License Plate Lighting

jhunter · June 30th, 2012, 10:48 AM

So I'm accumulating the parts necessary to remove the fender off my bike, and right now I'm needing a way to light up the license plate. Are there any recommendations or suggestions from those who have done it?

I was thinking of getting an LED strip to hang over the plate, but I've seen others do LED bolts to mount the plate with. The strip seems easier, but finding the stuff necessary at the local stores is proving to be difficult.

Any voices of experience would be appreciated with this.

Thanks!

xSean13 · June 30th, 2012, 11:01 AM

Cyclegear has license plate led bolts, if you have one of those near you. I went to the auto store near me (O'reilly auto parts) and got something that looks like these, though they were for use inside of the car (cigarette lighter). Then I just mounted them and stripped the wires then connected them to the other lights. And yes, blue led plate lights are legal in TN.

Monkeytofu · June 30th, 2012, 01:03 PM

http://s.dealextreme.com/search/LED+strip

Cheap LED strips in various lengths and colors.

If you want to consider bolts just google license plate LED on ebay. The ones I use on my 250 are these:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/320905531028...84.m1439.l2649

Super bright and white.

You'll have to wait a week or two to get those items since most of them ship from China, but that's the cost of big savings I guess

edxmon · June 30th, 2012, 01:30 PM

When I did my DIY fender chop the license plate is so close to the tail light that it illuminates it pretty well. Kinda like Sean's blue LED's but mine is lit up red :P

bdavison · June 30th, 2012, 01:51 PM

There are quite a few options.

1. Drill and fill. - Drill two holes in the bottom of the taillight lens. Insert two "light bright toy" pegs, glue into place with cyanoacrylate, or epoxy, then cut flush with a razor saw.

2. Install a LED strip.

3. Install an accent light under the tail.
http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/de...0387&ppt=C0335

4. Install license plate bolt LED's

jhunter · August 12th, 2012, 06:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bdavison

4. Install license plate bolt LED's

Thanks for the suggestions. Chopped the fender and installed bolts like these. Overall it cost me less than $20 for the parts and about an hour or two of time. Turned out pretty good.

pop0tart · August 12th, 2012, 06:59 AM

I used one of these in my fender chop and I am very happy with the results. It looks like I used a commercial fender eliminator kit.

http://www.amazon.com/Custom-Dynamic...se+plate+frame

jhunter · August 13th, 2012, 05:03 AM

That's a nice solution. Looks a lot cleaner than the bolts. I might need to redo this at some point.heh

rojoracing53 · August 13th, 2012, 04:06 PM

I used this single white LED to light my plate, just drilled a 1/4 hole and glue it on the inside facing out. Blinker as also from the same sight.
http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-b...Fld1-x_alm.htm

Stingray1000 · August 13th, 2012, 04:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jhunter

Thanks for the suggestions. Chopped the fender and installed bolts like these. Overall it cost me less than $20 for the parts and about an hour or two of time. Turned out pretty good.

I used the same ones although I've been told that they don't light it up enough....

jhunter · August 13th, 2012, 06:51 PM

Lol Did the person that told you that have nice shiney lights on their car?

Aggrotech · August 13th, 2012, 09:02 PM

Pics please, if you can. I know theres plenty of DIY's on here but i always like to see how everyone does their chops.

jhunter · August 15th, 2012, 08:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aggrotech

Pics please, if you can. I know theres plenty of DIY's on here but i always like to see how everyone does their chops.

Didn't take pics during the process, but here are pics of the job afterwards. I can explain how to do it easily enough.

Aggrotech · August 16th, 2012, 04:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jhunter

Didn't take pics during the process, but here are pics of the job afterwards. I can explain how to do it easily enough.

Could you? Looks better than alot of the FE's that are actually way overpriced for what they really are! :O

FrugalNinja250 · August 16th, 2012, 06:25 AM

Be aware, federal law requires white lighting, and many states and municipalities enforce state laws that parallel federal law. Also, blue lighting is often illegal with strict enforcement.

Another option is an LED trailer license plate light, it meets DOT regulations and is already in a housing with mounting holes for ease of installation. Tractor Supply and Northern Tools stock those.

jhunter · August 16th, 2012, 06:44 AM

Yeah, the bolts I got give off white light. It was one key thing I was looking for.lol

I'll see if I can do a write-up later today, Aggro.

jhunter · August 17th, 2012, 07:35 PM

ok @Aggrotech here you go:

I was going to do some pictures along with this, but I couldn't find the time / motivation to go get them.lol This is going to be very abridged, but I'll go into detail where necessary. Also, I did this a couple weeks ago and I'm writing this all down from memory...fair warning.

1. Take off the seats and all the plastics / fairings off the back end to get to your tail light assembly.

2. Disconnect all turn signal and general lighting wires from their power sources.

3. Remove the bolts holding the fender in place at the back of the tail. (If you're replacing the light, go ahead and unbolt that part too.)

4. Remove turn signals, licence plate bracket and license plate light from the fender.

5. Take drummel tool to fender!

If you look at the fender, there is a nice clean line that goes under the brake light and around the sides, over the turn signals. Since I had an integrated tail light (turn signals built in) I didn't care for the turn signals so I chopped that part off. If you do that, see step 6. If you want to leave the turn signals on it, I believe you can follow an alternate line under the turn signal mounting area.

The easiest way to cut this was to use the drummel to cut the line from the exterior of the fender (the side you see) on the sides, but when you went to cut under the line, turn the fender around and use the drummel to cut it from the inside.

6. If you are removing the turn signals, or are just mounting them a different way, and you cut off the plastic cover of the mounting area, there will be metal loops hanging out in the open in this area next to your cargo hooks. I opted to remove these, but to do so we had to drill the rivets out of the metal base under the fender to take that stupid thing off. Once the rivets were out, the metal plate (with loops and hooks) separated with ease.

7. To smooth out the rough edges the drummel left, we took the now compact non-fender to a sander and meticulously sanded it down giving it a nice even and consistent line. I've heard you can do this with a lighter as well, but that seemed like too much could go wrong, and the sander was so convenient.

8. Place the tail-light assembly back together, along with your now-modded fender, and use the protruding bolts to mount a couple L brackets to hold the license plate assembly.

9. Attach the license plate mount to the L brackets. For this we used some of the original parts (minus the reflector-thing...it looked ugly) so we screwed the main license plate mount onto the L brackets (the lines for the holder and the bolts didn't match up 100%, but you can fiddle with it to get it to look right). Then we used the original bar that went on the mount to attach the license plate to hold the plate again.

10. Mount the license plate LED bolts through the license plate and the bar that holds it, and then run the wires up into the tail of the bike. There is a little hole under the left side (when looking at the tail light) that provides easy access. To power the bolts, we simply chopped off the plug for the original license plate light and wired the bolts together with that to give them a nice plug into the existing power source.

While obviously pictures would have been better, I hope this gives you a rough idea.

Beller · August 20th, 2012, 08:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jhunter

So I'm accumulating the parts necessary to remove the fender off my bike, and right now I'm needing a way to light up the license plate. Are there any recommendations or suggestions from those who have done it?

I was thinking of getting an LED strip to hang over the plate, but I've seen others do LED bolts to mount the plate with. The strip seems easier, but finding the stuff necessary at the local stores is proving to be difficult.

Any voices of experience would be appreciated with this.

Thanks!

I have employed LED lights on my bike and even on car. They are giving best results. SO no problem using them.

June 30th, 2012, 10:48 AM	#1
jhunter ninjette.org member Name: Jonathan Location: Georgia Join Date: Jun 2012 Motorcycle(s): 2008 Kawasaki Ninja 250r Posts: 129	License Plate Lighting So I'm accumulating the parts necessary to remove the fender off my bike, and right now I'm needing a way to light up the license plate. Are there any recommendations or suggestions from those who have done it? I was thinking of getting an LED strip to hang over the plate, but I've seen others do LED bolts to mount the plate with. The strip seems easier, but finding the stuff necessary at the local stores is proving to be difficult. Any voices of experience would be appreciated with this. Thanks!

June 30th, 2012, 01:30 PM	#4
edxmon ninjette.org guru Name: Ed Location: San Diego Join Date: Mar 2012 Motorcycle(s): '08 Ninja 250R (SOLD - 2/16/2013) Posts: 492	When I did my DIY fender chop the license plate is so close to the tail light that it illuminates it pretty well. Kinda like Sean's blue LED's but mine is lit up red :P __________________________________________________ Mods/Add-on list: DanMoto Jisu, Snorkel delete, Shimmed needles, K&N Drop-In filter, T-Rex frame sliders, Shogun swing-arm spools, CBR250 Rear Hugger, Buell XB Pegs. DIY polished rim lips

August 17th, 2012, 07:35 PM	#17
jhunter ninjette.org member Name: Jonathan Location: Georgia Join Date: Jun 2012 Motorcycle(s): 2008 Kawasaki Ninja 250r Posts: 129	ok @Aggrotech here you go: I was going to do some pictures along with this, but I couldn't find the time / motivation to go get them.lol This is going to be very abridged, but I'll go into detail where necessary. Also, I did this a couple weeks ago and I'm writing this all down from memory...fair warning. 1. Take off the seats and all the plastics / fairings off the back end to get to your tail light assembly. 2. Disconnect all turn signal and general lighting wires from their power sources. 3. Remove the bolts holding the fender in place at the back of the tail. (If you're replacing the light, go ahead and unbolt that part too.) 4. Remove turn signals, licence plate bracket and license plate light from the fender. 5. Take drummel tool to fender! If you look at the fender, there is a nice clean line that goes under the brake light and around the sides, over the turn signals. Since I had an integrated tail light (turn signals built in) I didn't care for the turn signals so I chopped that part off. If you do that, see step 6. If you want to leave the turn signals on it, I believe you can follow an alternate line under the turn signal mounting area. The easiest way to cut this was to use the drummel to cut the line from the exterior of the fender (the side you see) on the sides, but when you went to cut under the line, turn the fender around and use the drummel to cut it from the inside. 6. If you are removing the turn signals, or are just mounting them a different way, and you cut off the plastic cover of the mounting area, there will be metal loops hanging out in the open in this area next to your cargo hooks. I opted to remove these, but to do so we had to drill the rivets out of the metal base under the fender to take that stupid thing off. Once the rivets were out, the metal plate (with loops and hooks) separated with ease. 7. To smooth out the rough edges the drummel left, we took the now compact non-fender to a sander and meticulously sanded it down giving it a nice even and consistent line. I've heard you can do this with a lighter as well, but that seemed like too much could go wrong, and the sander was so convenient. 8. Place the tail-light assembly back together, along with your now-modded fender, and use the protruding bolts to mount a couple L brackets to hold the license plate assembly. 9. Attach the license plate mount to the L brackets. For this we used some of the original parts (minus the reflector-thing...it looked ugly) so we screwed the main license plate mount onto the L brackets (the lines for the holder and the bolts didn't match up 100%, but you can fiddle with it to get it to look right). Then we used the original bar that went on the mount to attach the license plate to hold the plate again. 10. Mount the license plate LED bolts through the license plate and the bar that holds it, and then run the wires up into the tail of the bike. There is a little hole under the left side (when looking at the tail light) that provides easy access. To power the bolts, we simply chopped off the plug for the original license plate light and wired the bolts together with that to give them a nice plug into the existing power source. While obviously pictures would have been better, I hope this gives you a rough idea. __________________________________________________ Just imagine that there is something interesting here.

June 30th, 2012, 11:01 AM	#2
xSean13 ninjette.org certified postwhore Name: Sean Location: Middle TN Join Date: Apr 2012 Motorcycle(s): 2010 Ninja 250r (sold) / '03 CBR 600RR Posts: A lot.	Cyclegear has license plate led bolts, if you have one of those near you. I went to the auto store near me (O'reilly auto parts) and got something that looks like these, though they were for use inside of the car (cigarette lighter). Then I just mounted them and stripped the wires then connected them to the other lights. And yes, blue led plate lights are legal in TN.

June 30th, 2012, 01:03 PM	#3
Monkeytofu I told you bro Name: Noor Location: Austin, Texas Join Date: Jun 2012 Motorcycle(s): 1996 Ninja 250r Posts: 680	http://s.dealextreme.com/search/LED+strip Cheap LED strips in various lengths and colors. If you want to consider bolts just google license plate LED on ebay. The ones I use on my 250 are these: http://www.ebay.com/itm/320905531028...84.m1439.l2649 Super bright and white. You'll have to wait a week or two to get those items since most of them ship from China, but that's the cost of big savings I guess

June 30th, 2012, 01:51 PM	#5
bdavison Wartown, USA Name: Bryan Location: Warner Robins, GA Join Date: Nov 2009 Motorcycle(s): 2009 Ninja 250R SE, 2007 Ninja 650R, and assorted other bikes Posts: A lot.	There are quite a few options. 1. Drill and fill. - Drill two holes in the bottom of the taillight lens. Insert two "light bright toy" pegs, glue into place with cyanoacrylate, or epoxy, then cut flush with a razor saw. 2. Install a LED strip. 3. Install an accent light under the tail. http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/de...0387&ppt=C0335 4. Install license plate bolt LED's

August 13th, 2012, 05:03 AM	#8
jhunter ninjette.org member Name: Jonathan Location: Georgia Join Date: Jun 2012 Motorcycle(s): 2008 Kawasaki Ninja 250r Posts: 129	That's a nice solution. Looks a lot cleaner than the bolts. I might need to redo this at some point.heh

August 13th, 2012, 04:06 PM	#9
rojoracing53 Fast-Guy wannabe Name: Jason Location: Brentwood, Ca Join Date: Oct 2011 Motorcycle(s): 2009 Ninja250, 2011 RM-Z250, 2004 NSR50, Posts: A lot. MOTM - Jan '13	I used this single white LED to light my plate, just drilled a 1/4 hole and glue it on the inside facing out. Blinker as also from the same sight. http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-b...Fld1-x_alm.htm

August 13th, 2012, 06:51 PM	#11
jhunter ninjette.org member Name: Jonathan Location: Georgia Join Date: Jun 2012 Motorcycle(s): 2008 Kawasaki Ninja 250r Posts: 129	Lol Did the person that told you that have nice shiney lights on their car?

August 13th, 2012, 09:02 PM	#12
Aggrotech ninjette.org sage Name: Justin Location: Fresno CA Join Date: Jun 2012 Motorcycle(s): 12' Ninja 250 Posts: 831	Pics please, if you can. I know theres plenty of DIY's on here but i always like to see how everyone does their chops.

August 16th, 2012, 06:25 AM	#15
FrugalNinja250 ninjette.org certified postwhore Name: Frugal Location: Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) Join Date: Mar 2010 Motorcycle(s): Several Posts: A lot.	Be aware, federal law requires white lighting, and many states and municipalities enforce state laws that parallel federal law. Also, blue lighting is often illegal with strict enforcement. Another option is an LED trailer license plate light, it meets DOT regulations and is already in a housing with mounting holes for ease of installation. Tractor Supply and Northern Tools stock those.

August 16th, 2012, 06:44 AM	#16
jhunter ninjette.org member Name: Jonathan Location: Georgia Join Date: Jun 2012 Motorcycle(s): 2008 Kawasaki Ninja 250r Posts: 129	Yeah, the bolts I got give off white light. It was one key thing I was looking for.lol I'll see if I can do a write-up later today, Aggro.