Trash to Street Legal Kit (Functional Brake Light.)
by ddcarlow42 in Workshop > Motorcycles
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Trash to Street Legal Kit (Functional Brake Light.)
The tail light is made from a red tupperware
Hi this is the easiest and CHEAPEST way for anybody to make a motorcycle shine bright with lights at night with a functional brake light and tail, and street legal in most states with trash laying around. First thing up, you'll need a few things that you may have laying around the house or are able to get sitting around at good will for pennies to the dollars.
1. 12v volt battery, ( back power supplies at good will have them most of the time for 3 dollars)
2. Any size 20th century model iron/ with press switch.
3. Old copper or silver lamp wire ext. something long and with in the same size gauge.
4. 0ne small headlight bulb Two amber/clear 1watt-10w dome light bulbs with open end + and - rods or wires exposed.( typically the positive and negative doesn't make a difference with Incandescent bulbs, as long as you can twine for new wires to the two different ends)
4. Dark red tubber ware tops ( i used an old ham container top)
5. Heat gun or blow dryer set to high. ( you can always buy and return from walmart lbs* )
6. Something shaped like a taillight end( youll get creative i promise)
7. Hot glue stick / and tape. $dollar store zips ties.
8. 2 hours.
Hi this is the easiest and CHEAPEST way for anybody to make a motorcycle shine bright with lights at night with a functional brake light and tail, and street legal in most states with trash laying around. First thing up, you'll need a few things that you may have laying around the house or are able to get sitting around at good will for pennies to the dollars.
1. 12v volt battery, ( back power supplies at good will have them most of the time for 3 dollars)
2. Any size 20th century model iron/ with press switch.
3. Old copper or silver lamp wire ext. something long and with in the same size gauge.
4. 0ne small headlight bulb Two amber/clear 1watt-10w dome light bulbs with open end + and - rods or wires exposed.( typically the positive and negative doesn't make a difference with Incandescent bulbs, as long as you can twine for new wires to the two different ends)
4. Dark red tubber ware tops ( i used an old ham container top)
5. Heat gun or blow dryer set to high. ( you can always buy and return from walmart lbs* )
6. Something shaped like a taillight end( youll get creative i promise)
7. Hot glue stick / and tape. $dollar store zips ties.
8. 2 hours.
Set Up.
Your switch placement Will play a big role in the sizing of your wires, I will put a picture of a diagram for how three prong on/off switches work, this will be your main control to your headlight and tail light, while your iron switch will control the front hand braking light. Once you find a decent spot to mount your main control switch to your handlebars, you will then consider a spot to place your small 12 V battery, it is very important when placing the battery to secure with large zip ties so that the battery will not fall off or shake too much I found that in between the fork of the front end, my battery fit perfectly and is very stable on Street Roads.
From then you will have two wires leading to the battery directly + and - and the 3rd wire from the switch going to the lights front and back. and a fourth negative cord running to the lights as the negative for electrical circulation directly from the battery . You will then splice your wires. And cut them to size leaving enough room to turn your front wheels left and right all the way while maintaining the wires close to the body through the frame. Not too much slack or the wires could get caught in spoke if your zip ties fail.
From then you will have two wires leading to the battery directly + and - and the 3rd wire from the switch going to the lights front and back. and a fourth negative cord running to the lights as the negative for electrical circulation directly from the battery . You will then splice your wires. And cut them to size leaving enough room to turn your front wheels left and right all the way while maintaining the wires close to the body through the frame. Not too much slack or the wires could get caught in spoke if your zip ties fail.
Applying Heat.
Depending on your dirtbike you wanna find something preferably Wooden or thick plastic something thicker than the Tupperware top are you going to be used, do you want to cut the edges off to make the dark red piece of plastic flat. What are you with then want to do is lay the flat piece of plastic on top of your tail light mold and then apply heat with your heat gun slowly until the edges melt down once you've got that far you will then work your way in circles towards the middle flattening everything against the mold allowing the plastic to take shape. .Make sure your mold is big enough for the tail light you buy for it to fit inside with room to shake a little
Setting Up the Front Brake Lever Button
Setting up the front brake lever button....
Because the button pushes it self back into the off position as a safety Precaution for most iron Production companies, what you will have to do is wire your 3 prong switch to a new ligjt leading to the back light fixture you molded, size the wire and prepare to mount the switch in place. hold your button in place to where the brake lever Closed position rod has presses-in the button When the break is activated the button should click regularly as it did before.
"there are also easier buttons you can get this was just cheap and free for me", at this point have your glue gun ready, because you'll be building Up the glue to the point that the switch is held in place perfectly to click when brake is pulled,after glue sets, apply a better glue or tape to keep in place better or by taping the rest. This part is very crucial in the maintenance of the buttons if you place it perfectly and test out a few different ways before committing your chances are better that it will not fall out of position.
Please note you want to do all of your wiring before placing the switch because the cords may be difficult to handle . Repeat steps two in the placement of cords on to the battery since you basically have an entirely new on off switch for your brake light in order to work without any running lights on to conserve battery. ( note : you will need to recharge this battery if you ride a-lot at night but 4 watt amber light do almost nothing)
Because the button pushes it self back into the off position as a safety Precaution for most iron Production companies, what you will have to do is wire your 3 prong switch to a new ligjt leading to the back light fixture you molded, size the wire and prepare to mount the switch in place. hold your button in place to where the brake lever Closed position rod has presses-in the button When the break is activated the button should click regularly as it did before.
"there are also easier buttons you can get this was just cheap and free for me", at this point have your glue gun ready, because you'll be building Up the glue to the point that the switch is held in place perfectly to click when brake is pulled,after glue sets, apply a better glue or tape to keep in place better or by taping the rest. This part is very crucial in the maintenance of the buttons if you place it perfectly and test out a few different ways before committing your chances are better that it will not fall out of position.
Please note you want to do all of your wiring before placing the switch because the cords may be difficult to handle . Repeat steps two in the placement of cords on to the battery since you basically have an entirely new on off switch for your brake light in order to work without any running lights on to conserve battery. ( note : you will need to recharge this battery if you ride a-lot at night but 4 watt amber light do almost nothing)
Head Light.
To make an easy legal headlight but find and old larger flash light or car work lamp fixture, fit your 12v bulb into the reflective area of said fixture, connect your wires to the bulb then switch and ground. Your system is complete!
On/off switch for the head and tail lights,
brake lever switch for worry free braking and legal enough for most states for registration.
On/off switch for the head and tail lights,
brake lever switch for worry free braking and legal enough for most states for registration.
Clean Up
Now all that's left to do is clean up your zip ties and make things look neat again. Tuck all your cords in a safe place. Make sure your wiring is correct and open wires are tapped with Electrical safe tape to prevent shorts in the battery. Test the stability of your brake lever button. and connect a and 12v bulb to any old flash light fixture , then to your switch and your good to go! Street legal !