Yamaha 1300 Tourer - Yamaha 1300 Tourer Fansite

In the never-ending quest to be more visible, I was wanting to have more visibility to the rear. I was thinking something along the lines of running lights, but didn’t want to re-wire the lights or permanently have my blinkers be red. I think it was Arkie that first brought up the Turn Signal Conversion Kit made by Electrical Connection that converts the rear blinkers into running lights by adding LEDs into the lenses. - No major modding to the bike. This is exactly what I was wanting!

The length of this install doc belies the fact that this is really a simple mod. But you know me – picture happy.

So let’s begin!

What you will need:
5mm hex tool
Flat blade screwdriver
Phillips screwdriver
Pliers
Knife or razor blade
Small center punch or nail

Recommended:
4 T-Taps – See notes at end.

Suggested:
Electrical tape
A piece of stiff wire or metal coat hanger.

You can get the conversion kit here:
http://www.electricalconnection.com/other-lighting/tsk-star&sport.htm

This is what you get:
NOTE: It comes with everything you need, but see my notes at the bottom first!

Let’s start with the left (clutch) side. Remove the two Phillips screws holding on the turn signal lens:

And do the same thing for the right(throttle) side:

Clean out the inside of the lenses with alcohol swabs:
NOTE: Swabs are provided with the kit.

Here’s one of the LED lights you will be installing into the lens. Pay particular attention to the metal pins on the back of the circuit board:

Do a “test fit” of the LED light in the lens. Place the lights face down into the lens and see where it will be centered:
NOTE: Notice the position of the metal pins. They will be located 90 degrees from the screw holes in the lens.

The lights will be “glued” into the lenses with silicon:
NOTE: Provided in kit.

The silicon tube cap contains a “pierce point”. Use it to puncture the end of silicon tube:

Place a dab of silicon onto each of the 12 LED lights:

Position the light inside the lens with the LEDs facing down and centered as much as possible. Push down and slightly rotate the board back and forth to allow the LED to make contact with the lens surface:
CAUTION: Note the position of the metal pins on the LED board. They must be located 90 degrees from the screw holes in the lens!

It’s tough to see, but the metal pins are between the screw holes:

NOTE: The silicon will require 30 minutes in 70F degree weather to tack up. Full cure will occur in 24 hrs. Do not ride for several hours to allow the best adhesion. I let mine set for the full 24 hrs.

Do the same thing for the other lens:

While the lights are setting up, let’s go wire the bike!

Remove the two 5mm hex bolts holding on the tail light cover:
NOTE: The signal wires run under here, so they will be easy access for us.

Lift up the cover and slide to one side:
NOTE: You can unplug the bulb wire and remove the cover completely. I didn’t as the plug is a bugger to get out!

Remove the taillight bulbs by pushing in and twisting counter-clockwise:

This next step requires an inordinate amount of patience. What we are going to do is run a guide wire into the empty hole in the bulb housing, through the signal light stem and out the hole where the existing wires come out. The reason we are doing this is so that we can attach the wires that will be used for the LED lights onto this guide wire and thread them through the signal stem.
NOTE: If you want to disassemble the blinker stem and run the LED wires along with the existing blinker wires, be my guest!

Let’s start with the right (throttle) side. Insert the guide wire into the hole:

Push through the signal light stem:

And out the wire hole:
NOTE: I was going to cut a length of wire coat hanger to do this, but the wife was very unhappy with the idea of me destroying another coat hanger!

The LED wires are the 2 large black wire bundles in the kit. One end has the plugs that will connect to the LED, the other is bare. Untangle one and connect the BARE wire end to your guide wire (I used electrical tape):

CARFULLY pull the guide wire through:

Disconnect the guide wire:

The instructions say to leave 2 inches of wire in the bulb housing:

OK, that’s a crock, and here’s why – The LED wire is ridiculously long and they DON’T want you to cut it! So you have this huge length of wire you now have to hide. The only reason I can think of that they don’t want you to cut it, is because it is so small that you may not be able to easily strip it back to the bare wire.
What I did is pull the wire about 2/3 the way through and coiled it up with as much as I could possibly shove under the flange where the taillight cover bolt goes in:
NOTE: All I needed was about 4 inches of wire available.

Then I shoved as much as I possibly could into the signal stem housing by pushing it into the hole:

This still left a good bit of wire, and I shoved the remainder behind the light reflector:
NOTE: I don’t think this is a good idea, but I’m open to suggestions. I’m going to contact Electrical Connections and see if they can provide a valid reason this wire can’t be cut down to size!

Collect your shattered nerves, drink a beer, and then do the same thing for the left (clutch) side:

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:

******************************************************************************
**..........................................B E G I N...I N T E R M I S S I O N...................................................... **
******************************************************************************
** The wires you will need to splice into can all be located in the plug closest to the license .......**
** plate. I could not as I already have my Knight Riderz light wired into this plug. .....................**
** But here are the wires you could use:.......................................................................................**

** The blue wire is a constant wire. ..............................................................................................**
** The yellow is the brake wire. .....................................................................................................**
******************************************************************************
**...................................................E N D....I N T E R M I S S I O N...................................................**
******************************************************************************

The other wires in the light kit (red shrink-wrapped to blue & green) are the run/brake circuit wires:

Let’s start with the left side. Run one of the run/brake circuit wires up underneath the license plate, having the blue & green wires run up the plugs:



Using a crimp connector, splice together the red wire and the black with WHITE stripe of the LED wire together:
NOTE: Crimp provided in kit.

Now run the brake/run circuit wire for the right side:

Crimp the red and black with white stripe together:

Prep the bike plugs for splicing.

NOTE: Refer back to the INTERMISSION above if you do not have anything else spliced into the wiring. The plug closest to the plate can be used solely for your wiring needs. Plus the right side of that plug is by far the easiest to access.

ADDITIONAL NOTE: If you look at the wires on both plugs, you will see each plug has a blue wire with a red stripe. For all intents and purposes, these wires are the same. They are a constant power wire. You
can use either one equally.

OR do what I did…

Split the casing over the wires on the plug farthest away from the license plate:

Place a T-Tap onto the blue with red stripe wire:

Snap the clamshell together with pliers:

Split the casing over the wires on the plug closest to the license plate:

Connect a T-Tap to the yellow wire:

The two green wires from the run/brake circuit wires can be connected together. Crimp a male spade connector to them:

The two blue wires from the run/brake circuit wires can be connected together. Crimp a male spade connector to them:
NOTE: Yah, I know, they look greenish in the photo.

Connect the green wires to the T-Tap on the blue/red-striped wire on the rear plug (or front, if you went that route):

Connect the blue wires to the T-Tap on the yellow/red-striped wire on the front plug:

Replace the signal bulbs. Notice that the pins on the bulbs are offset, so they will fit in only 1 way:

Push in and twist clockwise:

Do the same thing for the left bulb:

Splice into the signal wires.

Let’s start with the left side. Two pieces of protective tubing are taped together. I removed the tape, but you don’t have to:

Split the cover over the wires:

Here are the wires inside. The brown is the left signal wire:

Attach a T-Tap to the brown wire:

We will be attaching a male spade connector to the solid black wire of the LED wire. This wire is thin, so I doubled it over to make a snug fit:

Crimp the male spade connector onto the solid black wire:

Connect the solid black wire to the T-Tap on the brown wire:
NOTE: You may want to wrap up this connection with electrical tape to help protect it.

Do the same thing to the right side:

We’re interested in the green wire:

Tuck the wires up under the taillight cover:

Replace the taillight cover and secure with the two 5mm bolts:

Replace the lenses.
Let’s start with the left side. Hold up the lens so that the metal tabs on the circuit board are in the 12 o’clock position:
NOTE: The LEFT pin is POSITIVE. The RIGHT pin is NEGATIVE.

Note the LED wire. The black with WHITE stripe is POSITIVE. The solid black is NEGATIVE:

Connect the black with WHITE stripe to the LEFT pin(positive) and the solid black to the right pin(negative):

Align the lens and re-attach with the two Philips screws:
NOTE: I think the lens only goes on one way.

You can barely see the LEDs:

Repeat for the right side:

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:

The following pics suck, but hopefully get the idea across.

Here are the lights while cruising:

Brakes applied:

Left blinker:

Right blinker:

Final Thoughts:

I like these lights. They are always on while cruising and increase in brightness when the brakes are applied, but turn off when the signal is on. It’s kind of interesting, watching them alternate between yellow and red. The aliens are landing!

OK, the install kit does come with all the connectors you need, but the T-TAPS that the kit comes with SUCK!!!! These things are terrible! I spent more time hunting down electrical problems and they all stemmed from these crappy connectors. Do yourself a favor and go to the auto parts store and buy some better T-TAPS there.

Enjoy!

Boomer Sooner
Potestatem obscuri lateris nescis