2017 EX Tail light wire channel access

[TXBikerGuy]

Objective:
Installing Skene P3 rear visibility/brake lights mounted along the sides of the license plate. I'd like to run the wires for the lights along the same route that the tail light wiring follows.

Easy enough to get the wire through the hole in the tail light mechanism and into the opening of the channel. But I'm not having success getting the wire all the way through to the other side (under the seat/top of the fender). Here's the channel under the fender.



Here's where the tail light wire comes out under the seat latching mechanism area.



Before I go further down this rabbit hole of taking off the fender, I thought I'd check here to see if anyone else has experience running a wire through this same channel/route. I'm assuming that if I follow the fender removal process, I'll see the opening of the metal channel and be able to run the wires. But, wondering if I have to do the complete fender removal or if there's a way to access it enough through some partial steps.

Thanks in advance for any help!

[pekingduck]

I replaced a taillight on a 2017 EX and I know how tight it is in that fender channel. There may be no way to add 3 more wires through there.

The taillight housing on a 2017 EX has quite a bit of space in it, so if you're using the basic P3 module, with or without decelerometer, you may be able to mount the module and connections all inside the taillight housing.

But if there wasn't quite enough room, you could open up the the flat front face of the housing - it's all hidden by the taillight bracket anyway. It would make life really easy.


The 3 wires you need are right there also - green for ground, brown for continuous power with the key on, and green/yellow for brake, and lots of room for wiring.

Which P3 system do you have?

[TXBikerGuy]

Thanks, PD! I have the most current P3 system with decelerometer and turn signal option. My original plan was to mount the decelerometer/control unit on the bottom of the tray above the battery. I'm going to poke around and see what things look like in the tail light assembly per your comments.

Did you drop the fender to replace the taillight or were you able to use the original wiring harness?

[pekingduck]

Thanks, PD! I have the most current P3 system with decelerometer and turn signal option. My original plan was to mount the decelerometer/control unit on the bottom of the tray above the battery. I'm going to poke around and see what things look like in the tail light assembly per your comments.

Did you drop the fender to replace the taillight or were you able to use the original wiring harness?

You definitely have to drop the chrome fender, but that's all. Hardest part is digging the wires out of the harness behind the battery. That's also where the turn signals plug in.

Since you have the one with the turn signals, I would run the module in the area above the battery, and tap into the wires near where they plug in. You could even make all your connections into the main wire harness so it would be a lot cleaner, and easier if you need to unplug any of the lights.

Then you'd only need to run the gray/green and gray/yellow wires for the new lights through the channel - you could tap into the ground wire up at the taillight.

To get 5 wires through the channel, run 2 pieces of dental floss through the channel first, push the the taillight harness through, and then use the dental floss to pull the 2 wires through separately. (You could also cut away the existing sheathing if needed).

[E11even_Hunnit]

Thanks, PD! I have the most current P3 system with decelerometer and turn signal option. My original plan was to mount the decelerometer/control unit on the bottom of the tray above the battery. I'm going to poke around and see what things look like in the tail light assembly per your comments.

Did you drop the fender to replace the taillight or were you able to use the original wiring harness?

You definitely have to drop the chrome fender, but that's all. Hardest part is digging the wires out of the harness behind the battery. That's also where the turn signals plug in.

Since you have the one with the turn signals, I would run the module in the area above the battery, and tap into the wires near where they plug in. You could even make all your connections into the main wire harness so it would be a lot cleaner, and easier if you need to unplug any of the lights.

Then you'd only need to run the gray/green and gray/yellow wires for the new lights through the channel - you could tap into the ground wire up at the taillight.

To get 5 wires through the channel, run 2 pieces of dental floss through the channel first, push the the taillight harness through, and then use the dental floss to pull the 2 wires through separately. (You could also cut away the existing sheathing if needed).

You definitely have to drop the chrome fender, but that's all. Hardest part is digging the wires out of the harness behind the battery. That's also where the turn signals plug in.

Since you have the one with the turn signals, I would run the module in the area above the battery, and tap into the wires near where they plug in. You could even make all your connections into the main wire harness so it would be a lot cleaner, and easier if you need to unplug any of the lights.

Then you'd only need to run the gray/green and gray/yellow wires for the new lights through the channel - you could tap into the ground wire up at the taillight.

To get 5 wires through the channel, run 2 pieces of dental floss through the channel first, push the the taillight harness through, and then use the dental floss to pull the 2 wires through separately. (You could also cut away the existing sheathing if needed).
This is true. This past weekend I removed my rear fender and the hardest part of the job was to locate the tail light harness connector.

You will have to remove the cubby tray that sits above the battery(1 phillips screw and a pop-in plastic clip) Once you lift it you will find the 3 connectors are inside a clear rubber loom, it's easy to try to peel it inside out or better access. White one goes to the tail light, orange and green to the turn signals.

[TXBikerGuy]

Thanks, PD and E11. I had already found the rear lights wiring harness in anticipation of tapping into it for the P3's. Definitely was easier to access when I removed that little metal clip. Have the plugs exposed and per PD's recommendation, I'm going to tap the turn signal leads for the P3 so the taps will be inside the protective boot.




I have at least 4-6 weeks before I'm going to be able to ride anyway, so I can take this project nice and slow and do things right. Appreciate the insights.

[pekingduck]

Keep us up on your progress.

[E11even_Hunnit]

Do you happen to know the bulb output in lumens for those skenelights?

[TXBikerGuy]

Happy to confirm that the Skene P3 bulb wires will fit through the taillight wiring channel on the '17 EX!



Also can confirm earlier discussions about removing the fender to get it done being accurate. Pretty sure this would not have been possible without taking the fender off and being able to sit and work on it at the kitchen island.



Once the install is complete, I'll post a thread highlighting all the details in case anyone else ever wants to mount the P3's this way.