Tell me how to wire this light and then tell me why you'd do it that way

[ThomWV]

There is this flaw in my being that causes me to be attracted to shinny things. There ain't shit I can do about it.

OK, I picked up a set of lighted license plate bolts. No kidding, they are regular stainless quarter-by-twenty bolts with a little LED light right in the middle of the head. The two wires to supply the things with power are then plugged into the bike's wiring for the aft end via a non-existent and unavailable adapter plug. So I gotta wire it myself.

All I need is a positive and negative source and I have several choices. I would like you to consider my choices and help me decide how I want it to all work.

This is the first thing you have to know: The little LED bolts should be installed and snugged down before they can be wired into the system simply because the wires pass through the bolt and come out its end, the nut has to be on before the wires are connected to the power source.

OK, first thing, I have a single tail light with a dual-element (1157) bulb. The tail light has a separate connecting plug to the harness. The tail light acts as a running light which is on any time the ignition is on and I could splice into that wire so that my tag light bulbs would be on all the time the bike is running. That's choice 1. Choice 2 would be to wire to the tail light and connect to the brake light line so the tag lights lit up anytime the brake was lit but not otherwise.

My turn signals each have a separate lead off of the wiring harness and each has its own plug as well. My turn signal modules have single element bulbs (1156) but because of an adapter I have installed they act as running lights, turn signals, and brake lights. The adapter accomplishes this by manipulating the light's voltage. If I connect the LED bolts to either of these two sources it will get variable voltage and I do not know what that might do to a small LED, but if I did it the little teeny lights would also become multi function, I suppose. So that's choice 3.

Choice 4 would be the easiest to accomplish. The stock tag light acts just like a running light in that its on any time the ignition is and its the closest connection.

So, there are the choices.

1. Full time On, with connection to tail light
2. Lit when brakes activated but unlit otherwise, connection to tail light.
3. Multifunction, running, turn signal, brake light, connection at turn signals, variable voltage to an LED may be an issue.
4. Full time On, with connection at tag light.

OK boys and girls, which one do I pick?

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

1. 2

Here's the thinking. 3 is out, too much uncertainty. 1 and 4 are the same. With the LEDs on all the time, it could make it harder for a cop to read your plate, and that will annoy said peace officer, usually a bad idea. 2 will just add more lumens to your brake lighting, always a good thing.

[ThomWV]

2. In support of your recommendation ...

A couple of days ago I was reading up on motorcycle lighting and people's thoughts on it when I ran across an assertion (no reference provided) that a light that goes from Off to On is more visible than one that goes from Bright to Brighter and so it was better to have a devoted brake light. At the moment all three of mine go from Bright to Brighter, your suggestion would give me to devoted brake lights, albeit very small ones.