Yes, I know, this topic has been beaten to death. Do a search, brake AND light, brake AND switch... Did that. Lot's of threads, problem was half the posts were missing - made it a little hard to follow...
I'm hoping that somebody who has successfully rigged a brake light on their KDX will take pity on me (and I'm sure there will be others to follow) and describe exactly how they did it.
I would like to work with what I have on the bike (and ordered) keeping things as simple and clean as possible. I have a 'single filament' LED bulb in the stock housing - I know LED's don't have filaments, that's why I use it - too much vibration for a regular bulb. I ordered a hydraulic pressure switch for the rear because I damaged my rear brake line (got a bunch of old wire fencing tangled up in the rear wheel) and need to replace it anyway. I read the post about putting a resistor in the line to dim the taillight, then bypass the resistor with the brake switch to make the bulb brighter when the brakes are applied. I went to my local Radio Shack to pick up the 5 ohm resistor but could only find 1 ohm and 10 ohm. So I checked Radio Shack online and found that is all they have. Apparently they don't make a 5 ohm resistor anymore. Also, the resistors come in two varieties, ceramic heavy-duty looking ones and a tiny glass jobbies that you would find on a circuit board. Which ones do I want? At first I thought I would need the ceramic ones, but thinking some more on it I'm afraid it might be for 120 volt AC. The clerk was no help at all, he's a polite kid, but no more knowledgable on electrics than I am.
I was also thinking that perhaps I don't need a resistor. What if I spliced a wire off the line to the taillight through the brake switch effectively running two lines in parallel when the brakes are applied. I my rather feeble mind this would increase the brightness of the taillight due to the extra juice, yes? Seems to simple, there must be a flaw.
OK, let the abuse begin.
I'm hoping that somebody who has successfully rigged a brake light on their KDX will take pity on me (and I'm sure there will be others to follow) and describe exactly how they did it.
I would like to work with what I have on the bike (and ordered) keeping things as simple and clean as possible. I have a 'single filament' LED bulb in the stock housing - I know LED's don't have filaments, that's why I use it - too much vibration for a regular bulb. I ordered a hydraulic pressure switch for the rear because I damaged my rear brake line (got a bunch of old wire fencing tangled up in the rear wheel) and need to replace it anyway. I read the post about putting a resistor in the line to dim the taillight, then bypass the resistor with the brake switch to make the bulb brighter when the brakes are applied. I went to my local Radio Shack to pick up the 5 ohm resistor but could only find 1 ohm and 10 ohm. So I checked Radio Shack online and found that is all they have. Apparently they don't make a 5 ohm resistor anymore. Also, the resistors come in two varieties, ceramic heavy-duty looking ones and a tiny glass jobbies that you would find on a circuit board. Which ones do I want? At first I thought I would need the ceramic ones, but thinking some more on it I'm afraid it might be for 120 volt AC. The clerk was no help at all, he's a polite kid, but no more knowledgable on electrics than I am.
I was also thinking that perhaps I don't need a resistor. What if I spliced a wire off the line to the taillight through the brake switch effectively running two lines in parallel when the brakes are applied. I my rather feeble mind this would increase the brightness of the taillight due to the extra juice, yes? Seems to simple, there must be a flaw.
OK, let the abuse begin.
