2002 VFR LED brake light addition / mod

For the sake of archives I figured I would post this... It was in reference
to a question on LED brake lights for a 2003 VFR.

I did this mod to my bike (2002 VFR), and works well.

FH

The LED Tail light setup:
http://www.aerostich.com/catalog/US/...t-p-16981.html

I went with this part: #4635 "Stopper". They have a model that also does
running lights and blinkers in conjunction with the existing lights and
blinkers. I chose to go with just the stopper, because that is really what
you need is to be seen when stopping.

The tail light modulator I used is the Kisan 100HD. Link:
http://www.vencowings.com/cgi-bin/mi...=Kisan%3A100HD

Do a search on google for the best price. The version I have is an older
version I bought from a local member, and it had wires that I had to splice
in to the harness using butt splices. (vs. the terminal version shown.)

As far as the installation aspects of the setup, I mounted my LED bar on the
top of the license plate. (Fits nicely in that location.) and then fished
the wires up through the existing plastic tube for the license plate
illumination lamp. It ends up right where you need to splice into the wiring
harness for the tail lights.

To wire the LED unit in, you will need to pull the rear cowl. (The plastic
piece containing the tail lights, surrounding the seat.) it is pretty
simple, you have to undo the 6 top Allen head screws, and the two Allen head
screws (one on each side of the cowl) towards the front. Once you have the
screws out, you pull the cowl back approx 2 inches so you can unplug the 4
lamp connectors, and then remove the cowl completely.

If you decide to use the Kisan Tail light modulator for the LED bar, you
will need to tap into the tail light wiring as follows.

The proper wire to tap is the small green wire with a yellow stripe that
comes from the brake switches and runs to the brake lamps. (Check with a
volt ohm meter to make sure you get ~ 12 vdc when you press the brake lever
down on these wires..) The tail lamps are tied together in the wiring
harness that routes up the left side of the seat cowl. You will need to
unwrap some of the black electrical tape covering the harness to get to the
spot where the green / yellow striped wires run. (My wires were tied
(spliced) together and then wrapped with blue electrical tape.)

I cut the factory splice out in that location, and spliced the Kisan tail
light modulator in.

I used a standard butt splice. I tied the 4 green and yellow striped wires
along with the "input" to the modulator in at that location. The other end
(output) of the kisan tail light modulator ran to the led bar red wire, and
finally the ground to the modulator along with the black wire from the LED
bar was attached to the small bolt that holds the seat release mechanism in.
(I had to use a file to remove some of the paint from the seat frame to give
a good ground.)

By chance if you don't want to use the modulator for your LED bar, all you
need to do is tap the red wire from the LED bar into one of the green and
yellow wires that I mentioned above, and then attach the black wire from the
LED bar to the seat latch bolt as I mentioned.

So in summary, for the kisan modulator:
1. Remove the seat,
2. Remove the cowl,
3. Disconnect the connectors from the lights,
4. Unwrap the electrical tape from the wire loom,
5. Locate the splice that ties the 4 green/yellow striped wires together in
the loom. (check with a volt ohm meter to make sure you get ~ 12 vdc when
you press the brake lever down on these wires)
6. Cut the factory splice,
7. Re-splice these wires back together adding a wire (input to kisan
modulator)
8. Wire the LED bar red wire to the "output" of the kisan tail light
modulator,
9. attach the ground from the Kisan modulator and the black wire from the
LED bar to the small bolt holding the seat latch in place. (Don't forget to
file some of the paint off here.)
10. find a good location to tuck the modulator in beneath the seat,
11. Verify the LEDs work (flash) when you apply the brakes. (might need a
second person on this step)
12. reinstall rear cowl and seat.

If you would like more details I can try to explain further.

FH

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