Rear LEDs?

[SECoda]

Any pictures at a bit of a distance from the side. I would like to see how it is proportioned with the rest of the bike. I think the Givi 47 is going to be it for my Forza. I am not too worried about tapping into the brake lights after adding a sequential light to my PCX.

Not a rude question at all - that's why we're here, isn't it? To share information and experience.

I did a fair bit of shopping around on the internet. Amazon and ebay are usually my first port of call, but the cheapest place I found by far was http://www.fc-moto.de in Germany. Most places were quoting £180 for the basic B47 Blade (just in matt black all over without the colour coded panel) and an extra £40+ for the colour coded panel, and £99+ for the Forza specific rack to mount it.

The Givi B47 Topbox was 175.50 Euros (about £138) which included the white panel to match my bike, and the specific rack for the Forza was 73.90 Euros (about £58). These prices were a head and shoulders cheaper than the next cheapest I could find. Also, the white panel is a perfect match for the Forza white.. it has a kind of pearlescent quality to it in daylight. There is an alternative version of the Givi B47, the "tech" which also comes in white, but the whole lid is made of a matt white plastic which doesn't match the bodywork of the bike so well. Shipping for each was about £6 - £7 which I felt was very reasonable for UPS.

The optional brake light kit itself consistently cost £40 everywhere I could find it, so I just ordered it from Ghostbikes in the UK, because the postage was free. There were a couple of places that were a £2 or £3 difference, but the photos on the website looked like a generic LED kit, rather than the specific one for the Givi Blade. (The proper B47 light kit completely replaces the chromed plastic inserts underneath the clear red outer plastic panel, including the "reflector" bits and the LEDs come already installed into these replacement inserts).

So all in, about £249. I absolutely needed the box for storage, and I travel some dark, unlit forest roads with crumbling tarmac, which are prone to fog in the winter, so when I get the additional brake lights wired in, I'll be a happy bunny. Also considering replacing the stock headlight bulbs for some HID ones. As you can see from the photos, the UK is a grim and murky place in the winter, these photos were taken at about 11am and I had to tweak up the brightness a bit!

I saved a fair bit of money installing it myself, but it took about 4 hours because I was approaching it cautiously, and as mentioned.. I have yet to connect the brake lights of the box to the bike's brake lights, but the wiring is all in place. I noticed that Roman on his website http://www.myhondaforza.com/ got the dealer to install his Givi rack and topbox and they charged him for 3hrs labour. Sounds about right.

[Mister_Fube]

Those damn GIVI brake light LEDs are not working any more. The connectors that sit inside the topbox don't seat particularly well, so that when the lid is closed, they may or may not actually touch. Just thought I would update you. This has been the case since installation, but it was cured by packing a space below the lower connector so that it couldn't slide so far down it's retaining slots. Now, for some reason, the LEDs are no longer working despite this fix still being in place.

Just a update. If I can figure out what's going wrong (even if it is just that the LEDs themselves are no longer working), I'll let you all know.

[Mel46]

When I connected my Givi tailbox I noticed that the connectors between the box and the tailrack itself are small magnets. When I would hit a bump the connection would be broken. I ended up adjusting the magnets after the box was in place, making sure the round connector for the tailrack was very tight in the rack. Glues it in place if you have to, but make sure it can not move when you push down hard on the box to secure it. Once that is done, open the box itself and push down on the magnetic connector till you get a connection. You can make sure it works by using a rubber band to hold the brake lever closed while you push down. Use something small, like a piece of wooden dowl rod and tap it lightly until the lights come on. Then, after you know they are solidly connecting, turn off the key and glue around the magnetic "plug" that the wires go to.
This instruction is for connecting the main box lights. I understand that some people also have some wires being run out of a hole in the front of the box. To me that is weird, but if it works, it works. Also, just to let you know, some of those wire taps don't work well. I have have quite a few that did not make a proper connection and I would end up replacing them. I no longer use those. I found some connectors called Posi-tap connectors.They are not cheap, but they are reusable. They make the job so much easier. I hope this helps you some.

[SECoda]

The Admore Lighting kits on my Givi V47 came with the Posi-taps but I bought a bag of Honda wire harness terminal connectors and tapped in using Honda terminal plugs and soldier all connections. It should be as good as Honda's own wiring harness. The Admore kit using a quick release locking plug to connect to the bottom of the case.

[Mel46]

I real do like the idea of those wire harness terminal connectors. I think things look so much cleaner with those. Unfortunately, i don't have storage space for a whole bag of those. After we get through this year's medicare and other medical deductions i can look for a smaller bag of them, maybe 5 or 6 of them.

[Mister_Fube]

I forgot to follow up on this thread. To cut a long story short, I got the GIVI LED brake light kit connected up and working, albeit the supplied connectors were a little temperamental and needed packing with rubber washers and balled up paper etc. to keep them in position, but kept failing to stay in position sufficient enough to be reliable, so I dumped the whole idea of routing the wires across the end of the topbox that opened using Givi's supplied contacts and just rerouted the internal wiring around the back of the topbox, across the hinge instead, so that it stays constantly connected with no need to use the stupid spring-loaded connectors supplied by Givi. This is simply bad design on their part.

I am now happy that I can rely on the auxiliary brake lights on those dark, yet busy country roads. Here are the working lights. As you can see, due to their side-mounted positioning, it doesn't take much of an angle before you lose sight of one of them, however it does mean that they can be seen from the side of the bike also, which perhaps isn't the case for the original brake lights inside the main light cluster.

[fish]

Because I ride to work every morning in the dark (and rain) I pretty much keep my Forza in the garage and take my Kymco with those surround running LEDs and brake lights on that Bestem 929 box. Hard to photo in the daylight - but the lights really are bright from the side and behind - day and esp. in the rain and at night!
I don't want a box on the Forza (yet) so may add an Admore strip above the license plate. The wheel strips help from the side at night.
Fish

[Mel46]

The box on my wife's pcx had the same problems with the light connections, so i purchased a 2 wire, waterproof connector for some kind of trailer or something (got it on amazon) and manually connected the wires through the hole that i had drilled originally in the box. I plugged it all together outside of the box and tied the connector under the rack with tiewraps. Now i can disconnect the assembly before removing the tailbox. I can also add more lights by tapping into those wires at any point.

[Mister_Fube]

Yes, your LED strip on the Bestem does look like it covers all bases, Fish, but I've never seen a Bestem box in the UK. I think they're just in the US.