LED Taillights

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layoutd
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LED Taillights

Post by layoutd »

do they make a led taillight that fits into the OEM connector? or something else that might last longer than one ride?
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Post by Mr. Wibbens »

Here's what I did Image

Found it at Wallyworld, of course!
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Post by JD »

I had the same problem with my tailight. Would last 1 or 2 rides. What I ended up doing (because I needed a brake light for street reg) was to get a cheap double filament (1157) socket and replace the stock one filament socket. Then I put in LED. No problems - it has lasted for a couple months now.

I got everything I needed at Auto Zone, but just about any auto parts store should be stocking the LED's. I'm sure they would have the single filament replacement (1156) LED's too if you don't need the brake light set-up. The only thing to be aware of is the space in the stock housing. I've got a 19 LED cluster in mine and it fits fine, but they have some 24+ clusters that would probably run into clearance issues. I also had to file the top of the socket down slightly because of the much greater flare at the top of the LED base, but you might not run into that problem with a smaller cluster, like an 11 or 15. Really was not a big deal though.

The LED's definitely cost more at the counter but are much cheaper in the long run.
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Post by canyncarvr »

My LED 'lamp' from autozone (schucks, whatever) didn't last as long as a filament blub. It literally in dozens of pieces after a couple rides.

Others don't seem to have the problem.

I'm going to get something like Wibby's sometime. I haven't had a back light for a long time....

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Post by JD »

I also used a few rubber washers on the housing bolts under the fender to minimize the vibration.

Let that thing buzz and it won't matter what you have in there, it'll come apart.
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Post by Indawoods »

Got mine from Kevins Racing... on the Links page. I love it! Baja Designs about $55....

Of course mine is a brakelight too....

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Post by paulkdx220 »

hi,

i just sourced a dual contact tail light socket from a 220SR model so i can run a brake light.

will a 1157 style LED work off of my (2001 kdx 220) AC system? if so any suggestions on what size, LED arrangement to get that fits? was looking at this site: http://www.LEDLight.com/

also, looking for a cheap replacement headlight bulb (stock setup). kawi charges $35!!!

p
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Post by Brian »

I bought mine from Trail Tech. They happen to have their manufacturing facility right up the street from me. :mrgreen:
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Post by SilvFx »

paulkdx220....

Ron Ayers has the 2001 KDX220 headlight bulb (92069-1080) for $17.40. Here is the link to the fiche:

http://www.ronayers.com/Fiche/TypeID/26 ... illight(s).

There may be other internet OEM parts people that can get cheaper, but I have found Ron Ayers to have very good pricing on OEM parts and pretty reasonable shipping rates.

The trailtech 1157 LED bulb will fit the stock connector as Brian indicates above....just reinforcing what he said.. I bought the Trail Tech 1157 LED light from sicassracing. I think rockymountainatvmc also carries it along with Trail Tech and probably dozens of other people.

One last thing, not sure about the price on the 220SR 3 wire connector you sourced but another option that I just used was a 2005 Yamaha WR250F taillight assembly which is identical in every way except it has a 3 wire connector [tail light (blue wire), brake light (yellow wire), ground (black wire)]. You can't just buy the connector, but the entire tail lamp assembly is about $51 (5TJ-84710-00-00) plus $7 for the plate that goes underneath (5TJ-21677-00-00) if you order through Ron Ayers. Grommets, spacers and nuts are nearly identical between Kawasaki and Yamaha. but you may want to pick up the Yamaha spacers and washers just to be sure if you go this route.

I like the Yamaha version of the taillight better since the metal plate that goes under the Yamaha taillamp assembly holds the taillight assembly much tighter in the OEM Kawasaki rear fender. On my 2006 KDX200 the rubber grommets would not hold the tail light assembly tight against the fender due to the length of the OEM metal spacers (too long) and the thickness of the OEM rubber grommets (too thin) and the light would just vibrate and get water underneath it. The Yami WR light and plate hold much tighter to the OEM Kawasaki fender. You will need to trim of the metal loop from the metal plate that is designed to go face down into the WR250F fender (you will see what I mean when you look at the fiche diagram) but otherwise it is an EXACT fit into the Kawasaki OEM fender.

The Yami light also uses NT-040 3 way connector to hook to the OEM Yamaha harness. I believe Kawi uses bullet connectors, so you will need to replace with whatever connector type you like (I prefer the Sumitomo connector).

Forgive me if this is also obvious to you, but I am guessing you will need to splice into the current power source for the tail lilght (red wire) and add a wire that goes through the brake pressure switch and then hooks to the brake light wire on the 3 wire tail lamp connector that you are planning to use (unless the KDX220R wiring harness already includes a power wire for a brake light - i only know about the KDX200) The tail light (red wire) and the ground wire (black/yellow wire) will still hook up as before to the tail light. The Posi-Tap products are a good way to splice into the power wire and the Posi-connector is good to connect to the brake pressure switch if you dont have a good crimper and experience with crimping wires and using waterproof connectors.

Sorry if you are already good with your wiring plan and I am repeating stuff that you already know. It was a big learning curve for me (non-electrical guy) but I did manage to get the brake light and tail light working on the KDX200 using the Yamaha 3 wire taillight assembly.
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Post by SilvFx »

paulkdx220...

found this link over at ThumperTalk for replacement headlamp....$2.80 each.

http://www.hyperparts.com/wc.dll?ctwp~i ... 02~H290715
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Post by paulkdx220 »

thanks for the good info guys.

to clarify, i bought the complete tail light assy used from a site in germany. according to them it was from a klx650c which has the same part # as the 220sr. (i have a 220sr parts book that i picked up from ebay). note: if you look up north american spec'ed klx650c1 c2 c3 etc... parts you will find a different part and part#. anyways this tail light i have now has the 3rd wire with bullet connectors. i made a "y" (or "t") jumper to pick power off of the tail light bullet terminal that feeds to the "low profile" rear brake press switch (thanks to procycle) and then a wire leaving the switch to supply the brake light bullet terminal. no cutting or spicing into the bikes existing wiring needed. all done with female ad male bullets. it worked briefly, but i blew the bulb (brake fillament). the bulb had 6v written on it instead of 12v, i bought a 12v 1157 incandescent, so hopefully it'll work.
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Post by SilvFx »

Paul,

sounds like you have the wiring down correctly. The issue I had with the incandescent light is that between the headlight, tail light and brake light, it is too much wattage draw. I found that the incandescent works just fine with headlight and taillight...as soon as you press the brake lever, the extra draw dims the taillight to virtually nothing and doesnt light up the brake light very well.

Swapping in the LED 1157 fixes that since the wattage required is only about 1-2 watts.

I had read that the KDX stator only puts about about 40W with the headlight taking 30W and tail light about 10W there is no capacity to spare for lighting the brake light filament. Some people have indicated no problems running the incandescent tail and brake light. Not sure if their stator was exceptional or if they had an aftermarket and didnt know it.

You will know shortly if you can get away with the incandescent version. of the 1157 for tail/brake light.
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Post by paulkdx220 »

i have a 65w stator installed from steahly offroad
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Post by paulkdx220 »

i have a 65w stator installed from steahly offroad
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Post by SilvFx »

Paul...sounds like you will be fine with the incandescent 1157 bulb. Let us know how it works with the Steahly 65W stator.

Out of curiosity...how much is the 3 wire taillight assembly for the 220SR/KLX650C that you are using?
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Post by paulkdx220 »

i paid $50 for it (used) from a german site. http://www.bike-teile.de/

i'll post my findings...
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Post by paulkdx220 »

it works!
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Post by rbates9 »

I'm not trying to start a fight but Why do so many of you have so many problems with a tail light? I have had the same working stock tail light bulb in my 2000 and still no issues. I tend to run the lights about half the time, but it sounds like most of the complaints are from vibration and mine is completely stock mounting.
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Post by SilvFx »

rbates...not sure about everyone else and the typical taillight problems. I bought my '06 KDX200 this past December (never owned one before so this is my only experience) At the time I bought the bike, the owner said the rear light was working prior and the bulb must be bad. I replaced the bulb and the taillight worked fine....except:

The only issue that I noticed is the entire light assembly wasnt held tight against the fender and was vibrating like crazy. I figured I just needed to tighten the nuts on studs to hold it tighter against the fender. What I found is that the OEM metal spacers (like a metal collar with an integrated washer) are thicker than the rubber grommets so I could not just tighten the nuts further onto the studs to hold the light assembly tighter against the grommets and fender I assumed the rubber grommets had dried out and had been compressed so I ordered new rubber grommets....and same situation. One solution would be to trim down the thickness of the metal spacers so the nut is squeezing the rubber grommets and holding the light tighter against the fender.

As I indicated above, I needed to wire a brake light, so I just went with the '05 WR250F tail light assembly. Almost everything is the same between the Yamaha and the Kawasaki except for the metal plate that goes under the Yamaha tail light and its helps to hold the light assembly tight against the grommets. If I wasnt adding the brake light, I would just grind/sand down the thickness of the metal spacers so the OEM KDX light could be tightened further onto the studs with the rubber grommets holding it tight against the stock fender.

I dont know if my situation was unusual, but I was convinced with the vibration/loose rear tail light, the single filament taillight bulb wouldnt last very long. Near as I can tell all the tail light parts that were on the KDX200 that I bought were OEM.
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Post by Brian »

I think the stock tail light assy is made like that for a reason. I think it allows the light assy to float in place. Although it would seem to make it vibrate more, I think it actually vibrates less than if it were hard mounted to the fender. It may move around a bit but a hard mount would make the vibrations to filiment more intense, causing a shorter bulb life.

I think running with your lights on will help them last longer if they are breaking filiments because of vibration. A red hot piece of metal (glowing light bulb) is more flexible than one that's cold.

When an airliner crashes, one of the tools they use during their investigation is looking at the bulbs in the cockpit warning lights. If the filiments are in pieces inside the bulb it was off at impact. If the filiment is all stretched out and deformed, it means it was "on" at impact.
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