Installation Instructions for Illumimoto LED Light Kits

Follow our simple installation instructions to complete the install of your new motorcycle led lights. Please read everything on this page thoroughly BEFORE you start.

Important! Before You Start…

Please read our installation instructions completely and don’t take any shortcuts. Your safety both during installation and on the road with your Illumimoto motorcycle led lights is very important to us. We’re riders too so please make sure that you will stay safe on the road after installation. We recommend that you take your kit to an experienced motorcycle technician or someone that is familiar with motorcycle electrical systems prior to starting. If that is you, that’s great. If not, it may cost a few extra dollars to let your motorcycle shop install the lights for you. We try to make the installation as easy and safe as possible for you to install yourself but ultimately it is your choice. By continuing your installation, you understand that Illumimoto, LLC is not liable for any personal or property damage to yourself or others as a result of your installation. We have a lifetime guarantee on the functionality of our LED lights, however that is voided with an improper installation as a result of negligence by the installer. Make sure that you take every safety precaution necessary for a safe install of your purchased motorcycle led lights. If at any time you have a question or need help during installation, please contact us.

Ok, so if you’re comfortable continuing, let’s get your kit installed!

We offer two types of lights, single-color light kits and multi-color, solderless light kits (most kits). 

Jump to your installation instructions by clicking the light kit link below: 

• Single Color Light Kit Instructions
• Multi-Color Light Kit Instructions

Wiring Diagram for Single Color Light Kits

What Tools/Materials You’ll Need for Installation

• Wire cutter/scissors
• Wire stripper
• Soldering iron and rosin core solder
• Butt connectors (if you choose to not solder your connections but crimp instead)
• Heat shrink tubing or electrical tape (for covering exposed wire/soldering points)
• Screwdriver
• Needle nose pliers
• Drill (for securing your power switch)

Step 1: Position Your Power Switch

First, decide on where you’d like the power on/off switch to be positioned on your motorcycle. It is highly recommended that you mount the switch by drilling a hole and seating it securely on your bike. Every motorcycle is different so choose a placement that is easily accessible and secure.

Step 2: Plan Where Your Flexible LED Light Strips Will Go

Next, decide the placement of your LED light strips on your motorcycle. Prior to adhering the lights on your bike, make sure to clean the chosen areas thoroughly with soap and water or a mild solvent for best results. Dry the cleaned area.

Each kit that we offer has 12″ lights. You can trim each light to size by following the cutting guide on the light itself. This may be handy if you can’t fit your flexible light strip in an area of your motorcycle.

Step 3: Installing Your Lights

Carefully remove the 3M paper backing from your lights immediately before sticking them on your motorcycle, one at a time. After the paper backing is removed, adhere the light strip to your pre-cleaned area slowly and make sure to press them on by running a finger over the surface of the lights.

Step 4: Disconnect Your Motorcycle’s Battery

Now you’re ready to start wiring. Disconnect the negative and positive wires from your motorcycle’s battery and make sure that they do not touch or spring back to the terminals of the battery.

Step 5: Measuring Your Wire

Using the supplied wire, use BLUE for power and BLACK for ground. Consult the wiring diagram and start taking rough measurements of length for each wire that you will be running. Be sure to allow extra length. It is better to trim the wire length later than use too little from the start.

Step 6: Running Wires

Once you have your wires cut, you may begin running your wires on your motorcycle. MAKE COMPLETELY SURE THAT YOUR WIRE RUNS DO NOT TOUCH OR COME NEAR HEAT SOURCES SUCH AS THE MUFFLER OR SNAG SOURCES SUCH AS A CHAIN. A good tip is to follow the manufacturer’s existing wiring for your motorcycle.

Step 7: Solder Wires to Lights

For this step, you can either solder all of your connections or you can use butt connectors which will allow you to crimp two wires together. We strongly recommend that you solder your connections as that will ensure the absolute best connection that will last for a very long time.

Solder your wire ends that you just ran to the LED light strips. Utilize our example wiring diagram for instructions. Keep in mind that you may choose to join several positive or negative ends together and then solder a single wire to the switch or battery to reduce wiring clutter. On many motorcycles, you will have individual light strips close together where it will make more sense to join positive or negative leads together, then run one wire out to the switch.

Step 8: Attaching Terminal and Spade Connectors

By now, you should have attached your measured positive and negative wire leads to your LED light strips. Now it’s time to crimp on (or solder if you choose) the supplied spade and terminal connectors to the opposite ends of your wires.

On both spade and terminal connectors, you will want to strip about a 1/4″ off of the end of the wire leads, insert into the connector and then while holding the wire in place, you will crimp the wire and the connector together. Check your crimp job by giving the wire and the connector a gentle tug to make sure that they are attached. You can use an actual electrical crimping tool or just a pair of needle-nose pliers.

Step 9: Running Your Battery Power Wire

Now you’ll run a power wire from the positive terminal of your battery to the switch. Make sure to measure your wire and allow about a foot of extra room from the battery to the position of your switch.

You will be connecting a fuse and housing to this wire. The fuse holder is looped. Cut the loop in the middle and strip about 1/4″ off of each end of the fuse wires.

It is important to install the fuse about 6″ away from the battery. You will then be able to store the fuse and housing in your battery compartment.

Cut a length of wire about 6″ long. Strip both ends 1/4″. Attach a ring terminal connector to one end then solder the other end to one end of the fuse wire that you just cut and stripped. Solder the other end of your fuse wire to the end of your running wire that is going to the supplied on/off switch for the lights at the location on your bike that you have chosen. This wire will attach to the middle terminal of your switch with a terminal connector.

Step 10: Finding a Grounding Point

The next step is to locate an area on your motorcycle that can be used as a ground. Usually, this is somewhere where there is an existing screw that attaches to a metal part of your motorcycle. Once you find a good placement, you will want to make sure that you sand that spot with heavy-grit sandpaper if it is painted. You need to make sure that the contact for your ground wire ring terminal is touching raw metal and not a painted surface. Run a wire from the switch to the grounding point that you’ve chosen and use a terminal ring and spade connector on corresponding ends of the wire.

Step 11: Making Final Connections

We’re almost there! You should be left with 3 wires with spade connectors that will connect to the on/off switch:

• Wire #1: Positive leads from all LED light strips
• Wire #2: Wire from positive terminal of battery
• Wire #3: Ground wire

You should also be left with 2 wires located near the battery:

• Wire #1: All negative leads connected into a single wire to connect to the negative battery terminal
• Wire #2: Fused wire from the switch that will connect to the positive terminal of your motorcycle’s battery

If you haven’t already, strip all wires about 1/4″ and crimp on all remaining spade connectors and ring terminal connectors.

Now start with the switch. Attach the wires with spade connectors to the switch. The wire from the positive terminal of the battery will connect to the middle connector of the power switch. The ground wire will connect to the gold colored terminal of the power switch. Finally, the wire from the positive leads of the LED light strips will connect to the remaining connector of the power switch.

Once you have all connections to the switch attached, you will shift your focus to the battery. Make sure that you have your fuse installed and it is firmly seated in the fuse holder.

Now attach your positive wire to the positive terminal of the battery first (wire coming from the middle terminal on the power switch). Next, connect your negative wire to the negative battery terminal.

Final Inspection and Testing

Now that everything is connected, you may flip your power switch to turn on your lights. Make sure all of your lights are working. If an individual or series of lights are working and others are not, double check your connections and re-solder if you need to.

Lastly, make absolutely sure that you have NO loose or dangling wires and that you’ve used the supplied zip ties to ensure that no wires will become loose. Also make sure that you have no wires touching hot areas of your motorcycle like your exhaust and that there are no wires hanging anywhere near your motorcycle chain, sprocket or other moving part. You will also make sure that your lights are firmly attached and nothing is coming loose. If all of that checks out, you’re done!

Troubleshooting and Common Problems

Question: My lights don’t light up. What’s wrong?

Answer: It’s important to test your lights throughout the installation process to minimize problems and backtracking later. The most frequent issue is a bad solder point so be sure to check and test your soldered connections. You can test your connections during the install by using a simple 9v battery by attaching a positive wire and negative wire to corresponding points of your battery.

Question: When I turn on the power switch, the lights are very dim. What’s wrong?

Answer: Check your connections to the power switch. The ground wire should connect to the golden terminal of the switch. Some people get this result when they cross the power and ground connections at the switch.

Question: When I try to power on the switch, the switch LED light does not illuminate. What’s the problem?

Answer: If your switch LED light does not illuminate but your LED strips DO illuminate, this is most likely a problem with your ground. Check your ground wire, connector, and your ground point and ensure all are properly connected.

Question: When I try to power on my switch, the switch LED illuminates however the LED strips do not illuminate. What’s wrong?

Answer: If this problem is occurring, there is most likely an issue with the wiring of the positive (+) leads of the LED strips. If your switch LED light is illuminating, your wiring to power the switch is working properly. Be sure to check all of your solder/connection points throughout your installation and ensure they are all securely connected.

Question: Is the inline fuse really necessary?

Answer: Motorcycle LED lights use very little current which may seem that there is not a need for a fuse. However, it is crucial that you install the inline fuse since it will ensure that there is no overheating or even an electrical fire if there is a short circuit. Final answer: install the inline fuse.

Question: How do I install the Multi-Colored/Color-Changing LED Light Kit?

Answer: This kit has been designed to be as simple and easy to install as possible. Click here for our wiring/information diagram. Simply crimp on 2 of the included terminal connectors to the red (+) and black (-) wires. Then undo your bolt/nut on your motorcycle’s battery, attach your LED kit’s red and black wires, then tighten down the nut to secure the wiring to your battery. Then place your LED strips where you want (after cleaning down the area first!) and that’s it! Use your remote to operate your lights and don’t forget to tidy up your wiring so it is free from any moving parts or hot areas.

Question: What does the blue wire do on the Multi-Colored/Color-Changing LED Light Kit?

Answer: The blue wire is part of a safety feature that allows the entire LED light kit to turn RED upon applying the brake, in addition to your brake light. Simply splice the blue wire into your brake light wiring to enable this feature. Leave this wire disconnected if you do not wish to utilize this feature.

Multi-Color LED Light Kit Installation

Our multi-color lights are super easy to install. There's no soldering at all, just plug and play. You simply attach the positive wire to the positive terminal on your vehicle's battery's positive terminal and the negative (black) wire to the negative terminal on your vehicle's battery using the supplied connectors. 

From there, you simply mount your control box using the supplied adhesive pad then plug in and daisy chain your lights, affixing them to clean surfaces throughout your vehicle, wherever you want!

Multi-Color LED Light Kit Wiring Diagram

See our diagram below for a visual representation of how the components of your kit come together.

Installation Support

We’re here to help 100% of the way. Most installations from start to finish average about 2 hours. We can help you throughout your installation. Visit our support page for details.