And the Lord said "Let there be blue LEDs"!!

[insolentminx]

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Oh yes... it took me about 3 hours, no blood, lots of sweat and nearly a few tears; but my StreetFX electropods LED light kit is fully installed, fully functional and freakin beautiful!!!

I wanted the cleanest install possible, so first i mocked up where i wanted to place the light pods. Included in the kit were 6x 6LED pods (wired as 3 pairs)and 2x 6LED strips.

Sadly the housing for the LEDs was a shiny plastic 'chrome' which made for a difficult stealthy installation. Never-the-less, i slipped 4 pods under the tank (2 each side, 2 above the front cylinder and 2 above the rear). The last pairing of pods i wanted under the rear fender. The 2 strips were destined for underneath the bike frame to illuminate the road.

Actual locations for under the tank was a little restricted as i wanted the units to be as hidden as possible, yet to provide as much light as possible. To aid a tidy wiring structure I unbolted the tank and was able to lift it 4 inches to help shove the wires in amongst the current wiring. I then fed the wires through a hole just under the tank/seat mount which pops out in a nice empty void infront of the battery where i intended to route all the wires for this project. The pods were secured in place with provided double-sided sticky foam pads.



I originally wanted the switch to be hidden under the tank, but the wires weren't long enough for a tidy installation, so i ended up feeding the wires under the seat from just above the ignition, and that's where the switch ended up fitting best with another foamy sticky pad (small switch visible in pic just above the ignition)

Locations for under the frame were difficult as the strips were quite bulky and long. I found possibly the only 2 locations were under the seat-end of the frame. I wanted one closer to the front but there just wasn't a spot for it which would render the shiny housing invisible and provide enough light. These were fixed in place with cable-ties and pointed so the rear lights were aimed to the rear and the more forward strip was pointed forward a little... the foam pads i think would have been insufficient, so just opted for 2 cable ties on each unit. Wiring for these 2 units was routed between the pipes and the frame, running up under the right side cover and is concealed perfectly!


The final 2 pods are located under the rear fender. Wiring for these was fed through the small hole in the fender for the taillight wires. Loose wire was held away from the tyre against the metal fender supports with another cable-tie and the pods were secured with the sticky foam pads again.


Then moving back to the wires from the pods, i cut them to a reasonable length so that i wouldn't have to deal with loads of excess wiring. I stripped them enough to enable a trouble free connection and with 4 red wires and 4 black wires I linked them into a small plastic connector and then joined them with the switch's red and black.


I then wired the swtich's wires directly into the battery and suffered a monentary bout of mental breakdown after recurring troubles with dropping one screw into the tightest of spaces and struggling to recover it (15 minutes of my life wasted!!). ... I put my bike back together and basked in the glory of a beautifully neat, tidy and educational installation.




I was chatting with JC (FL Vulcan Rider) who was considering a professional installation for LEDs... I can safely say that with one of these kits, there's no need to pay extra to have someone fit it. The kit itself was $55 from Eastern Performance on eBay. Compared to £50 for the same kit in the UK it was a bargain. And best of all i got semi-nekkid, oily, dirty, hot and sweaty while fiddling with my bike like a real man should!! (I think Cheri will like that part... sadly no pics of that though!)

I just can't wait to go out riding at night now!!
The only annoyance is that the switch isn't hidden. I am a little worried that the battery may be drained if the lights are switched on while the bike is off, and by having the switch visible it might tempt a curious annoying passer-by to flick it... but i hope that won't happen. Otherwise i'm thoroughly impressed with my handiwork and love love LOVE the result!

[A2rider]

OOOHHHHHH it's looks good! Congrats on the new lights. And yes, Cheri won't be happy with you!

It's 2am your time, don't you sleep?

[insolentminx]

OOOHHHHHH it's looks good! Congrats on the new lights. And yes, Cheri won't be happy with you!

It's 2am your time, don't you sleep?

Haha, yeah, i was thinking of taking a pic for her.... but i don't want to start posting semi-naked pictures of me on here until i've got a bit of a tan...

And yes... 2am. I was out with friends having a quiet drink, got back and finally found time to upload pictures and write about my installation. I don't have to be up early tomorrow. I also took the last 2 pictures of the bike with my tripod now that it's properly dark so no daylight could creep into the garage and spoil the photos.

Glad you like

[mshumate99]

Hell yeah brother. Looks great!

[c_law23]

nice, they sure are bright!

[Trashman900C]

nice.........ive been thinking about some red ones.........i dont ride too much at night tho...........

[Utah Motorcyclist]

Looks good!

[eric.hare]

Looks great, I'm looking at finishing my LED's with the under frame and rear fender. Did you install a relay or fuse in line with your switch wiring?

Thanks for sharing the detailed instructions and great pics.

[rizzo1969]

looks great going to install clear next weekend myself thnx for showing the bike off. I am afraid i am going to spend more on mods than i did for the bike lol

peace

[SoCalMeanie]

looks great, I haven't been up till 2 AM working on the bike, or posting pics, but I know the feeling....

[Blooze]

What kind of volts/amps does a setup like that pull? I use blue LED's in my amplifier builds occasionally and they definitely take more volts/amps than your typical red ones.

[nvbirdman]

Looks great!! I was wondering about going direct to the battery instead of through the ignition, but led's use very little current so even if you leave them on they shouldn't drain the battery too much.

[Blooze]

I was just curious on the specs as I typically run a single blue LED at between 3.5-5V forward voltage @20-30mA (where a red one will be 1.5V at 3-4mA). They are VERY bright at that level. So bright you can't look at them directly. I have to pad them way down if they are directly visible.

[insolentminx]

I bought a complete kit from StreetFX. Their kits run of anything with a 12v battery.
It doesn't give any electrical details, you just stick them in place and wire them through the switch and 1 amp fuse directly to the battery. There's no dimming options, it's just on or off.

I wish it was winter so it could get dark earlier!!! 8:15pm and still very light out!!

[skewterdewd]

Nice writeup on the process, and the end result looks awesome.
I especially like the lights on the lower frame member.

That should get you plenty of attention.

You might need to give the cape a re-think. It could be too much with the LEDs. Unless you were, say, from the future....

Nice work brotherman. Keep it going!

[Neverdun]

Wicked Sweeeet!!!
I've been meaning to do this to mine for awhile now.
Looks like you might have just juiced me up enough to Get er Dun

[insolentminx]

an LED cape, maybe?? ...

Hmm, you're right, i don't think the cape or speedos will be necessary now that i have the LEDs.

I should have my pipes by next weekend, so I think the pipes and LEDs should provide enough attention! I noticed a few people checking the bike out today actually. Maybe i was exuding self-confidence... ?

She's nearly 'finished'!!! Woop Woop!

Wicked Sweeeet!!!
I've been meaning to do this to mine for awhile now.
Looks like you might have just juiced me up enough to Get er Dun

Gir-r-done!! It was easy, real easy.

[Van's V2k]

They look real good. I Must see if they have Kawasaki green lights.

[insolentminx]

They look real good. I Must see if they have Kawasaki green lights.

pretty sure they do!

Blue's my favourite colour (along with black and silver...) So i thought it made the best colour combo for my bike. Plus it matches my helmet.

I was toying with the idea of Kawa Green or red... cos black and red does look awesome... But decided on blue in the end.

[wild_deuce03]

Didn't know what to expect but that looks pretty bad a$$! Nice job.