Illegal, I'll ride with them on if I'm not in town, a few friends push the limits since theirs aren't as bright. But it is illegal and a decent ticket apparently.Quick question for all you cats back in the Midwest. I'm movin' back in the next 2 months, and I've got amber LED's to match the orange/copper finish. They're legal out here in the Zona, but I was curious as to the legality of them back in the land of Illinois Nazis. Researched it for a good 15 minutes but couldn't find anything. Anyone have any leads? Please and thank you!
P.S. I'll post pics later on.
Accent LED Lights
- Thread starter JT
- Start date
MustGoFaster
New Member
Regardless of color? Some states do allow certain colors. Usually red and blue are no-no's, but being that it's Illinois AKA The Nanny State, I wouldn't be surprised if it was just an outright no. Grrrrrr, why'd my fam and I all have to be born in that crappy state what with it's crappy laws? At least I'll be able to get back to some KA food. First day I'm back, I'm droppin' 50 bones on Portillo's, Lou Melnati's or Gino's, and a midnight snack and a brew at Kuma's Korner.
I'm in illinois, always ride with those lights at night and passed a bunch of cops within chicagoland area and no one gave me shit about it, so I think its ok...Regardless of color? Some states do allow certain colors. Usually red and blue are no-no's, but being that it's Illinois AKA The Nanny State, I wouldn't be surprised if it was just an outright no. Grrrrrr, why'd my fam and I all have to be born in that crappy state what with it's crappy laws? At least I'll be able to get back to some KA food. First day I'm back, I'm droppin' 50 bones on Portillo's, Lou Melnati's or Gino's, and a midnight snack and a brew at Kuma's Korner.
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Deleted member 15382
Sorry for digging up.
Just wondering if Sage (if you read this) tell me where you mounted your lights, what LED did you use?, how did you mounted them? (tape/glue), and how did you setup the wiring?.
My plan is to run 6, white LED strips (pic attached below) around the bike but would be hand to know what spots to place them to get it lit up similar to what you have done.
Since the LEDs draw bugger all power, I will have them wired straight to a switch on the dash with a small fuse after I work out current draw.
I also have red LED strips that I will wire in with the brake light and attach these under the rear guard for some nice brake light at night.
Cheers
Just wondering if Sage (if you read this) tell me where you mounted your lights, what LED did you use?, how did you mounted them? (tape/glue), and how did you setup the wiring?.
My plan is to run 6, white LED strips (pic attached below) around the bike but would be hand to know what spots to place them to get it lit up similar to what you have done.
Since the LEDs draw bugger all power, I will have them wired straight to a switch on the dash with a small fuse after I work out current draw.
I also have red LED strips that I will wire in with the brake light and attach these under the rear guard for some nice brake light at night.
Cheers
Attachments
I used some waterproof audio led tubes that our local audio outfitter had. Here is a vid of the placement.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmhxVp6Gjco
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmhxVp6Gjco
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Deleted member 15382
Awesome, thank you.
sweet. I need to tackle this again lol
Keep in mind when adding in these types of LEDs that they are rated for 12V systems not the typical 13.7V that a bike can run up to. So that means that they will be getting too much voltage which will reduce their life span. You should add in a resistor based on what each strip will need to further reduce the power from the bikes system.
If you don't reduce the power they will burn out within a 6 months to 2 years.
Placement is key as well, don't place them near hot areas as that will contribute to them burning out.
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Deleted member 15382
I scored a 10 meter roll for $5 so if they do manage to burn out in say 6-12 months, I am not too fussed. Gives me another excuse to pull the bike apart and clean.
I plan on running them off the battery (constant power), up to a switch on the dash somewhere so 12v is no worries. I don't plan on using them while in motion. The only ones I will have on with the bike running are the ones I stick in the fake air scoops but these will be tapped into the park light globe circuit.
I plan on running them off the battery (constant power), up to a switch on the dash somewhere so 12v is no worries. I don't plan on using them while in motion. The only ones I will have on with the bike running are the ones I stick in the fake air scoops but these will be tapped into the park light globe circuit.
Regardless of color? Some states do allow certain colors. Usually red and blue are no-no's, but being that it's Illinois AKA The Nanny State, I wouldn't be surprised if it was just an outright no. Grrrrrr, why'd my fam and I all have to be born in that crappy state what with it's crappy laws? At least I'll be able to get back to some KA food. First day I'm back, I'm droppin' 50 bones on Portillo's, Lou Melnati's or Gino's, and a midnight snack and a brew at Kuma's Korner.
if you don't plan on using them while in motion when do you plan on using them? when the bike is parked and engine not on? That makes me nervous, I know they are LED but how long can you go before not enough juice to start the bike?
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Deleted member 15382
Here in Australia there are similar laws like in the US. Red/Blue are not allowed and driving with coloured lights is not acceptable either due to it being a "distraction".
I plan on using them when pulled up from a ride. Show them off and what not. Maybe the occasional flicking them on while riding. If power was an issue, the LED lights will show battery status (ie, go dim) and worst case, push start it.
They are white lights so I could get away with them being on if only mounted at the front. I have some red ones coming which I plan to run under the rear guard and tap them into tail/brake light. This will light up the whole rear.
Will see what comes of it all when I start putting it in place.
I plan on using them when pulled up from a ride. Show them off and what not. Maybe the occasional flicking them on while riding. If power was an issue, the LED lights will show battery status (ie, go dim) and worst case, push start it.
They are white lights so I could get away with them being on if only mounted at the front. I have some red ones coming which I plan to run under the rear guard and tap them into tail/brake light. This will light up the whole rear.
Will see what comes of it all when I start putting it in place.
Well, here is a couple problems with that. While the bike is running the bike is charging the battery it will getting 13.5-13.7V of power. While the bike is off the battery doesn't put out just 12V of power. It actually typically puts out 12.6-12.85V. So you will still be running them at a higher voltage than they should be getting. A simple resistor placed inline will reduce the voltage and allow them to still be bright while not heating up too much and burning out.
Also once you establish what resistor you need then you can simply just wire it in. If you link me to the LEDs you ordered I may be able to figure it out for you but likely I would need you to ship me a small section of the LEDs so I can hook it up to my meters and test the Voltage and amperage at 12V and then calculate the right resistor. Though typically the lights will just be standard 2V at 20mA run in sets of 3 so if they are using a 330ohm resistor you can easily just add a 180 ohm 1/4 watt resistor in leads that you will have to solder onto the sections you cut. That should be enough to reduce the power to safe levels. You can order a bunch of them off ebay for a few bucks but sometimes the strips will have sections that you can actually solder in a secondary SM Resistor before you solder on the lead wire that you will need to install.
If you look through the clear gel that they have on the top of the LEDs you will see the small black Surface Mount Tech. It should be marked "331" if it is that's a 330ohm resistor. Though a lot of the cheaper resistors are not marked..... then you just need to sacrifice one small strip section and strip the gel off and hook a meter up to it to test the resistance.
If you are going to take the time to the job, you should do it right.
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Deleted member 15382
3 x 5050 LED with 3 x 331's per strip.
I have 2 long strips in my Ute (pickup?) and they have been working for a couple of years and are used quite frequently. Still no issues and work brilliant.
The link to the red lights I bought is here: RED LED
The white LED's I bought quite a while ago and are the same. I have cut these in to smaller strips for use on the bike. Pic was in my previous post.
I have 2 long strips in my Ute (pickup?) and they have been working for a couple of years and are used quite frequently. Still no issues and work brilliant.
The link to the red lights I bought is here: RED LED
The white LED's I bought quite a while ago and are the same. I have cut these in to smaller strips for use on the bike. Pic was in my previous post.
MattEnTheHat
New Member
So I've been thinking about installing some red LEDs. I have checked out the California vehicle code here.
Basically all colors are acceptable anywhere on the vehicle as long as they are under 0.05 candela/square inch, EXCEPT they cannot be within a foot of required lights (that makes things difficult...) and you cannot display red to the front.
I'm fine with ignoring everything except the red in front part because i'm pretty sure they'd all just be fix-it tickets, so no big deal. But the read in front worries me. I can't find any info on penalties for this, but I'm concerned they may give you impersonating an emergency vehicle. Then again, I can't actually find reference to that as an offense, not to mention penalties.
Anybody have any experiences, knowledge, or input as to whether impersonating an emergency vehicle is a real offense, and what the penalties of that might be?
I'm not down to get hauled off to jail or something for some underglow...
Basically all colors are acceptable anywhere on the vehicle as long as they are under 0.05 candela/square inch, EXCEPT they cannot be within a foot of required lights (that makes things difficult...) and you cannot display red to the front.
I'm fine with ignoring everything except the red in front part because i'm pretty sure they'd all just be fix-it tickets, so no big deal. But the read in front worries me. I can't find any info on penalties for this, but I'm concerned they may give you impersonating an emergency vehicle. Then again, I can't actually find reference to that as an offense, not to mention penalties.
Anybody have any experiences, knowledge, or input as to whether impersonating an emergency vehicle is a real offense, and what the penalties of that might be?
I'm not down to get hauled off to jail or something for some underglow...
Don't ride with them on...if its parked for show you should be fine. I put a switch on my red led ring during the hid retro fit.
picture is huge!
http://www.600cc.org/forum/album.php?albumid=457&pictureid=5671
Ask your local sheriff!
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what he said^^^^^ do not ride with them on. regardless of color you will get pulled over. don't give them a reason to pull you over. they will add and make up tickets and fines why even put yourself in that situation. like he said just parking lots or shows or at the house. using them while you ride is asking for trouble
Got pulled over on my scooter with green underglow. I showed the cop the page I printed from the website showing what was allowed and showed him how I was in compliance with all laws. He said he'll "let me go this time, but if he catches me again I'm getting a ticket" :spank:
Underglow is on my list of things to do. I think I'll go with something color change (since my bike is constantly changing color anyway) and only use on the highway or in high traffic situations to make myself more visible. I also like the idea of white!
Move North a lil bit. PA allows any lighting in any color if it aids in making bikes more visible to cages. Just can't be flashing.
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