2015 R1200RT - DIY Small Top Case & Side Case LED Run/Brake/Turn Signal Lights

Hello fellow RT'ers. I don't know about you, but I was not happy with the amount of light on the back of my 15' RT. Don't get me wrong, I do like the LED tailight, but I wanted MORE - a full "triangle" of light which incorporated the top case and side cases! I'm pretty happy with my results - I'm lit up like a Gold Wing back there now!

My solution was to:

1. Modify my small top case by mounting some strip LEDs and plug harness.
2. Fabricate some brackets for mounting of strip LEDs to my side cases.
3. Hack into my bikes wiring harness and install a run/brake/turn controller and appropriate plugs to attach to top and side cases.

Parts I used were:

• Skene Run/Brake/Turn Signal controller (IQ-260-TS)
• Solid State Relay (Crydom CN024D05)
• Red LED strip lights (SuperBright LEDs)
• Various pieces of aluminum angle/channel stock.
• Misc. electrical supplies (solder, friction tape, zip ties, etc.)

Notes:

• I supplied power to the Skene as directed by the instructions for the LC RT's on the Skene website - but I added a step of running that power through a solid state relay that I tied into the rear power outlet. This way the lights go off immediately when I turn of the bike. The power supply that Skene recommends tapping into stays on for additional 30sec after bike turns of. The power outlet in the back turns off as soon as the bike is turned off.
• I soldered all my connections and sealed using heat shrink tape.
• I wrapped all wires back up in friction tape.
• I was nervous cutting into my main wiring harness - if you try this, do so at your OWN RISK!

Here is what the finished product looks like:





(There are some "ghost" lights in the photo that I had trouble editing out - side effect of photographing the LEDs.)

I have a video as well I will try and upload. Using the Skene controller I can have the pulsing brake lights when I apply the brake. I will also try to post some of the pictures of the work I did in subsequent posts. I have a lot of pictures, and am just trying to find the time to get them all together in comprehensive summary. Please let me know if you'd like to see more shots of the "details."

Nice!

Thanks for the effort and the postings
OM

super job!

Nice

Very professionally done...thanks for posting!

Did you wire the factory rear tail/brake light to the IQ-260 also? I'm going to do this on my 2014 and I tried another companies brake light controller and all my dash lights come on when I used my brakes. I guess the can-bus system detects load and shows up on the dash that something isn't right. I unplugged it and everything went back to normal. So I'm going to try this route. I've been looking at the diagrams on Skene's website and it shows to cut the rear tail/brake light.. and wire it directly to the IQ-260. This worries me..

Thanks for any info..

fallguy said:

Did you wire the factory rear tail/brake light to the IQ-260 also? I'm going to do this on my 2014 and I tried another companies brake light controller and all my dash lights come on when I used my brakes. I guess the can-bus system detects load and shows up on the dash that something isn't right. I unplugged it and everything went back to normal. So I'm going to try this route. I've been looking at the diagrams on Skene's website and it shows to cut the rear tail/brake light.. and wire it directly to the IQ-260. This worries me..

Thanks for any info..

Click to expand...

I left the rear tailight alone actually. I was a bit nervous running it directly off the IQ. I had another company's controller on there before and had some major issues, so when I redid it all with the IQ I just put the tailight back to stock control. I figured if the skene went haywire on me I'd at least still have stock setup on rear lights to ride with.

I'll try and post some additional shots later. Good luck and let me know if I can help with any questions. Will do my best to respond quickly.