Vetter Trunk

[bohdan]

Gents, According to the installation instruction for the wiring of the Vetter trunk, it says the lights are running lights. Has anybody put dual filament bulbs to make them brake and running? My bike is a 77 so it has the reserve lighting system. Would that affect operation? Cheers

[DenverWinger]

My Vetter HAS dual filament bulbs (came that way). As to the reserve lighting system I don't know what effect the added load would do, when I had my '77 wing the reserve system was bypassed. To remove doubt about the reserve system you could use two relays, one for Stop lights and one for the running lights, Simply send power direct from the battery thru the relays to the Vetter, and trigger the relays with the bike's brake light and running light circuit. Don't forget fuses.

[kndw]

Mine too has dual filament bulbs. I did however have problems with the battery dying when riding slowly through city traffic, which I believe is a consequence of the gl1000 charging system not having much reserve... I'd install a switch somewhere to turn them off if necessary.

[bohdan]

Thanks guys. What do you think about conversion to LED’s?

[DenverWinger]

On a GL1000 it couldn't hurt. I wouldn't bother the turn signals though, they are never on long enough to make any real difference.

FWIW on my 1100 (same alternator) I've never killed the battery in stop/go traffic, and I also have a stereo with a 60 watt amp on it, too. The trip home from work I have to drive that 15 mile parking lot known as I-70, often a lot of stop/go or very slow. When moving, stay in a lower gear to keep the revs up, and if stopped I might twist the throttle a little for 1500-2000 revs for a little extra juice. This seems to be enough, even with fans cycling on a hot stop/go drive to keep the battery happy.

[bohdan]

Okay. Thanks Denver Winger. I may just give that at ry. Cheers

[johnfm3]

Another forum member gave me a good suggestion for lighting along the lines of LED.

As it was explained to me, feel free to change all the bulbs to LED with exception of rear turn bulbs. That will ensure enough load on the lighting system for the factory turn indicator relay to function. And since they only come on when turning, the impact will be minimal as someone above said.

Regarding the Vetter trunk. I have a vetter trunk with 4 round tail/brake lights on a 1976 GL1000. And the bulbs brighten when I apply the brakes.

Good Luck

[bohdan]

Thanks for the info. Does your trunk lights do both braking and running? The PO of the trunk apparently cut a conductor off the bulb. So I think I can have 4 running light and brake on the outside? Or 4 brake lights and two running lights on the outside. Cheers