Bag Lights For Nomad And Other Hard Bagger Bikes

by John Herring
Wednesday, December 14 2005 @ 04:00 PM PST
Views: 4,611
Posted in Lighting Tips

Thanks to John Herring

This installation was done on an '05 1600 Nomad but is applicable to earlier models as well. As it happens the Drifter tail lights mentioned match the stock tail light for the '05 Nomad. This may or may not be a style you'd like on your bike but it gives you an idea what can be done and what hardware you might be able to use. Maybe you'd rather mount the lights inside the bag and just put a lens on the outside or maybe you want to mount skulls or lightning bolts. Whatever, as you'll see this isn't difficult at all.

What John Used For This Mod

I used Radiantz LED boards From Custom Dynanics which included one solid pattern run/brake for the center and 2 of the boards which are a run/brake/turn configuration. These two were for the left and right side. So I ended up with run and brake on all three units and the outer 2 units have the build in 1.85" round clusters in the center acting as the turn signals.

The tail light housing are from www.BikeBandit.com and are for a 2004 Drifter 1500, which just happens to be the same as on the 2005 Nomad.

The turn signal boards are the Cateye Flush mount kit ( I just used the LED boards) Includes Cateye retro, box to mount the retro and a Red lens Optional Built in Turns - Can be wired as Run/Brake or Run/Brake/Turn Dimensions: Width 4.10" Height 1.90" Item: 5303-11 from Custom Dynamics (http://www.customdynamics.com/led_flush_mount_kits.htm).

The tail light run/brake board is the LED Retro Kit For 1500/800 Drifter 99-02 Tail Lights (Dual Intensity) Use your existing Lens and Bucket, 88 RED LEDs Comes w/ 1157 Base Attached to all wires Item: 9002-11 from Custom Dynamics (http://www.customdynamics.com/Kawaski_tail_retro.htm).

I used colored tape to color code all the wires so all new harness I made match with the Kawasaki wire color coding. A total of 5 holes were drilled per saddlebag and all were plugged with black silicone. The wire used is actually Primary Automotive Wire from Pepboys. All connections are soldered and heat shrink applied to the entire length of each harness to seal it up. 3M automotive trim tape was used to secure the LED boards to the insides of the gutted tail light assemblies.

It should be noted that the 2 additional Taillight assemblies had to be sanded down to meet the contour of the saddlebags which is a different angle than the fender and it's tail light. That was a trial and error type thing and you don't want to mess it up because the housings are pricey. The rubber gasket which insulates the tail light housing and semi waterproofs the mount works well to hide those imperfect sanded angles.

Regards,
John Herring

[Gadget Note: As you are planning this project you will want to make a provision for electrical quick releases so the bags can be removed and re-installed easily. If you can find them use Molex connectors.

If you can't then ordinary trailer connectors, available in two, four and five wire configurations, are perfect for this.]

What John Used For This Mod

Share It