Converting Front Amber Turn Signals to Running Lights 11 RT

I have a Shad top box coming with an Admore led kit to increase rear lighting and I was wondering if anyone sells a kit or if anyone has had any luck getting the front amber turn signals to operate as running lights also? Everything I've read on the Admore lights seems pretty straightforward and no Canbus issues for the rear but haven't seen anything on this for the front.

My idea would be to keep from having can bus issues- somehow get a dual filament socket/bulb that would fit and get the power for the running light portion from a steady 12v ignition source and let the bike's computers do their thing for the turn signals.

Anyone have any suggestions or comments on this?
Not trying to look like a Christmas tree running down the road- but never understood why European bikes don't use front amber running lights. My Triumph was the same way. I just think it would look good and give increased visibility.

fordtech50 said:

I have a Shad top box coming with an Admore led kit to increase rear lighting and I was wondering if anyone sells a kit or if anyone has had any luck getting the front amber turn signals to operate as running lights also? Everything I've read on the Admore lights seems pretty straightforward and no Canbus issues for the rear but haven't seen anything on this for the front.

My idea would be to keep from having can bus issues- somehow get a dual filament socket/bulb that would fit and get the power for the running light portion from a steady 12v ignition source and let the bike's computers do their thing for the turn signals.

Anyone have any suggestions or comments on this?
Not trying to look like a Christmas tree running down the road- but never understood why European bikes don't use front amber running lights. My Triumph was the same way. I just think it would look good and give increased visibility.

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i would think this would be pretty simple....the correct bulb socket could replace the existing OEM (the boot is pretty flexible), replace the bulb with the two filiment type and connect the running light circuit to the low beam head light circuit....were it me, i would pull the head light assy to get to the electrics...

wyman

It would seem easy,but, depending on what socket and bulb setup they use it may not be that easy. If they use a standard 1156a bulb/socket then an 1157a bulb/socket might work in it's place. If they used some other type of socket then a dual fil. type may not be made that would fit into the back of the lens properly. Guess I'm gonna pull some stuff off and see what I can figure out.

This looks like what you are looking for:

Skene Design IQ-150-TS model is a dual channel controller that can also power extra or existing turn signals, turning them into bright marker lights. If the existing or add-on turn signals are LEDs, it also provides them with our unique, patented, and high effective conspicuity flicker.

http://www.lights.skenedesign.com/IQ_150.shtml

fordtech50 said:

I have a Shad top box coming with an Admore led kit to increase rear lighting and I was wondering if anyone sells a kit or if anyone has had any luck getting the front amber turn signals to operate as running lights also? Everything I've read on the Admore lights seems pretty straightforward and no Canbus issues for the rear but haven't seen anything on this for the front.

My idea would be to keep from having can bus issues- somehow get a dual filament socket/bulb that would fit and get the power for the running light portion from a steady 12v ignition source and let the bike's computers do their thing for the turn signals.

Anyone have any suggestions or comments on this?
Not trying to look like a Christmas tree running down the road- but never understood why European bikes don't use front amber running lights. My Triumph was the same way. I just think it would look good and give increased visibility.

Click to expand...

Lights.

fordtech50 said:

I have a Shad top box coming with an Admore led kit to increase rear lighting and I was wondering if anyone sells a kit or if anyone has had any luck getting the front amber turn signals to operate as running lights also? Everything I've read on the Admore lights seems pretty straightforward and no Canbus issues for the rear but haven't seen anything on this for the front.

My idea would be to keep from having can bus issues- somehow get a dual filament socket/bulb that would fit and get the power for the running light portion from a steady 12v ignition source and let the bike's computers do their thing for the turn signals.

Anyone have any suggestions or comments on this?
Not trying to look like a Christmas tree running down the road- but never understood why European bikes don't use front amber running lights. My Triumph was the same way. I just think it would look good and give increased visibility.

Click to expand...

In Europe they use white parking lights in front of the vehicle (you have them on your bike) and is not allowed to have one light canceling another.
This is why turn signal light is separate from parking, running or low/high beam lights.

GregoryT said:

In Europe they use white parking lights in front of the vehicle (you have them on your bike) and is not allowed to have one light canceling another.
This is why turn signal light is separate from parking, running or low/high beam lights.

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I guess that's also an easier and cheaper way to have front marker lights. I am going to install the high power led parking light bulbs for more visibility to other drivers.
With a dual filament amber bulb you can have your steady orange marker light and flash a brighter orange turn signal so that would seem to be legal for Euro requirements. It just feels like with those 2 orange markers at night especially makes it more obvious it's a motorcycle. Those little whites don't seem as noticeable next to the headlights. Plus, I like having some contrast running next to the white headlights.

I did the conversion on my RT years ago- and almost immediately removed it for safety reasons.

That conversion substantially reduces the ability of your flashing signal to stand out and thereby increases the chance of the infamous "left turn in front of" accident.

If you want amber front running lights add Skene Photon Blasters- they run in a lower and don't contribute to drawing attention away from a flashing signal.

If anyone has the wiring diagram for the turn signals, does the light controller send the power to the t.s. bulbs? Or does the controller control a relay?
Is the brown just a steady ground, or does it go through a controller?

I was thinking that you could leave the single filament bulb in there, and tap into the park light circuit. Run a short wire with a resistor soldered in and tap into the ts hot wire. Do this on both sides-Now you would have the front amber turn sig bulbs operating at a lower voltage constantly. Then when turn sig is used wouldn't the higher voltage in the normal turn sig circuit cause the turn signal bulb to operate normally at full voltage? I wonder if this would work without any adverse effects on the normal operation of the turn signals such as a backfeed of some sort.

If this worked it would be easy and cheap. Just pull the turn signal fairing off and the park light is right there. You would only need a 6 inch section of wire on both sides. I just had them off earlier and installed the led parking bulbs. The parking light wiring could handle the small extra load.

fordtech50 said:

If anyone has the wiring diagram for the turn signals, does the light controller send the power to the t.s. bulbs? Or does the controller control a relay?
Is the brown just a steady ground, or does it go through a controller?

I was thinking that you could leave the single filament bulb in there, and tap into the park light circuit. Run a short wire with a resistor soldered in and tap into the ts hot wire. Do this on both sides-Now you would have the front amber turn sig bulbs operating at a lower voltage constantly. Then when turn sig is used wouldn't the higher voltage in the normal turn sig circuit cause the turn signal bulb to operate normally at full voltage? I wonder if this would work without any adverse effects on the normal operation of the turn signals such as a backfeed of some sort.

If this worked it would be easy and cheap. Just pull the turn signal fairing off and the park light is right there. You would only need a 6 inch section of wire on both sides. I just had them off earlier and installed the led parking bulbs. The parking light wiring could handle the small extra load.

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The turn signals are controlled by the ZFE, grounds are direct to battery.

The parking light circuit can handle a slightly larger load. It is a common connection point to trigger a relay for a fuse block or other accessories. I'm not confident that adding two larger turn signal bulbs and two resistors to the parking light circuit will work. If the ZFE does not freak out over the additional load on the parking circuit, it will probably be unhappy about the current back-feeding through the turn signal circuit. Using large resistors to reduce the extra current may well mean the light would be too dim to be effective.

If you try this, please let us know the results.

Ok, I will. I'm going to do an experiment with an 1156 bulb and some jumper wires and a resistor and see how it works. If it works I may try it on one side of the bike and see how that does.

The parking light wires are pretty heavy gauge and now I have the leds in them which draw very little. The Turn signal wires are alot thinner. So the parking light circuit should handle it. If you look at an 1157 or 2057 dual filament bulb the one filament is about a third of the brighter filament in watts. 26w and about 8 watts. So with the right resistor you could take that 21 watt stock turn signal bulb down to about 7 watts. That would seem bright enough to be noticeable. The stock parking lights are fairly low watts. It may work without causing the controller to have a fit. You could run power directly from the battery to get around upsetting the Zfe on the parking light circuit. The backfeed on the turn signal wire may be the biggest problem.

If it works well then I'll post what size resistor I used and some pictures.

Maybe a diode in series would negate the back-feed issue; it's forward resistance would also dictate a smaller resistor.

Pauls1150, that is what I was thinking. A diode wouldn't allow the computer to sense the constant voltage on the turn signal hot wire.

disregard this post as I don't think it's possible to do this. Not in the way I thought. The resistor added to the circuit to drop the voltage will want to heat up and that could be an issue so I think this idea is not a good one. I guess the only other option is an electronic control unit- and I'm not sure if I want to do that so LEDS may be the best option. I'm going to check out these Photon Blasters I keep hearing about too.

Will this work?
http://pirateslair.net/BlinkerGenie.htm

Lee said:

Will this work?
http://pirateslair.net/BlinkerGenie.htm

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It would work but not how I want. First of all- I don't want the rears lit up orange as running lights- which is also illegal most places.
But secondly- I don't want the fronts at full brightness all the time. As others said- it makes the signal that's flashing stand out less. I want them to function like a dual filament bulb and run at a reduced intensity and flash at full intensity like most Jap and HD bikes.

Really, the best way to do it is to be able to find a dual filament socket that will fit into the TS lens. That is probably going to be the hardest thing to find. I'm going to check around though. Maybe I'll get lucky and find one that's the right diameter and has the tabs at the correct spots to fit in and turn to lock like the factory sockets do. Maybe I'll see what kind of socket Honda, HD Sportsters, other Japanese bikes use and see if one of them may be compatible. Then It's just a matter of running a circuit to turn them on with ignition on the low power side of the bulb. That would be the easy part.

You do not need to buy a kit for the rear lights but I understand your concern about the running lights and turn signals being the same brightness.

I added the Skene Photon Blasters with the turn signal option a few years ago. They worked great. I also wanted amber running lights, like my old Honda CB400T had, but I was reluctant to modify the RT's wiring harness or add resistors. The Photon Blaster controller can handle extra LEDs, so I ordered two flexible strips of amber LEDs, thinking I could stick them somewhere on the fairing. These came with leads already attached, instructions and small quick connects that simplify maintenance. Of course, every placement I tested looked really tacky. I finally cut the strips down to 6" each (9 LEDs), fed the wire in through the turn signal socket hole, back out through a 1/8" hole drilled in the signal housing, removed the tape from the adhesive strip, and pulled the strip into the housings. I used a thin strip of wood to arrange the LED strip along the lower edge of the reflector and press it into place. I sealed the wire exit with silicone and connected the wires to the controller.



Photos and videos do not truly capture the actual appearance, but I put up a few other photos here. The "flicker" option of the Skene controller pulses the LEDs rapidly on & off in a way that catches the eye, but the camera tends to only catch the light fully on or fully off. Slow shutter speeds helped average the light. (Results from attempts to capture video were just bizarre!)

When the turn signal is activated, the controller stops the flicker on that side, alternately driving those LEDs at full brightness and then dimming them to nearly off, in sync with the standard bulb.

The LEDs are mostly pointed to the side, so they are not quite as bright from the front as the Photon Blasters. They are quite noticeable once you are about 30º off to the side. I'm not sure if the placement could be improved - an LED or two at the very back pointing forward could be better, but I don't think there is much room in that part of the reflector.

racer7 said:

I did the conversion on my RT years ago- and almost immediately removed it for safety reasons.

That conversion substantially reduces the ability of your flashing signal to stand out and thereby increases the chance of the infamous "left turn in front of" accident.

If you want amber front running lights add Skene Photon Blasters- they run in a lower and don't contribute to drawing attention away from a flashing signal.

Click to expand...

EXACTLY - sometimes it's scary how much Racer7 and I think alike..

fordtech50 said:

Really, the best way to do it is to be able to find a dual filament socket that will fit into the TS lens.

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That is exactly what Run-n-lites are. http://www.run-n-lites.com/products.html

AntonLargiader said:

That is exactly what Run-n-lites are. http://www.run-n-lites.com/products.html

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Anton, it doesn't appear that Run-n-lites has any applications for an R1200RT.