Yamaha 1300 Tourer - Yamaha 1300 Tourer Fansite

The Knight Riderz light is a great way to add lighting to the rear of your bike, and is most definitely an attention getter. A few people have recently contacted me about adding this light, so I agreed to give it a shot. Since I’ve already installed the light, what follows is a montage of multiple bikes to get the idea across.
A big Thank You to Lstayner for taking pics while he installed his light, and B2engr for letting me take his apart!

If your Lunesta isn’t working, I guarantee this doc is a sure-fire replacement!

What You’ll need:
3 T-Taps, or whatever means you want to splice into the blinker wires.
Wire crimper – if using T-Taps or some other wire connector.
Pliers
Flat blade screwdriver
8 mm wrench
Small center punch, or nail.
Knife or razor blade

Recommended:
Alcohol swab

Let’s begin!
You can purchase the Knight Riderz light at:
http://www.customdynamics.com/knight_rider_led_light_bar.htm

Here’s what you get:

Many have used the reflector under the license plate as their install location, so that’s what we’re going to do:

You will be accessing the wiring harness under the cover behind the license plate:

The cover is held in place by 3 plastic tabs:

Let’s start with the right side. To remove the tab, push in the center rod. It will “snap” inwards a short way:
NOTE: Don’t try to push it all the way through!

Using a screwdriver, pry out the tab. It will come out easily:

Do the same thing for the top tab:

And for the left tab:

Lift away the cover:

Here are the plugs under the cover. We are interested in the one closest to the license plate:

Split the cover over the wiring:

Here are the wires we will be splicing into:

Remove the reflector. It is held on by two 8 mm nuts on either side behind it:

Lift away the reflector:
NOTE: There was a washer behind each nut, so don’t let them fall off!

Here’s the bracket where the reflector was. It conveniently has a hole in the middle that we can run the Knight Riderz wires through:

The Knight Riderz light will be held on by an adhesive backing. Take an alcohol swab and clean the front surface of the reflector bracket:

Run the wires through the middle hole:

Remove the adhesive cover from the back of the Knight Riderz:

Place the Knight Riderz where the reflector was:

Pull the wires up to the wiring plug:

Use a T-Tap to splice into the blinker wires. The spline of the T-Tap cuts through the insulation to make the connection. Use a pair of pliers to snap the clamshell together:

Attach a T-Tap to the other wires:

Attach the male spade connectors to the Knight Riderz wires.

The Knight Riderz wiring is thinner than what the T-Tap male connector was designed for, so we’re going to improvise a bit. Let’s start with the red wire. Strip back a good portion of the insulation:

Fold the wire back on itself 3 or 4 times to make a bundle. This will allow it to fit securely in the male connector:

Crimp the male connector onto the red wire:

Strip and crimp a male connector onto the black wire:

And finally do the same thing for the blue wire:

Now connect the Black Riderz wire to the Black bike wire:

Connect Blue to Blue:

And then connect the Red to Yellow:

Replace the cover:
NOTE: there is a little rubber bumper that fits into a slot on the front of the cover:

Take the center rods out of the tabs:

Place the tabs back into the cover:

Insert the rods back into the tabs and press flush:

Turn the ignition on. The Knight Riderz will oscillate back and forth while cruising, but flash then go solid when the brake is applied.

Final Thoughts:

The T-Taps can be picked up any auto parts store.
Since adding the Knight Riderz light, I’ve noticed that a lot fewer cagers run up on my arse.

A few fellow riders who have followed, teased that the light is “hypnotizing”. One noted that he was amazed at how far away the light can be seen.

I installed mine a little differently. I inverted a chrome license plate holder and mounted the light above:

Enjoy!
Boomer Sooner
Potestatem obscuri lateris nescis