FAQ

Q1 I’m not an electrician but I like doing my own lighting accessories on my bike…how easy is it to install? How much time would it take me?

A1 To the uninitiated about 45 minutes to 1 hour. The biggest difficulty would be finding and tapping into the rear-tail harness. This can be done simply by lifting up the seat and look for a cable harness that begins near the center of the compartment which is fed through the rear fender. Once this has been located then the wires need to be detected for Brake, Park (cruise), L/R Signal and Ground. See the following question/answer for further details.

Q2 What makes your kit better than other similar kits?

A2 Running light adjustability. Users can use the dial on the kit to adjust the intensity as desired. In addition, the kit is made from solid-state electronics for reliability and a compact enviro-proof enclosure for durability.

Q3 How does the kit work if no other wires are run to the tail or signal bulbs are changed?

A3 The module uses a pulse modulation technique on the single filament Left and Right signal bulbs to emulate a cruise intensity (OEM park filament intensity). It literally pulses the L/R signal filament very quickly to produce a light intensity that is somewhere between on and off, similar to the way house light dimmers work. This modulation technique does not damage the filament and is fully adjustable by the user at any time.

Q4 What do you mean by fully adjustable light intensity – does it affect my brake bulb intensity or just my L/R signals or both?

A4 The cruise (or running) light intensity can be adjusted by the user adjusting the small trim potentiometer on our kit. This feature is mainly used to match L/R flasher cruise brightness to the brightness of the main tail OEM brake/park bulb.

This is very important because you don’t wish to confuse the driver behind you as to whether you are braking or in cruise relative to the OEM taillight cruise intensity. In fact if one wishes the L/R signal bulbs can be adjusted with cruise intensity completely off so the L/R signal bulbs will turn on only during L/R signal and/or Brake. This adjustment does not affect the brake intensity of the either the OEM tail light brake or the L/R brake intensity.

Q5 My brake bulb just burned-out, will your kit still function?

A5 YES. This is a built in safety feature with the Custom Safe-Tail Kit. Suppose your main OEM brake bulb in the tail is defective. The Custom Safe-Tail will still offer you brake intensity using the Left and Right signal bulbs. Brake is still preserved on the opposite R/L bulb during L/R signaling respectively as well.

Q6 I have just installed the Custom Safe-Tail kit and I’m encountering as fast flashing problem with the Left and Right turn signals…what’s going on?

A6 This problem is common on bikes with aftermarket signals such as LEDs, Halogens, or low profile type bulbs that are not the same power rating as the standard OEM signals.

In order to cure this problem, VFX offers the Flash Equalizer PRO Kit. This dual channel device is essentially a load equalizer that works with your OEM Flash Relay to solve for fast flash.

Q7 My tail lights just went dead and I keep blowing the fuse…what’s going on?

A7 It is very likely that the OEM taillight assembly is fused at about 10 – 15 Amps for not just the rear lights but also for other lights such as the license plate light. When you press brake the Safe-Tail will draw an additional 4A to 5A to power up the L/R signal bulbs to FULL intensity.

With the extra current draw, simply replace the OEM fuse value with a higher rated fuse such as 20A to 30A.

Q8 I looked through your website and you don’t have the wire color codes for my model of bike to install the kit, what do I do?

A8 In the support section we have a list of the wire color codes for certain models. If you do not find your model, you can purchase an automotive electric light tester and probe the wires for identification.

Next, locate your rear tail harness where you plan to install the module and expose the wires and or connector. Connect the clip side of the tester to the negative battery terminal. With the probe side of the tester, probe the rear tail harness for all the signals with the bike accessories on.

• First press the brake on your bike and locate the wire that illuminates the tester light during this action.

• Now find the Park wire, your test light will illuminate immediately and stay on while the probe is touching the wire.

• Then in the same fashion locate the L and R flasher wires by turning on the corresponding signals.

• The ground of the harness is best located by taking the alligator clip of the tester and putting it on the positive post of the battery, then search with the probe the conductors until the test lamp illuminates constantly – that’s your ground wire! Mark the colors down for your reference and continue with the install only after you turn the bike completely off.

Q9 Is it legal to operate the L/R signal bulbs as cruise bulbs and/or as brake bulbs?

A9 Check with your local authorities. In most cases if you change your OEM L/R turn signal yellow lenses to red lenses there should be no problem.