TOPIC:

I have read about the load resistors. But the intent is to lighten up the draw on the charging system. Do the load resistors draw power similar to the incandescent’s? If so that defeats my purpose.

OK, here’s something I just thought of. Which is the lesser of two evils? The draw from the coil in the relay, or the draw from the load resistor? This is what happens when I don’t completely understand electronics. Thanks for all the help.

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Yes, and no. When current passes through the resistor, it generates heat and therefore wastes energy. ... Remember that with constant voltage, current is inversely proportional to resistance. The more resistance you inline into the circuit, the less current you pass, and therefore the less power you consume

According to that you should reduce power consumption using a resistor and an led uses nxt to nothing anyway.

How do I size the resister correctly? wouldn't it only have to match the ohms of the incandescent bulb to satisfy the brake light out warning system?

Correct. If you have a multimeter just check what resistance you get on a filament bulb then use that size resistor across the led poles in the dash. From memory I "think" I used a 20 ohm resistor on one of mine when I changed to led several years ago.

I don't think I have any brake failure units to test since I just delete them. There could be other solutions. I chose the relay solution as it should work regardless of what bulb is used in the tail and regardless of what bulb is used in the dash.

Maybe it's a bad idea to get rid of the failure detection since it gives a false sense of security to see that dashboard brake indicator light up. If the LED tail/brake fails you wouldn't know from this circuit. Do LED tail/brake bulbs fail often? I haven't used them so I don't have a sense of how failure-prone they are.

Because I have no dash lights, I do a brake light check periodically.

At any rate, the coil of a relay will use about 1/4 the current of a 20 ohm resistor.

Here is an update for the Kz1000 wire colors.

although I think if your worried about the level of difference between a resistor and a relay you should be more worried about your charging system or lack of.

Warren3200gt wrote: although I think if your worried about the level of difference between a resistor and a relay you should be more worried about your charging system or lack of.

Agree! When the bike left the showroom floor all the lighting, etc. worked fine. If the systems are still in good shape all that stuff will still work fine. If that stuff isn't working fine I would replace the part that has a problem rather than trying to re-engineer the electrical system to work around the problem. If the goal is to install a brighter headlight than was available back in the day that can be done without changing the electrical system; one simply needs to buy a modern headlight that has a load similar to the stock unit. Ed

Cavemen got by just fine on two feet for eons. So why even ride a motorcycle?

Just kidding. We all know it's to pickup chicks.

Warren3200gt wrote: You dont need to use a relay, just put a resistor across the wires into the brake dash light. Costs about nothing and is super simple fix which makes the circuit work the way it was designed. Ie on when the brake is on and flashing if the tail bulb fails.

I understand how this would allow the circuit to be fooled into working i.e. dash light on when brake light on, but if the resistor is acting like an intact filliment then even if the bulb burns out the resistor with continue to fool the circuit, No flashing dash light if bulb burned out. True?

If that is the case and I'm loosing the bad bulb flash with either system, I'm leaning toward the relay which is claimed to draw the least

This thread parallels my other about rough idle and pour acceleration. It was mentioned in that post that low voltage to the coil primary could be the cause of my issues. My coil primary voltage is just about 1.65 volts below battery. I have a carb backfire that I cant seem to correct. Also I cant get the timing to the f mark without the bike stalling. I chase my tail with that issue, if I turn up the idle to keep the bike from stalling the timing mark moves, So I thought I would try to free up some voltage by swapping out incandescent for LED.

Wired george relay mod will resolve the low coil voltage issue. Alternatively you need to go through the entire ignition side of the loom and clean and tighten every conection in that system paying particular attention to the internal kill switch connections.
This would mean totally dismantling the kill switch which has a small ball bearing and spring inside so beware. Also the plate which the components sit on is often cracked and badly aged. These are not available seperately or complete.

Regarding the stop light indicator, my thoughts were the same as yours however once I had installed the resistor I checked by removing the tail light bulb and the warning light did flash.