On a ride with the local HOG a couple weeks ago, I noticed how attention-getting their flash tail lights were. I always figured if I wanted to flash my tail lights I could just as easily pump on the brakes, but there was something about the timing of those flashes that really catches your eye.


I know Kuryakyn, among others makes good ones, but since I only wanted the LED tail light to be controlled, I chose Signal Dynamics “BackOFF” module. It doesn't require any external power and installation looked to be pretty simple (It was) and very small. Price was right and shipping was fast.


I scoped out the wiring on my '04 Custom and it appeared the best place to tap it in was the wiring going between the rear brake pressure switch buried down behind the engine and the tail light, since the front lever brake control also terminates there.


I can't speak for the '05-later manuals, but as good as the wiring diagrams are in my '04 manual, the schematic was wrong. It is such an obvious error that I'm surprised HD didn't catch it before now (or maybe they did but didn't tell anyone). I should say that it was an obvious error once I figured out that it was wrong. And that's when the idea of tapping into the wire at the switch wouldn't work (it was too tight anyway).


I went to the wiring going to the tail light from the main harness. It's in a plug underneath the ICM module; under the seat. I removed the two nuts holding the ICM and lifted it out of the way. They're pretty consistent with wire colors, and the red-with-yellow-stripe wire was easy to identify. I slit back the cable cover enough to cut the wire and soldered extensions so that I could reach the module wires (they're not all that long). I used the bolt that holds the battery bracket on for a ground (the bolts for the ICM are not at ground potential).


I mounted the module to the battery bracket above the maxi-fuse. The bracket doesn't have enough surface for the double-back tape included with the module to hold it, so I tie-wrapped it to the bracket as well. Fits in there very nicely. There may be room for it under the seat, but it looks like it would be pretty crowded under there.


I chose the five-flashes-steady vs the three-flashes-hold-repeat mode -- you can select between one of the two wires. It also has one that can be used for steady-flash for an emergency light. I cut those two shorter to get them out of the way and sealed them in a piece of shrink tubing.


Now it could be that the quick on-off time of the LEDs in my tail light makes this really stand out. Certainly if some idiot cager comes crawling up my a$$, at least they won't be able to say: “I didn't see him.”

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