Tail light position opinions wanted (with photos)

meyekj

meyekj

XS400 Enthusiast
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All,
The bike is running great and I'm tweaking a few of the more aesthetic details more to my liking. I'm not sure I have a "style" in mind. Just something a bit custom to cruise around town on. Anyway, I picked up a "bobber" style tail light and I'm soliciting some design input on the position. Should I place it high up on the fender (as shown) or down lower? I'm favoring the high position, but interested in what this community has to offer. (It's just duct taped on at the moment) Thanks!

Bike details: 1978 2E, pretty much all stock except the handle bars, seat and tool container. I shortened the signals, too.

full


full
 
I like it were you have it shown the best..

If you lower it to the stock position I think it would direct the brake light downward to much leaving the chrome cap to be facing the rear, which isn't as functional as up top there..
 
Thanks for the input! I sorta wish the light was a bit bigger. I'm on the fence on whether or not if fits the proportions of the rest of the bike's features.

Recreateme: The light pivots on the mount, so if I lower it on the fender I can rotate the light up so it's level.

Sesty: I trimmed the foam with my woodworking bandsaw and sewed up the seat myself. It's far from professional. I have plenty of extra material so I think I'll find a pro to sew up a final version now that I kind of have the look I want.
 
The only thing I don't like about is it's so small and it would be hard to see.
 
I read recently that 73% of motorcycle accidents are where the bike is hit from behind. With that in mind, you will want the light as large, high and bright as you can make it. Keep in mind that drivers of vans, trucks and SUV's sit high, and they are oblivious to what is going on around them. They have to look down to see the tail light of a bike - aim your light upwards a bit!
 
I dig your mirrors, and the little cylinder behind the seat (what is in there?)

I have always loved the stock tail light on these bikes, myself. I want to find LED replacement bulbs for it, though.
 
One mod I would like to do on my bike is go with an LED tail light,I found one I like it kinda half circle shaped.I`ll start a post when I get to it.
On your tail light Daves advice seem pretty sound to me,making more visible for those who drive high profile vehicles.
 
The cylinder behind the seat is for tools, spare plugs, paperwork, etc. In the stock config the tool tray was under the seat. It's an old aluminum welding rod holder and will get polished up at some point. I also need to fashion a latch for it.

The mirror is stock, just screwed in form the bottom. The visibility is actually very good now that I put drag bars on it. Just as good as a mirror on top IMO.
 
The one thing I really like about the light is the brightness. I would say its on par with the stock light. Keeping it as high as possible for visibility is good advice. Thanks!
 
The brighter and larger the rear lights, the less people will tailgate you. I found this when I installed high power LED bulbs into the stock rear light. Vehicles didn't come as close. And they stayed even further away once I converted the rear turn signals (using 1157 LED bulbs and a trailer wiring harness adapter) to also operate as marker lights and brake lights. When I applied the brakes, all they saw was lots of RED!

For X-Mas I got a rear light bar that will be mounted under the cargo rack I'm building. It will be replacing all the rear lights with one continuous bar of light that spans the width of the bike.

I have no intention of being run over!
 
This is whats on my 80. Just make sure the one you get has a two stage set up ( BRAKE AND PLATE LIGHT) I got mine off ebay for around $17 shipped.
 

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@Dave - I recall you telling me that you used red LED bulbs instead of white light. Was that just for the turn signal conversions you did, or also for inside the main brake-light housing?
 
I think the previous light will be too big for stock lens based on rough measurements, so I think I changed my mind to this one: https://www.superbrightleds.com/mor...ed-bulb-dual-intensity-26-smd-led-tower/1166/

Still quite bright at 420 lumens, and still only about a quarter of the amps vs incandescent.

Wondering whether you think I should do red or white Light. I was going to do red because this website suggests it because apparently more light will get through the red lens.
 
The white tend to turn a bit pink when put through the lens of the taillight. Best bet with Red

from superbrightleds.com:

For best results the LED color should be the same as the lens color. As an example: a red lens will filter out all but the red portion of the light so if the light is all red, none or very little light will be blocked by the lens. The light from a White LED contains very little light in the red portion of the visible spectrum so most of the light would be filtered out by a red lens
 

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