LED conversion. Mild frustration.

[Red89]

Evening, all.

Any tips would be appreciated. The bike: 2007 Monster 695.

I just received an LED brake light today after much waiting. It was just a cheap one, nothing fancy.
This light has an integrated plate light but no turn signal integration. There were already LED turn signals present when I got the bike but the tail light was the OEM one.

So this evening, full of (short-lived) joy, I popped the saddle and found that the OEM connectors are L shaped plastic attachments. Unfortunately the LED tail light only has 3 short wires coming out of it, with "bullet" style clips. These won't fit in the L connectors.

The cables on the new brake light are not long enough to bypass that length of wire and insert further down, so I am stuck trying to use the L clips somehow. Can I just strip the LED wire, solder it to a plate of silver plated copper (etc.) and just slide it into the connector? If not, what shall I do? Am I overworked and missing something stupidly obvious?

Forgive my limited knowledge on this and I do apologise if this is a stupid question. I've built a few guitar pedals by following instructions but other than that, electronics is not my area of expertise.

This was stated as being compatible with my bike and I would have read the instructions... If any were included.  

Pics for clarity.

LED connectors:

L shaped connectors on old light:

Everything under saddle:

[stopintime]

Cheapest solution (could work) is hammering the bullet connectors flat. Worth a shot....

Or buy spade connectors 

[Red89]

Hey, stopintime! Thanks for your reply.

I definitely felt like taking a hammer to it earlier so you might be dead on the money. Haha

I'm tempted to try, though these end bits look pretty thick. I suppose it's worth a shot.

[stopintime]

They're worthless, so why not? 

[Red89]

Alright, I feel inspired and encouraged... Back down to the garage with a locking wrench and hammer. I'm hoping the locking wrench will have a nice, flat result. Here goes nothing...

[ducpainter]

Not to be a buzzkill, but they won't fit in the female spade connectors.

[Red89]

Well, it works!

Sort of...

Now the front brake doesn't light up the tail light. Arghhh

Edit: I spoke too soon. The attachment had come loose under the headlight. All good now!! thanks guys!

[ducpainter]

Wrong again dear...wrong again.

[Red89]

I'm sorry, wrong? How do you mean?

It lights up just fine now. Front and back brake light it up without issue. It was the wiring coming from the front brake lever that had come loose. Reattached it and now all's well!

[ducpainter]

I'm sorry, wrong? How do you mean?

It lights up just fine now. Front and back brake light it up without issue. It was the wiring coming from the front brake lever that had come loose. Reattached it and now all's well!

I meant that I was wrong about you being able to fit the connectors you had work.

Nice job!

[Red89]

Ahhh I see! Sorry, I'm in Central Europe and it's a bit past my bedtime so I'm not at my sharpest. Haha

Thanks, buddy! Really happy now 

[Boris]

It was a heroic effort but it will shake loose sooner or later and you may short the taillight. Why not just cut both types of connectors and use electric twist caps if you don't want to solder the wires.

[S21FOLGORE]

I would recommend using posi-lock, instead of those twist cap connectors.

Posi-lock (blue ones)



Twist cap connectors from your local hardware store.



http://www.posi-lock.com/posilock.html

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=posi-lock&hvadid=241654461482&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9032089&hvnetw=g&hvpos=1t1&hvqmt=e&hvrand=11583570037211786115&hvtargid=kwd-4900245773&tag=googhydr-20&ref=pd_sl_779jorphw6_e

When working on vehicle electrical project, these connectors are very useful.
They are re-usable, too.

Also, in case you don't know, the way you crimp the terminal makes pretty big difference.



Use quality non-insulated terminals, and use proper crimping tool, that also makes difference.



Full article here
http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=69572.msg1285022#msg1285022

[Red89]

Damn. That is really sound advice. For now, all seems okay but I am going to see if I can find those here. It's not easy to find stuff like that where I live (The Netherlands). In England where I'm from it's a lot better for that sort of thing but the DIY shops here are really not the greatest. I opted to seal them with heat shrink, over electrical tape. It's not the prettiest and not as nice as your suggestion but so far, so good.

Actually, I just got an LED headlight unit as well. It was meant to be "Universal". Being somewhat of a plank at times, I bought a 7" headlight whereas the Monster has a 7.25". Greeeeeat.

It might have fit on the "classic" (metal) housing but the cheapo plastic one on the 695 is different (as I found out this evening). Checked out the options and a bucket + adapter ring would be around 120USD. -.-