Novice Electrical Connector Question (Pics)

Hi all,

I bought an aftermarket taillight for my 5th gen.  It's exactly like this but I bought it from a forum member that never got around to installing it:

http://www.lights4al...moked-lens.html

When I went to install it, it doesn't have the stock connectors.  Instead it has a strange plastic bit with wires protruding.  See pic:

[image: unconnected.JPG]

(VFR turn signal power source connect on the left, the aftermarket turn signal "connector" on the right)

I've never seen a connector like it has.  Am I supposed to use that somehow?  Or, am I supposed to get rid of it and wire in the real, correct plug to mate with the plug coming from the bike?  I'm confused because others that have bought this taillight said it was a very simple connect-and-go installation.  What's the best/right way to do this?

As a quick thing to make it work, I found I can connect them like this:

[image: connected1.JPG]

[image: connected2.JPG]

It works fine, but is that the "right" way to do it?  Seems like it'd be prone to shorting due to moisture or coming in contact with any nearby metal surfaces.

Thanks for the help with what's probably a silly question.

It's taking the place of the bulb, so you need to remove the socket from the original tail light and plug it into that socket as if it were the bulb. Then plug the wire harness to the original socket.

That makes way more sense.  Thanks.  I'll try that tonight.

Also, I bought smoked LED turn signals from the same person.  They came with a relay that's supposed to correct the blink rate, I believe.  Where does that connect?

I'm starting to wonder if I sold my LED lights while blackout drunk at some point...

Nope, still installed!

The signal relay is in the front upper fairing. Once it's off, it is stuck to the front of the upper fairing stay. It's on the right side. I think there are two, the one that stops the signals from blinking while disconnected is the one you want.

:smile:

Great.  I got the taillight fixed up last night in about 15 minutes.  I'll pull the fairings for the turn indicators and relay over the weekend.

Thanks again for humoring my questions.

Just a thought. If you are planning on pulling off the upper cowl to change out the relay, it might be a good idea to change the headlight bulbs at the same time, and the dash lights if any are burnt out. Especially if you don't know how long they have been in there. Sod's law would state that as soon as you pull the upper cowl off and put it back on, any bulb that you didn't change will burn out one at time until you have the cowl removal/replacement procedure down to a process you can do with your eyes closed. LOL

Ask me how I know?? Go ahead.......Really!!

If you haven't removed the upper cowl before, here is a link to a How-To thread. There was one on this site as well but the thread itself appears to be empty for some reason. Here is a link to the one on VFRW. You may need to sign up as a member to be able to view the pictures.

http://vfrworld.com/...-Gen?highlight=