I ordered a set of Hyper-lite non-flashing brake lights and some Hyper-white running lights as a birthday present to myself this year. I have a mounting system for the running lights in the works, but I went ahead and installed the brake lights on Friday evening. Here’s how it went.
The brake light kit contains two LED arrays, an electronic controller box, two Posi-Twist, and three Posi-Tap connectors. An instruction sheet and a fancy Hyper-lite sticker were also in the bag. I have to say, I’ve accumulated quite a collection of fancy stickers from the various farkles I’ve added to my bike!
I also sprung for the license plate bracket at a little extra cost.
I decided to stick the LED arrays to the bracket right away. This helped make the wiring routing easier and let me measure the wire lengths more accurately. Mounting the LEDs was dead simple: use some rubbing alcohol to clean the bracket, then stick the LEDs to it with the included double-sided tape.
The next step was threading the wires for the LEDs up under the fender and into the compartment under the passenger seat. This is easy if you have a stock fender; just follow one of the turn signal wires. Each LED array has a brown and a blue wire, for four wires in all.
You can see the brown and blue wire pairs in the left part of the picture above. After I threaded the wires, I unhooked a few of the existing connections in this area to give me some room to work with, namely the turn signal wire connectors and the tail light connector. Then, I pushed some wires aside until I found a nice spot for the Hyper-lite controller module. The picture above shows the chosen location — look for the small plastic piece with wrinkles in the lower right.
The controller comes with a piece of double-sided sticky tape on it. I used a little rubbing alcohol to wipe the target surface down before sticking the controller to it.
With the controller module in place, it was time to start connecting wires. Namely, the brown wires needed to be connected together using the Posi-Twist connector. There are three brown wires: one each from the two LED arrays, and another from the controller module. I trimmed the excess wire, then used the Posi-Twist like so:
Step 1: Strip 1/2 in. insulation off wire ends and twist together.
Step 2: Insert wires into threaded cap.
Step 3: Tighten the barrel end.
Then, I did the same thing to the blue wires.
The second part involves tapping into the existing wiring harness. After consulting my SV650 wiring diagram, I followed the recommended instructions and tapped into the tail light wiring.
| What | on SV650 | on controller | |
|---|---|---|---|
| brake light +12V | white w/ black stripe | connect to | red wire |
| running light +12V | brown | connect to | grey wire |
| ground | black w/ white stripe | connect to | black wire |
Here’s how to tap into the brake light wire:
Step 1: Insert 'hot' wire between the prongs on the threaded end.
Step 2: Tighten barrel onto the 'hot' end.
Step 3: Strip 1/2 in. off wire end and insert into threaded cap.
Step 4: Insert threaded cap into barrel and tighten.
I repeated this two more times to tap into the running light and the ground wire.
Then it was time to button things up: I reconnected the turn signal and tail light connectors, tidied up the wiring, and put the passenger seat back on. Turned the ignition on and was pleased to see a successful result. I love it when a project goes well!
Unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures of the lights in action — I couldn’t get them to do justice to how the lights really look. For a better view, check out the videos on the non-flashing brake light product page at Hyper-lite’s website.
Related Posts
- Installing Hyper-white Running Lights on an SV650
It’s been a long time coming, but the set of Hyper-white running lights I bought ... - SV650 Mod: Relay and Distribution Block
My weekend wrenching session generated so much content that I’m going to have to post ... - To-Do List For the New SV
My new SV650 might be a dead ringer for the one I had previously, but ... - How to Clean/Replace the Air Filter in Your SV650
Just like top athletes, engines need clean, unobstructed airflow in order to perform their best. ... - How to Change the Spark Plugs in Your SV650
An engine won’t get very far without spark, a courtesy that the spark plug provides. ...
Popular Posts
The Latest From Twitter...
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Curious, where are you planning on mounting the running lights?
@soth: On the fork legs, near the brake calipers.
Interesting idea. I’ll have to check the legality of that for NY state, but I’d like to do something similar with a on/off switch wired in…
Thanks!