Integrated Tail ....Make one yourself for $12

[redzintimidator]

This should work for ANY bike with 2 two filament bulbs for the tail light, the instructions may be slightly different though. This was done on a 2002 F4i. Allright here we go.
What you will need (R is for recommended but not required)

1. (2) DPDT Relays
2. (R) Solder PC Board
3. (R) Soldering Iron + Solder
4. Shrink Wrap + electrical tape
5. Wire ( At least 5 colors to make things easier)
6. (1) diode)

Ok, lets start with wiring up the relays. You will need one for each side.



I got mine at radio shack, make sure they are DPDT Relays, 12VDC.




I went kind of fast wiring it up and didnt take pictures, so heres sort of a wiring diagram of how to wire it up and what my color wires did..i will explain all this later.




Ok, start with the coil on the bottom of the diagram. Just one wire on each side will be good. Then moving up the left side skip the next pin, solder a wire on the third pin up. On the top pin, solder a wire from this pin to the second pin up on the RIGHT side of the relay. Then at either one of those soldering points add a loose ended wire. Solder a wire on the first pin up on the right side, and then another on the third pin up on the right side. Alright your relay is all wired up. Only solder up one side for now to make sure you did it correctly.

Take off the stock rear signals, chop the plugs off. The right side should be Light blue and green(on an f4i) the left side should be orange and green. strip the wire ends on your relay and on the end you just chopped twist the Ground wire( from lower right side pin) to the green wire on this plug, and the "signal pulse" wire to either the orange or light blue depending on what side you are starting with.

Now on your stock tail light, unplug the bulb and get enough room to work. Cut the green/yellow wire. Now on the bulb end of this wire twist it together with the wire that is off the top pin on the left side and the 2nd pin on the right side. On the other end of the wire, twist it together with the wire on the third pin up on the left side."Brake Signal"

Now for the hard-ish part. On an F4i, take off the air duct covers and locate the front signal wires. They should be right on the side of the front fairings. Now for the right side of the bike you are looking for a light Blue wire with a white stripe, a light blue wire, and a green wire. On the left side you are looking for orange w/ white stripe, orange, and green. Find the one with the white stripe. Strip the wire in the middle, not at the end of it but DO NOT cut it. Now twist a wire around the stripped part long enough to reach the back of the bike. Run this into the "sig" pin( bottom left side of relay).


Ok, now plug in the plug you chopped off from the stock signals in the back. Plug the bulb back in, now electrical tape your connections so you don't short anything out. Place the board on top of the tail light NOT ON ANYTHING METAL or you will short your tail light out and blow the fuse. You should be set to test. When you turn the bike on you should hear the relay click. Turn the bike on, turn on the signal on the side you did first. The bright filament should blink like the signal did, and when you press the brake the other side should still stay bright but the blinker side should still blink. Now turn off the blinker and make sure the brake light works. If everything works, draw up how everything is connected, and take it apart. Now go back and wire up the other relay exactly like the other one but completely separate. Follow exactly what you did above, but for the other side.


Once you test the other relay to make sure it is working it is time to make this nifty doo-dad permanent. I used some RTV to make it semi-water proof. I ran the signal wires from the front down the right side and into the tail, pretty simple. Some black zip ties help hide the wires really well. When you solder wires, put a piece of shrink wrap over one end long enough to cover the bare metal you are going to solder. Then solder together and use a heat source to shrink it to a tight fit on the wire. don't catch the damn thing on fire though...

Once your all soldered up and hid the wire from the signal in the front. Test it once more. Then drill some holes in your tray and zip tie the relay board down. and organize the wires. You should be done now.

I ran into a problem where i squeezed the brake light and the left turn signal in the front turned on. This was solved by placing a diode in my yellow wire and orange wire so the current flow could not flow up front from the brake light.
This was a pretty quick write up, and i may have missed some details. Any questions, please ask!!

Here are some pictures:






and a video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQiCp2lrStI

Good Luck!!

[ffingers]

excellent job redz....absolutely excellent!

[RotorDemon]

Nice writeup! I will be doing this to my F1

[redzintimidator]

nice rotordemon! Let me know how it turns out! Post up some pictures in here as well! If you have any questions let me know! PM me so i can reply faster

[BadAzF4i]

looks awsome good work and nice write up

[Electric Mitch]

Hey Redz,

I am working on this project. I have run into a snag. The pulsing 12vdc signal from the front turnsignal is pulsing too quickly the relay is not changing states long enough for the contacts to open/close.

The taillight slightly pulses, but the brake signal is still affecting the filament. I have checked the relay, thecontacts are changing properlyon a solid 12v signal.

The only solution i can think of is to track down the turn signal switchleg to the factory relay prior to the pulsing signal to the turnlight. Any thoughts?

[redzintimidator]

see your front signals? thats the problem. What you need to buy is a 2 wire 12V variable load signal relay. Basically you do not have enough resistance in the signal loop to have the signals on for the right amount of time. I ran into this problem too, but after i did the integrated tail i got the front signals. You can either have them blink fast like that, and swap out your filament bulbs for LED bulbs, or get the relay. the relay will flash at the same rate regardless of resistance in the signal loop. Hope this helps. Let me know how it works out.

Oh, there is a solution using non-inductive resistors, but i stear clear of that because of the amount of heat those puppies kick off. The relay is easier, and much safer.

[Electric Mitch]

Hey Redz,

The tailight project is complete

No offense I went a different route w/pulse signal,coil issue. I used the front running light signal for each appropriate side. This is a 12vdc solid signal(no pulse) that drops out whenthe turn signal is engaged. So i rewired the relay as shown...



Now the brake signal is a normally open held closed, and the signal pulse is a normally closed held open. Since the running light signal was opposite of the pulse signal. This avoided having to mess with the other relay.




Now i just have to pick up some sort of light to illuminate the license plate.

[redzintimidator]

very nice...didnt think of it that way. good work

[Electric Mitch]

as my old boss used to say and I quote, "there is a million ways to do this sh**, just make it work!" lol.