I figured my rectifier was going bad as when I would drive at night my headlights brightness was changing as the RPM’s increase or decreased.  This would take a few minutes to kick in since the rectifier either had to get warm to start failing or would get jostled.

The first step is to actually get the part. I went with a very simple website to order my part http://www.regulatorrectifier.com/catalog/. Being a lazy consumer I did not check their prices to others but what they did have was the part I wanted clearly labeled on the page and also a new connector. This saved me the hassle of using other OEM part replacement websites and using a scanned image to identify the part I wanted.

Once the part arrived it was time to get cracking. First order of business is to remove the seat and the gas tank. One Allen wrench and some pliers work it was off. Lets inspect the damage.

As you can see by the above images there was clearly some over heating.  It was a good thing I got all new connectors and wires included in the kit.  This allowed me to to not have to worry about how close I trimmed the old wires so I could get as much bad stuff cut away.

It was a good thing I got all new connectors and wires included in the kit.  This allowed me to to not have to worry about how close I trimmed the old wires so I could get as much bad stuff cut away.

I labeled the white wires to make sure I put them back in the same spot on the connector.  I don’t know if the order they are placed matters but better safe then sorry.  I also in addition to the numbers written on the wires placed dots in case I was unable to read the numbers.

I also labeled the new wires when I soldered them to the old ones to keep confusion away.  Thankfully there was some heat shrink tubing laying around for me to seal my work away from prying eyes.

Another shot of the wires soldered together but you can also see where the old wire was wrapped that I had to cut back to give me more working room.

Connector all attached.

New rectifier and connector all installed.  I also tried to tape back up the wiring where I had cut it loose earlier to keep out moisture and dirt.

The all important testing of the new parts.

The instructions from CustomLed were of a vary high quality so following them was a breeze.  Of course the actual implantation of those instructions is something else entirely.

Stock Rear Fender

Stock Rear Side View

Front Stock View

Stock Front Side View

As you can see in the above stock shots of what my bike looked like the rear has a log to be desired.  So it was time to get started.

Tail Body Section

Rear Tail Removed

Rear Tail Removed Side

Now that I had the rear tail all dismantled it was time to start work on the rear lights.  One thing I found out that I didn’t know until I started work on this project is that the rear brake lights is a sealed unit.  So in order to remove the old lights I had to break out the dremel and cut around the casing and crack the plastic to get at the lights.  In order to seal it back up I used some super glue to hold the plastic and then a bead of hot glue around the cut to seal it up again and hopefully make it water proof once again.

Rear Brake Lights Taken Apart

Rear Brake Lights Soldered

Rear Brake Lights Reassembled

Now with the rear tail lights all done it was time to work on the front turn signals.  Unfortunately these new turn signals was of the generic variety and not a set designed for my body style.  I had to cut the inside of the fender in order to even bolt the new turn signals on.  And even to do that I made some plastic cut outs for the bolts to attach to otherwise there was no place to actually secure the turn signals.  The other downside to these new turn signals was that they are designed to mounted on a flat surface.  Were I put them on the front fairing is curved so when attaching the cover they cracked around the screw holes so I had to back off on the screws some so I wouldn’t completely break them.

Side Fairing Removed

Front Side Fairing and Tire Removed

Removing Bulbs

Turn Signals Soldered

New Led Turn Signals Mounted

Fairing Cut to Allow New Turn Signals

Front Turn Signal Mounting Bracket

One of the changes I made from the instructions is that I soldered my connections when possible instead of using the supplied wire connectors.  I felt that it would be a cleaner installation plus I like soldering things.

At the request of a friend who was helping me work on the bike I also took the time to replace the fuel filter.

Gas Tank Removed

Top Shot With Gas Tank Removed

And here it is with everything put all back together.

New Rear Leds Installed

Front Turn Signals Installed

Rear Fender Removed

Sadly no action shots yet and yes I know I need to redo the exhaust since that is still the stock can on there.  I currently have the license plate mounted by using some fish eye bolts threaded through the old fender holes with bolts on the inside and then zip ties to secure the plate to the bolts.  Not the most elegant solution but it only cost a couple of bucks to do.  I am thinking about having a custom bracket made up and since the license plate light removes from the main rear fender I will be able to reuse that part on the new holder.