Check those tail lights

[kballowe]

Rode (in the dark) the 45 miles to work this morning.  A guy in the parking lot came over to say "your running light is out".

Sure enough, no "running light".  Brake light still works just fine though.

At this point, I'm very happy that I have reflective tape all over my helmet, and on my riding jacket.

[severely]

Might I suggest an LED taillight bulb. Less prone to failure by vibration. 

[oldbike54]

 On which Bike Kevin ?

 Dusty

[cookiemech]

Are you not in the habit of checking your tail/brake lamp(s) before you leave? I do it every time, on every bike . . .

Or did it fail along the way?

[kballowe]

Are you not in the habit of checking your tail/brake lamp(s) before you leave? I do it every time, on every bike . . .

Or did it fail along the way?

I started it and walked back in to get my helmet.  It was lit at that time.

[s1120]

I gotta say that's one thing I like about my Stones duel taillight..  Odds are both will not blow at the same time, so you still have something back there. As an aside, I replace all bulbs in the fixture when one blows. The other one might be fine...  But it could go anyday. I save the good ones though, so I always have a stock of emergency bulbs.

[kballowe]

Yeah, thinking about adding some rear lights.  Just gotta figure out how not to make it ugly

[kballowe]

On which Bike Kevin ?

 Dusty

The red Eldorado

[oldbike54]

The red Eldorado

 I have been informed that this bike still employs an incandescent tail light bulb .

 Dusty

[kballowe]

I have been informed that this bike still employs an incandescent tail light bulb .

 Dusty

I got a box full of them in the garage.   

[Zoom Zoom]

When I replaced the original bulb for the same reason, I ended up with a Sylvania LED from the auto parts store. Two pack for 20 bucks. Red LED. Very bright tail light and very much brighter brake light.

Of the LED bulbs I have tried, this has the greatest contrast between the tail and brake lumens. The reflector on the Eldo is dished pretty good and I found some LED's can't go deep enough for the pins to engage. These work great and are very visible.

John Henry

[oldbike54]

 Installed two small LED marker lights on the Bassa , one tail , one brake . They don't look impressive when not lit , but are way brighter than the stock assembly when on .

 Dusty

[kballowe]

Installed two small LED marker lights on the Bassa , one tail , one brake . They don't look impressive when not lit , but are way brighter than the stock assembly when on .

 Dusty

We added two LED DOT marker lights atop the license plate frame on this one and then added a flashy stop light.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GX626ivc_g

and another

https://youtu.be/HMt5X06IefM

[oldbike54]

We added two LED DOT marker lights atop the license plate frame on this one and then added a flashy stop light.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GX626ivc_g

 Cool , like the string trick 

 Dusty

[Moparnut72]

My Audace has a slew of LED's on the back fender.     My former bike a Harley Slim had two tail lights which was a good thing as it went through tail light bulbs like crazy. I always carried a couple of spare bulbs.
kk

[bikeridertim]

We added two LED DOT marker lights atop the license plate frame on this one and then added a flashy stop light.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GX626ivc_g

and another

https://youtu.be/HMt5X06IefM

Do you think those would work on a MGX?
Not to sure about what would....

[kballowe]

Do you think those would work on a MGX?
Not to sure about what would....

In these two examples, I cut a small piece of sheet metal and drilled it and bolted it behind the license plate and then attached the lights to that.  Access to the wiring was right there.
The biggest issue is to get a stealth connection to the run/brake light wires.

[kballowe]

WOW.

It's your common, ordinary, garden-variety 1157 2-filament incandescent bulb.  I had a little box of these on the shelf. 
"Wagner" made in USA.  Yeah, they're old - and they work just fine.

 

[twowheeladdict]

I'm a fan of the skenedesign additional LED lights that I mount to the sides of the license plate.  Had them on every bike but had to let some go in negotiating the sale of a few bikes so only have them on 2 of my current bikes. 

https://www.skenelights.com/

They are different than ordinary LEDs because they have this flicker that catches people attention. 

[s1120]

WOW.

It's your common, ordinary, garden-variety 1157 2-filament incandescent bulb.  I had a little box of these on the shelf. 
"Wagner" made in USA.  Yeah, they're old - and they work just fine.

 

LOL  yup..  You know I really like the LED lamps for when you really need to save the power. Ive used them for lighting on tractors that don't have a lot of power output, and I use them in my camper to save battery power..  But maybe ive bought the wrong ones, but I still have them fail once in a while...  so really unless I need them for their low power use, or heat output, I just like the old school 1157 bulbs.... 

[Moparnut72]

The first one that failed on my Harley was replaced with one from a Harley dealer. I was out on an out of state ride and it was the closest supplier. They charged me $5. I was told it was extra heavy duty to resist vibration. It didn't last any longer than the typical $1 bulb.   
 kk