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Tail light wire routing on 2014+ RT

2K views 14 replies 9 participants last post by  dleasman 
#1 ·
I assume there are many out there who have added an additional tail light, on their license plate (like the Denali B6 or Admore). How did you run your wiring? Did you have to drill through, or is there a preferred route that you ran the wire from the plate frame to the CAN controller under the rear seat?

I was unable to find any YouTube videos that actually show installation, or any photos. A site search here did not reveal anything.

This is one of those things where pictures might be helpful.

I don't know @Grumpy_Squatch, but I see he has the B6 on a R1250RT, so he is one of probably many that holds the answer to my question.

Thanks,
-Dana
 
#2 ·
I put a set of the Skene Design LED pods out back. For that, I was able to slip the wires through the gap in the black plastics directly above the license plate, but below the rack. That wire was thin though. Basically speaker wire.

But when I did the DVR cam on the wife's bike, I did take off the complete tail. The connector for the camera was too big. IIRC, rear grab bars, tail rack, then side pieces came off. I also pulled the tail light. That had a couple of C-clips you have pull off. It wasn't too bad, but I had plenty of room to lay all the parts out.
 
#3 ·
No way was I going to disassemble the tail, and the B6 has a connector on the wire which I didn't feel like cutting off, so I needed a hole big enough for the connector to fit through. At some point, aesthetics and function give way to ease of installation and I drilled a hole just big enough in the bottom of the reflector bump-out just above the license plate. I found a grommet that fit, slit the grommet open to get around the wire (again the plug was the issue if you have bare wires you can just slide them through the grommet without cutting it), and pushed it into place. The plastic on that reflector bump-out is thicker than expected so I needed a grommet with a large groove. I have one of those "Storehouse" boxes of grommets from Harbor Freight with a couple of dozen sizes, so finding one wasn't a problem.

I ride my bike in New England, so like you in Minnesota, if I cared so much about what the bike looked like and I wanted to avoid all road salt, my riding season would be from June 1 through Labor Day. So with all the rust that will inevitably appear on my bike, a rogue visible wire here and there doesn't bother me in the least. Good luck.
 

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#8 ·
Great idea. Now that I've seen how you did it I'm going to have to follow your footsteps. And I was planning on drinking beer and watch football this weekend. :grin:
 
#4 ·
I'm not using a license plate frame brake light, I am using a Feniex T3 LED. It's extremely bright and has 40 degree optics so it throws light very far behind where I'm stopped. Its so bright I had to turn down the brake light output to its lowest setting on the EZcan because it was almost blinding to traffic behind me when braking at night. I also like it because its very low profile, with the lights off, you barley notice its there. You can find it for around $30 online.

As you can see in the pics attached, I removed the stock reflector and mounted it there. The reflector is just held on by some double sided adhesive. I had to drill 3 very small holes, one to feed the wires through and two for the self tapping screws to mount the light. The location of the reflector is in the perfect spot to run the wires to the EZcan under the seat. If for whatever reason I want to remove it, I'll get some 3M double sided adhesive tape and put the reflector back in the stock location. Holes are plugged and you'd never know it was there.
 

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#9 ·
Good luck. I was quite surprised how accessible that reflector bump-out was from behind the seat.
 
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