3rd Brake Light

[greydog]

I used brake light flasers on our Gold Wings.
The first one we owned used a setup some clever guy figured out that flashed the brake lights on the trunk alternately while the saddlebag brake lights stayed on continuously. It's came as a kit of a couple flashers (or relays) and a wiring harness that plugged into the trunk brake light harness.
The laser "Wings" were more sophisticated so we had to use a solid state flasher that would blink the brake lights 3 times (about the same frequency as a turn signal) than stay on for maybe 15 secons and then start the cycle again. I had more than a few car drivers say how visible it made the back of the bike when stopped.

I wonder if some clever person here couldn't work out a way to do something similar.

Dan

[Alvin]

I had a light bulb (!) moment!
What about a holographic 3rd brake light?!!!!! Something that projects the 3rd brake light high enough and bright enough without ruining the looks of the car. Like mounted on the license plate frame light on the bumper.

[Curtis]

I used brake light flasers on our Gold Wings.
The first one we owned used a setup some clever guy figured out that flashed the brake lights on the trunk alternately while the saddlebag brake lights stayed on continuously. It's came as a kit of a couple flashers (or relays) and a wiring harness that plugged into the trunk brake light harness.
The laser "Wings" were more sophisticated so we had to use a solid state flasher that would blink the brake lights 3 times (about the same frequency as a turn signal) than stay on for maybe 15 secons and then start the cycle again. I had more than a few car drivers say how visible it made the back of the bike when stopped.

I wonder if some clever person here couldn't work out a way to do something similar.

Dan

Lots of them out there. I just ordered a very small 12 led strip light meant for a motorcycle.

[greydog]

yeah, I was thinking of a plug and play sort of thing but the wiring is different from year to year (at lease, my '68 is different than our '69) so probably not feasible.
Dan

[cktrap]

Why not light up both pairs of lights. That’s how mine work (70). It’s twice as bright, just saying. I do like them on the roll bar. You could make them directional.

[C.Costine]

I think something like this:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/5M-16ft-300led ... 1460611457
Under the rear cockpit trim could work as a third brake light.

I had always thought that the intent of the third brake light was that it could be seen THROUGH the windows of cars ahead so that you can see and react in case drivers ahead of you in traffic are not attentive.

[theunz]

If you don't have a roll bar than I like the aforementioned magnetic deck mount. You could fab up virtually any type of mount to enable you to place the light at your desired height. If you wanted to just see the clean lines of your roadster when you park, then just lay it on the package shelf.

[C.Costine]

If you don't have a roll bar than I like the aforementioned magnetic deck mount. You could fab up virtually any type of mount to enable you to place the light at your desired height. If you wanted to just see the clean lines of your roadster when you park, then just lay it on the package shelf.

I actually ordered a magnetic mount as soon as I saw it here. I plan to try adapting a velcro mount too so that with the top up I could mount it another nine inches higher to the inside of the rear window, since I don't yet have a roll bar to mount it to.

[Mattk]

[quote=charlee0620 post_id=294872 time=<a href="tel:1561479484">1561479484</a> user_id=3453]
I plan on mounting my third on the roll bar with the flashy module. I’m looking at the led strip placed into the soft top....some how at this point...and having a switch to switch between the roll bar third and the soft top. I’m also looking into putting something on the hard top but not sure if I’m going to use it or not at this point.

Matthew

I guess it all depends on the design/shape/size of your roll bar... but could it be positioned/attached to the roll bar in a way where it's visible thru the back "window" when the top is up? No need to have two sets of lights or a switch that way.
[/quote]

I’ve thought about that, but I realized that at night you would get a bright glow inside the vehicle that might be a bit distracting. I also plan on building the third into the rollbar (not sure how yet) and possibly putting turn indicators on the corners of the rollbar as well (not sure how to do that either). As I’m building an electrical system from scratch I have a least one luxury in building it in ahead of time. But a plug and play would be great for existing cars.

I was thinking of designing my third to be shaped like an iPhone; it seems that people are REALLY good at paying attention to them, even when they’re driving!

Cheers
Matthew

[theunz]

Great idea about the iPhone design! I thought about adding directionals when I mounted my "3rd" brake light to the roll bar, but considering the short width of the bar I don't think someone behind you at night would really be able to tell what side they were on. I guess you could make the brake light a combo brake and running light, but the whole idea is to have something to catch their attention, and the running light would take some of the intensity away from the brake light. I haven't put a top on mine yet (hopefully next week), but I'm thinking that at least at night, the glow will show up through the window.

[spyder]

Mine shows through the window when up.

[theunz]

Happy to report that after installing my new soft top that the roll bar mounted brake lights are clearly visible through the rear window.