foxtrot722 Posted September 29, 2018 Share Posted September 29, 2018 Decided I would like to improve the effectiveness of the rear brake light. Decided to go with a red LED strobe with 18 user selectable flash patterns. Chose the Elemental 6 which has 6 - 3-watt LED lights. Calculated the current flow to be about 1.5 amps. These lights are very bright, in the workshop that is well light with fluorescent lighting, these lights are too bright to look at. A quick peek and you will be seeing spots for a while. The instructions warn not to look directly at light. Looked that the schematic and it looks like you have the battery, then a 50-amp fuse, then the key switch, then a 7.5 amp fuse, then the front and rear brake light switches in parallel, then the OEM brake light. Down stream of the brake light switches, there is a wire that goes to the antilock control unit. Decided the set the flash pattern to rapid flash, split, flash the 3 LEDs on one side, then the 3 on the other side. In theory, this should have reduced the electrical load to 0.75 amps The Fj has a side bags and luggage rack with top luggage box also. Build a little bracket and mounted over the existing brake light, under the luggage rack. Didn’t break the OEN brake light circuit, simple removed a small section of insulation and soldered in the feed wire for the LED light. Ran the ground back to the battery. I haven’t been on a road trip yet to get some feedback from someone following me, but it makes a good impression here in the shop. 1970 DT-250 / 1972 250MX / 1973 360MX / 1974 250MX & 1974 CZ 400 Red Frame & SC 500 / 1978 YZ 250 / 1979 YZ250 / (2) 1980 YZ 250 / 1986 YZ 490 / 1989 YZ250 WR / 1994 YZ 250 / (2) 2002 YZ 426 / 2007 YZ 450 / 2007 DR 650, 2015 FJ 09 / 2020 YZ 250 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wordsmith Posted September 29, 2018 Share Posted September 29, 2018 Looks good, foxtrot! Anything - within reason - that makes a bike and rider more conspicuous is a good idea, IMHO. Riding a fully-farkled 2019 MT-09 Tracer 900 GT from my bayside home in South East Queensland, Australia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member 2and3cylinders Posted October 1, 2018 Premium Member Share Posted October 1, 2018 I understand your concern about amperage draw but 1.5 amps is really incidental given the output capacity of the alternator. I would suggest only utilizing your tap into the brake light positive wire for a trigger for either a mechanical or electrical relay and power the new auxiliary brake light directly from the battery with its own inline fuse close to the battery under the seat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingofthenorth Posted October 1, 2018 Share Posted October 1, 2018 Are you aware of Motodynamic tail light? You can set it up to blink 3 times when braking. Just saying! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxtrot722 Posted October 2, 2018 Author Share Posted October 2, 2018 I understand your concern about amperage draw but 1.5 amps is really incidental given the output capacity of the alternator. I would suggest only utilizing your tap into the brake light positive wire for a trigger for either a mechanical or electrical relay and power the new auxiliary brake light directly from the battery with its own inline fuse close to the battery under the seat. Excellent idea, I'll look into that. thanks 1970 DT-250 / 1972 250MX / 1973 360MX / 1974 250MX & 1974 CZ 400 Red Frame & SC 500 / 1978 YZ 250 / 1979 YZ250 / (2) 1980 YZ 250 / 1986 YZ 490 / 1989 YZ250 WR / 1994 YZ 250 / (2) 2002 YZ 426 / 2007 YZ 450 / 2007 DR 650, 2015 FJ 09 / 2020 YZ 250 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxtrot722 Posted October 2, 2018 Author Share Posted October 2, 2018 Are you aware of Motodynamic tail light? You can set it up to blink 3 times when braking. Just saying!No sir I wasn't, but will look into it. One of the 18 flash sequences that is selectable is to flash several sequences consecutively. Looks totally random, sometimes alternating side to side, then complete light flashing different patterns. This light is very very bright. Thanks for the tip, 1970 DT-250 / 1972 250MX / 1973 360MX / 1974 250MX & 1974 CZ 400 Red Frame & SC 500 / 1978 YZ 250 / 1979 YZ250 / (2) 1980 YZ 250 / 1986 YZ 490 / 1989 YZ250 WR / 1994 YZ 250 / (2) 2002 YZ 426 / 2007 YZ 450 / 2007 DR 650, 2015 FJ 09 / 2020 YZ 250 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suitedsevens Posted October 4, 2018 Share Posted October 4, 2018 Are you aware of Motodynamic tail light? You can set it up to blink 3 times when braking. Just saying! Great light, honestly think it is a huge improvement over stock just for the running light and integrated signals. I was honestly pretty disappointed when I realized how weak the stock taillight is. Those little \\ / things barely pop compared to having all the bulbs on. '17 electric white fj - oem heated grips - oem hard side bags - heated corbin saddle - mra touring screen - motodynamic tail light - baja designs led turn signals - yoshimura full exhaust/fender eliminator - k-tech razor r rear shock/front fork kit - evotech radiator guard - mt-09 adventure pegs - pazzo shorty levers - stainless bar end weights '19 Husky fe501 - cut off a few things and fixed the fueling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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