MV Agusta Hyper-Lite / License Plate Relocator Install How-To

Having ridden motorcycles for over 35 years and 400,000+ accident-free miles... safety is a big factor in my two-wheeled reality. One of the first things I decided after the purchase of my 03 MV F4 was to both rid myself of the stock fender and add some state of the art lighting. My results speak for themselves... Here is a step-by step of what I've done.... Please read our disclaimer before attempting this install yourself...

Wiring Codes Warning: One problem you may or may not encounter during this install may involve the factory wiring codes... We've checked wiring on about a dozen MV's... NONE matched the shop manual for the most part.. and out of the dozen or so.. about 3/4's had color codes like my 03F4.. That means that a few had different codes. Why is this? Me and my wiring guy (a wiring Jedi Knight) says that it appears to him that the MV factory staff seem to use whatever wires they have on their work bench and only use wiring charts as a "guideline" rather than a rule.. Even on my 03.. at least 3 wires would start out one color and change colors 3 times before getting to final connection... it's mystifying!! With that said.. my color codes listed below are about as close to a "norm" as we have been able to determine... Just giving you a heads up..

Parts/Materials Needed:
(1) 3-Way Hyper-Lites from Pirates' Lair
(1) Load Equalizer III from Pirates' Lair
(1) Tridon EL12 variable load relay flasher
(1) Some thin galvanized metal sheeting
(1) pair tin-snips
(1) various wire splicing tools/crimpers/wire tires/electric tape
(1) roll heavy duty double sided tape
(1) 2 Six packs (Imported beer)
(1) License Plate Relocator Kit from Pirates' Lair ($70)

MV F4 Rear Lighting Color Codes: (Click Image for larger view)
Pay no attention to the manual... it's wrong..
Tail light: Yellow/Hot .......Brown/Ground
Brake light: Green/Hot....... Brown/Ground
Right Blinker: Red/Hot .......Yellow with Green stripe/Ground
Left Blinker: White/Hot....... Yellow/Green /Ground
License Plate Light: Yellow/Hot ........Black/Ground

Removing Rear Fender:
1. Remove both blinker lenses, pull out reflectors and unplug wires.
2. Lift seat, remove the (4) nuts holding computer module. Lift aside so you can get to the (3) screws holding the rear fender on. Remove the (3) screws that secure the fender. Set aside.
3. Remove the (2) screws holding the exhaust together just above the rear tire. The pipes will have to be slightly spread apart as the fender has to slide out the rear.. between the pipes.
4. Slide the entire fender out through the exhaust, carefully letting the blinker wires pull though the housing...
5. Reach up to the open area where the fender was attached and remove the triangular rubber gasket. Set aside.

Mounting Lights:
My goal was to mount the lights not at an angle like the ports are cut, but rather to have them aiming straight back. I did NOT want to clog up those beautiful ports with feltercarb nor did I want the lights visible while just walking around the bike. Also.. no cutting or drilling on the bike.With any lighting effects, I want to light up like the Hindenburg from behind. Another consideration was air-flow. Using my method of having the actual lights set back inside the port, air flow is not compromised.

1. Using cardboard, I cut the design I wanted for my mounting plates.
2. Then, using some tin-snips, I cut (2) metal plates (one for each side) using the cardboard (flip it for left or right) as my template (see image to the left.) The Hyper-Lites will mount across the rear end with the use of their own double sided tape. The metal plates will mount UNDERNEATH the port body using some plastic double sided tape..( not the cheap foam-type stuff)
3. In order for the double sides tape to stick properly I lightly sanded the under-port area with some medium and then fine grade sandpaper. I thin cleaned the area thoroughly of material so the adhesive would not be compromised.
4. Using duct tape.. tape the plates in place to get an idea of where you like them... a "trial run" so to speak.
5. You'll now need to decide which LED's will be on the inside.. and which to the outside. I chose to have the blinker LED's to the outside and the brake light LED's on the inside. Would probably look as good either way.. Just my preference. I then applied the Hyper-Lites to the plates.
6. Remove adhesive backing and install the plates to the underside of the ports. Looks good.. Now to wire...

Wiring: (Click Image for larger view) May your respective God Be with you..
The word here is anal... You can NOT be too anal in this install as lots of things are going on...Routing the wires in a "clean" fashion has it's own rewards so take your time..
I will NOT go into painstaking detail as to ALL the wiring as the furnished one-page instruction sheet from Hyper-Lite but I will say this.. follow their instructions to the detail using MY MV color codes. Also.. I'll just point out what you'll need to look out for.. things I learned through trial and error.. just make sure you follow the Hyper-Lites instructions to the letter using MY color codes. The only thing the Hyper-Lite instructions does NOT tell you is
A. the ground wires coming off the factory blinker wires will not be used so just tape them off and
B.. and this is important.. The current that the bike produces will NOT activate the blinker LED's in the Hyper-Lites.

Something mystical about current draw or something. On the first try, after wiring "appeared" perfect, only the brake and tail light LED's were working but when I turned the blinkers on....they would NOT blink at all... F@%*! I Immediately called Hyper-Lite and spoke with the designer who knew EXACTLY what the problem was. Says it usually occurs with Harleys. He referred me to Badland Motorcycle Products who sell (3) versions of Load Equalizers, which is what I/we need to solve the MV current problem. Any of the 3 equalizers would solve the problem, but I chose the more expensive version # 3 as it's solid state unlike the other two, cheaper versions. (The other two use transistors and was told if you forgot to turn your blinkers off.. the transistors might burn out.)

Taking their advice, I placed the order and 24 hours later, I have the little gizmo in hand..
Note: We now carry the Badlands Load Equalizer in our MVF4 3-Way Hyper-Lite Kits.

The Load Equalizer (Click image for larger view) is about 1.5" x 3" and fits perfectly by the computer module... It has (4) wires coming out of it. Instructions are simple. Two wires splice right into the turn signal wires, one goes directly to the ground on the battery, the last wire.. the ORANGE wire goes to the HOT tail light wire. The instructions do NOT tell you about the orange wire so I called Badlands who was very helpful with this. Spliced in the Load Equalizer wires and Vunderbah!!

To complete the hardware install, you'll now need to install your Tridon EL12 variable load relay flasher. This is the easiest part of this project. Remove the left side body panel. You'll see 3 boxes mounted just by the frame. The two squarish ones on the ends are black. The middle one is GRAY. That is your factory flasher. Pull it out and you'll see two wires on the back. Unplug the factory unit and plug in the new furnished round flasher. Then slide it into place. That's it.

Now that everything is working properly... the final step is to go back and make all your wiring look factory... not an easy chore. It'll take about an hour to go back and hide and tape up everything. I had to lengthen a few wires so I could hide and tie them out of the way. I also bought some corrugated tubing (at Home Depot) to bundle the main harness wires. that's about it... clean... and your rear lighting has increased by about 300%

 

Last step is the Pirates' Lair License Plate Relocator Kit install.... this is pretty much a no-brainer by design... And unlike the other license plate relocator kits on the market, ours allows the customer to retain the rear factory reflector... as God intended. Each kit is made of ultra-light black anodized aluminum and furnished with stainless hardware so not only will it look good, but you'll be adding only a few ounces to your bike..

Note: Our kit accommodates standard US size 7" x 4" plates only. Check your plate dimensions before ordering. Will it fit longer plates? Yes, but only if the width is the standard 7". The only downside would be that the reflector probably would NOT be able to be used as the longer plate would hang down over that area. Otherwise.. no probs. If you are unsure.. call us at 828.628.7093 EST

A chimp could do this install.. but I'll guess you don't have a chimp handy so pay attention. There are TWO ways of installing the Pirates' Lair License Plate Relocator Kit. Having tried both ways, I think that it's easier to install the (2) L-shaped hanger brackets onto the plate hanger first and THEN install to the bike.. unlike what this pic shows (see pic at right) . It's just a little easier. Basically.. get all the furnished bolts started but leave them loose... Either way is easy.

Note: Not all of us are created equal.. some are heavy.. and some us us have our suspensions softer than others. I always recommend you check for plate relocator bracket clearance with the tire on a short ride before fully tightening everything. If you think your plate bracket is gonna make contact with the tire... adjust accordingly.

OK.. with both all 4 screws to the L-shaped brackets started and loose... install your plate and leave those (2) screws loose as well. When you have everything on the bike, from the rear visually center everything and tighten accordingly. I'd advise using a drop of locktite but it's probably not necessary. After you get all the screws/nuts tight and it looks centered from the rear, go ahead and install the factory reflector.


Last step before you partake of your much needed libations... When you removed the rear fender assembly you left a gaping triangular hole between the exhaust/tire area and your control box under your seat.(pic #1). You'd be surprised how much debris will get through this hole so we're gonna seal this up. I took some sheet metal and cut it to the exact same size as the fender's triangular rubber gasket..marked the holes and drilled accordingly. (pic #2) Once you get it drilled it's just a matter of bolting it in place. (pic #3) I actually put a bit of weather sealer around the edges to block out moisture. Now you can reinstall the (4) nuts holding computer module .. sit back.and reap the benefits of having a well lit up (and clean) ass... We're pretty much done..

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