The Honda PCX / Forza / ADV150 / SH Forums

I really want to add something like this to my scoot because I want to make my rear more visible to other drivers. Any idea how the wiring is to the back end? I want to wire it in with the existing taillights and turn signals. Thanks in advance.

https://www.amazon.com/Integrated-Multi ... YWADF80BGE

Jay I understand your need to light up the tail as much as possible. I wish you could get into the 2011's taillight assemble and replace the guts with an array of quality LED's like the later PCX models rather than splice into the harness. The current model PCX has a blinding display and needs absolutely nothing more, especially compared to typical street bikes. I ride the 2015 PCX at night with total confidence and somewhere in the archives of this forum I've seen a large universal panel of Honda tail/brake light LED's that might be applicable to your 2011.

homie wrote:Jay I understand your need to light up the tail as much as possible. I wish you could get into the 2011's taillight assemble and replace the guts with an array of quality LED's like the later PCX models rather than splice into the harness. The current model PCX has a blinding display and needs absolutely nothing more, especially compared to typical street bikes. I ride the 2015 PCX at night with total confidence and somewhere in the archives of this forum I've seen a large universal panel of Honda tail/brake light LED's that might be applicable to your 2011.

Thank you for the advice!

I have 2013 models and instead of replacing the tail lights I added the knight rider like tail lights assembly to the license plate frame.
http://www.customdynamics.com/knight_ri ... ht_bar.htm
Maybe you should consider this instead, because totally replacing get the brake light assembly with the led version means finding the correct resistor so that your assembly works correctly not only with the stop light but also with the turn signals. LED lights draw less resistance than a standard light, so wiring it is to an older system is not just a matter of swapping the light assemblies.

Great points, Homie and Mel!

So just exactly how would one go about determining what the correct resistors would be for added LED lights? How about swapping out the stock turn signal relay to allay part of that problem, leaving only the tail/brake assembly needing resistors?

Where would someone who had no knowledge of electronics go to find these answers?

I don't have all the answers for PCX and probably won't on this issue since I don't have a 2011/14 model. But I want to encourage someone with an earlier model to go forward for the good of all. Here is my encouragement.

What is your experience with splicing and sourcing wiring? Its pretty easy to do some damage if you are inexperienced.
Do you know how to splice/heatshrink/solder?
How to use a continuity tester?
How to check for polarity?
How to splice in a in line fuse and what size fuse to use?

And above all, please buy the shop manual the shows the wiring schematic. The Batt is small but can still pack a punch if shorted.

Also, this is not an extremely hard project, and would be easy to get a shop to do the wiring for you at low cost.

Before I really knew what I was doing with the whole wiring thing, I didn't even try to get into the wiring harness. Instead of replacing the rear tail assembly, I added LED strips up under the grab rail. At night, this has done quite a bit to improve visibility. I also added some Amber strips just below that, facing outward, to serve as an amber running light. They seem to do nicely and they are all wired directly into the battery with a switch and inline fuse on their very own circuit, which allows me to shut them off in areas where the police might take an issue to my purple underglow.

Jge64 wrote:What is your experience with splicing and sourcing wiring? Its pretty easy to do some damage if you are inexperienced.
Do you know how to splice/heatshrink/solder?
How to use a continuity tester?
How to check for polarity?
How to splice in a in line fuse and what size fuse to use?

And above all, please buy the shop manual the shows the wiring schematic. The Batt is small but can still pack a punch if shorted.

Also, this is not an extremely hard project, and would be easy to get a shop to do the wiring for you at low cost.

Those are some awesome questions, and are exactly the kinds of things I personally would want spelled out for me.

I know that I don't have any sort of detailed knowledge of the amps, volts, watts, ratings, or any other standards of measurements, so I would never tackle a project like this unless I were exactly copying what someone else had done.

For example, I know, from watching a YT video, that resistors come in different ratings. In the video that I reference here, the presenter used a 12V-1Watt resistor rated at 500-600 ohms, recommended to be used for making a standard 12V LED light show at two different brightness levels, one for parking/running light, and then for brake-indication. The presenter also used two IN4004 or IN4005 rectifier diodes.

Here is the link to the video: https://youtu.be/7yrvmEUMFGo

Now, the information presented in the video is the extent of my knowledge, and unfortunately, all of these videos are produced by people who have been fooling with electronics for years, and instinctively know these details, and are aimed at people who also obviously know what they're doing. In my personal case, I do not see how he wires three ends of connections (the end with the resistor, and the two with diodes) to two wires (positive and negative). He says to hook this end to one thing and the other end to another, but without physically showing me exactly what I would expect to see, he might as well be describing how to play the guitar. I can enjoy seeing and hearing someone play one, but I have no idea how to make my fingers do what theirs do, especially if they are going so fast I can't follow what they're doing.

In short, don't see it. I don't get it, and I don't know anyone to ask who can explain it to me in terms I can understand, without having to take an unnecessary and unneeded electronics course. What I need is specific, end-use information only on what what goes where, what's connected to what, and precisely which parts are specified, and nothing more. I certainly don't need the theoretical background on why these things are used the way they are.

This is a huge pet peeve of mine. These people making videos like this always seem to explain things in a way that only people who already know them would understand. Those of us who do not know, get nothing out of the video. The only thing I got was that he used a 500-600 ohm resistor, two diodes, and that's pretty much it.

To be fair, the guy did say that he didn't understand all of it himself, and that it was put together by an "electrical engineer friend" of his. Even he couldn' remember what resistor he used. In any case, I do not understand exactly how, or where, this contraption would have to be installed, since I have two wires hanging off my LED strip, and there are three connections on the doohickey, and there are multiple wires where the tail/brake lights are, (and not only don't I know which is which, but the shop manual wiring diagram doesn't look anything like what the real wiring looks like!) and only makes me even more confused. If it actually looked like what it was on the bike, I might be able to figure out where everything went. And then only with very precise, detailed instructions.

So, you see what I mean when I say that I would never personally tackle a job like this unless I were copying something someone else had done, and shown to work exactly the way I anticipated it would work.

One other thing... And forgive the weak attempt at humor.

I know that the battery can't short anything if you disconnect it completely before you do anything. If it isn't hooked to anything, there is nothing to short.



I wish I knew of some group of electronics people in my area that fiddle with parts and things, and make stuff out of it, because I would enlist their help to design a turnkey installation to make the 2013 tail light system as good or better than the 2015.

I know I can do it.

I do know how to solder, I do know how to use a heatshrink gun and tubing, and I do have a pretty good eye for design.

Yet another detail that will make electronics-oriented people laugh at me, but I have this gollywog multi-meter thing that has dials, switches, probes, and all sorts of things on it, and I have no idea what to do with it. There's no "simple explanation" anywhere on the net that I've seen. There are some that are so complicated that it makes me want to take a sledgehammer to the thing, but that's not what I need.

Whew...

I hadn't bothered to look at the thing you were linking before. Now that I have, I would say don't do it. Cheap stuff is nice to the wallet, until you have to replace it ten times. I put cheap LEDs from Amazon under my PCX a while ago. After a month they had lost much of their shine. From what I could tell, they'd actually corroded internally.

If you want a plate frame light, go with something that is going to last. My Vololights cost a bit, but they have a good reputation, additionally, I only had to snip off the plate light and crimp on some bullet connectors to connect them. There are other similar options out there.

You might even be able to find a compatible LED bulb for the tail light. I had one on my Kymco and it was excellent, until the individual LEDs started to fry.

As for the multimeter, there are only a few functions you really need to worry about for the purposes of this type of project, and to be honest, I didn't use mine at all when I wired in my Vololight. It's more for diagnosing problems, like if the light didnt' work. I don't have my multimeter here at home or I'd do a quick video, and I have to go because I'm teaching at church this morning.

The vololight is a simple, low cost (IMO) solution to more rear visibility. Mine is a year old and works perfect. I was hit from behind on a K1200RS in 2001 and now sport an artificial hip, you can never have too much rear light. Google vololights for more info.

I am not going to try to explain electronics to you but I will say that unless you have the confidence to look up and try various stuff, you will never learn. Electricity is nothing to be played with unless you have the knowledge. I have the older PCX that does not have the LED lights, and I have quite a bit of experience with electronics (I was an Aircraft Electrician for 8.5 years and then went to college, getting a degree in Computer Science in the end). However, I will not tackle changing out all of the lights to LED, though they are nice. It is a whole lot easier to add LED than it is to replace the entire assembly. If I wanted to replace everything, I could trade my bike in for a newer one, but it would leave me nothing to play with. Imagine changing out the tail light assembly and then something goes wrong later. Would you know how to troubleshoot it? Would you know how to fix it without ripping it all out and starting over? My recommendation is still the same: buy an add on LED assembly that is not difficult to add, such as a LED license plate brake light assembly. They are a 3 wire assembly and are very easy to install.
The wire bundle for all of the tail end lighting is on the right side under the grab rail. Learn how to take the bike apart first. Then you can look at the wiring diagram and you can splice the 3 wires into it. No resistors, no problem worrying about this, that, and the other. Start simple.

I presume that advice was aimed at me, Mel, and if so, it's awesome great advice.

Having said that, I have not yet found, at any price, from any seller, anywhere, a light assembly that looks remotely like what I would want to put on Natasha.

I have a very specific thing in mind, and because it does not exist anywhere but within the confines of this concrete barrier I sometimes call a skull, I am going to have to build it. Begging for trouble, I know.

One of these days, I am going to have to find a good set of back roads, and drive my happy ass up to Marietta, to pick your brain. There might be some potent potables in it for you, or maybe some gustatory pleasure involved. Who knows? Clearly your knowledge base far exceeds mine regarding these things. I am not happy with that ignorance, but I also am not in a position where I could absorb all of the education that would be necessary for what, in the end, is a very simple thing. Simple, that is, to someone who knows what the hell they're doing, but beyond the ken of the likes of me.

I'm going to continue planning and designing, and then when I get to the point where I have to fish or cut bait, I'll find someone to keep me from %$#!&-ing things up.

Thanks again for keeping me humble.

By the by, any progress on determining what needs to be done to swap out the existing incandescent tail light bulb with an LED one? <heh>

Ishkabibble wrote: .

By the by, any progress on determining what needs to be done to swap out the existing incandescent tail light bulb with an LED one? <heh>

Swapping the bulb is easy, just get a new bulb, remove the rear wing cover, remove the bulb from the socket, replace with new bulb. You just have to make sure your new bulb fits and is compatible with the scoot.

I think replacing just the brake light, with no additional lights having been added to the circuit, should prove to be a simple task. The older PCX has a lower watt bulb that is similar to the 1157, so find an 1157 LED bulb and just plug it into the brake light socket. It should work.
It only starts getting strange when/if you add more lights to that circuit, because then you end up with an unbalanced load and the lights don't work properly.

honkerman wrote:

Ishkabibble wrote: .

By the by, any progress on determining what needs to be done to swap out the existing incandescent tail light bulb with an LED one? <heh>

Swapping the bulb is easy, just get a new bulb, remove the rear wing cover, remove the bulb from the socket, replace with new bulb. You just have to make sure your new bulb fits and is compatible with the scoot.

Really insulting non-answer.

I expected better from you.

Mel46 wrote:I think replacing just the brake light, with no additional lights having been added to the circuit, should prove to be a simple task. The older PCX has a lower watt bulb that is similar to the 1157, so find an 1157 LED bulb and just plug it into the brake light socket. It should work.
It only starts getting strange when/if you add more lights to that circuit, because then you end up with an unbalanced load and the lights don't work properly.

My major concern is from a thread I read here where a guy swapped out the stock incandescent for an 1157 "compatible" LED, and got only moderately bright light. No braking light, or "parking light" at all. This makes me think that there needs to be some form of electronic doo-dad in the installation that keeps the light at a particular amount of current, until the brakes are applied, and then lets it all through. Sort of like that doohickey the guy had in the video to which I linked earlier.

I had someone run up on me at a red light the other evening coming from work. I now have it in my head that I have to do something to increase the amount of light coming from the brake light. I had to use my contingency and accelerate up next to the car in front of me to keep from being hit. Luckily, he was just over far enough from the yellow line that I had room. Scared the bejeebers out of me, but I think the lesson was to be vigilant. Adding more light, and maybe some reflective tape to my lid might help. There is absolutely no such thing as "too visible" or "too safe" when one is on two wheels.

I suppose I am going to have to make another phone call to super bright leds, or custom dynamics to hash out if the bulb I want is compatible, and if not what I need. This is the frustrating part.

When it comes to LED color it can be different inside a colored lens. I think you cannot use a "white light" bulb as it makes the the final product outside look sort of orange. I think you have to use a red LED inside a red lens for it to be a deep red on the outside. However , wiring this stuff is not rocket science, but adding additional light is admirable . I also think the LED are nice addition , but if they cant see the incandescent one they won't see the LED either. However,I guess there will some on here who will see this differently... LOL