it's relatively easy as long as you are confident in what you're doing and follow my example! I played this by ear and ended up with a good result, despite using most of these tools for the first time! On to the fun stuff! Tools and Materials -Universal Custom Motorcycle LED Tail Brake Light w/ Turn Signals from kapscomoto, $28.99+$8.00 shipping anywhere in N.A.! -Solder -EP34 Tridon Flasher $8-$15 -Connector tabs $3 -Ring terminal tab $3 -Tools to take off rear fairing and driver seat -Standard electrical wire "primary wire" -Some electrical solder -Electricians tape Notes -If you install this taillight with stock front signals, all four will illuminate and stay solid when trying to signal. If you install this taillight with aftermarket LED front signals, they will all blink very fast. Therefore you must replace your current flasher with a Tridon EP34 to regulate the flashing rate. You can use resistors on the taillight if you wish, but I find it is a lot more work with splicing and is not feasible if planning on changing front signals someday. More is explained about this in other threads on the forum. -The solder I used was a butane solder from Canadian tire, it was about $30, and admittedly not the best solder, but will do for this application. I'm sure you can use an electrical one, just have a couple extra tips because you will be melting plastic as well as electrical soldering. -The connector tabs I used were male/female terminal lugs, just for easy disconnect if I ever need to. How to 1) Disconnect and remove stock taillight, bolts are under passenger seat as well as under the fairing itself. The taillight will be stuck to the fairing with 3M mounting tape, don't be afraid to rip it off. 2) Remove bulb from inside taillight, just turn and pull out. 3) Now you have an empty shell for the LEDs! 4) Take aftermarket tailight and disassemble the casing, there are two screws to take off the light from the license plate holder, then two more to remove the casing. 5) You should now have a circuit board with LEDs on it, connected to a bunch of wires 6) Try to put it inside the stock taillight housing, realize it doesn't fit. Cry a little bit HERE COMES THE FUN PART FIRE WOOO 7) Take your butane solder with a knife tip or standard soldering tip and start melting the back of the stock housing, removing the circle where the stock bulb sits, as well as creating a sideways rectangle hole so that the LEDs can fit in. Notes The plastic dries really fast, so it's kinda hard to burn yourself, I recommend to do this outside or in a well ventilated area, as some of the melted plastic will burn if you hold it in one spot for too long, and those fumes can't be good for you. I also kept the aftermarket license plate nearby and scraped the black plastic off of the solder with it. Don't worry, it just solidifies and you can pick it off, it won't affect the appearance! 8) Take the aftermarket led piece, and carve around the two black screws with the solder, so as to remove them from the plastic. Be wary of the heat from the solder, I did mine in portions because I'm not to savvy with electronics and wasn't sure if exposing the circuit board/LEDs to a lot of heat would damage it. 9) Now you should have a circuit board connected to a oval shaped black plastic piece. I melted off excess plastic from the top and bottom portion of the oval, being careful to leave the board intact with the rest of the plastic. 10) This is where you now become a surgeon. Take the aftermarket circuit board and place it into the stock housing, it should now fit. Now what you want to do is melt the plastics together. You can kind of just put the two parts together and make "stitch" looking melts into the pieces, which should bind them minimally, and then just melt it all together. When I was doing it, it kinda reminded me of taking two cold sticks of butter, and using a knife to drag the butter edges onto each other to form one piece of butter. I don't know if that helps 11) Great! Now you have an integrated LED taillight! And it's actually pretty durable too! You can take bits of plastic that you melted off before and melt it into crevices and what not to create a stronger product if you like! 12) Turn the taillight over and you'll notice the there are 3 downward facing LEDs that are white, but shine through red, how is that supposed to illuminate my license plate? NO FEAR. WE GOT FIRE. 13) Now at this step particularly you're going to want a really clean solder tip, take the solder and let it heat substantially. All you're going to is make three holes directly below the LEDs, so that the white light can shine through. I noticed that if you go directly through, then pull it out quickly, the melted plastic will form a ring onto the solder and leave a nice clean hole. 14) After making the holes, take the solder and just kind of make a cone out of the hole, so if you were to look at it from a really close sideways profile, it would like a cone. this allows more light to travel through and not directly down, but more to the sides and whatnot. 15) Re-wire your taillight/signals, it's a lengthy process but inevitably worth it. Notes I don't really want to explain the rewiring process, it is confusing at first but simple afterwards, basically all you're doing if finding the corresponding wire, snipping it, crimping it or soldering it into one of the male/female connectors you bought, finding the wire on the taillight that corresponds and doing the same, then wrapping it in electrical tape. 16) Now you should have an integrated LED that works wonderfully! I currently kept my stock license plate light on as well, with the stock license plate, just as I don't have time to do surgery to the rear fender as of yet. But when I do, I'll definitely update this on how I did it, and how it looks. p.s. I forgot to include how to install the ep34 flasher, it's really easy, just unplug the stock one (it's under the driver seat on the left side), and plug in the ep34. There will be one exposed prong, just take the wire you bought, crimp or solder the ring terminal connector to one end, and a female connector to the other, slide the female connector onto the flasher, and screw the ring terminal under any random screw, so as to ground the flasher. Conclusion I hope this will contribute to the forum and hopefully help people. And if people are really interested in doing this, please ask me any questions and I'd be glad to answer what I can! Also if requested I can take some pictures and maybe better explain the electrical work (which wires correspond to which) As for the aftermarket wires, this is what they are: black - ground brake light - red (the brighter/activated brake light) left turn signal - orange right turn signal - yellow running light - green (this is for the running brake light AND the license plate light, so when it's all done you'll have an extra wire hanging around from the bike, just tape it up out of the way) Note The LED stuff only requires one ground wire, where the stock set up was all separate entities, so they all had their own grounds. You just need to use one of them (I used the one from the stock running lights.) If I remember correctly, the ground wires were black with yellow on it. The other one beside it would be the running light/brake light/turn signal ect Well I really hope this makes some sort of sense. I'd love to make a better "how to" with pictures if people are interested in the project. p.p.s. It looks really good! although the process sounds "sloppy" the final product when installed looks like you bought an integrated taillight online for $120!

October 21st, 2013, 07:02 PM	#4
Motofool Daily Ninjette rider Name: Hernan Location: Florida Join Date: Mar 2011 Motorcycle(s): 2007 Ninja 250 Posts: A lot. MOTY - 2016, MOTM - Dec '12, Jan '14, Jan '15, May '16	Welcome to our site, Kyle !!! It is remarkable that your very first post has been a great contribution. Kudos to you __________________________________________________ *Motofool* *.................................Never ride faster than your guardian angel can fly* "Mankind is composed of two sorts of men — those who love and create, and those who hate and destroy. Love is the bond between men, the way to teach and the center of the world." - José Martí

October 21st, 2013, 07:11 PM	#5
csmith12 The Corner Whisperer Name: Chris (aka Reactor) Location: Northern KY Join Date: May 2011 Motorcycle(s): 2010 250 (track), 1992 250, 2006 R6 (street/track), 2008 R6 (track) Posts: Too much. MOTY 2015, MOTM - Nov '12, Nov '13	__________________________________________________ Goal: Shake A Million Hands \| Look through the corners \| Track Day Prep \| Closest track? \| The Mid-Ohio School

October 22nd, 2013, 07:09 PM	#7
JohnnyBravo Certifiable nontundrum Name: Harper Location: NC Milkshake stand Join Date: Mar 2013 Motorcycle(s): 2013 SE NINJA 300 Posts: Too much. MOTM - Sep '13, Sep '16	Great first post!!! thanks! Welcome to the forum, enjoy the ride!! __________________________________________________

October 26th, 2013, 10:53 AM	#9
Alex ninjette.org dude Name: 1 guess :-) Location: SF Bay Area Join Date: Jun 2008 Motorcycle(s): '13 Ninja 300 (white, the fastest color!), '13 R1200RT, '14 CRF250L, '12 TT-R125LE Posts: Too much. Blog Entries: 7	/moved to new-gen farkles __________________________________________________ Montgomery Street Motorcycle Club / cal24.com / crf250l.org / ninjette.org ninjette.org Terms of Service Shopping for motorcycle parts or equipment? Come here first. The friendliest Ninja 250R/300/400 forum on the internet! (especially Unregistered)

October 21st, 2013, 12:30 PM	#2
majesticmoose Canadian Name: Kyle Location: Guelph, Ontario, Canada Join Date: Oct 2013 Motorcycle(s): Ninja 250r 2010 Special Edition Posts: 3	oops can a moderator move this to the ninja 250 farkles? my bad.

October 21st, 2013, 02:09 PM	#3
ForceofWill Blind 250 Loving Whore Name: Tom Location: Chesapeake, VA Join Date: May 2011 Motorcycle(s): 2008 250R, 02 FZ1, '20 Fat Bob 114 Posts: A lot.	That is a lot of work to save $50. Plus you still have the red plastic look and not clear/smoked from a Custom LED one. Mine also has the rapid flash on initial brake pull you don't have. Props for the DIY tho. Add some pics.

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