Safety has no compromise. In my recent 2,000km tour to Thailand, I experienced one of the heaviest downpours when traveling along the Malaysian North-South Highway (NSHW). Visibility was so bad that many vehicles had their hazard lights blinking as the crept along. I had a riding buddy close behind me, and over the Sena Bluetooth comms, I queried…
“Hey JC, I’m gonna lightly hit my brakes. With my tail lights turned on, can you help me take a look to see if the OEM Honda CB400X brake lights are obvious enough, or do you think I should add an auxiliary brake light?”
I tapped on the brakes lightly and intermittently.
“You should add an additional brake light.”
![](http://sgbikerboy.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/IMG_0803.jpg)
The CB400X brake light wires and connector can be accessed from the LHS of the bike underneath the seat. While I haven’t figured out what the other connectors are, I’ve traced the brake lights to the right-most connector (it was the only 3-wire connector anyway).
![](http://sgbikerboy.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/IMG_0802.jpg)
To test if it was the correct connector, I gently disconnected it and turned the ignition on. True enough – the brake lights went dead.
![](http://sgbikerboy.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/IMG_0804.jpg)
![](http://sgbikerboy.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/CB400X_TailLight.jpg)
The brake / tail light has 3 wires. The GREEN wire is GROUND, GREEN-YELLOW is for the BRAKE light, and PURPLE-BLUE wire for TAIL light. For the purpose of this exercise, I tapped on the GREEN and GREEN-YELLOW wires for the aux LED brake light.
![](http://sgbikerboy.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/LEDBrakeLight.jpg)
![](http://sgbikerboy.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/IMG_0810.jpg)
![](http://sgbikerboy.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/IMG_0813.jpg)
![](http://sgbikerboy.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/IMG_0812.jpg)
![](http://sgbikerboy.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/IMG_0814.jpg)
Viola! LED brake lights installed! This will definitely give better braking visibility to vehicles following behind.
Awesome idea, but how about when the top box is on?
I was thinking of adding a light that stays on instead, like a rear fog light function.
The top box won’t cover the LED’s. It’s approximately at eye-level of a motorcar driver. Trucks and other taller vehicles *may* have a little trouble viewing it when it’s (far, far) too near, but one should NEVER get that near a truck anyway…
May I know how do you do the physical tapping on the wires? Do you have to splice the original cables?
Yes, I have to splice the wires.
Hey Zed I have just discovered that the GREEN/BLUE wire on the OPTION connector supplies 12V when the brakes are activated! This is a better way to access the brake signal than splicing the original cables.
where to get this led lighting kit bro? thanks
I purchased it from an online Chinese site.
lazada or shopee