Installed tail lights on the E52 Givi

[Bobnoxous]

I just installed the tail lights on the E52 Givi top case. Everything went pretty smoothly. I tied the tail lights into the pair of wires on one of the existing tail light bulbs, and it seems to work fine.

I saw a post that said the lights on the Givi tail light assembly are LEDs. They're not, unfortunately. They're little incandescents. LEDs would last a little longer and pull less current, but these lights don't seem to be causing a problem, although I read somewhere that Givi says they'll burn out if they're on all the time.

If anyone knows of an LED replacement, that'd be cool, but I'll stick with what's working until it doesn't anymore. Just wanted to post a thank you to the forum. I wouldn't have tried this if I had read of other's success.

[Bobnoxous]

I'm just curious. Has anyone tried to replace the incandescents on the Givi tail light assembly with white LEDs?

Maybe this is a silly thing to do, but reading reports about the pressure connector on the topcase not being able to handle the "constant on" current (which I don't get. Tail lights are always on on a motorcycle, at least in the US), I thought LEDs might be easier on the electrical system.

I'm not getting any fault indications, but since my wife can solder these things pretty easily, I'm thinking about it and would like feedback.

[atps1234]

At TwistedThrottle they sell the Admore Lighting LED kit for the E52. They have two versions available, one if you don't have the original Givi light kit and one if you do. It's expensive but I think LEDs would work better and draw less power. You can get more info at http://www.admorelighting.com/.

This is the route I am planning for my new '08 RT (which hasn't arrived yet).

OB

[Tourdog]

A few years ago I installed a set of those brake lights on Givi 52 L. top box. The tiny push on connector for each board provided very poor connection to the 6 light circuit board. Both board connections looked really weak especially once compressed into mounted position............. so I cut them off and soldered directly to the board using a sharpened point on a 30 watt pencil iron. It worked well and mounting then was very easy.
Last month I did another set for another friend and hoped that Givi would have redesigned this weak point (or who ever made the kit) .............. not. So once again I carefully cut and soldered. It would be nice if those bulbs were LED's but that twin pack of incandescents they provided really light up when you touch those brakes! Both of these sets had a twin pac of 6 bulbs each and would not be any problem for current draw once the board connection connector is eliminated. The instructions were 95% Italian................ so perhaps they were genuine Givi. Note my view is not for the dual intensity tail/brake light units that are also available.

[atps1234]

Was this on the stock (incandescent) Givi brake light set or the AdMoreLighting.com LED brake/turn signal set?

Thanks,
OB

[Tourdog]

OB,
(Incandescents)

[Bobnoxous]

My tail lights don't work anymore on the Givi. I haven't spent anytime tracing down the problem. Maybe it's that pressure connector on the topcase. Sigh.

I was thinking it shouldn't be too hard to rig up my own LED light kit. LEDs are cheap; I'm not sure why the kit from Admore is so expensive. There are two voltage levels coming into the assembly, so by using a comparator, we could switch in more LEDs when the brakes are pressed. It might be fun to play with.

[atps1234]

FYI I installed the Admore Lighting LED kit for the Givi E52 top case and it works like a charm! I used the GPS/accessory connector at the front of the bike to power the switched lead on my fuse panel/relay. No issues with the CANbus electronics.

Regards,
OB