Has ANYONE put and AFTERMARKET TAIL LAMP on their XS?

Yamaha77

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I bought one of these for my Honda CB 750 but havent put it on yet.

Im thinking of getting another one for my XS650 but Im torn. The only thing Ive changed on the bike thus far is the handlebars. I swapped out the originals for gold anodized Renthals.

I think the OEM tailight is kinda funny looking. What say you? Here is the light I am thinking of, and a shot of my bike taken yesterday:

http://www.dimecitycycles.com/vinta...s-polished-lucas-led-taillight-225-1004p.html

IMG_6985.jpg
 
Hi Yamaha77,
what I reckon is, whether the stock tail light is "funny looking" or not is entirely in the eye of the beholder.
But if I was looking for an aftermarket tail light that's the one I'd buy for nostalgia's sake because every one of the BSAs, Triumphs and Ariels I used to own had one.
As it is, I'm happy with my '84's big red housebrick of a stock tail light.
Yes it's fucking ugly but it's also twice the size of most others and it's got two separate twin filament bulbs in it.
Being seen trumps aesthetics.
 
In the 70s Yamaha made an extremely sturdy chromed metal tail rack. When fitted it filled in some of that space between the back of the seat and the tail light - made the bike look more streamlined. I had them on my XS1B and RD250. Below is a link to the type I refer to and it looked identical to this one:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1974-YAMAHA...ash=item3f579d3150:g:NSAAAOSwxN5WUMiG&vxp=mtr

If I were you, which I am not, I would go with fredintoon's safety advice and look for a nice chrome tail rack. If you can get a Yamaha then the bike remains stock.

Good Luck.
 
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I bought one of these for my Honda CB 750 but havent put it on yet.

Im thinking of getting another one for my XS650 but Im torn. The only thing Ive changed on the bike thus far is the handlebars. I swapped out the originals for gold anodized Renthals.

I think the OEM tailight is kinda funny looking. What say you? Here is the light I am thinking of, and a shot of my bike taken yesterday:

http://www.dimecitycycles.com/vinta...s-polished-lucas-led-taillight-225-1004p.html

View attachment 93831
I've got one - had to replace the OEM taillight as'sy on my '82 when I replaced the OEM seat, so went with the Lucas-style re-pop. The rear signal lights contain twin-filament sockets so I have running lights back there to improve visibility. The lenses and trim rings are Virago items that fit the XS650 housings "plug-and-play"; the red lenses are high quality aftermarket items.
 

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In the 70s Yamaha made an extremely sturdy chromed metal tail rack. When fitted it filled in some of that space between the back of the seat and the tail light - made the bike look more streamlined. I had them on my XS1B and RD250. Below is a link to the type I refer to and it looked identical to this one:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1974-YAMAHA...ash=item3f579d3150:g:NSAAAOSwxN5WUMiG&vxp=mtr

If I were you, which I am not, I would go with fredintoon's safety advice and look for a nice chrome tail rack. If you can get a Yamaha then the bike remains stock.

Good Luck.

Thanks for the advice. The 1973 honda 750 I bought came with a tail rack which made the bike look, unathletic. I feel like putting a rack on my Yamaha would DEFINITELY take away from the sporty look of it.
 
I've got one - had to replace the OEM taillight as'sy on my '82 when I replaced the OEM seat, so went with the Lucas-style re-pop. The rear signal lights contain twin-filament sockets so I have running lights back there to improve visibility. The lenses and trim rings are Virago items that fit the XS650 housings "plug-and-play"; the red lenses are high quality aftermarket items.

Yep, looks exactly like the one I plan to put on my Honda. How difficult was it to install?

BTW your bike looks amazing and the surrounding area in your photo looks so tranquil!
 
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Hi Yamaha77,
what I reckon is, whether the stock tail light is "funny looking" or not is entirely in the eye of the beholder.
But if I was looking for an aftermarket tail light that's the one I'd buy for nostalgia's sake because every one of the BSAs, Triumphs and Ariels I used to own had one.
As it is, I'm happy with my '84's big red housebrick of a stock tail light.
Yes it's fucking ugly but it's also twice the size of most others and it's got two separate twin filament bulbs in it.
Being seen trumps aesthetics.

Im torn. Still debating.
 
Yep, looks exactly like the one I plan to put on my Honda. How difficult was it to install?
BTW your bike looks amazing and the surrounding area in your photo looks so tranquil!

Hi Yamaha77,
shouldn't be a difficult install, all it'll need is 3 fasteners & the wiring.
And if you decide to put one an your XS650, mount it on sheet rubber or it'll die from vibration.
BTW, while aldo's locality my have more trees than yours, there has to be a better background
for your bike photo than a dumpster full of junk. Or was it supposed to be a study in contrasts?
 
Hi Yamaha77,
shouldn't be a difficult install, all it'll need is 3 fasteners & the wiring.
And if you decide to put one an your XS650, mount it on sheet rubber or it'll die from vibration.
BTW, while aldo's locality my have more trees than yours, there has to be a better background
for your bike photo than a dumpster full of junk. Or was it supposed to be a study in contrasts?

Very intuitive of you. I was actually at a gas station when I took that shot, and the red dumpster was used because if its contrast qualities.

The taillight comes with a sturdy rubber sheet which I will use. I was just curious about wiring because on the aftermarket light there is only a red and black wire. Not sure how many wires there are on the stock light, so just getting my ducks in a row.

This is my usual view. When Im at the upstate house.

422516_10150981224055194_397488466_n.jpg
 
Personally I don't think that the stock round taillight of your 77 is funny looking.
Flag of Japan.jpg

I kept mine and think of it as the designers tribute to the Japanese flag! The designers carried that round shape through many other parts of the bike.... including the turn signals, rotor cover, clutch adjuster cap, gauges. headlight, oil filter cover, reflectors, points covers and the horn. Yeah, you can add the tires, rims and discs to the list but the designers didn't have much choice on those.

Just my perspective...
XStretchified
 
Personally I don't think that the stock round taillight of your 77 is funny looking.
View attachment 93846

I kept mine and think of it as the designers tribute to the Japanese flag! The designers carried that round shape through many other parts of the bike.... including the turn signals, rotor cover, clutch adjuster cap, gauges. headlight, oil filter cover, reflectors, points covers and the horn. Yeah, you can add the tires, rims and discs to the list but the designers didn't have much choice on those.

Just my perspective...
XStretchified

Im inclined to agree with you. Also, its a slippery slope when you change one thing: then you want to change another, and another and another. I am not 100% sure I WILL NOT change the tail light. I need to get around to installing the lucas light I have onto the Honda 750 though.
 
Yep, looks exactly like the one I plan to put on my Honda. How difficult was it to install?

BTW your bike looks amazing and the surrounding area in your photo looks so tranquil!

Pretty straightforward to bolt on; it fits the curve of the fender nicely. Mine came with a molded rubber pad that fits between the fender and the taillight housing. The screw at the rear of the housing meets the surface of the fender at an angle, so I cut one end of a short length of nylon tubing of diameter that would slip over the screw at about the same angle to give a surface square to the axis of the screw for the lockwasher and nut to tighten up on. The light socket that came in the one I bought, for an 1157 bulb, was a 2-wire one; i.e., no ground wire, just power leads for the tail and stop light filaments. I replaced it with a better-quality OEM Yamaha twin-filament socket that does have an attached ground wire - the XS650 rear fender itself is rubber-mounted to the frame, so I did not expect that this taillight as'sy would ground well (if at all) just through the screws used to mount it on the fender. There probably are other ways to get a good ground, like running a wire from one of the mounting screws to a ground connection in the harness or to somewhere on the frame itself. - I just did what I did to get a clean, "factory"-like look to the hookup.

Yeah, I live in a fairly quiet area, backs up to some woods - there's deer, turkey, coyote, sometimes fox, rabbits if no fox around us.
 

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Pretty straightforward to bolt on; it fits the curve of the fender nicely. Mine came with a molded rubber pad that fits between the fender and the taillight housing. The screw at the rear of the housing meets the surface of the fender at an angle, so I cut one end of a short length of nylon tubing of diameter that would slip over the screw at about the same angle to give a surface square to the axis of the screw for the lockwasher and nut to tighten up on. The light socket that came in the one I bought, for an 1157 bulb, was a 2-wire one; i.e., no ground wire, just power leads for the tail and stop light filaments. I replaced it with a better-quality OEM Yamaha twin-filament socket that does have an attached ground wire - the XS650 rear fender itself is rubber-mounted to the frame, so I did not expect that this taillight as'sy would ground well (if at all) just through the screws used to mount it on the fender. There probably are other ways to get a good ground, like running a wire from one of the mounting screws to a ground connection in the harness or to somewhere on the frame itself. - I just did what I did to get a clean, "factory"-like look to the hookup.

Yeah, I live in a fairly quiet area, backs up to some woods - there's deer, turkey, coyote, sometimes fox, rabbits if no fox around us.

nice pic!!!
 
Very intuitive of you. I was actually at a gas station when I took that shot, and the red dumpster was used because if its contrast qualities.

The taillight comes with a sturdy rubber sheet which I will use. I was just curious about wiring because on the aftermarket light there is only a red and black wire. Not sure how many wires there are on the stock light, so just getting my ducks in a row.

This is my usual view. When Im at the upstate house.

If this is your usual view................. there must be mirrors on the wall:lmao:

If you have ever looked under the seat you would have seen how many wires there are for the Tailight
 
XStretchified650, funny you should mention the Japanese flag. I recently saw a component on the XS that made me think the same. It was the underside of the chromed indicator mount. Looks just like the flag below but with a hole where the Sun is:

japgl.gif


IMG_0655[1].jpg

Coincidence or what?
 
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Paul Sutton,
Interesting......
Count the rays, 16 makes it a match for the Japanese Naval Ensign (flag) in your picture. Sneaky bastards, ..... but I would then think it to be pretty cool because everybody is a patriot of somewhere.

XStretchified
 
Very intuitive of you. I was actually at a gas station when I took that shot, and the red dumpster was used because if its contrast qualities
The taillight comes with a sturdy rubber sheet which I will use. I was just curious about wiring because on the aftermarket light there is only a red and black wire. Not sure how many wires there are on the stock light, so just getting my ducks in a row.
This is my usual view. When Im at the upstate house.
View attachment 93848

Hi Yamaha77,
oh yes, contrast is there for sure.
Most likely the red & black wires are for the rear light and brake light bulb filaments and the manufacturers are leaving the ground wire up to you.
You'll have to attach a ground wire to the lamp casing, (a ring terminal under one of the bolts that hold the lamp body to the mounting shell should work)
Because almost all modern bikes (later than a 1960s Britbike, that is) have rubber mounted fenders.
Check if it's the red wire or the black wire that powers the brake light and put rubber washers under the plain washers on the fender's inside as well as the rubber sheet on the outside when you bolt the rearlight in place.
Nice upstate house. "Thou shalt not covet - - - ". It tells me that in the Bible.
 
Very intuitive of you. I was actually at a gas station when I took that shot, and the red dumpster was used because if its contrast qualities.
The taillight comes with a sturdy rubber sheet which I will use. I was just curious about wiring because on the aftermarket light there is only a red and black wire. Not sure how many wires there are on the stock light, so just getting my ducks in a row.
This is my usual view. When Im at the upstate house.
View attachment 93848

Last Saturday and Sunday was spent teaching you HOW TO read a diagram.

http://www.xs650.com/threads/rear-light-adventure-continues.48239/

A great deal of personal time was given over those 2 days to help you read and understand a wiring diagram. You wanted to learn about the running light circuits due to having problems with a blown tail-light. ....................Have you forgotten already ????.....................I guess the question has to be asked.............Are you really committed to learning or are you stringing members along so you can post pictures of yourself and bragging about your properties under the pretext of a view from your porch.
 
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