Using Trailer Wiring Converter to Add LED Tail Lights to 2005 Harley Dyna Glide Voyager Trike Kit

Question:

I bought two mini-tombstone LED taillight assemblies to mount on the metal fenders of my trike conversion. The LED lights have three wires including the ground wire. I read where another rider just treated the lights as if they were mounted on a trailer but needed a converted to make the lights work as stop/tail and turn signals. Any guidance is appreciated.

asked by: Dave R

Expert Reply:

As you probably know, a motorcycle has separate turn signals and brake lights. Trailers work a little different in that the brake and turn signals are combined and the running lights are separate. You are correct in that if you wanted the LED lights to operate like trailer lights, you would need to convert the 3 wire system used by the motorcycle to a 2 wire system like a trailer uses.

If you wanted to keep stop/tail and turn signals all separate, you would need some additional amber turn signals and the wiring would remain the same since that is how bikes are set up. If you wanted all the functions on one set of lights, that requires a little more work.

What I recommend is to use the powered converter, # 119176KIT. This powered converter works with all types of lighting systems and it is circuit protected. It does require a direct connection to the battery but on a bike that should not be much of an issue.

You would ground the white wire, connect the yellow wire to the left turn signal wire from the bike, connect the green wire to the right turn signal on the bike, and the combined brake light/running light wire on the bike would go to the brown wire. The red stop wire on the converter would be grounded with the white wire.

On the output side, you would need to remove the 4-Way connector and have the yellow go to the turn signal function on the left side LED light. Green goes to the turn signal function on the right LED light. The brown wire would have to go to one of the LEDs tail light function wire and then you would need a jumper wire to go from that LED to the other LED light. So you will be splitting the brown wire to both sides and that carries the stop/tail function.

Ground the LEDs to the frame or to the white wire on the output side of the converter. Make the connection to the battery and insert the fuse and that should complete the installation. I have included a link to the installation details for the 19176KIT but since this is a non-traditional installation, it should be viewed as a reference and not a strict guideline.

expert reply by: Michael H