12v Turn Signals~ Lighting.

Cowboy Rider said:

What About a Brake Light?

My plans are to add a couple of small LED Tail lights on both sides of the current one, and convert that single light I have now into a Brake Light that will use a switch I still have from a cheapo Pedal Bike version of turn signals and a brake light. That brake light switch mounts onto the actual cable for the rear brake and works pretty well is adjusted properly. This should turn out pretty darn good when I get that last part done soon.

Looks like I may have a Project to do after work tomorrow!

Click to expand...

OK, it took me long enough to finally do this.... but it's Done folks! The original tail light plan didn't happen like I thought it might, but I do now have separate Tail and Brake lights in the rear to go along with the Turn Signals that have been installed Front and Rear. Here's a Pic of the whole works in back with the systems all off.



The top light is for the brake and it uses an 1156 bulb. (Nice and Bright) The bottom light is for the tail and it uses a 194 bulb. (Appropriately dimmer)

The brake light works whenever the Rear Brake lever is activated, and the tail light will work when the key switch is turned on. I haven't done so yet, but I am strongly considering rewiring the switch to allow the turn signals to also work with the lights off.

In fact, I Will make that change tomorrow. This will be a simple and easy job, cause it only involves rerouting a single wire at the switch. I'll also get some better pics together while I'm at it.
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Squirrel,

What do you need? Brake Light, Turns Signals, or Tail light?

I'll be happy to provide a schematic of the whole system if that's what ya want. Just give me some time to draw it out and post it at my Pic Gallery.
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Actually, I should do just that. Provide all options for y'all. I'll work on this for y'all. OK?

OK guys, I'll get to work drawing up the whole system. Switches and all. (and taking more Pics too!)

But to get started, check out HoughMade's post (replay #12 in this topic) for his method for the turn signal switch & lights. It's the same thing I did actually, Including the SPDT (Single Pole, Double Throw) Switch. What that is is a switch with Off in the middle and Two On positions. Flip one way for left, and the other way for right. Put back to center to turn off blinkers. It's a manual system, but so are many real motorcycles. The link in my Sig Line will take you to my Pic Gallery for some pics I've posted so far.

A well placed "Momentary On" push button switch could be used for the Brake Light, and I actually almost went that way with it. I was thinking of placing near the Engine Kill button, since the left hand would be busy operating the turn signals when needed. Instead, I recycled a switch that came with a cheap-o turn/stop/tail light that I'm sure would work wonderful on a pedal bike. (On my motor bike though it vibrated loose, fell off the bike at 20 some MPH and is now in many pieces.) But that switch mounts right onto the actual brake cable and works very well. I don't have a pic of that yet but should be able to have it up in the gallery by tomorrow afternoon.

The main light switch I have is an ignition switch from an old forklift. You can a switch like that from Autozone and I suspect other car parts places similar to that. I thought I had pics of that in the gallery but I don't. I'll be sure to get that up too, but I'll try to describe the terminals that the wires connect to.
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Imagine a "Y" set of 3 terminals with a 4th terminal in the center of the Y. Call the left upper part of the Y terminal 1. Call the right upper part terminal 2, and call the lower part of the Y terminal 3. (center terminal is 4, but is the Start position of the forklift switch and is not used on my bike) Consider this view from the back of the switch, and terminal 1 is toward the back of the bike in my case.

Terminal 1 is marked Ign. on the switch. This is with the forklift running, so On also works. I have the Headlight Only connected to # 1 so I can save on my battery power during the day time. Like in a car, everything on Accessory is also powered On when in the Ignition position. I turn my key toward the Back of the bike to have everything On, headlight and all.

Terminal 2 is marked Acc. on the switch. The tail light and turn signals are connected to this terminal so that they can work without having the headlight on all the time. I turn the key toward the Front of the bike to power on the tail light and turn signals. At first, I had the brake light here too, but keep reading...

Terminal 3 is marked Bat. on the switch. This is where the switch gets the + (positive) Battery Power to distribute to the rest of the lighting system. This is where I also ended up connecting the Brake Light to, so my brake light will Always work even if I forget to turn on the lights. I didn't get to this today, but I'm still considering putting the turn signal wire here as well.

Maybe the thing holding me back on this.... hmm. If the turn signals don't work, I now know that my tail light's not On either. In the back of my mind I guess I'm thinking that if I want the Turn Signals to work, I also want the Tail light on. Being able to see the front turn signals is a good reminder to turn that key to Acc. and turn on the tail light too. Thinking more on this, maybe I'll leave it as it is, huh?

Terminal 4. As said earlier I'm not using this terminal. ... yet. Now if I can find a Starter to fit the engine, this would be cool!
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A bit long winded of a post (sorry) but hopefully the text will get y'all going in the right direction. I want to comment on lazieboy's post though.

Sir, I used a small motorcycle battery in my system so that I can recharge the battery every other day or week or so with a small and relatively cheap Maintainer type of charger. IMHO, a 9v battery won't last too long for lights. I also Require a 12v battery for my Fog light/ Headlight. (It's what I had laying around in the shop....)

LED's vs. Standard Bulbs:
LED's Really take a lot less juice, I know. But what I don't like about the LED's is the lack of AREA lighting they put out. They are Bright as Heck if looking at them on dead center, but if you're at all Off center of the light they are easy to miss. Considering that the car folks will almost never see my Brake Light right on dead center, I prefer the wide area brightness of the Standard bulb. This is JHMO of course, but I thought I'd explain a little bit more on Why I went with the 12v battery instead.

Oh crap.

BTW squirrel, I'm sorry to hear you got hit by a dang car. Looks/Seems like you're back in the saddle though, so I'm glad you're still riding and looking into Improving your lighting situation.

The only thing that worries me about my non LED turn signals is the fact that they're the relatively dim 194 bulbs. Same goes for my current Tail light. The Brake light is a good and Bright 1156, so I'm not at all worried about that one.
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But! The lights I've used throughout the entire system are All Automotive Grade, so there is also the built in Reflector capabilities in my lights. IMHO, this is above and beyond what the typical Bike products have to offer.
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One last point I'd like to mention this evening (and this goes for EVERYBODY HERE!)

We are, after all, cruising around at 30 MPH on something that was really designed to do at best, what... maybe 15 MPH? We're still on a Bicycle folks! As we all know, many car drivers have a bad habit of Not looking out for the little guys on the road as well. No matter how many lights we install on these things, it might not ever be enough to get the attention of some dingbat that's on the phone while driving the car, ya know?

I advocate the theory of looking out for yourself as the little guy. As the little guy on the bike, I'm constantly trying to watch out for the cars around me that may or may not see/notice me on the bike. In the neighborhood, I'm noticing a lot more respect being given to me as a MB rider. But on the State and County highways, I'm still nervous as all get out when them cars fly past me at 55 + when all I can do is 30 MPH.

I definitely want a better rear view mirror for the bike, but that's a matter for another Topic. All I want to remind y'all of is simple. Be Careful and watch out for yourselves on the open roads, OK?

Ride Safe!!

Pics of my system are now available at my Gallery. I've added commentary to each pic along the way.

Check it out in This Link

I haven't gotten 'round to drawing up the actual "Schematic", but I will do so soon, OK? I confess that I am not a good Teacher. But.... I DO want to pass my know how onto the rest of y'all here.