Install LED Accent Lights on a Motorcycle
LED accent lights are an easy way to improve the nighttime appearance of your motorcycle. LED lights are the best way to illuminate your bike because they are very bright and don’t require much battery to power them. The installation is very easy and can be done in 2 hours with simple hand tools.
Steps
- Purchase an LED accent light kit. These kits can be found online or at a local motorcycle or ATV dealership.
- Place the lights where you want them on the bike. Most of the lights come in the form of strips or pods with adhesive on the back of them. Place the lights on the bike any way you want but try to keep it symmetrical on either side of the bike to make the lights have an even effect when illuminated.
- Make a junction for the lights to connect together. To reduce the amount of wires running through your motorcycle it is necessary to make a junction. Take the wires running from the lights on the right side of the bike and run them all to one point. This point should be close to the seat because your battery is underneath it. Using a wire stripper remove about ½” of rubber insulator from the ends of each wire. Connect the positive wires from the lights by twisting the exposed wires together. Do the same for the negative wires. Repeat this step for the other side as well.
- Connect the junctions together. Remove the seat according to instructions in your owner’s manual because the next step occurs under the seat. From one of the junctions you just made connect a wire to the positive and negative terminals by twisting the exposed wires together. Wrap this connection in electrical tape to secure it. Repeat this step for the other side and connect the two junctions together by twisting the positive wires together and the negative wires together.
- Connect to the power source. From this central junction connect another wire by twisting one side to the positive wire and the other side to the negative wire. Wrap these connections in electrical tape. You should now have one wire with positive and negative sides. Loosen the bolts on the positive and negative terminals of the battery. Place the positive wire between the positive terminal and the bolt head on that terminal and tighten it down to pinch the wire between the bolt and the terminal. Repeat this step with the negative wire and the negative terminal.
- Button up. Put the seat back on and make sure the electrical connections you made are solid and can’t move around. Turn the ignition on and step back and admire your work.
Video
Template:Video:Install LED Accent Lights on a Motorcycle
Tips
- Point the lights toward your engine by sticking them to the inside of the body panels for a really cool look.
- Don't get in a hurry, make sure where you are going to apply the light strips is clean. I used alcohol under my tank where I thought it was clean and found out it wasn't.
- Make sure you always connect positive to positive and negative to negative.
Warnings
- Check the legality of LED lights in your state before installing or just install a switch to turn them off and on.
Things You'll Need
- Electrical tape
- Wire strippers
- Allen wrenches
- Crescent wrench
