Honda 919 Tail Section Mod: Part 2

After trimming my rear fender in Honda 919 Tail Section Modification Part 1: Fender Trimming I decided to take it one step further and integrate my turn signals into the rear tail light/brake light assembly. I did some research and found a couple of options on how to do this. One was to spend $60.00 on the "Eliminator". The other was to spend $12.00 on a trailer wiring harness. I decided to take the $12.00 route.

The tools you'll need are: A test light, wire cutters/strippers, various allen wrenches, 8mm and 10mm sockets and socket wrench, zip ties, water proof butt connectors, and electrical tape. If you really want it to look professional have some 3/8" corrugated wire wrap on hand as well. Of course you'll need the turn signal integrator unit. I picked mine up at Advanced Auto for $11.99. The part number on the package is 48845. It has three wires coming from one side, and 4 wires coming from the other.

Remove the seat and tail section. To remove the tail section you'll remove the 4 allen bolts that hold the grab rail in place and remove the grab rail. Then remove the two 10mm bolts under the seat on the rear of the tail section. These two 10mm bolts have small rubber caps on them. Finally, remove the two plastic snaps on each side up close to the engine. The tail section will then slide backwards and allow you to reach in and unplug the rear tail light/brake light connections. Set the tail section aside. I used a Sharpee marker to mark all electrical connections so that I didn't get anything mixed up on re-assembly. So far, the clear tail light/brake light connection is the left bulb, and the black tail light/brake light connection is the right bulb.

Slide the small clear wiring protector back and unplug the light blue, orange, and the small clear connectors. The orange connector is the left turn signal, the light blue connector is the right turn signal, and the smaller clear connector is the license plate lamp. Remove the two 10mm bolts that hold the turn signals on the rear fender and slide the turn signals out and lay them aside. Make sure the orange and blue connectors don't catch on part of the rear fender as you slide the turn signals out. Finally, remove the two 8mm nuts and the two allen bolts in the rear fender. The 8mm nuts are located on top of the rear fender below where the brake light would be, and the allen bolts are six to eight inches forward on the INSIDE of the rear fender. Now the entire rear fender should come off. Remove the two phillips head screws that hold the license plate lamp to the rear fender.

Unplug the final clear connector that goes to the rear tail light/brake light. This will allow you to remove the tail light/brake light harness from the bike. Remove the black plastic sheathing over the tail light/brake light wiring harness. Cut the wiring coming from the turn signals about mid way and remove about half of the remaining black plastic sheathing on the turn signal pigtails. Go to a work bench or table with this wiring as well as the 48845 trailer wiring harness. You can trim the wires coming from the wiring harness down to about six inches to make it easier to work with. ***NOTE: Honda splices off to make one connection become two in three different places on the rear tail light/brake light wiring harness. These three places are underneath the electrical tape on the GREEN, GREEN with YELLOW STRIPE, and BROWN wires. This is how they get voltage to two lamps coming from one harness connection.

!!!!---NOTE: Honda made a mistake on the wiring of the turn signals. Coming from the bike it is correct as the +12V connection for the right side is the LIGHT BLUE wire, and the +12V connection for the left side is the ORANGE wire. However, they reversed the wires on the connector that plugs into the harness coming from the turn signals. As you can see from the picture, the LIGHT BLUE wire connects to the GREEN wire, and the ORANGE wire connects to the GREEN wire. This means the +12V wires are GREEN. You'll want to check yours to see if it has the same problem. I tried to correct this by removing the wires from the connector that goes to the turn signals, but was unsuccessful as it appears the plastic is molded to hold the wires in place.---!!!!

Now you're ready to start to start wiring in the 48845 harness. The 48845 harness has a four wire side and a three wire side. The four wire side will be wired in the to the "upstream" portion of the bike's tail light/brake light harness and turn signal wires. The three wire side sends voltage to the rear tail light/brake light bulbs. I recommend using the more expensive butt connectors that are water proof. They use heat shrink as well as glue. After crimping, hold a match or other heat source is close to the connector and it will melt expelling a small amount of glue that seals the connection. The wiring will be as follows:

***Thanks to "Jay" aka "nineoneniner" from the Yahoo Hornet's message board for the wire connections.

Now all you have to do is just plug the harness in. The ORANGE connector on the harness goes to the ORANGE connector on the bike. The LIGHT BLUE connector on the harness goes to the LIGHT BLUE connector on the bike. The CLEAR connector on the harness goes to the larger CLEAR connector on the bike. That's all there is to it. I used a zip tie to tidy up the wires, and put some black corrugated wire wrap over the wiring to protect it. I then slid the entire unit into the frame. Be sure to put the clear wiring protector back over the plugs to protect them. Test everything out to be sure it's working before buttoning up the bike.

With the turn signals integrated into the rear brake light, you can now trim the fender to a more sporty height. I removed nearly all of the rear fender, leaving just enough to mount the license plate. Currently on my bike the TBR exhaust cans are the lowest point in the rear. I also flipped the license plate bracket upside down. This make the license plate have a nice angle.

To trim the fender, I used a tape measure to measure off points along the fender where I wanted to cut. I then connected the points with the ruler. I then used a dremel tool with a cut off wheel to cut along the line I had drawn. I then used 220 grit sand paper to clean up the edge, followed by 600 grit wet dry sand paper, used dry. Finally, I drilled two 5/64th inch holes for the license plate bracket bolts and mounted the bracket.

I'm extremely happy with the results. When I turn the right turn signal on, the right side brake lamp flashes, when I turn the left turn signal on the left side brake lamp flashes. When the brakes are applied, they work as normal. When a turn signal is activated and the brakes are applied the lamp indicating a turn will flash fast and the other lamp will illuminate as a brake lamp. The below pictures are ACTUAL representations of how this looks. The front signals will match the rear signals, so when the brake is applied the front signal will also flash faster. I find this a very nice feature as it will be more likely to get other drivers' attention when you slow to make a turn.


	Turn Signal	Turn Signal With Brake