I decided to replace the stock taillight and turn signals with Custom Chrome's Aurora Taillight & Turn Signals single piece unit so that I could put larger saddlebags on my '95 Lowrider. The wiring diagram for the Aurora has the following:

Black Wire for tail light
Red Wire for Stop Light
Blue Wire for left turn signal
Brown Wire for right turn signal

When I took off the stock turn signals and brake light, I noticed that there are 5 wires. Both turn signal wires are black. The other 3 wires going to the brake light are black, blue, and red with a yellow stripe. It's obvious how to hook up the turn signals, but I don't know what each wire going to the brake light represents. I was expecting only two wires. I included a picture to illustrate what I have (these are the wires as they start from under the seat:



The two wires in the forefront are the turn signal wires. The 3 in the back go to the brake light. I have the '95-96 service manual but haven't found a wiring diagram for this. Anyway, if anyone could tell me what the 3 wires are for, I'd appreciate it. I don't want to risk damaging anything by hooking them up wrong.

Thanks,
JCBII

 

Well, just when I thought the Service Manual was useless in figuring out the wiring problem, I found a complete diagram on page 8-97. Red w/Yellow stripe is the stop light, Blue is the tail light, and black is ground. The two wires with the brown and violet tape wrapped around them are the right and left turn signals.

Problem solved.

 

Take a look at the diagram on the bottom of this page link, it should help.
Turn signal wires should not be black, those are grounds. Turn signals are violet and brown unless someone has changed them.
let me know if I can help.

http://8541hog.com/taillight.shtml

 

Both turn signal wires are black. But under the seat, one is wrapped with a Brown piece of tape, and the other with a violet piece of tape (you can see them in the picture. I thought the previous owner might have done this, but these pieces of tape are actually illustrated in the wiring diagram. Guess it was cheaper for Harley to do it that way.

Progress Update: Stringing the new wires from the Aurora taillight under the rear fender and through all those harness clips (tac-welded to the inside of the fender) was a real PITA! I was just barely able to get my arm/hands up from the rear fender to most of them. I was about to give up, when I realized I could let the air out of the rear tire to make more room. I finally got the last bit of wiring in the clip towards the extreme front of the fender and then I threaded it through the hole in the fender and out under the seat. I'm taking a break so I can let some blood run back through my arms.

Next step will be to hook up the wires and see if it all works. Damn, I should have done this before stringing the wire through the fender. I'm going to have to find some drywall to put my fist through if the lights don't work.

 

8541hog, thanks for the link. That diagram is definitely easier to look at than the one in the service manual. Only difference is that there was only one wire going to each turn signal (not two), so I guess it was setup to ground at some other point.

 

Sounds like the ground is via metal to metal contact of the housing. Glad it was of some help. Good luck, look forward to seeing a final pic.

 

Here is a pic of final installation. It does the job in that I now have room for large saddlebags if I want. My opinion about the Aurora? Well, I bought it for 40% off retail as it was a returned item. And even at that savings, I think it's not worth the price. First off, the way all three lenses are attached (a single metal screw for each lens) is cheap & cheesy. These screws were so small and cheap that I replaced them with bigger brass screws. I then drilled out the mounting holes in the turn signal lenses to accept the larger (more secure) screws without cracking.

2nd, the wiring must have come straight from China, as it was about the cheapest I've seen. I couldn't even use wire strippers as they would take half of the wires with them, along with the cheap plastic coating. In hindsight, I really wish I would have left the original Harley wiring in, and cut the harness off of the Aurora at the base of the mounting plate. The Harley wiring was much nicer. I did a good job of splicing/soldering/sealing the wires, so hopefully there will be no problems in the future. If I do run into any problems, then I'll rewire the whole thing with quality wiring.

Anyway, the end result does look ok, in my opinion. Just not many options for my '95 Harley with regard to all-in-one taillight/turnsignal units.