Cheap LED brake/Turn signals

I picked up that ubiquitous center brake/turn signal from one of the online resellers for less than $10 several years ago. It has worked flawlessly despite having super thin delicate wires. No stray flashing and does everything it's designed to do.

For most cafe/brat builds that's pretty much all that is needed with an eye towards simplicity and minimalist design. I've always preferred a little extra visibility when I'm out because I don't want to get killed if I can do something to avoid it. So when I saw those turn signal stalks that have "flowing" amber turn signals as well as flashing brake lights I thought it would be a great addition especially since they came as 4 lights. 2 for the front with day time driving lights (white) and 2 for the rear with flashing brakes for less than $15 if I remember correctly.

Unfortunately, I discovered that they were really sensitive to stray voltage and either the brake or the turn signal would randomly flash depending on where the stray voltage was detected. I tried swapping the lights for a different set and swapping grounds but nothing seemed to help. Over the winter, I eventually realized that I probably needed a diode to prevent the stray voltage from activating my LEDs in the rear section so I found my stash of diodes from eBay (1N5402 200V 3A), soldered a couple of connectors to it and spliced it upstream of the ground where all the splices were tapped to feed the 2 stalks, the plate light and the center brake.

Attaching the connectors directly to the diode made for a very neat connection compared to the jumble of wires for the rear LEDs. I probably need to shorten the wires to make things nice and clean but I guess it will be a project for another day.

Now, there's no more stray flashing in the rear.

I'm close to finishing just about everything there is to do on this bike. Yes I still have a rearset I would like to install eventually and maybe a small wind screen. It runs great after coming out of hibernation.

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Old Car and Bike rambling

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