98 R1 integrated tail light wiring LED

[Dave1234]

Hi all,

I bought an LED tail light with integrated turn signals. I’m doing a bit of a tidy/customising on the rear end. I’ve also since discovered law in NSW states we have to have 180mm between turn signal indicators... I’d like to wire up both the integrated ones in the tail light plus a couple of standard led turn signals. The R1 light came with resistors that state “resistors are not needed if you choose to use the variable load flashers”. I’m a bit lost... unit has what looks like it might be a flasher attached to the wiring already? Do I need these resisters? Do I need to replace the turn signal relay? Is it as simple as wiring this unit and the extra led turn signals (also rear) in series? I really don’t know what I’m doing here! If someone has a resource they could point me to or take the time to explain what I need to do here that’d be ace!

[OzzieDave]

What brand is the new unit you bought, or attach a link to the site.
You could test it on the bench, all you need is a 12 volt power supply.
I bought led indicators via AliExpress, had to buy an led indicator unit as well, the wiring had to be modified as the led indicator unit had different connectors.

[Rod.s]

The old relays used a bimetallic strip that connected power to the indicators. The strip is between to points/poles and is only fixed to one point, as the current passes along the strip (to connect the power to the indicators) it heats up and then bends away from the other point, breaking the circuit, the strip cools quickly back to its original shape and connects to the other point...this is the clicking sound you hear from the indicator relay. For this all to work you need an amount or resistance in the circuit and the old Incandescent light bulbs are perfect for this. If you replace them with LED's (light emitting diodes) then the LED does not have enough resistance for the really to work so the light will come on and stay on. Normally you just replace the indicator relay with one that is built for LED's and all's good. There are some LED's now available built for indicators and have an inbuilt "resistance" enough to make the original relay work.

So if you are using the original indicator relay then you will need the resistors, if you are replacing the original with a "variable load flashers" then you won't.

[Dave1234]

Thanks! That’s the info I was after