How to Make Neon Lights for a Motorcycle

While some motorcycles have loud pipes and gas engines to alert motorists to a motorcycles presence, other motorcycles, namely electric ones, lack the noise level of traditional bikes. This posses a safety issue, especially a night. Drivers will not hear the sound of a motorcycle will only be looking for other 4-wheeled vehicles. They may see the single headlight, but not recognize it as a vehicle – most people are subconsciously trained to ignore single lights, as most are street lamps.

A good way to make sure your bike is both noticed and recognized as a motorcycle during the night is to add neon lights. A bright blue or green light on the road will be noticed, and will alert other drivers to your exact location. Adding neon lights in some districts is illegal, but in others it is perfectly okay. As long as the lights are aimed towards the road and aren’t flashing or distracting drivers, you should be fine.

If you want to mount neon lights on your motorcycle for safety reasons, follow this tutorial to get started.

Items needed

Motorcycle
Colored LED Ultra-Bright Bulbs
9v batteries and connectors
150k resistor
Small steel project box
Drill
Switch
Small square of Plexiglas
Strong magnets (neodymium is ideal with 6lbs of relative strength)

Step 1: You will need at least one colored ultra-bright LED bulb. Good colors for night time are winter colors, such as blue or green. Avoid colors that will blend in with the background, such as dark purple, or lights that are easily ignored, such as white.

You’ll also need at least one 9v battery and battery connector. It you want to mount more than one light, you’ll need the appropriate amount of supplies.

Step 2: You’ll need to make the basic circuitry. For this, simply attach the negative wire on the 9v connector to the short wire on the LED bulb. Twist the wires together and then either tape then, hot glue them, or (preferably) use solder.

Attach the positive wire of the connector to the switch. Attach the resistor to the opposite side of the switch, and the other end of the resistor to the long wire on the LED bulb. Attach the battery and make sure the light switches on and off.

Step 3: You’re going to need to drill a hole in the bottom of steel box. This is dangerous because of the hard metal. I highly suggest you take it to a metal cutting facility and pay to have the hole drilled. The hole should be slightly larger in diameter than the LED bulb.

You will also need a hole on the side of the box for the toggle switch.

Step 4: Place the entire battery and light unit inside the metal box. Fill the box with foam or cotton to cushion the battery and prevent damage.

Step 5: Cut a square of Plexiglas and glue it over the hole with the bulb. This is to prevent water from getting into the unit and shorting it out.

Step 6: Now, simply place a couple neodymium magnets on the bottom of the unit and place the box to the bottom of your motorcycle. The light should illuminate the ground under the bike nicely, and make it easy to spot.

Note: This is a DIY project and assumes a certain level of electronics and construction knowledge is possessed. If you don’t understand everything in this article, do not attempt it. The author is not responsible from anything that results from this tutorial.