I'm sure I've comment on this before but although I love my 2013 GL1800 Level IV one aspect of the 2nd Gen Wings I don't like
is the lack of visability from the side, way to dark. Daytime not to bad but night forget it. Well last weekend and today I changed
all that and added some chrome and L.E.D.'s to make the girl stand out, both daylight and night time. Superbrightleds sell these
great chrome tipped clear plastic tube L.E.D.'s and I got yellow/amber ones for the side of the wing and some red L.E.D.'s for the front
fairing fan area. Also installed the Kuryakyn Lightning Chrome Valve covers. Love the fact they are aluminum and not plastic. I've stuck
with amber/yellow and red because they meet the lighting requirements just like big rigs. I had the same set up on my old 1998 GL1500
and have been given thumbs up from a few truckers and State Troopers.
So what do you folks think?
I used "reflective" tape, and put a nice neat strip under my rear foot pegs....I then placed my headlights from my truck pointed at the side of the bike...It lights up nicely...[of course the rear foot pegs must be in the up position to really reflect back] but hey it works...it's cheap!
H-m-m-m-m-m May have to consider a few LED's in the Radiator Vents. I like the look of that. Probably should try and combine that with the next Air Filter change.
FWIW you sure do keep a very clean bike. Also the correct (and fastest) color of course.
I have found that this company consistanly makes a superior product, and proof of this is these same lights were installed on my 1998 GL1500 back in 2008 and are still going
strong with no burnt our L.E.D.'s.
Hi C.D.I.C. Check out my responce for M2102 above. I bought a fuse block from Electrical Connections and wired each L.E.D. lights in pairs to one of the 6 fuse block connections.
The lights on each side and in the fairing took me about 3 hours. Now I'm abit of a neat freak and every wire run is in wire webbing for protection and all splices are soldered and
heat shrinked and each light has a dab of clear silicone to add extra connection to my wing to help the screws that hold each light in place.
I can't claim the project as the previous owner did very close to the same with the 07 we have now. Only he used blue LED's as the bike is blue. It looks like it is 'floating' on a blue cloud at night. I have had some tell me they thought it was a UFO coming at them in the dark.
I like the lighted saddle bag trim/lights. Who makes them and how long does it take to install them with the wiring hookup?
BTW, I like the whole setup that you have, looks great!
I was waiting for the 'black out gang' to post. Looks like they are giving you this one. My green 1500 se would light up green to the jaw droppings of others around. It would look very normal during the day and could look legal at night. I didn't want to do that again. But, my 1800 has a lot of light on it too, and it is all legal colors in the correct areas. None of it turns off without the key. Again it came with the bike purchase, so it's there until it breaks. I always look at the lights of bikes passing by, and at rallies, but restrain myself from do more on this bike regarding colored lights.
Hi C.D.I.C, When I get home tonight I will send you a link to a post about installing the swoops. It has a great help suggestion on how to install them much easier. It's about installing the saddlebag lids back on your bike after you remove them to install the swoops. Made my like 10 times easier.
I debated posting before the work is done, but here goes. I wasn't happy with static lights so I decided to do something different. I took a spool of WS2812B addressable LEDs and used a couple Arduino Nanos to animate the strips. One Arduino senses RPM and reports it to the other. The second Arduino controls the strips. WS2812B strips come in three types--bare strips, in a silicone sleeve and epoxy covered. The silicone sleeve is not durable enough so I used the epoxy coated strips.
In the radiator area, the light appears to flicker, faster and brighter as the RPM increases. I also programmed a second set of strips that appear as a flame, which gets longer and brighter as RPM increases, to be installed next to the exhaust pipes. For the under bike area I plan to fill the channel the strip sits in with clear epoxy to further protect the LEDs from rocks and debris being kicked up. The installation is highly illegal so I won't be able to use it while riding. I included a switch to turn off animation and the under bike lights as necessary. I still need to fabricate a mounting bracket for the under bike area and install static LEDs in a few locations.
Programmable LEDs are now available as individual bulbs wired together in a string. I don't have the skill to drill precise holes in the tupperware, but if I figure out how to do so, I will install a set along the length of the bike and create a simple animation with a black or white dot that travels the length of the bike.
Anybody know of a metalworking shop in the San Francisco Bay Area that can fab the under bike brackets for a reasonable price? I'll start calling around once I can ride again.
I like the idea but I feel you have the colors backwards. When looking at the side of a vehicle you expect the amber to be to the front and the red to be to the back. That is how the side of every vehicle and trailer out there looks.
Hi Schlep1967, Back in 2007 after I got my 1998 GL1500 I did the exact same L.E.D. set up on it as my now 2013. Talked to our provincial government motor vehicle branch and to two trucking firms and they assured me that my light set up was legal and correct in all provinces and all 50 states. Even sent pictures so they could see exactly what I had done. However I will reconfirm my set up with pictures again just to be safe, thanks for the heads up.
This is a great idea! I have managed to install a new side cover after doing a roll over with the wing on a mountain road but this will make the install a lot, lot easier. Will get the new screw before even starting the project tomorrow. Did you say the size of the bolt? Never to worry, I'll just take one out and take it to Ace Hardware and match it. I'll post the size tomorrow after I find out which one it is. Thanks for the tip.
I'm excited to install the swope tomorrow after the brown truck delivers it.
Took the Wing out on the Interstate today for some high speed riding and was thinking how cool it will look tomorrow night or Friday when its installed. :smile2:
HI CDIC, BTW do yourself a big favour. Put a small dab of clear silicone near the corners of the swoop parts or anywhere else you think it will help before pulling the 3M tape covers off. I've done this on almost every chrome piece I've installed on both my wings. Never lost a piece of chrome since.
Do you put the silicone at the edges where wind might pull them off? Is that the reason for it? Another question, do you install the large swopes before you put the small additional chrome piece on toward the front of the cover or the small piece first?
I spent the better part of this morning trying to find the 14 prong electrical plug. It was really jamed way down inside under the frame on the right side. Now to finish the job.
I also wanted to add lights to my 2008, but not being a fan of chrome, I decided not to buy aftermarket lighting. I did look at WingLites and liked what he was doing, but I though I could reproduce myself for a lower cost. With careful measurement and a drill press (and spare trunk and saddlebag moldings) I was able to add light to the trunk and saddlebags. I was most happy with my results.
The two small round ones were added by the previous owner. He had placed two round amber LED clusters and attached to the turnsignals. I had to replace them the clusters with different LEDs, but they are still turnsignals. Wasn't to happy about the holes cut into the plastic..but couldn't do much about it. I had plans to use RGB LEDs and have them as running, brake and turnsignals, but that didn't work out as planned.
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