SV650 LED Turn Signal Install

In my quest to make my 2001 SV650 more visible to other road users and to the future pleasure of my riding companions, I upgraded my turn signals to bright LEDs. One of the signals was also burned out and the bulb is not removable. The previous owner of my bike replaced the stock signals with the little orange ones below which people had a tough time seeing during the day.

The indicators are these 15 LED Single Circuit Amber Lights.
 
I used the following tools to do my install:

• 4mm allen wrench
• 6mm allen wrench
• 3/8" socket wrench 
  • 12mm socket
  • 10mm socket
  • 8mm socket
  • short extension
• flathead screwdriver
• philips screwdriver 
• needle nose pliers 
• 14mm wrench
• 12mm wrench
• 10mm wrench
• 8mm wrench
• blue loctite 
• soldering iron and solder
• shrink tubing and electrical tape
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Here are some photos of the signals and bike before the upgrade:

As with the brake light upgrade, I took a lot of extra pictures of the hardware than normal. There are many bolts and screws of different sizes, and I wanted to remember where they all went since I did this work over many days.

1) Remove both of the seats. Use the 4mm allen wrench for the side panels around the main seat then use the 6mm allen wrench for the main seat.

2) With the 12mm socket, remove the grab bar

3) Use the philips screwdriver to remove the screws on the rear cowling between the seats.
 
4)Remove the six screws that hold the rear cowling.

5) My SV650 has a custom undertray:

with two screws and two 8mm bolts with 10mm nuts.

6) Remove the two screws holding the pillion seat lock

7) Twist the cable for the lock out of the grove and then remove it.

8) Now, the rear cowling can be removed. There are two rubber posts shown below that sit firmly in the rubber grommets. Carefully pull to the sides and remove.

9)Rear cowling removed:

All of the plastic removed, and the bike is ready to work on.

10) Unplug the existing connectors for the signals and pull the cable out the bottom

11) I loosened the bolts on the old signals with the 14mm wrench and removed them from the bike. It took a while to remove all the old electrical tape.

12) I cut the stock connector off the old signals and wired them into the new ones. SV650 black with white stripe = new signal black SV650 black = new signal yellow.
13) I marked each signal, so I wouldn’t mix them up. The black stock connector is the right side and the grey one is the left. I also covered the all the wires in heatshrink tubing before mounting.

14) I mounted the new signals to the existing bracket on the top of the license plate

15) I cleaned up the bottom with some zip tipes and some extra heavy duty electrical tape to provide some extra support to the wires and heatshrink.

16) Plug everything back in and test. The old signal is on the left and the new on the right. The pictures don’t show it very well, but the new ones are much bright (at least in my garage). Since I did this most last winter, and am now just posting. I can also comment that others say they are much easier to see too.
 
17) Now move to the front of the bike and remove the headlight to get at the stock connectors behind the bulb.

18) The connectors on the front are the same as the back. The black stock connector is the right side and the grey one is the left.

19) The finished signals installed:
 
20) Reinstall the cowling, headlight, seats, etc.
21) Go for a ride!
They flash faster than the old bulbs did. I did purchase a flasher relay to slow them down, but I like them flashing faster as it is more eye catching.
I’ve had them on the bike for over a year now, and I still like them.