Installation Guide
for an '08 Harley Softail Deluxe
Similar steps can be taken for Harley Street Glide, and bikes alike
READ THIS BEFORE STARTING
THESE BLINKERS ARE MEANT TO BE BOTH RUNNING LIGHTS AND BLINKERS
You will most likely need to turn the 3 or 4 wires that are wired to your bike into 2 wires, as these skulls are equipped with 1 power wire and 1 ground wire. You should do this with an aftermarket run/turn signal module
Drop us a line here for our recommendation on an aftermarket run/turn signal module.
The run/turn module can be placed right under the Street Glide blinker bracket. No need to disassemble the bike.
For Softails, after removing the stock blinkers, you will probably have to snip the wire that controls the blinker module (blue wire for '08 Softail Deluxe). Then connect the power on the bike to the load resistor/module that will handle the running and blinking of the lights.
Step 1 - Turn off Ignition and the Kill switch
Leaving these on during installation could kill your battery, burn a few fuses or even lead to personal injury.
Step 2 - Remove the seat (Optional)
Step 3 - Locate the wiring harness that controls the front turn signals
The harness for a 2008 softail deluxe is located just under the tank. Luckily the piece that goes under the tank is plug and play (depending on which LED converter kit you're using).
NOTE: some bikes have the light control unit under the seat.
Step 4 - Disassemble the passing lamps
The passing lamps and the headlight are all connected through 1 gray wire. You will also find a black wire; this is your ground. If you do not have the brackets specified in the Fitting your bike page, you will need to pop off the stock bracket and replace it with the bracket featured on the Fitting your bike page. You can do this by unscrewing the nut that is currently sitting on the bike.
Make sure to secure the stock blinker during this process, as it will become loose and fall.
Step 5 - Snip the gray wire, and snip the wire running from the bullet blinker to the bike
Make sure to snip the gray wire, while leaving yourself plenty of room for play, as you will need to solder this wire back together.
Snip the wire (supplying the running/blinking/power) as close as possible to the bullet blinker; you will need all of the play you can get.
Step 6 - Remove hollow bolt from stock blinker
This may pose a challenge, as the stock bolt is threaded and strongly secured in the bullet blinker. You will need pliers for this part
Step 7 - Slightly lift the tank to expose the wiring harness
In order to slightly lift the tank, there is a nut and bolt holding it to the frame in the front, and there is a bolt that is located under the seat.
Since this is plug and play, you just need enough room to get your hand in there to remove the stock plug
step 8 - Snip the wiring harness from the bike
Again, leave yourself some play... you can always shorten the wires if you have to.
Replace wiring harness with the Kuryakyn Run/Turn Controller
Step 9 - Note the wire setup on the bike
On a 2008 Harley Softail Deluxe, there are 3 different colored wires for the turn signals: Blue, Purple, and Black
You should see a total of 6 leads:
2 Blue and 2 purple wires, which handle the power for the turn signals, and the blinking mechanism
2 Black wires are the ground
Step 10 - Snip the blue wire, as it is no longer needed
If you are converting a non-LED bike to LED, you do not need the blue wire depending on which converter kit you have. For this 2008 Softail Deluxe, we used a Kuryakyn Part #4865 ("Front Run Turn Compensator").
The goal here is to turn 3 wires into 2 wires. Skulls come equipped with 1 power wire and 1 ground wire.
The purple wire will now serve as the power and the blinker relay via the "run/turn controller" (this piece has a 6-pin Amp on one side, and two leads on the opposite side for the left/right blinker).
Step 11 - Solder the plug and play pieces
With the Kuryakyn part #4865 comes 2 adapters to make your bike plug and play. They are a white, male-plug with a black wire and a purple wire.
With the already-exposed wires (see steps 8 & 9), make sure to test which purple wire powers/blinks the right turn signal, and which powers/blinks the left turn signal.
Once tested, go ahead and solder the adapters and label them "L" and "R", as this will make step 15 much easier.
Step 12 - Mount Skulls onto the bike
Run the wires through the space between the bracket and the top of the skull, so the ends of the leads are in the skull housing (see picture of final assembly in step 14).
Mount the skulls onto the bike, and make sure the passing lamps are straight, along with the skull. Also make sure the gray wire is running through the hollow bolt that comes stock with the bike.
Step 13 - Solder the leads for the eyes
Once mounted, solder the 2 red wires connected to the eyes to the purple wire, and solder the 2 black wires to the black wire.
You will also need to solder the 2 gray wires together in the skull housing.
NOTE: see final assembly of how it should look in step 14
Step 14 - Assemble the rear cap onto the skull to finalize
There should only be 1 wire coming out of the back of the skull.
Step 15 - Connect the adapters to the Run/turn controller
Remember before when you labeled "L" and "R" in step 11? This is why you labeled them...
Step 16 - Hide/wrap the run/turn controller
We recommend sealing the edges of the Kuryakyn part #4865 with electrical tape to reduce the chance of water getting in there.
Step 17 - Show off your Bonehead blinkers and start snapping necks and cashing checks