Ebay trunk with lights. How to wire them?

[dirkster]

Anyone know how to wire a standard 12v LED light bar with 3 wires? I recently purchased an inexpensive trunk for my r18classic. The dealer wants $550 to wire the light bar stating it needs a modulator. I would give it a go if I knew where to begin. Anyone have any help or advice? Where do you splice the modulator in? What is a good modulator? Anything else I may need to know. All advice appreciated.

 

[Star-Lord]

Without seeing any information about the LED light and the wiring diagram; I would guess that the three wires would be made up of the following connections:

Ground
12 V Riding Lights
12 V Brake Light

 

[RhoXS]

I know the R18 uses CAN bus technology. I know some accessory power and control needs to go through a CAN bus controller. Need more input from someone who has actually added lights.

 

[Ulrich]

If you have a US model (and I can only speak for the FE/Pure Model) out of the 4 wires going to the tail light only 2 are doing something ... the (I think) brown one is the ground and one of the other ones is 'Hot' (I think it is the blue/something one) and break light and turnsignal light is controlled by dimming or brightening the LED ... no 3 wire hookup ... you would need an EZ-Can or something like that for it.

 

[Star-Lord]

I know the R18 uses CAN bus technology. I know some accessory power and control needs to go through a CAN bus controller. Need more input from someone who has actually added lights.

Somehow I've modified all sorts of motorcycle lighting, as well as RV lighting systems and never ever used a CAN bus controller... That's the thing with parallel resistive circuits, and it gets better with the use of LED lights as they draw little to no amperage...

There's no magic to illuminating an LED light..

 

[dirkster]

Somehow I've modified all sorts of motorcycle lighting, as well as RV lighting systems and never ever used a CAN bus controller... That's the thing with parallel resistive circuits, and it gets better with the use of LED lights as they draw little to no amperage...

There's no magic to illuminating an LED light..

so the suggestion would be to direct splice it?

 

[Star-Lord]

so the suggestion would be to direct splice it?

I would test the LED light and the existing wiring on the bike first with some test leads and a volt meter, make sure you're getting the expected results prior moving forward.

But in "short" (probably the wrong word to use), I would use the existing wiring in order to drive the LED light; however, based on what you have shared up to this point - it might be worth having the dealership do the work. I wouldn't even attempt this without a volt meter in hand.

Let's see some pictures of this rig... Maybe there's wiring directions from the manufacturer?

 

[widu13]

I don't know the answer, so will pose it anyway. do the naked bikes have the top box connectors fitted as standard under the seat? That would have switched power and braking/running feeds.