My LED conversion from Custom Dynamics

[Muddy Waters]

Been thinking about doing this conversion for quite some time now
This is nothing new (well, the front treatment might be…?) and it has been done before over at SMJ, I just feel like sharing

The reason I wanted to change my blinkers and taillight is because the OEM setup here in the United Stats is nothing short of horrendous
The taillight is not that bad but the blinkers…..oh those blinkers are just killing it
They do not belong on this exquisitely fine piece of art which the Husqavrna 610SM is

Well since the SM is a dirt bike in essence I figured why don’t we make it look a bit more like one, sort of revert it back to that gaping vastness between the back wheel and back fender

It started on a delivery I’ve done to the Raleigh/Durham area
Seeing I needed my dealer to check something on my bike I’ve stuffed it in my van along with the delivery and off we want
(Just look at all that stupid DOT crap on the back of my bike…)

Made the drop and to the dealer we go

Well while there I punched the Custom Dynamics address to the GPS and it turned out they are in the next county, five minutes away
Drove over there

What’s that?
The sign says “Harley Davidson parking only” ?
Well that’s just fantastic, it means that there’s enough space in one of these parking spaces for my extra long Express van !

Will let this guy park on the other side of the parking lot…..

Went inside
Nobody in the store part but many workers at the back, looking busy…
So I looked around for what seemed to be a very long time and nobody came to see if I need anything, it was weird
Finally I had to ask one of the workers to acknowledge my existence
Anyway a girl came, was very nice and helpful and the end result was that I dropped a Benjamin
Here is the bounty;
For the back; Integrated LED light bar - dual function
For the plate; LED tag bolts
for the front; LED Stingerz

Just to give you guys an indication of the weight of things I put it on the scale, sorry but being 165lb. For most of my life I just don’t really see the need to invest in a scale so I borrowed the one from work
Here you see what’s going on the bike, it didn’t really moved the needle

And here you see what’s coming off the bike, about three and a half, four pounds

The conversion is very easy, it comes with 3M adhesive tape on it and 3M promoter, clean-peel-and stick, that’s all to it
There’s only one part that should have your full attention and it is the holes drilled for the plate
Make sure you look where you’re drilling and hold that drill firmly, don’t let it zip in there like gangbusters, you don’t want to be that GSXR guy who drilled into his ECU…….

End result;
Front;

Can you see my blinker (you will have no problem seeing it in real life coming at you, that thing is bright )

Back;

And here’s a little clip; (sorry for the quality…)
[YOUTUBE]ilQ2_ThM7KA[/YOUTUBE]

Pros;
Saves a little weight
Aerodynamics might save you a bit of gas
Those LED’s are bright, other drivers might see you better

Cons;
I’m not impressed with that 3M adhesive at all, a hot glue might do the job a lot better
Guess what; that plate is going to get dirty now, might get you pulled over…
Those LED’s are bright, other cop’s might see you better…..

Final thoughts;
I don’t know, I think it looks so much better, a lot meaner and definitely brings the whole bike into the 21st century
It probably wont work for the TE crowd unless you don’t mind cleaning the plate before you go back on the road
And just to ease your mind, the cop that drove behind me in the stop light didn’t give me a second look so I guess everything is bright enough in daylight as far as the authorities concern…
BTW one of the Stingerz was damaged, I called them and they replaced it, no problems, very nice people to deal with



*** edit: if you’re thinking about doing this conversion, read post # 9 first before you do anything !!! ***

 

[Motosportz]

Awesome. love it. The back looks bitchen. (ols school for cool :>) Why not mount the front blinkers to the hand guards?

 

[Phoenix]

Awesome! Will you post a close-up of the taillight? Where are the rear blinkers? Integrated? Anyway, clean look...thanks for posting.

 

[fitness2go]

The stop bar has 3 amber LEDs on either side of 9 red LEDs and work as the turn signals...slick!

 

[Nesbocaj]

Very nice! I wondered if my LEDs would pass state inspection

When the guy asked me to turn on the blinkers, all he said was "cool"

 

[Muddy Waters]

Thanks guys and gal

Kelly the original thought was to put it inside Paul’s tear drop, starting from the narrow part and cut a little slit in the plastic for the LED’s to show
However I run my HDB’s without the plastics most of the time and I didn’t think it looked all that great
So then I moved it to the upper part of the shrouds and liked it very much, I fallowed the tip in such a way that the LED’s started facing forward and curled down and backwards in a 90 degrees angle , the lower part of the LED’s shined on the second lower shroud
It looked very good but that’s when the 3M didn’t hold and the LED’s wanted to “straight out”
Now I have it on the lower shrouds in a slight angel , it works fine there
If I where to do it again I would have bought a longer string of LED’s, the reason is the longer it is the more flexible it is, my 9 LED string can be bended to 90 degrees but the “natural “ band is about 45 (where it doesn’t try too hard to straight itself out…)

Phoenix, yes I will and David answered your other question

The stop/runing light/turn signal bar has 3 amber LEDs on either side of 9 red LEDs and they work as the turn signals...slick!

Bob I do think your creation is more offroad friendly just for the fact you retained the mudguard
I just wanted the full on MX look, no mudguard no nothing...

Stealthy, you know?….

Like a ninja……










………………..…Hi-Yah ****************************************
Karate chop ! You didn’t see that coming

 

[Motosportz]

………………..…Hi-Yah ****************************************
Karate chop ! You didn’t see that coming

Totally saw that coming and ducked it :smirk:

 

[Muddy Waters]

Awesome! Will you post a close-up of the taillight?...

Phoenix here you go
Front LED’s affixed to the lower shroud
They’re angled just a bit over horizontal point on the top, the LED tips on the bottom half is sticking out of the shroud for it to be viewable from the side;

Back LED’s affixed to the fender
Here you see the red cover over the 3M tape, they cover the two sides and back of the LED strips for a choice of applications
Once you’re done with the placement of the strips you can take the extra tape off and (per one of the guys at Custom Dynamics…) you can tape/mask the LED tips off and spray paint it black so you can’t see the rubber(silicone?) housing

Totally saw that coming and ducked it :smirk:

Kelly; I have clearly “overunderestimated” your kung-fu abilities…
I shell retire to the nearest Shaolin temple to further advance my abilities….
You may have won this round but I’ll be back….















…..you’ll see

 

[trobinson07]

I thought this conversion was awsome, so I order the light and installed them last night. I got pulled over this afternoon because in washington State the rear turnsignals must be at least 9'' apart, the front 13", and the plate has to be turned where the numbers are right side up. To make matters worse I also installed the Up-Tite LED headlight and had MOTOZ tires on. I told the trooper that was the way I bought it. He said I have a lot of work to do if I want to ride on the street again. I guess all my work was in vain.

 

[Jodiesel]

He said I have a lot of work to do if I want to ride on the street again. I guess all my work was in vain.

Yikes. It might be easier to move....

 

[High-Side]

That's why I try to keep my bike as DOT looking as possible - I don't want to be pulled over unless I deserve it!

 

[Muddy Waters]

I thought this conversion was awsome, so I order the light and installed them last night. I got pulled over this afternoon because in washington State the rear turnsignals must be at least 9'' apart, the front 13", and the plate has to be turned where the numbers are right side up. To make matters worse I also installed the Up-Tite LED headlight and had MOTOZ tires on. I told the trooper that was the way I bought it. He said I have a lot of work to do if I want to ride on the street again. I guess all my work was in vain.

Dude that sucks :smashpc:
I had police cruisers behind me and nothing happened (knockonwood ) but I don’t live where you are so…

If you want to pursue it you can turn the plate horizontal, if you bent it a little in the middle there’s enough space for it where it is (I have seen the picture on SMJ)

Regarding the blinkers there must be some loopholes in the law
Do you required to have blinkers at all ???
What about all those Hardley riders that don’t have anything on their bike (blinker wise) ?

Now, about the headlight and tires I don’t know but I can tell you this; you didn’t say if you have a TE or an SM but if you have replaced a 610SM headlight to anything other then a 610SM headlight then you deserve to get a ticket just because the OEM 610SM unit is the best looking headlight unit in the history of the known universe and that’s a known fact… rofessor:





Kidding about the last part, it’s not a known fact it’s just how I feel...sorry about your luck
Get lawyerd up or sell the set on eBay and change to something else, there is a huge thread about the Husky rear treatment on SMJ, you might be able to find something that works for your state there ?

 

[trobinson07]

You know I have heard that you don't have to have turn signals in this state but the print out the cop gave me clearly stated the law. I believe I was just unlucky enough to have a highly knowlegable cop. He didn't give me a ticket this time, I will have to out run him next time...

I have a TE 510, the number plate and head light look great its just not bright. Thats why I opted for the Up-Tite light because it mounts to the stock number plate.

 

[Goosedog]

Just saw this post, you did a nice clean job Muddy! Looks tighter than mine, I'm jealous. Nice living in a state that doesn't require turn signals ain't it. As the law in NC states, if they are on the bike they must be operational, but no requirement to have them otherwise.

My fender job last summer

 

[meijerclassics]

Nice conversion. I have often read about problems with flashers when converting to LEDs. Did you just plug and play, or did you have to do anything to the flasher? If it is that easi I may have to keep away from the cops.:devil:

 

[xymotic]

your Tail looks Amazing! Very nice! I really like the inside the shrouds ones.

I just did my bike with HDB's front and rear Signals, write-up is HERE

I thought this conversion was awsome, so I order the light and installed them last night. I got pulled over this afternoon because in washington State the rear turnsignals must be at least 9'' apart, the front 13", and the plate has to be turned where the numbers are right side up. To make matters worse I also installed the Up-Tite LED headlight and had MOTOZ tires on. I told the trooper that was the way I bought it. He said I have a lot of work to do if I want to ride on the street again. I guess all my work was in vain.

CRAP**************************************** I'm moving to Seattle in a couple weeks
Moving my plate I can deal with, but my Signals are like 6-7" apart. I'm gonna risk it We'll see. (I might keep the bike reg'd in CA anyway...

Nice conversion. I have often read about problems with flashers when converting to LEDs. Did you just plug and play, or did you have to do anything to the flasher? If it is that easi I may have to keep away from the cops.:devil:

HDB sells a good electronic flasher for like $14 that fits well. I found the connector at my local electronics store so I didn't have to mess with the wiring harness

 

[Muddy Waters]

Just saw this post, you did a nice clean job Muddy! Looks tighter than mine, I'm jealous. Nice living in a state that doesn't require turn signals ain't it.

You know it…
Thanks for the kind words my good sir, what made it easier is the fact that Husky somewhere between 2006 and 2008 decided to revise the backend for a faster/lighter track day use(I guess ?), the whole DOT apparatus is attached to the rear sub frame by four bolts, take them off and it’s a clean “dirt bike” rear fender ready for the race, quite genius on Husky’s part…
I do like your middle wire holder/pass thru
BTW Goose, what did you use for the brake light ?

Nice conversion. I have often read about problems with flashers when converting to LEDs. Did you just plug and play, or did you have to do anything to the flasher?

The “problem” (if you want to call it like that) with switching to LED blinkers is that due to their efficiency they draw less current from the system, consequently tricking the flasher brain to think that one or more light bulbs are burned, triggering the faster flashing rate to alert you that something is wrong…
Now that’s an easy fix, they sell the little module that level the current and you’re good to go
I however chosen to stay with the faster rate, I believe it’s a safety issue, it draws more attention to the bike and my intentions (and yes, it’ll draw the ‘man” too but I’ll cross that bridge when I’ll get to it…)

your Tail looks Amazing! Very nice!

Hey man !!!
Don’t be checking my tail, what’s wrong with you !!!





Kidding Xy
Hey what’s the big brake light under the brake light for ?

Thanks for the comments folks

 

[xymotic]

Hey what’s the big brake light under the brake light for ?

It's what you said, a big Brake light. Plus it does double duty to block the Plate light.... (I still gotta work on that)

It's a LED police strobe light.

It's INSANELY bright and boy does it make a difference how cars around me act. Suposedly legal in all 50, though in CA It's supposed to flash three times and then stay solid, but mine just flashes.

http://www.motorcyclesafetyinfo.com/motorcycle_safety_products.html#BrakeLightFlashers

 

[Goosedog]

BTW Goose, what did you use for the brake light ?

Same as you from Custom Dynamics but different model. Pretty cool they are in the state too. But my favorite proximity perk is the fact that Ohlins USA is 15 minutes from my door.

 

[Jodiesel]

CRAP**************************************** I'm moving to Seattle in a couple weeks Moving my plate I can deal with, but my Signals are like 6-7" apart. I'm gonna risk it We'll see. (I might keep the bike reg'd in CA anyway...

You're gonna leave us before the state goes completely bankrupt???

When I lived in Vancouver, the local Washingtonites got a kick out of reporting people who didn't change over their out of state plates in a timely matter. So when at home, keep her out of sight and out of mind...