Can I put an LED tail light on my bike? My father tried to put one on but he said it wouldn't work because it's led.

 

Retrofits are pretty common. The easiest way is to just find a replacement bulb in LED. They come in all shapes so make sure to pull one of the old bulbs to locate the bulb number (usually stamped on the socket) Then just google it. In general, the more you spend, the brighter the bulb so you don't necessarily want to cheap out here.

Sometimes it's also possible to replace the signals/taillights as an assembly. Maybe not as common for older bikes, and would require modification to the harness to install the LED driver. I'm not sure I'd recommend that route unless you're pretty comfortable with that sort of thing

Here's a chart showing the most common bulb types for example

 

Bulbs or complete aftermarket unit? You may need resistors to stop the lights blinking fast, really only for indicators or if they are brake and indicator units together. Sometimes they have resistors inside the lights already and then you don't worry, maybe some new connectors. Got my sister an LED integrated light for her MC22 when she had it and it was plug and play, worked great years later. Same deal with my FZR - I had mid range ebay stuff - avoid the very cheap stuff its hit and miss. I got Yamaha FZ6 indicators, it was plug and play - usually manufactures seem to be the same, even bolted into the factory mounts.

I had a 2015 CBR1000 tail light on the back of the FZR - stuff like this is not plug and play - tail was fully custom on this bike but you can fit anything if your willing to fab stuff up, I had to make a mount for the light.

I'll be getting later model CBR smoked LED indicators for the F2 on the rear. Have some R1 indicators for the front which might need new connectors soldered and shrink wrapped. Worst case on top of this I'll have to make new mounts.

 

I mean like on my 89 of course has the old school regular bulb and wiring. Can I just tap into that wiring and call it good? My father said he tried that and nothing happened.

 

Not sure I understand. Do you mean you took a 12V DC wire and plugged an LED right into it? They need different voltages so I doubt that would work. Depends on the kit though

The bulb-style ones have a driver integrated into them so they'll run off 12V. Other LED's likely wouldn't - they require a driver (usually a small box, kinda like a ballast for fluorescent fixtures) wired upstream in the circuit

 

Yes! thats what I mean so what else would I have to buy to hook up the led to the regular wire? What do you mean by driver.

 

LED's are current-driven devices. After the depletion layer voltage is overcome (1.7 to 3.4V depending on the individual LED) , there is nothing to limit current flow. So, if you simply connect an LED to a 12V supply (anode to positive, cathode to negative), you'll get a quick flash of the LED conducting and then it'll destroy itself. Best not to fool with individual LED's, rather, to find completed assemblies designed to replace the common bulbs. These assemblies either have limiting resistors or a current source device that limits the current to the LED's safely to prevent their destruction.

For stop lamps, there should be no problem replacing with a pair of LED assemblys. Most bikes have a pair of 1157 lamps for tail/brake lights. Most also have 1157's for front turn signal/running lamps, and 1156's for rear turn signal. But the flasher unit is a bi-metallic strip that relies on heat generated by current flow to flash the turn signals, and most LED's don't draw enough current to allow the strip to heat enough for a proper flash interval. Best solution is to replace the flasher with one that is designed to work with LED's. Another solution (that I consider a poor one) is to tie in power resistors in parallel to the flasher circuit to load the system and allow the flasher to operate as designed.

https://www.superbrightleds.com/cat/...?view=standard