Seeking LED brake / tail light recommendation - 3 wire

[GeorgeOC]

Hello out there, I am hoping that there might be some members here that have had good experience with an LED tail or brake light. I used this unit from Mikes XS when completing my build.

https://www.mikesxs.net/yamaha-xs650-medium-cateye-tail-lamp.html
Item: 99-2004

I would place this unit firmly in the camp of parts from Mikes to AVOID. Upon new, the terminal connections were abhorrent. Each was replaced easy enough though, and I completed my wiring and had a functional tail section. Fast forward just about 6 months, and things went south for good. In a separate thread I attempted to diagnose a short somewhere that caused some irregularities in function of the brake light under normal conditions.

Well, found it! Should have been the first place I looked, lesson learned. The yellow wire was completely broken free from its solder joint, inside the unit. It doesn't look like it even had a chance given the sloppy solder and short lead. From the looks of things in there, the red and black connections are not far behind.

So here I am, in search of a better quality unit. I am looking for an LED tail light, that has a 3 wire connection similar to the wiring of the Mikes unit. One of the reasons I am consulting here is that many options I have seen are only 2 wire, neither black. And I could be wrong, but I don't believe the XS650 rear fender is functional as a ground connection.

Might anyone have a good idea for a replacement?

Per usual, thank you all in advance!
-GB

 

[mrtwowheel]

I think it was O'rielly's, have these little rebuild kits for one or two element bulbs, less than two dollars I think. You could rebuild the light that you have and put in an LED bulb, Might have to add and solder the ground wire. Anyway, they've saved many rusty OEM turn signal and taillight sockets for me.

Scott

 

[GeorgeOC]

Thank you Scott! That’s a great idea! I will see if I can find one. I will report back if that’s how it ends up. Thank you sir!

 

[fredintoon]

Hi George,
that catseye stop/tail from MikesXS is stickered at $37.96 too! It shouldn't have died that quick for that price, eh?
FWIW a few years back I bought an LED stop/tail from Princess Auto for Cdn$14.99 that's still working perfectly.
About the LED stop/tails with only 2 wires, most likely they ground themselves through their mounting bolts.
It's up to you to run a black wire from the lamp's mounting bolt back to a ground connection in the bike's wiring harness.

 

[motormike]

" Super Brite LED's "... based here in the states.. nice web site... 12 and 6 volt ... many colors.. kits.. great shipping.

 

[GeorgeOC]

Hi George,
that catseye stop/tail from MikesXS is stickered at $37.96 too! It shouldn't have died that quick for that price, eh?
FWIW a few years back I bought an LED stop/tail from Princess Auto for Cdn$14.99 that's still working perfectly.
About the LED stop/tails with only 2 wires, most likely they ground themselves through their mounting bolts.
It's up to you to run a black wire from the lamp's mounting bolt back to a ground connection in the bike's wiring harness.

" Super Brite LED's "... based here in the states.. nice web site... 12 and 6 volt ... many colors.. kits.. great shipping.

Fred, motormike, with responses like these that are so straight forward and slick, you guys must get a kick out of these sort of questions! Thanks for the insights guys, this is great. Will post the photos of the fix. Thank you fellas!

 

[GeorgeOC]

Hi George,
that catseye stop/tail from MikesXS is stickered at $37.96 too! It shouldn't have died that quick for that price, eh?
FWIW a few years back I bought an LED stop/tail from Princess Auto for Cdn$14.99 that's still working perfectly.
About the LED stop/tails with only 2 wires, most likely they ground themselves through their mounting bolts.
It's up to you to run a black wire from the lamp's mounting bolt back to a ground connection in the bike's wiring harness.

Hello again @fredintoon , thanks for the heads up regarding creating one's own ground if using a 2 wire set up. I imagine this is similar to the ground connections found at signal lamp housings, using ring terminals? I seemed to be able to handle those easy enough during the wiring process. In the case of this tail light, do you think this threaded mounting post would be adequate to run that wire ground off of (back the the harness ground)?

 

[weekendrider]

Yes, you can run a ground off of either of the threaded posts. Your socket looks to be in good shape? All you are needing is a new pigtail.
The link is an example, not a recommendation.
https://autoplicity.com/90505-pico-...MIs6KYkYe_2AIVTSOBCh2EDQ_REAQYBCABEgKHP_D_BwE

 

[GeorgeOC]

@weekendrider Bingo! Yes, that is all I really need. Ordering one now. Thank you sir, also for looking at the grounding question.

thank you!

 

[xjwmx]

Is it just missing the little brass bead on the yellow wire? I replaced the broken off bead on my turn signal with a solder blob.

Your tailight sees extreme vibration of course. I suggest whatever the fix, use some Amazing Goop around where the board meets the wire to keep it from vibrating in two again.

 

[GeorgeOC]

Is it just missing the little brass bead on the yellow wire? I replaced the broken off bead on my turn signal with a solder blob.

Your tailight sees extreme vibration of course. I suggest whatever the fix, use some Amazing Goop around where the board meets the wire to keep it from vibrating in two again.

@xjwmx yes, the pigtail assembly had a brass ring that had the yellow soldered to it, that for in the socket.

As of this moment, I am fully functional. I ended up drilling a hole in the metal socket plate, and soldering the yellow there.

Viola! Brake light restored, running light at night, and brake light with lights on.

Thanks everyone for the help!