Easiest brake light upgrade

[Sonu]

Folks,

The stock brake light on most K bikes is ridiculously weak.  Some attention grabbing LED's are a common upgrade.  However, in most cases LED upgrades mess up the BMU (Bulb Monitor Unit).  The FrankenDuck would be happy to walk you thru some workarounds.  However, if you don't want to mess with the wiring & want an LED upgrade compatible with the BMU then I'd highly recommend Hyperlights.  Here's the install on my K1100LT.  It take an hour or so to install & the instructions supplied are very crisp.



Sanjiv

[frankenduck]

There are also Hyperlites that are built to go inside the side compartments of the K tail light lens.  External ones are probably brighter though.

[mystic red]

The lights Sanjiv has there will fit inside the lens, I believe. That's the way I set mine up.

[Sonu]

Scott is correct.  These were designed to fit inside the lens.  However, they are weatherproof & brighter when located outside the lens.  Just my personal preference.

[mystic red]

And my prize is............

[billday]

Can someone explain the difference between Standard Flashing, Modulating, Non-Flashing, and California? I can't figure it out from the Hyperlites website (which belongs in a museum of bad website design from the 1990s).  Thanks in advance.

[mystic red]

From what I gleaned the standard HL turns all the way off when they flash. The Modulating HL flashes to 30% and then to 100% brightness and the Cali model  flashes 4 times and then goes solid 100% bright.
The modulating and Cali models also stay on at 30% brightness for additional running lights.

[frodef]

I have a Givi topbox ("E52") so for extra brake lights I installed Givi's E97 brake light kit. Works like a charm.

http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&sl=no&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Ffrodef.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F04%2F15%2Fboksbremselys-2-kapittel%2F

[billday]

I noticed that Hyperlights makes a white light for front conspicuity. Wouldn't it be swell to be able to get the brake/running light kit, but with the white LEDs, for mounting in that wasted space on either side of the tail light? I think so. I emailed Hyperlights a few days ago to ask -- getting silence in return.

[frankenduck]

I noticed that Hyperlights makes a white light for front conspicuity. Wouldn't it be swell to be able to get the brake/running light kit, but with the white LEDs, for mounting in that wasted space on either side of the tail light? I think so. I emailed Hyperlights a few days ago to ask -- getting silence in return.

You're much better off using an LED that matches the lens color.  A white LED behind a red lens comes out pink.

[billday]

Pink -- not cool -- thanks for the tip, I'll go ahead and order the reds.

Maybe Hyperlights ignored my email by way of telling me something?

[frankenduck]

I run white SMD LED tail lights in my bikes and they are certainly pink through the lens.  I use white because the law requires your license plate to be illuminated by white light.  Not a fan of the pink but it's not the end of the world either.

I imagine they'll get back to you eventually - this being busy season and all.

[billday]

Nobody from Hyperlites ever answered my question, but in the meantime I went ahead and got the stock kit because I didn't want pink taillights. Just want to second Sonu's recommendation -- the kit and instructions are well organized and the product does what it promises. The 16 LED units fit easily in the empty side compartments of the taillight unit. The markup on this product must be phenomenal but for an electricity-phobe (like me) it's worth the money to have everything figured out.