LED brake light

[NYmike]

a friend of mine mentioned that he had recently seen a thread in this forum explaining how to make an LED rear tail/brake light..is this true, any help would be very much appreciated..

thanks,

mike

[r1superstar]

You should be able to just replace the OEM one with an LED unit.

[NYmike]

this isn't for a WR tail light, its for an aftermarket...i am going to need to fabricate it...

[r1superstar]

Well this is the WR section of the forum. ?

[r_dawg1021]

From what I know you need to get the YZ rear for the aftermarket LED brake light to work. I saw Baja Designs has an LED option. I actually asked about it and the guy told me I would need a YZ rear for it to work. I guess the WE fender goes down too far or something...

[sabin]

I got led blub for my wr450. the problem is that the electrical circle is AC and led blubs require DC to work or they are really dim.

Here are some links with info on the subject:

link1

link2

link3

[Drtbykr]

When I tried this, my fuses blew immediately. So try one at a time (don't buy three like I did). Good luck.

[ddialogue]

this isn't for a WR tail light, its for an aftermarket...i am going to need to fabricate it...

PM N7SLC...he just fabricated some LED turn signals for his DRZ and he might be able to give you some guidance.

Not sure what Sabin is referring to about the LED's being dim when on AC because my 1157 LED replacement is plenty bright. ?

[Dodger]

Like this one??

http://www.rockymountainmc.com/home.asp?sid=0004875546

Ok, the link doesn't take you right to it. Search on Tail Light, and select the Acerbis LED Tail Light.

I love mine, works great ?

Dodger

[ogrebelle]

I know what Sabin is referring to...mine are dim (way dimmer that regular 1157) too. I bought them a year ago and they are sitting on a shelf in my garage 'cuz they suck. ? I would love to get them to work so I don't have to replace them so much due to vibration.

Doug

[ddialogue]

Doug...are the running lights dim or the brake light or both? My 1157 led runs on AC while the bike is running and the brake light works off DC (it will operate when the bike is off) and I guess that's why mine is so bright? ?

[Rip Wheeler]

a friend of mine mentioned that he had recently seen a thread in this forum explaining how to make an LED rear tail/brake light..is this true, any help would be very much appreciated..

thanks,

mike

Been there, done it. The system is AC, but a diode IS a rectifier, so it will convert it to DC, but only "half wave rectified which is fine. I just did this to my WR426, there is a wire going to the running lamp now, I just made a "T" in that wire, ran the wire from the "T" to a pressure switch I got (10X1.25 thread) and then the other wire from the switch back up to the tail lamp, there is an extra wire in the tail lamp, plug it in and its done. This way only allows stop lamps when the headlamps are on. I used an LED bulb because the stop wattage (21 watts) is too much for the AC lighting system. Works great!

[ogrebelle]

Dave,

My system is still all AC. When I used the LED I didn't have a brake-light switch yet. It was the running light that was way dim. Maybe I need to do use a diode like Toyota is suggesting. ? The only reason I havn't thrown them out is that I have hopes of getting them to work someday and recouping some of the $15 investment.

Doug

[Brettv]

i think what toyota ment was that the LED is a diode (Light Emitting Diode) so it automatically converts to DC, although only half wave, because of ACs full wave nature. and DC is half wave without a capacitor or battery tp flatten it out

?

[NYmike]

i'm still a little confused, going to order about a dozen LEDs that are bright 3000m___ something and see what happens???????? ?

[vtfootball79]

An LED is a Diode, but it isn't going to convert AC to DC. What an LED does is it turns on only when you reach a certain voltage. So what you are actually seeing is a fast flashing of the rear light when you just plug it in to the AC output. The easiest way to correct the problem would be a bridge rectifier. It is simple to wire (only four wires) and provides Full wave rectification which will you give you the most bang for your buck without adding in capacitors and zener diodes and other stuff to really smooth out the ripple in the waveform. You can get a bridge from radio shack. You will need a soldering iron, solder, some wire (stranded and insulated) and either heat shrink or electrical tape to insulate connections. When you get the bridge it will look like a little black box with four metal leads coming out of it. Now the leads might be marked on the box, or they might not. If they are not get the guy at radio shack to look up which lead is which and then write it down so you don’t forget. Find a place to mount the bridge that is somewhere along the wire path that runs to your taillight. Cut the wires in the spot you chose, this is where the spare wire comes in handy if you don't want to mount it RIGHT in the wire path. Find the two leads that are marked AC and connect the wires that are connected to the stator, not to the light. Solder your connections, insulate, and then find the other side of the two wires that are connected to your taillight. Determine which one is + and which is - and connect them to the remaining two leads on the bridge. Be sure to observe correct polarity, led's won't turn on if they are wired in reverse polarity.