Taillight Mod

[nlheikki]

Nice write up. I installed mine last year and I know how much fun you had taking off the tail light...........

 

[christod1]

Nice write up. I installed mine last year and I know how much fun you had taking off the tail light...........

Did the same about 3 months ago...What a battle...

 

[OneTrack]

Yes indeed...it was a battle. I eventually took the frame unit into the house and sat at the kitchen table with it. It is hopelessly over-designed, yet under-engineered, imo. All that effort from the factory yet it droops in the housing for no apparent reason. If their rationale was to isolate the tail light bulb from vibration, I can see a dozen better ways they could have done it without making it virtually impossible to re & re without damaging something. It's the best/worst example of Japanese "layered" manufacturing I've ever seen. At least it's theft-proof (or it would force a lens thief to take the whole darned bike).

 

[Tailgate]

OneTrack: Thank you! Excellent that you posted informative photo gallery! I had to call CA because all that they sent me was the LED board. No instructions and I was not going to rip apart half the FZ6 to find out that the LED board doesn't even fit the FZ6 application. So, upon calling customer service and making SURE that the unit was correct for my year, make and model (2007 FZ6) , the CSR and I discovered that they didn't include the "ring" adaptor and they sent me one (actually, I received two). I studied and studied the LED board and ring but STILL was scratching my head over how the LED board mounts on it. After studying and studying CA website instructions page (and for a similar but integrated LED board) I realized that they STILL didn't provide the self-tapping screws! ARrrghh! Geez Louise! I went to a hardware store and spent some time finding what I think will work for the screws. Clear Alternatives seems to be "light" on being scientific about being "clear" re the year and model, the instructions (none come with unit) and on including all the necessary hardware. It's incredible that the company doesn't have the foresight to include an instruction sheet! I have yet to take apart the grab bar, etc., (it'll be MUCH easier now thanks to your photo gallery!). I stumbled across another FZ6 owner who just posted about the same exact problem---CA didn't include but the LED board and he couldn't figure out what daaaa? I feel badly because I wanted to respond to his post ("Chicago riders" forum or something?) but couldn't figure out how to register for the forum site. Gawd, Clear Alternatives: you need to clear up this system wide confusion!

 

[FZ6 Fan]

Yes indeed...it was a battle. I eventually took the frame unit into the house and sat at the kitchen table with it. It is hopelessly over-designed, yet under-engineered, imo. All that effort from the factory yet it droops in the housing for no apparent reason. If their rationale was to isolate the tail light bulb from vibration, I can see a dozen better ways they could have done it without making it virtually impossible to re & re without damaging something. It's the best/worst example of Japanese "layered" manufacturing I've ever seen. At least it's theft-proof (or it would force a lens thief to take the whole darned bike).

OneTrack,

Thank you very much for the AWESOME Write Up! This is exactly what was needed as there is pretty much nothing on the Internet about how to do this! Looks like it is going to take a bit more effert than I had originally thought. Blech!

OneTrack: Thank you! Excellent that you posted informative photo gallery! I had to call CA because all that they sent me was the LED board. No instructions and I was not going to rip apart half the FZ6 to find out that the LED board doesn't even fit the FZ6 application. So, upon calling customer service and making SURE that the unit was correct for my year, make and model (2007 FZ6) , the CSR and I discovered that they didn't include the "ring" adaptor and they sent me one (actually, I received two). I studied and studied the LED board and ring but STILL was scratching my head over how the LED board mounts on it. After studying and studying CA website instructions page (and for a similar but integrated LED board) I realized that they STILL didn't provide the self-tapping screws! ARrrghh! Geez Louise! I went to a hardware store and spent some time finding what I think will work for the screws. Clear Alternatives seems to be "light" on being scientific about being "clear" re the year and model, the instructions (none come with unit) and on including all the necessary hardware. It's incredible that the company doesn't have the foresight to include an instruction sheet! I have yet to take apart the grab bar, etc., (it'll be MUCH easier now thanks to your photo gallery!). I stumbled across another FZ6 owner who just posted about the same exact problem---CA didn't include but the LED board and he couldn't figure out what daaaa? I feel badly because I wanted to respond to his post ("Chicago riders" forum or something?) but couldn't figure out how to register for the forum site. Gawd, Clear Alternatives: you need to clear up this system wide confusion!

Tailgate,

That was me that posted on the Chicagoland Sportbikes Forum. I had posted it on 3 WebSites hoping that someone would be able to help and OneTrack stated that he was going to do a Write Up on it (and a DAMN Fine job he did!). After reading your Comment, I also discovered that CA did NOT include the "Ring Adapter" nor any screws. I just called and requested that they send me a "Ring Adapter" but I didn't ask about the screws (although I probably should have). It would be helpful if CA did have a little bit better explanation on how this is supposed to be installed.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH again, to OneTrack for the Write Up!!!

Dan Z.

 

[OneTrack]

Thanks folks! Yes, CA's "instruction sheet" is a bit of a joke....no, it's a big joke.
There was no way to actually photograph the epic battle to get the lens out....at first you think it doesn't come out backwards or forwards...it was born there. I'm still not certain which way the manufacturer intended it to be removed. I got the OEM lens out by pulling it out of the housing to the rear, but could not even begin to get the CA clear lens in the same way.
Oh...hint....clean up the flashing (from the plastic mold) that is along the upper edge of the CA clear tail light; it will prevent the lens seating properly at the top, and will make it droop down even further than normal. CA really should clean up the lens before shipping it....it's not a cheap unit!
Take your time and be patient when wiggling this design monstrosity apart and getting it back together again. I sat at the kitchen table with the entire rear grab handle unit over my leg while I was wrestling with the light unit.
When connecting each of the two yellow L&R flasher wires on the IT unit, you'll need to connect longer wire extensions to get them to reach the L&R flasher wiring under the left side pod (it'll look neater). Remember the grey connector is LEFT and the Black connector is RIGHT. Just scotch-lock each flasher wire to the correct coloured flasher wire. (One's coloured, the other's black, which is ground...you want the live wire.
It's a good practice to check that everything works BEFORE bolting everything back together again.
Now that I've taken a bit of red off my bike, the blue ones might be able to keep up with me.

 

[jniedermeyer]

i think i might have glanced at the instructiond but had no problems with the install. although its been almost a year and i have about 4 or 5 leds that flicker just a little but i called CA and they said ship them over and theyll send me a replacement. ill just put the stock bulb back in till it gets here. im waiting on my m4 Ti exhaust any day now so when shes apart ill take care of the taillight at the same time. and im going to mod my fazr6 fe by removing the turn signal holes. dont need em. they look like a great place for bungees though.

 

[OneTrack]

Indeed, there are no "problems" with the install, it's a just a chore.
I've noticed that the CA Integrated flasher LED's have a greenish hue to them....anybody else notice that? I've also got separate smaller LED flashers in place of the OEM flashers which not only look good, they are very visible in conjunction with the CA integrated flashers.
Hmmm....I need to update my avatar.

 

[koolfz6]

does that have the turn signals built in? if so how much was it? what years does the kit cover? I've wanted to do a fender eliminator kit since I bought my bike, but I haven't found one with integrated turn signals in the tail/brake light.

I just installed the taillight with integrated turnsignals. It covers 03-08 fz6/fazers... cost about 55.00 plus 15.00 shipping.

Motodynamic - LED Tail Lights Honda CBR Suzuki GSXR Yamaha R1 R6 Ducati Monster 748 916 996 998


LOOKS AWSOME!