LED Brake/Running lights

[ElvisRambler]

The answer to my question may be as simple as directing me to another thread, but I couldnt find one that addresses this. Forgive me if it's a repost!

I have a 1980 400 Special II. I have it running, headlight works and all electrical systems are working. I removed the license plate frame and light, and I am using the bracket to hold a new LED brake light. I have the brake light wires which are 2 blue, 2 black, and 2 yellow, stripped but how do they connect to the new LED light which only has 1 yellow, 1 blue, and 1 black?

Picture:

Thanks guys!

 

[jmd_forest]

The old tail light actually had two 1157 style bulbs (combo tail/stop in one bulb) in it, hence the 2 wires of each color (one for tail, one for stop, one for ground - for each of the bulbs). Just wire either 2 of each of the 3 wires from the bike to the 3 wires to your new LED light.

 

[ElvisRambler]

Ahh, success THANK YOU!

 

[valleykat]

i have a similar light with the same color wires, ive wired it up in various combos and every time i only get a running light, im new to this so i feel pretty lost can anyone help? thanks!

 

[m3ch]

as many times as i read this im still a little confused on what you are trying to say

take the 2 and connect them to the 1 ? (thats what im getting from it anyway)

 

[1lowdiesel]

On the bike side.

yellow is the brake

blue is the running lights

black is ground.

 

[m3ch]

so im thinking i want an LED tail light as well, how much/where do i obtain one

 

[ThePsuedoMonkey]

Valleykat: sometimes LED tail/brake lights that are made elsewhere do not have separate "brake" and "running" lights (something was probably lost in translation at one point). I've torn open several such modules to find that even though the terminals are isolated by a diode, they still go to the same circuit of LEDs. You can get it to work by adding a resistor to the terminal you want to be the running light, but you will have to choose a resistance value that makes the change noticeable (I'd guess somewhere between 1500 and 100 ohms).
Once you know what resistance you are looking for, you will need to know how much power it must handle; the easiest way to do that is to measure the current through the light and multiply it by 12 (e.g. a you measure 0.1A, so you should pick a resistor rated for at least 1.2W. Alternatively you could even use 5 standard 0.25W ones in parallel, but they will need a resistance value 5 times higher than what you chose before).

 

[valleykat]

So i went back to that little switch by the foot lever unplugged the yellow wire from it and Cleaned it and plugged it back in. Then went with the red to yellow, yellow to blue, and black to black combo and bam! My frustration is over cant tell you how good it feels. Thanks for all the input guys!