Gen1 LED Tag Light Installation
Materials and Tools
phillips screwdriver
license plate LED
electrical tape
#6 washer
nonpermanent liquid gasket
nonpermanent thread locking agent
7 mm open end wrench
mineral spirits
clean rag
tape measure
shrink tubing or other protective tubing.
8 gauge wire
hair drier or heat gun
zip ties
Two 3/16” 18-22 gauge male electrical contacts
wire cutters
pliers
220 grit sand paper
test light
This procedure works well with a DIY fender eliminator but it may work with fender eliminator kits as well. You will need to remove seat and small tail fairing piece above the brake/tail light. Stock tag light and rear fender must also be removed. It would be wise to mark the polarity on the tag tight connector so that it may be properly tapped into at the end of this procedure.
DIY Fender Eliminator
Here are a couple of pics of the LED I purchased from MotoTech Innovation of Canada.
I bout two for about $25 (thought I might as well have a backup). There are similar license plate bolt LEDs. I chose this one because it was a U45 which is supposed to be a good brightness for a tag light. I like that the LED is angled. That was not easy to find. I also felt better going with a LED made for motorcycles by a motorcycle lighting manufacturer. As you can see, the LED is tiny. The link to MotoTech is below.
I have seen similar LEDs that are not angled used as tag lights and they work just fine. The main thing would be that the threaded stem needs to fit through the hole in the undertail.
I also used some nonpermanent thread locking agent. Blue, NOT red.
This is the liquid gasket I purchased. It was the least expensive one and that is why I chose it. It is (red) for permanent assembly which is not what I would consider best. Blue RTV Form-a-gasket would be the one I would have preferred because it should be easy to remove.
I found this pack of #6 washers at Lowe’s. They are a bit over 1/4” O.D. and the inner diam fits pretty close to the unthreaded shoulder on the LED I bought.
The wires of the LED are very fine and require some sort of protective covering. This was the smallest shrink tubing I could find. Some other small tubing would work just as well and be much quicker.
These electrical contacts were the closest thing I could find to being small enough to fit the tag light connector. I found them at Radio Shack.
This photo shows my undertail with my DIY fender eliminator and undertail hole plugs. As you can see, the rearmost nut is in an ideal location for a tag light. That is the one we will use.
1. Remove Fuse box (top, grey plugs) from rubber retainer by pushing it forward out of retainer. Remove ECU(bottom, large black plugs) from retainer in the same way.
2. Place hand on back of brake/tail light for support. Using a phillips screwdriver, remove three screws, each with washer, to deinstall brake/tail light.
3. Press bottom tab of connector to disconnect wire from brake/tail light. Clear brake/tail light.
4. Wrap the ends of the LED wires with electrical tape so that they may be threaded through small holes easier. Slide a #6 washer over the wires to the back side of the LED.
5. If any plug exists, remove it from rearmost hole in undertail. Thread taped end of wires through hole from underside of undertail. Slide nut over taped end of wires. Apply nonpermanent liquid gasket to top of #6 washer and around hole. Allow liquid gasket to become tacky. Apply a drop of nonpermanent locking agent to threads on LED.
6. Press washer to bottom surface of undertail. Holding LED in proper position, tighten nut onto LED using a 7mm open end wrench. The nut is accessed through space under seat where fuse box and ECU were pulled from their retainers. Thoroughly wipe away the liquid gasket material that gets squeezed out. Use mineral spirits and a clean rag to clean up the residue.
7. Measure length of wire from LED with a tape measure.
8. Use an appropriate length of shrink tubing or other protective tubing to cover the LED wires. Pass 8 gauge wire through tubing and hook the tape wrapped end of the LED wires. Pull LED wires all the way through tubing.
9. If using shrink tubing shrink with hair drier or heat gun.
10. Using zip ties (blue pointers), fasten tube to large, electrical tape wrapped bundle of wiring inside of left under-seat compartment.
11. I was able to modify electrical contacts that were slightly too large to fit the tag light connector. I scored the metal by squeezing in a sharp wire cutters and then bending the metal with a pliers to break off the unwanted piece. I also smoothed the cut edges with a mill file and 220 grit sand paper. The thickness of the metal was also thinned down somewhat by rubbing the contacts over sand paper.
12. Using a pliers, crimp a contact onto the stripped end of each LED wire. My LED shares the tag light connector with another accessory. I have crimped the wires for both accessories in the same contacts.
13. Plug contacts into proper polarity of tag light connector. If you do not know the negative and positive polarity of the connector, you will need to test it with a test light.
14. Turn key to ON in ignition. Tag light LED should light up if it is in proper working order and installed properly.
15. Wrap connector and contacts with electrical tape to insulate and secure in the connector.
16. Reconnect and reinstall tail light. Reinstall small tail fairing and seat.
* Last updated by: Rook on 4/20/2015 @ 3:18 AM *