Tail Light Options

[ghostntheshell]

how many miles?

Me?

45000kms.

I put on a little over 100kms.

I have only been able to ride this October - and well over hald my available days have been rain and wet leaves.

I will be putting thousands on the Vmax next summer, if it's in the cards for me!

 

[gamorg02]

yea i was just wondering how many miles u've gotten so far. keep up the ridin bud!

 

[ghostntheshell]

It would have been triple that or more had it not been raining every single time I go out!

 

[ghostntheshell]

Got it in the mail today!

It's much smaller than I thought!

 

[[email protected]]

I finally did something about my tail light. I just got done making this thing. I bought some flexible LED strips from Radiantz and tag bolts from custom dynamics.

I removed the inner rear fender, made two aluminum brackets from some 1/8 x 3/4 stock to support the license plate. The brackets attach to the two captive nuts under the fender. Then I used some thin aluminum sheet as a backing plate and cut it to match the curve of the fender and bent it so it goes up under the fender. I mounted my lights on the backing plate.

100 LEDs total in the setup two strips have 35 each and on has 30. I wired in a dual element circuit from radiantz so it works with both running and brake lights.

I'm planning to do something with the rear reflector too.

Heres a couple pics and a short video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fo17Yav6yfI

 

[06VMAXIMUS]

Tail light and plate look great, Mike. Like to do mine the same way someday! Bob

 

[98Redlne]

Nice looking tail light Mike!

BTW, that rear tire is looking a little beat.....

 

[[email protected]]

Thanks for the compliments on the tail light.

I've got another shinko ready to go, just making sure I wring all the miles I can out of it before I swap. Its got about 2500 miles on it right now.

 

[95spfldmax]

I finally did something about my tail light. I just got done making this thing. I bought some flexible LED strips from Radiantz and tag bolts from custom dynamics.

I removed the inner rear fender, made two aluminum brackets from some 1/8 x 3/4 stock to support the license plate. The brackets attach to the two captive nuts under the fender. Then I used some thin aluminum sheet as a backing plate and cut it to match the curve of the fender and bent it so it goes up under the fender. I mounted my lights on the backing plate.

100 LEDs total in the setup two strips have 35 each and on has 30. I wired in a dual element circuit from radiantz so it works with both running and brake lights.

I'm planning to do something with the rear reflector too.

Heres a couple pics and a short video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fo17Yav6yfI

Very nice, Mike.

 

[RaWarrior]

Thanks for the compliments on the tail light.

I've got another shinko ready to go, just making sure I wring all the miles I can out of it before I swap. Its got about 2500 miles on it right now.

Man, and I thought I blew through that Avon with like 7000 miles to showing cords! At that rate I'd be swapping rears two or three times a season!

I have the UFO tail light, the p/o installed it. It has a row of yellow-ish LED pointed down for the license plate, but since it sits "in" the fender farther the light is blocked the the plastic of the inner fender and it doesn't really light up much of anything. Not really complaining. It's technically illuminated if anyone asks, but functionally doesn't do much. Brightness is good also.

Lots of people have had bad experiences with UFO it seems, so order at your own risk.

 

[[email protected]]

Tail light set up is finally done. I made the plate holder/brake light. Gary Spradley supplied the grab bar brake light.

 

[ninjaneer]

+1....yeah!....and it only took you 2 1/2 years (well based on the date you started this thread) :rofl_200:

 

[ninjaneer]

+1....yeah!....and it only took you 2 1/2 years (well, based on the date you started this thread anyways) :rofl_200:

 

[[email protected]]

+1....yeah!....and it only took you 2 1/2 years (well, based on the date you started this thread anyways) :rofl_200:

Perfection takes time, LOL. The tail light wasn't a high priority. I've been wanting to make my own replacement part for the reflector for a bit over a year now. I tried once. I cut my OEM reflector plate up and modded it but it did not turn out as nicely as I had hoped. I haven't had much time to work on the bike so I decided to consider other options.

I got lucky when I contacted Gary Spradley. He had exactly what I was looking for. He sold me this part. Its powder coated billet. It matches my sissy bar and grab rail pretty good. I already had my wiring harness modified so all I had to do was bolt it on and plug it in.

 

[ninjaneer]

big enough pic, ya think? hehehehe. j/k. i've been looking at some pics lately and realized that the modded maxes that i'm attracted to are the ones w/o the oem tail light. i really like what you've done and will reference it, if not plain out copy it, when it comes time to feed the monkey!

 

[Redbone]

Light looks great Mike, nice and bright! Nice mod! I wanted one of his reflector lights but when I contacted Gary a year and a half ago and he told me that he wasn't making them anymore.:confused2:
I have my own version of the reflector tail/ brake light that works well and did a custom taillight (stock location) much like yours.

 

[[email protected]]

big enough pic, ya think? hehehehe. j/k.

Point well taken. It was hard to look at. I think I got it fixed now.

 

[[email protected]]

Light looks great Mike, nice and bright! Nice mod! I wanted one of his reflector lights but when I contacted Gary a year and a half ago and he told me that he wasn't making them anymore.:confused2:
I have my own version of the reflector tail/ brake light that works well and did a custom taillight (stock location) much like yours.

Looks great Brian. Mine did end up very similar to what you have. Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery so they say.

 

[Redbone]

Looks great Brian. Mine did end up very similar to what you have. Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery so they say.

I like to think "great minds think alike" is more like it, as we both did our LED taillight around the same time. unk:

 

[Max em]

Hey nwebe here, My Brother "Grimmie" has a 2000 VMAX and I rode it a few times so you can guess what happened. Now I have my own. I just did a tail light ,turn signal and plate relocation mod for less than $60 for all three. Let me know what you think.