[rickbert]

I took the lenses off one of the front and rear blinker assemblies and from what I could tell the assemblies look exactly the same, they just have different bulbs in them and are obviously wired differently. The front bulb has 2 filaments whereas the rear has one.



So in other words if one (say me for example) wanted to have the rear be "running lights" AND blinkers like the front then what I would have to do is simply wire the rears like the front and use the same bulb as the front, but I could use the same assembly. Is this correct ?? OR Do I need to find "front speciific" blinker assemblies and put them on the back then wire accordingly of course.



Yes I know I would also need to get 2 red lenses for the rear.



As my lead in says, I don't know why this wasn't done this way at the factory ? The more light the safer, the safer the better.



EDIT: Would this put too much of an additional electrical strain on an '82 ?

 

[MikeCMP]

I took the lenses off one of the front and rear blinker assemblies and from what I could tell the assemblies look exactly the same, they just have different bulbs in them and are obviously wired differently. The front bulb has 2 filaments whereas the rear has one.



So in other words if one (say me for example) wanted to have the rear be "running lights" AND blinkers like the front then what I would have to do is simply wire the rears like the front and use the same bulb as the front, but I could use the same assembly. Is this correct ?? OR Do I need to find "front speciific" blinker assemblies and put them on the back then wire accordingly of course.



Yes I know I would also need to get 2 red lenses for the rear.



As my lead in says, I don't know why this wasn't done this way at the factory ? The more light the safer, the safer the better.

I was about to say that you were incorrect, but you are not - My blinkers are also running lights b/c I re-wired them to be too. At least it is not difficult, since all the wires you need are in the taillight assembly already. All you need are new bulb holders / turn signal assemblies.



I agree with you,about the visibility, which is why I riged mine up the same way, although I have extra lights on the back of my bike, mounted in the hard bags. Definately seems like a worthwhile upgrade, the extra lights will allow drivers behind your to more acurately guage your distance, or so I am led to believe.



Mike

 

[rickbert]

Mike,



Oh without a doubt.....I've consciously checked this myself on the highways. The bikes with the hard luggage and hence MORE red lights are MUCH easier to see from farther behind than the bikes with the one little tail light like ours...this is a NO brainer.



So then then I need to find a couple FRONT assemblies to put on the rear ? Then wire accordingly ?

 

[rogerb]

I took the lenses off one of the front and rear blinker assemblies and from what I could tell the assemblies look exactly the same, they just have different bulbs in them and are obviously wired differently. The front bulb has 2 filaments whereas the rear has one.



So in other words if one (say me for example) wanted to have the rear be "running lights" AND blinkers like the front then what I would have to do is simply wire the rears like the front and use the same bulb as the front, but I could use the same assembly. Is this correct ?? OR Do I need to find "front speciific" blinker assemblies and put them on the back then wire accordingly of course.



Yes I know I would also need to get 2 red lenses for the rear.



As my lead in says, I don't know why this wasn't done this way at the factory ? The more light the safer, the safer the better.



EDIT: Would this put too much of an additional electrical strain on an '82 ?

I think the electrical system can handle that. But where in the world do you get red lenses? I think front and rear are the same assembly with the exception of a dual filament bulb socket. A lot of new bikes are wired with "running/brake" lights on the rear and that really gets your attention. I have even seen amber rear turn/brake lights and that works very well too.

If I can find signal light assemblies with dual contact sockets I will go that way too. Almost anything to improve saftey is worth consideration.

 

[rickbert]

I won't do this with aftermarket blinkers....I want it to look the same. Hence the route for me to go would be to find some used FRONT blinker assemblies from a parted out CX and put THEM on the back.



I HAVE seen the red blinker lenses for our blinker assemblies somewhere before.



If it's on the rear of the vehicle and it's on all the time then it HAS to be red by law. Notice that on cars no amber is always on, it's only the red. Blinkers can be either amber or red.

 

[cgpiper]

This looks interesting...



http://www.cruisercustomizing.com/installguides/EC-01315.pdf

 

[DavidfromWisconsin]

Rick,



You don't need red lenses. All you need is bright red LEDs. They will come through the yellow lens just fine as red.



Of course you then need one of those flasher devices for LEDs, but they are cheap now a days.

 

[cgpiper]

That's what the link I posted goes to. Looks like a good alternative.



I made the mistake of putting amber lenses and brake lights on the rear turn signals of my 550F back in the 70s. Got stopped within a couple of days with a warning and they came right off because switching back to red wasn't bright enough.



At the time California was one of the few states that had amber as illegal. I put them on because I saw them in several other states during my long tours.

 

[MikeCMP]

Rick,



You don't need red lenses. All you need is bright red LEDs. They will come through the yellow lens just fine as red.



Of course you then need one of those flasher devices for LEDs, but they are cheap now a days.

acording to the folks i ordered my LED's from, you want to match the color of the LED to the lens color, otherwise too much light will be filtered out.



Red LED's and clear lenses would work, as would red lenses. I'll see if I can find something maybe.



Mike

 

[MikeCMP]

Maybe something like this?



http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Hond...rcycles_Parts_Accessories&hash=item3cb545c961



Mike

 

[rickbert]

Maybe something like this?



http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Hond...rcycles_Parts_Accessories&hash=item3cb545c961



Mike

YES exactly.....thank you !



I'll go with the red lenses and plane white/clear colored bulbs, however the bulbs will be LED's...so I'll not only have more lights but brighter as well.

 

[StormRider]

Standard automotive bulbs use about [email protected] volts. I would figure 30watts max for a pair of running lights worst case. If I remember correctly the newer style stators are 250 watts and the ones for the older cdi style ignition are 170 watts from the charge windings so unless you ended up throwing one of the older stators in for some reason you have lots of extra capacity to play with and.

 

[MikeCMP]

YES exactly.....thank you !



I'll go with the red lenses and plane white/clear colored bulbs, however the bulbs will be LED's...so I'll not only have more lights but brighter as well.

Watch on the bulbs, LED's are very directional. So, if you buy a LED replacement bulb, keep in mind that in the signals, the bulbs ussually face the side, which is where the main intesity of the LED will be aimed, thus, most of the brightness you hope to gains will be beamed directly into the side of the housing.



You might need to look for a higher end LED solution, like something from www.customDynamics.com . I got all of my LED's from there, and although they are expensive, they have the best viewing angle and brightness. I used the LED clusteres that I hardwired in, they make them with pigtails that pluginto the existing bulb socket too. But if you just got clusters, you can not worry about the correct bubl sockets, in factm you can remove the sockets, and just hardwire the signals to your wiring harness.



Does that make any sense?



Mike

 

[MikeCMP]

Here is how I did mine.

Mike

 

[rickbert]

That makes sense