The stock filament brake and tail lighting (especially the tail light) is rather anemic on K bikes.

On my K bikes I always modify the brake/tail lighting adding flashing LEDs and such.

On my latest K restore of a 93 LT I came up with what I think is my best yet.

What's needed:

4 "Eagle Eye" 9W Red LEDs from Fleabay - $0.99 each. These things are flippin' BRIGHT and will hurt your eyes if you look directly at them.



The other item is a GS-100A flasher module - a little over $2 on Fleabay.


There's a variety of ways to tap into the existing wiring but piggy back connectors work well and are easy to use on the K rear lighting.


The downside of the Eagle Eye LEDs is that the diameter of the threaded part is 10mm so you need to do a little drilling too install them.

In order to separate the tail lights from the brake lights to make braking more obvious, I installed the tail/running light ones where the rear fender extension mounting screws were and then installed the brake light LEDs in the upper license plate mounting bolts.

This video doesn't do the brightness of the Eagle Eyes justice but in real life they are quite bright.



Since these are just add-on LEDs tapped into the existing lighting no other modifications need to be made since the original filament brake and tail lights will keep the BMU happy.

I recently spent an evening riding over a dark mountain pass on a very raining night with lots of water getting splashed in the air and was very confident that I could be seen from behind in those very bad conditions.

Not for me. I think they look like a dogs dinner and I love LEDs. 
The flashing brake lights are illegal on this side of the atlantic.

Flashing LEDs are technically illegal in the US too. (Reserved for law enforcement - at least they used to be.)  But everybody has them and the cops don't cite people.  I've been running flashing LEDs for well over a decade and have had no legal issues with them. I've even seen them on car cyclops brake lights lately - not sure if that's factory or aftermarket though.

And I place not get rear-ended a lot higher on my list of priorities than aesthetics.

Not saying that you should not have them, that is your choice. Not sure what the rules are where you live but most European countries have a annual technical inspection and they would fail that.
I started riding in 1974 and have never been rear ended either.

duck wrote:Flashing LEDs are technically illegal in the US too. (Reserved for law enforcement - at least they used to be.) 

Several states allow brake lights with a decaying flash rate and also allow supplemental brake lights to be amber. Some might not even have rules governing flashing brake lights. Some state drivers manuals even suggest flashing your brake light a few times when stopped as traffic approaches from behind. There is no national rule like there is permitting modulating headlights in daytime. There is one scientific study that suggests that amber supplemental brake lights that flash with a decaying rate are slightly more effective in stimulating following drivers to brake sooner.

What I wouldn't wanted is a dazzling, attractive array that compels drivers to come closer out of curiosity.   

I'm still back in the incandescent era though.

BobT wrote:Not saying that you should not have them, that is your choice. Not sure what the rules are where you live but most European countries have a annual technical inspection and they would fail that.
I started riding in 1974 and have never been rear ended either.

I've never been read-ended either. But I've been behind some bikes on a rainy freeway at night where it's incredibly hard to see them - and I'm a rider so I pay closer attention to bikes than most Americans. I've also ridden in some thick fog where slowing down was prudent due to limited forward visibility and the thought of getting read-ended concerned me.

So I prefer to be very visible from behind.  I also run very visible forward facing lights on all of my bikes.  Not enough to be annoying but enough to be noticed.  I want to be seen because my philosophy when riding is that if I get into an accident I want it to be my fault, not the fault of a driver who "didn't even see him" - which occurs all too often.

Some states have inspections but mine doesn't.  And if i did live in a state where they wouldn't pass inspection then i'd just remove them for the inspection and then put them back on.  A ticket is much less expensive and easier on the body than a motorcylce accident.

Thanks for the suggestion and the details Duck. 

While I don't want flashing brake lights (for some  of the reasons BobT mentions), I do like the idea of those Eagle Eye red lamps fitted at the top of the licence plate for use as fog lamps (also great for "flashing" those eejit drivers that don't dip their headlights after you have passed them). A standard K tail light is certainly woefully inadequate when it comes to riding in restricted visibility. I've already got white eagle eye lamps on the front of my bikes, which are always on as daytime running lamps.

Fog/low cloud is a very common phenomena at the high point of my daily commute and it is disturbing how many tin box drivers seem to think that the only action required by them is to switch on their fog lights (front and back) and then drive as fast a possible, despite the fact they can't see more than a few metres in front of them - they often leave them on for days afterwards too! I often think that the car designers need to link the fog lamps into the engine management system - you switch them on and it speed limits the engine - might stop a few motorway pile ups.

I have MotoEquip reflectors on my side cases. They are black in daylight but brilliant at night from a distance. These images are from MotoEquip's site.

Someone at K11OG asked for a wiring schematic so I drew one up. May as well post it here too:

"I have MotoEquip reflectors on my side cases. They are black in daylight but brilliant at night from a distance. These images are from MotoEquip's site."

I have similar reflective black adhesive panels on my panniers and I think they are a great idea.

Driving home in the cage last night, I'm amazed at the hopeless, tiny little tail lights on some bikes. Anything to make you stand out is a good idea.

Just personal preference but I don't like relying upon passive devices like reflectors and HiVis gear.  That's why I make sure all of my bikes emit lots of light fore and aft that is visible day or night. Fortunately I live in a place where vehicle inspections are not required so as long as my lighting isn't so bright that it annoys the police I can do whatever I think works best.

The MoT inspectors take a fairly pragmatic approach here. I have three 10w bulbs for the tail light (two of them are BA9s - 'pilot' light size with the bulbholders in an interference fit hole either side of the original bulb) and a pair of 10w halogens as additional brake lights mounted in the outboard bit (where Duck puts his LEDs) because there's plenty of airflow to disipate the heat. I used to have LEDs in there but the damn things kept failing. I have a 52 litre GIVI topbox and the wide red reflective strip is packed with 48 (!!!) hi-intensity red LEDs activated from the brakelights.

If anyone ever says SMIDSY, the first-aid kit I keep in the seat hump is not going to save them.

duck wrote:The stock filament brake and tail lighting (especially the tail light) is rather anemic on K bikes.

On my K bikes I always modify the brake/tail lighting adding flashing LEDs and such.

On my latest K restore of a 93 LT I came up with what I think is my best yet.

What's needed:

4 "Eagle Eye" 9W Red LEDs from Fleabay - $0.99 each. These things are flippin' BRIGHT and will hurt your eyes if you look directly at them.

The other item is a GS-100A flasher module - a little over $2 on Fleabay.
There's a variety of ways to tap into the existing wiring but piggy back connectors work well and are easy to use on the K rear lighting.
The downside of the Eagle Eye LEDs is that the diameter of the threaded part is 10mm so you need to do a little drilling too install them.

In order to separate the tail lights from the brake lights to make braking more obvious, I installed the tail/running light ones where the rear fender extension mounting screws were and then installed the brake light LEDs in the upper license plate mounting bolts.

This video doesn't do the brightness of the Eagle Eyes justice but in real life they are quite bright.

Since these are just add-on LEDs tapped into the existing lighting no other modifications need to be made since the original filament brake and tail lights will keep the BMU happy.

I recently spent an evening riding over a dark mountain pass on a very raining night with lots of water getting splashed in the air and was very confident that I could be seen from behind in those very bad conditions.

I quite like this idea (maybe not the exact design), so I'll be stealing it.

A coupla weeks ago I was riding my K1300GT (with clear LED Motolights on) on highway 101 heading south towards the Hood Canal in Washington state. All of a sudden a brilliant red K75S came toward me into view over the Mt Walker summit, but I had to focus particularly hard to see what it was because the rider had blazing orange running lights pointed forward. There was no missing it.

No prizes for guessing who was piloting that very visible motorbike.

20 bucks a pair 10W LED running lights.  Friends tell me they are brilliant at 2 miles in daylight.

I run 10W LEDs on several of my Ks:
http://www.kbikeparts.com/classickbikes.com/ckb.tech/0.ckb.tech.files/auxled/auxled.htm

That looks like an easy but very effective mod, Duck.  Thanks for posting that.

brickrider2 wrote:That looks light an easy but very effective mod, Duck.  Thanks for posting that.

The K1100LT in the top pic is my buddy's that I did last summer.

Let me know if you plan to do it.  I'm going to be ordering some of the right length bolts and spacers in the next day or two and can get a set for you.

Okay, put me down for a set of bolts 'n' spacers.  I'll source the lights themselves later.  I've got too many other things to sort out right now. Thanks.  

OK. It'll be a couple of weeks until I have the bolts since I just bought them on Fleabay from China.

I just bought a pair of LEDs here:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/401649534647

I am installing these same lights right now as well (that's what one of the switches is for Duck).  The leads are about 4" long but I was thinking of removing them and soldering in new leads that will reach up into the fairing.  Would this be worth it or are lumpy butt connectors the better route?

I use Posi-Locks or solder and heat shrink at the end of the wire already there..