Install LED Brake Lights & Turn Signals On Harley Davidson - Complete Guild & Instructions
This post is all about how to install LED brake lights & rear turn signals on a Harley Davidson with a full guild & instructions. If you click the video link, I did it on my 2020 Road King Classic.
I was completely surprised with how doable this project is with minimal tools and just a little bit of know how. For anyone out there that is wondering if they can do this upgrade themselves. The answer is YES! And this is from someone that knows just enough to truly screw things up.
Here are the steps if you are looking to do the same thing. Note: I recommend doing one side at the time for comparison purposes.
Note: When ordering your taillight be sure to specify the location of your license plate as there are 2 different styles of lights. My parts guy, Tony, at While at Santa Maria Harley-Davidson educated me on this piece of information. I decided to go with the Harley-Davidson Layback LED Tail Lamp and the Harley-Davidson Bar & Shield Rear LED Turn Signals.
At the sides of the rear break light, back out the two philips screws just enough that the light will come off the bike. Then depress the release button on the bottom of the wire housing for the light at the mounting bracket on the fender. This is a 4 slot wire housing. Set aside.
Using a 5/32" Alen Head Bit and a 1/4" Box Wrench (the ratcheting ones work best) remove the two screws that secure the turn signals in place. Save the screws to reuse when attaching the new LED turn signals. (This will take the most time in the project, so be patient. The location of the screws is hard to get to.)
Remove the 2 slot wire housings from the rear light mount, clip the violet and black wires, remove the wire from the clip under the finder, and remove the stock turn signals from the bike.
Thread the new LED turn signal wires through the first hole on the mounting bar and attach the new signals to the mounting bar with the screws saved in step 3.
Thread the wires through the second hole in the mounting bar, through the fender, attach the clip under the fender (this will keep the wires away from your back tire), and through the holes in the tail light mounting bracket.
Insert the Red/Yellow wire from both signals into the smallest of the 2 slot housings provided in your turn signal kit. Push in until you hear the click. Give the wire a gentle tug. If it is inserted correctly the wire will not come out. Click the locking lid into place. Do the same with both blue wires.
Connect each of these to a Y-harness provided in your turn signal kit.
Insert the violet wire into slot 1 of the slightly larger 2 slot wire housing provided in your turn signal kit, and the black wire into slot 2. Click the locking lid into place. Repeat on the other side.
Depress the release button on the bottom of the 3 slot wire housing and open the locking lid. This one should have wires into slots 1 &3. Insert the Y-harness for the blues wires into slot 2 and replace the locking lid.
If the new LED tail light comes with the wiring harness and housing disassembles, copy the placement of the wires on the stock tail light. Then insert the y-harness for the Red/Yellow wires into slot 2. Then click the locking lid into place.
Place a small amount of electrical jelly on each of the connecters and reinsert into the appropriate slot. Follow the schematic that is included in your turn signal kit.
Attach the new LED Tail light aligning the notch on the light with the clip on the plug and attach the light to housing on the fender.
Take a moment to celebrate once you turn on the bike and see that the lights work!
I know this seems complicated, but it really was a simple process. Just takes a bit of time and patience. The whole thing, minus the extra time I lost by not having a ratcheting box end wrench, requires about three (3) hours.
I am over the moon happy with how much brighter the back of my bike is now. And I like the slightly different look the new lights give as well. Additionally, completing this project has seriously boosted my confidence to take on the more challenging upgrades as well. If this is something you have been thinking about doing to your own bike, don't wait. You can do it!
Now get out and ride, have fun, be safe, and catch you in the next post……
