Brake Light Mod

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bomber315

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Alright guys heres what i did lastnight... in about an hour, after i had drank 4 beers so like 45min real time ;D

before i even get started i want to define "brakelight" and "running light or tail light"... the running light is what most warriors come with, it does not get brighter when you hit the brakes... nor can it... in order to get it to become bright you need to buy a new light assembly with a dual filiment bulb (commonly 1157) i think a lot of people refer to a brake light as anything red on the back, not so... a brake light is only a brake light if it lights up when you hit the brakes, hence the name ::)

ok here we go...
i bought what must supposed to be a trailer brake light from walmart for $5.95. it came with the bulb and everystuff, and it looks like something that would be stock... unfortunatly i didnt get a picture of it straight out of the box but there wasn't really much to see...it has two hot wires and grounds through the frame, slight issue there but no problem....

this is without the lense obvisously


this light is meant to be mounted to something flat and waterproof... so first off i took the lense off and traced it onto a piece 1/16th steel with a sharpy... i then cut the steel on the band saw and stayed on the outside of the line. therefore the plate is actually about 1/8" bigger all the way around than the lense... also i drilled a hole for the wires to come through

then the plate was spot welded to the light chassis, you can actually see the welds in the first pic...



then the plate got spotted to the OEM bracket



Then ran the wires through, there is actually a plastic grommet there... and filled the rest with permatex to keep out all the water....


this is the after phase one of the mod... ill post the rest after i do it... hahahah maybe tomorrow... maybe monday



if someone wants im thinking about putting together a complete kit with some instructions on installing a brake light on a warrior... is that something you guys would be interested in buying for about $30 + core (i only have 2 other OEM brackets)
 
alright here is phase 2 of the brake light mod...

i got a univeral brake light switch, and built this bracket... im not going to get into building the bracket, but if you have ever done and measuring and cutting and drilling you should be fine

another picture of it... i didnt have band saw at home so i just left i square for now... one of these days ill take it back arpart and cut where the sharpy is at my buddys... then paint it...

this is next picture is of it all mounted up... i used the hole that is already there and threaded to bolt the mount on... i believe this hole is here because in a couple states yamaha actually had to put brake lights on from the factory... even before 02 or whatever....

youll see that the spring runs down to the lever and i had to drill a small how to hook it in

the switch has two wires coming from it one needs to go to a 12v source and the other side goes to the lightbulb... i doesnt matter which side goes where, at least not on the model i used



then i used a test light and a 12v battery to figure out what was what on my wires... turns out on the light the red was the taillight and the black was the brake light.... on the fourwheeler it turned out black was ground and blue was hot for the taillight

i figured the best way to make the connections was to cut the stock wires off of the stock light and connect them to the walmart light... its your decision if you wanna pretty much junk your stock light or not but i dont plan on going back to the brakelightless state (besides i have 2 other stock taillights)

i've found that getting the quick connect "bullets" to mate up to OEM bullets doesnt always work to well... thats most of the reason i decided to cut the stock wires (and connectors) off of the stock light and just use them

soldered the connection... notice the shink wrap on the left...


this is how i hooked up the ground....

i hooked the hotwire to the switch straight to the battery... on second thought i should have tapped in somewhere after that fuse in the right rear... ill probably end up redoing that later..

this picture sucks but it shows my three connections to the light now.... the seperate black wire comes from the brake light switch

this is what it looks like all said and done...


let me know if you guys need more details... ill edit this post and add them in....
 
Cool post. Its now stuck!

Total cost? And what is that switch part called and where did you get it at? (product name and item number would help) Also, with this set up, do you have a running light and then a brighter break light? And it all gets ran off that new switch?

I'd like to make this for my bike as well!
 
mmm total cost would be... $6 for the light assemby and ive seen universal switches in my dealers parts catalog for $8 (mine cam from a friend for free) youll need about 70 inches of wire, a few quick connects, some electrical tape, and some scrap steel you can make the bracket and light plate out of... that makes the grand total under $20 I'd say

yes i have a running light and a bright brake light... the running light is still run from the stock harness and the brake light is the only part that runs through the switch....

here are a couple switches i found....

no picture for this one which is kinda scary but judging by the price i believe it is the same thing i saw in my dealers catalog
http://www.chaparral-racing.com/Chaparral/productr.asp?pf%5Fid=M128490&gift=False&HSLB=False&mscssid=B233ADD2F00B47F68D2412565B2AA4FB


this one is really interesting... might make this mod a heck of a lot easier
http://www.chaparral-racing.com/Chaparra....2 412565B2AA4FB

personally if i had to do it again i would go with the 2nd one even though it is $17... that will make a SUPER clean install... only issue may be swinger clearance... also the hydralic switch would be the easiest way to hook the front brakes into the light too...
 
you you can also buy brake bolts that have a pressure switch in it that is activated by the pressure of the brake fluid when the brake pedal is mashed (it works better for doing both front and back brakes
 
kingman14 said:
you you can also buy brake bolts that have a pressure switch in it that is activated by the pressure of the brake fluid when the brake pedal is mashed (it works better for doing both front and back brakes

yeah thats where the link goes 4 posts up they would certainly be a great idea if they work as well as advertised.... anyone ever run them?
 
where can you get that pressure brake bolt and do you have any pics?
 
you can also wire in a regular 3157 bulb, get a socket from the junkyard outta pretty any car brake light (chrysler dodge are pretty easy). cut a circle to and a few notches in the plastic backing of your atv light to fit the socket/light and bingo! dont forget the rubber gasket.. it keeps the water out
 
you can also wire in a regular 3157 bulb, get a socket from the junkyard outta pretty any car brake light (chrysler dodge are pretty easy). cut a circle to and a few notches in the plastic backing of your atv light to fit the socket/light and bingo! dont forget the rubber gasket.. it keeps the water out

good idea!! but you still need a switch to activate the light
 
just get a cheap brake light switch off ebay.. i paid 4 bucks for mine shipped.. it works like a CHAMP..if your fancy pants get a hydrostatic thingy for 8 times more in price and point it out to your friends cuz they will never notice it anyway!
 
i used the banjo bolt switch for mine because I didn't want to have to fab a bracket to mount it, and drill a hole in the brake pedal for the spring. But both switches do the same thing in the end. I also used an led brake light for the chinese bikes I bought off ebay, I figured since I have 55wat lights on the front every little bit I can cut back on power in other places will help the stator
 
Thatsthe same switch i got on my front brakes. I found mine on ebay. I had to get a double banjo. The wires dont matter where they go. One wire i hooked up to the solenoid for a constant power and the other is to the third wire for the brake light. Only when the brake lever is pulled the light will light up. I believe you'll have to get an LED tail light that can be used for a brake light too. Just make sure it has a ground and 2 power wires. One wire will make the LED's brighter for the brake light and the other will be for the running lights.
 
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