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LED driving lights

YamaDuck

By YamaDuck
in Watering Hole

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YamaDuck

YamaDuck

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When I was at the International Rally I noticed some bikes there had very bright LED driving lights. After some inquiries I found out the Mike Eykamp had made the ones on his 03 Venture. I asked Mike and he explained the process of making them so I decided to make some for my green 01 Venture. I like the extra visibility the LEDs give you. I did change the LED strip and went with another type of LED strip. Here are a couple of pictures.

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YamaDuck

YamaDuck

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I will try. Mike Eykamp is the expert and explained the process to me.

 

Here goes;

Go to Northern Tools or their website and purchase two of their 5" black rubber waterproof LED 12 - 24 volt lights. Down here they are $39.99 each but Northern does have sales.

 

Take the rubber boot off the plastic LEDs. Pull the wires out so that they stay with the LEDs. Be careful as they are hard to pull out.

 

Mike then wrapped the yellow LED strip around the inside lip of the LED. Mike used the thin type which is probably a better quality than the kind I used. I think Mike said he use the 24" length. I used brighter type that is available on eBay that is 30cm long. I think it is lesser quality but I was after the brightness. If you use the 30cm LED strip from eBay it is a tad long and may need to grind the excess rubber off the light strip almost down to the metal wires. DON'T CUT OFF THE LAST LED AS THEY RUN IN 3s. If you cut the last LED the two in front of it will not light.

 

If you use Mike's type you just wrap the excess over the rest of the strip. The type Mike used is very thin where as the type I used is about 1/4" wide x about 3/8" high by 30cm long.

 

The type LED I used I just glued in with a flexible drying glue.

 

You will need to get some exterior double sided tape to put around the LEDs. The lights that came out of mine were 4 1/2" but the LEDs are only 43/8" in diameter and the double sided tape helps make up the difference. LEAVE the plastic on the outside of the two sided tape. You only want the tape to stick to the LED nothing else. Trim it so that it does it stick out on either side.

 

Connect the wires with whatever type of connectors you wish to use to make all the electrical connections inside the driving light bucket.

 

Position the LED in place and replace the bezel and you are finished. The LEDs are still a little smaller but should be alright after you put the bezel back in place.

 

Hopefully I have not forgotten anything.

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YamaDuck

YamaDuck

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yes please explain what is necessary to add these and a picture is worth a thousand words. thanks:backinmyday:

 

I have explained the process to the best of my abilities in a previous post. I'm sorry but I did not think to take any pictures of the process. So I can not provide any pictures, sorry. I wasn't even going to mention it here but Mike said some of you may be interested.

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YamaDuck

YamaDuck

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Those lights look great.:thumbsup: Please explain process..and what parts to use....:322:

 

If anyone has any specific questions please ask and I will try to answer them. Sorry again for not taking pictures of the process but I was just winging it from what Mike had told me.

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wes0778

wes0778

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Thanks for the help:301: Seems there is a previous post with pictures, hurray!

The only thing I did different is the type of LED light strip I used. I will take a picture of it with my phone and attempt to post it here.

 

I also added amber LED strips from AutoZone, but I cannot find the pictures. I thought I posted them too. I also put strips of aluminium foil behind them to act as a reflector.

 

Found them, See Posts 12 and 16 http://venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=68018&highlight=Lights

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YamaDuck

YamaDuck

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I also added amber LED strips from AutoZone, but I cannot find the pictures. I thought I posted them too. I also put strips of aluminium foil behind them to act as a reflector.

 

Found them, See Posts 12 and 16 http://venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=68018&highlight=Lights

 

Yep that is the type Mike used. I have not used that type so I don't know which one is easier to install. I know mine fits tight. The channel fits just about perfect.

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YamaDuck

YamaDuck

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Mike sent me the pictures of the LED strips he used and some pictures showing the installation of the strips on the LED lights. The first picture is a picture of the LED strip I used. Mike also included a picture of the LED light to get at Northern. Mike's the best :thumbsup2:

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Barrycuda

Barrycuda

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I just completed mine 3 weeks ago, using basically the same process. northern tools has the lamps. They are FOUR inches, not 5. Myself, I soldered the wires together and these LED lamps light Em up. MY MISTAKE if you wanna call it that is I used regular white LED for the rims. We thought it would not be seen, however that is not true. The procedure is not hard, after understanding it from Mike, who baby sat me through it. I do have a post regarding the part number with pics titled BIG THANKS TO BIG MIKE.

Barry

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calperin

calperin

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Do you have the same angle of coverage with the Leds that you had before with the standard ones during the night?

 

I don't care during the day, since it will be only for be noticeable by another drivers, but I'll like to keep visibility at night.

 

Thanks,

 

Carlos

:stirthepot::stirthepot:

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