Offering an Integrated Taillight Kit

[dagus]

Introducing (sort of - I mean, it's been done twice before me that I know of... thanks Dave...) the integrated taillight for Hawks!

Finally, I have pics!





I love this on late-model bikes, but kits just aren't made for a 14-17 year old bike!

No more drilling holes into a cowling that can't be replaced anymore to put in flush-mounted blinkers! As of recently, Honda doesn't stock the cowling, so if you want one, it's going to have to be used, and is probably rashed or cracked or has broken tabs (or all three).

I've done this to my Hawk (dig the pictures). It really cleans up the rear end. I'm thinking about putting together a complete kit if there's enough interest:

Fender eliminator with lighted license plate bolts,
Power converter to run signal lights to the tail light,
Flush-fitting aluminum divider (gets glued between the two bulbs with silicon adhesive),
and complete instructions.

The unsightly signal mounts (they look awful when you take off the signals and leave them bare) and bungee rail (which only encourages you to crack an increasingly rare cowling, like I cracked mine from bungee use) are removed with a Dremel cutting wheel. The end result is an incredibly clean looking tailsection.

Who's interested? Should I put this together? The power converter is $35, the lighted bolts are $25, the rest is hand-cut stuff. So, $60 + materials and the work I have to put into it. The alternative is, I make the aluminum pieces (fender eliminator, and the bulb divider) for you and just tell you where you can find the rest of the stuff.

Somebody make me an offer. Enough interest means I make the kits.

[Rich Effect]

I'm interested, but I can't see the pics...

hawkgt.com seems to be down. can you email me pics?

[dagus]

A new development in installing Integrated Taillights in the Hawk:

I went to the International Motorcycle Show in NYC last weekend. After speaking with BJ from Rick's in New Hampshire, I need to look into using power converters from motorcycle-specific taillight kits to do this conversion, rather than the generic Pep Boys trailer converter I used, which MAY not have a relay. Without a relay, it can fry your whole wiring loom over time. I need to find out if the (cheaper) Pep Boys version has a relay that would prevent this.

In the meantime, hit me up if anybody's interested in a fender eliminator bracket to mount your licence plate on... I'm looking for a laser-cutter to make them from my pattern, and if there's enough interest I'll go ahead with it.

[Makenzie71]

generic varieties will still operate as a relay...that's how integrators work.

[dagus]

Then I guess we're sano, huh? Wonder why the guy from Rick's was concerned?

[Makenzie71]

Then I guess we're sano, huh? Wonder why the guy from Rick's was concerned?

The presence of relayed circuits doesn't make it safe...you still have to know what your tolerences are. Incorrect tolerences are what will cause damage. This is why circuitry offered on wide-scle is one-off...not an accumilation of pep-boys and ebay gadgets.

[JR]

Check this link

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VTR1000-FIRESTORM-LED-Integrated-Tail-Light_W0QQitemZ8036525259QQcategoryZ10460QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem

and scroll down the page

[Hawk Jr]

I really like the clean look... I sent you a PM.
Also what type of mirrors are those on the bar ends?

[dagus]

They're 2" round, convex "Blindsight" mirrors from CRG. I can't say enough about them!!! I love these things - you know how you either have a huge blind spot, or you're looking at your jacket? These take care of that - it's like having a rear-view mirror... you just have to get used to the little "duck & twist" you do to see with them. It took me a couple rides to get them adjusted just right, but now I wouldn't be without them!

[dagus]

If anybody else is interested in this, give me a shout. I'd love to start making these as kits.

Also, if you've never wired a bike, get somebody who knows what they're doing to look over your shoulder. Having Ian Baille's help on this was invaluable to me.

[Stevenjhow]

Hey Douglas...I went a got a trailer light integrater but it doesn't work. I have running lights but no brake or turn. I wired it just like the instructions told me, is there something specific I need to do?

The integrater I have has 5 wires in (ground, tail, left turn, brake, right trun) and four out (ground, tail, left turn, right turn)

This is how I wired it:

from bike to integrater, no brainer. from integrater to lights I slit up all wires from lights, tied two running light wires (brown) together and connected them to "tail" wire on integrater. ground to ground (obviously), and brake wire from the lights (green w/ yellow stripe) connected to left and right (seperately of course) of the integrater.

Is there something I am missing? what type of integrater did you get? and is it different then what I described?

[dagus]

You want what's called a Power Converter for pulling trailers. I think you may have done what I did myself, the first time I tried it!

Ian Baille later took me to Pep Boys and said, "buy that one," then stood over my shoulder and said, "wire this one to that one." I recently had a professional go over my work. I have no idea what I did with Ian, but it worked! What I'm hoping to do is go back to that local mechanic and ask him for a diagram that I can put into my kit. In the meantime, go to your local shop and ask if their sparky has ever done a taillight conversion with a trailer power-converter, and have him set you up.

It should be a very tiny box. I'll take some pics first chance I get. Where are you located?

**Disclaimer** Until I get this kit up and running, with comprehensive instructions for all of you to follow, attempt this conversion on your own at your own risk. You might miss valuable riding time - just like I did! - finding yourself without lights until you're able to finally do it right!
Check this site for some good info and decent instructions. I hope to put something much more comprehensive together, but this'll give you a good start:

http://www.canyonchasers.net/shop/generic/eliminator.php

[dagus]

You want what's called a Power Converter for pulling trailers. I think you may have done what I did myself, the first time I tried it! I don't think you have the right part.

Ian Baille later took me to Pep Boys and said, "buy that one," then stood over my shoulder and said, "wire this one to that one." I recently had a professional go over my work. I have no idea what I did with Ian, but it worked! What I'm hoping to do is go back to that local mechanic and ask him for a diagram that I can put into my kit. In the meantime, go to your local shop and ask if their sparky has ever done a taillight conversion with a trailer power-converter, and have him set you up.

It should be a very tiny box. I'll take some pics first chance I get. Where are you located?

**Disclaimer** Until I get this kit up and running, with comprehensive instructions for all of you to follow, attempt this conversion on your own at your own risk. You might miss valuable riding time - just like I did! - finding yourself without lights until you're able to finally do it right!
Check this site for some good info and decent instructions. I hope to put something much more comprehensive together, but this'll give you a good start:

http://www.canyonchasers.net/shop/ge...eliminator.php

[Stevenjhow]

do you know the brand and part numbers of the stuff you got? I just tried a different brand of converter and I still had the same problem. When you wired it did you wire it up to all of the plug connectors that the stock tail lights plug into, or did you go further up the wire harness? It;s just weird that all I get is running lights when I hook it up the way the instructions on the box say to do it. I thought that maybe the hawk has some kind of relay or factory integrator that I need to bypass to have it work properly. Can you post some pics of your wiring and of the unit you used? Thanks

[dagus]

No pics yet, but I'll take some ASAP. When I attached the converter, I only went back to the bunch of wires covered by a plastic hood on the right side of the tail, clipped them and connected the "in" wires there, and the "out" wires to the bulbs.