Well, for a guy that seems to have a PhD in exhaust science and fueling (yet the only one with a handwritten dyno chart), and no fuel map..... Get the Delkevic tuned or run as is, hopefully you'll be fine, and glad your's seems to be running well and cooler; just don't bash the vast majority that get tunes and have concrete/proven dyno/fuel charts from before and after.

Seriously though, your question above seems pretty simple. Here's my thoughts as someone who's done a smidge of 12v stuff.
You left out too many variables, like model (assume N400, or Z400), what year? Also, did you get the full housing or just a bulb? Tail tidy or OEM tail section? Is it the wiring for license plate light only or does it mess with brake light and turn signals.

1 - Do you have a multimeter? Honestly this will probably help you figure out all the problems. Fluke makes great stuff, but even a moderately priced unit from Home Depot or somewhere like that will do the task. Sounds like you need to be able to measure polarity, and voltage.
2 - I would assume 99% that black is ground and red is positive. The polarity part of the multimeter should tell you that. Perhaps take a 9V battery and touch the red to the positive and black to the negative. If that works you should be good to go. Highly doubt you'll do damage to it. LED's are very durable and highly resistant to voltage irregularities and physical abuse, which is why they're they predominant technology being used. Last way longer than incandescent and HID and draw a ton less voltage. Longer lifespan many times over means less business for light manufacturers. Most of the reason it's not everywhere is the initial cost used to be a good bit more, but that gap is narrowing, as such it's becoming more common.
3 - If it's a project bike as you say, I'm guessing you want to get rid of anything superfluous? If it were a project of mine I definitely would. As such I'd remove any of the auxiliary lights, and all of that trash cable. Cut the heat shrink and get rid of all that crap. If I were doing a project I'd want everything done right and wouldn't want the electrical equivalent of Pandora's box hanging out in the background.
4 - I'm guessing you're just talking about the LED tag light? Doesn't the OEM tag light include cable and a connector?
5 - If I were doing this I'd figure out where each of the wires ends, which I would assume are lights that have been removed, and the wires would be zip tied to the frame. Then I'd trace each wire back to where it mates into the junction/mess you've described and get rid of it.

Anyway, more info needed, but seems like a pretty simple fix. I would personally get rid of anything I didn't need especially wiring that leads to nowhere. You never know when a random hot wire in that birds nest of wiring (if you leave it there) will one day rattle loose and contact the frame and cause a short and start blowing fuses like a bull in a China shop.

I like some of the stuff at TST industries, they have a lot of cool stuff for our N400/Z400 bikes, will probably pick up a couple things. Here's their LED tag light, which is all of $16, there's a video on it too.

Low-Profile Universal Motorcycle License Plate Light | TST Industries

 

jrosen007: Thanks for the reply! See my answers to your questions below:

Well, for a guy that seems to have a PhD in exhaust science and fueling (yet the only one with a handwritten dyno chart), and no fuel map..... Get the Delkevic tuned or run as is, hopefully you'll be fine, and glad your's seems to be running well and cooler; just don't bash the vast majority that get tunes and have concrete/proven dyno charts from before and after. I'm not against tunes. In my current place of residence, they are both logistically very difficult and lengthy and also much more costly in total shipped, landed, currency converted, and taxed cost, and not always needed.

Seriously though, your question above seems pretty simple question. Here's my thoughts as someone who's done a smidge of 12v stuff.
You left out too many variables, like model (assume N400, or Z400), what year? 2008 Kawasaki ZX-6R Also, did you get the full housing or just a bulb? Full housing Tail tidy or OEM tail section? OEM tail but with aftermarket LED license plate light and license plate holder Is it the wiring for license plate light only or does it mess with brake light and turn signals. License plate light only. OEM connector with 2 OEM wires that used to feed the OEM license plate light. Wire colors are "typical" for Kawasaki: Red for +ve 12 volts, Black/Yellow for ground.

1 - Do you have a multimeter? Yes Honestly this will probably help you figure out all the problems. Fluke makes great stuff, but even a moderately priced unit from Home Depot or somewhere like that will do the task. Sounds like you need to be able to measure polarity, and voltage.
2 - I would assume 99% that black is ground and red is positive. Red is +ve, Black/yellow is ground, but my predecessor owner cut the OEM wiring RIGHT BY THE OEM CONNECTOR and ran 3 sets of 2-wires, all black, to 3 different lights! Then he wrapped them all with tight heat shrink tubing! What a mess! The polarity part of the multimeter should tell you that. Perhaps take a 9V battery and touch the red to the positive and black to the negative. If that works you should be good to go. Highly doubt you'll do damage to it. LED's are very durable and highly resistant to voltage irregularities and physical abuse, which is why they're they predominant technology being used. Last way longer than incandescent and HID and draw a ton less voltage. Longer lifespan many times over means less business for light manufacturers. Most of the reason it's not everywhere is the initial cost used to be a good bit more, but that gap is narrowing, as such it's becoming more common.
3 - If it's a project bike as you say, I'm guessing you want to get rid of anything superfluous? If it were a project of mine I definitely would. As such I'd remove any of the auxiliary lights, and all of that trash cable. Already removed all the crap! Cut the heat shrink and get rid of all that crap. If I were doing a project I'd want everything done right and wouldn't want the electrical equivalent of Pandora's box hanging out in the background. Yes, if I can figure out how to do it, I'd prefer to extract the wires from the OEM (signal receiving) connector and replace the wires with standard RED and BLACK wires that go straight to the new license plate LED light. How do I extract the current wires from the 2-pole OEM connector? Don't you usuaully just have to push a paper ciip in somewhere that releases the catch that holds a wire in the connector?
4 - I'm guessing you're just talking about the LED tag light? Doesn't the OEM tag light include cable and a connector? Yes, but that connector cable is what the previous owner butchered as described above!

Anyway, more info needed, but seems like a pretty simple fix. I would personally get rid of anything I didn't need especially wiring that leads to nowhere. Already done You never know when a random hot wire in that birds nest of wiring (if you leave it there) will one day rattle loose and contact the Fram and cause a short and start blowing fuses like a bull in a China shop.

I like some of the stuff at TST industries, they have a lot of cool stuff for our N400/Z400 bikes, will probably pick up a couple things. Here's their LED tag light, which is all of $16, there's a video on it too. Got a good pre-packaged LED license plate light already that mounts to the license plate holder with 2 tiny bolts and nuts. Very nice.

Low-Profile Universal Motorcycle License Plate Light | TST Industries

Thanks for any guidance you can provide on how to extract the current wires from the OEM license plate connector and replace them. Or, should I just take the connector and its atatched 6 wires to a local computer service shop and ask them to replace those wires with 4 feet each of red wire and black wire that I can then cut to exact length and connect to the LED license plate light? I do have a supply of those "inline splice connectors that allow you to insert 2 wires and when you heat it with a heat gun, the entire connector (including a metal ring core around the 2 wires) shrinks and makes a tight and waterproof electrical + physical connector.

Jim G

 

12v accessories for Z400?

I read Z400 doesn't have 12v outlet for accessories like Ninja 400. Anyone installed 12v accessories (ie usb charger, aux light) on Z400 that is not directly from battery? Meaning it will be on when ignition switched on, and vice versa. On my old bike, I tapped from horn cable which has it's...

www.ninja400riders.com

MO Wrenching: How To Properly Splice Wires

Time and again, I’ve had people tell me that they are afraid to modify their bike’s wiring harness to install a new accessory. Upon a little digging, the bugaboo is usually fear of splicing wires into the bike’s harness. While cutting your motorcycle’s wiring harness is not to be taken lightly...

www.motorcycle.com

 

.

 

I made a temporary connection of the LED license plate light to the +ve and ground on the bike, and it lit up nicely! On the LED light, red is +ve and black is ground, as I had speculated.

Jim G

 

Wow, that went off the rails quick.

Short answer is:
If you are using the correct voltage than no, you can't hurt a diode by reversing polarity.
LED = light emitting diode
Diode = one way valve for electricity
Diode doing it's job correctly =
things happen when current is flowing in the intended direction
nothing happens when current is attempting to flow in the non intended direction

Reversed polarity = trying to send electrons towards a closed valve that is designed to keep them out. No harm done.

 

.

 

A diode is not just a perfect one way valve, it has a reverse breakdown voltage. If that's exceeded then current will flow the wrong way and the diode is likely to be damaged. Just like a one-way water valve has a maximum reverse pressure it can sustain before breaking. Even under the breakdown voltage a small leakage current still goes through the diode in reverse, the datasheet will specify what the maximum reverse leakage current is.

One of the things I've been working on at the moment is a 300 watt LED module, it's something like a 6x6" cylinder but emits as much light as 40 lightbulbs. The LEDs I'm using take 36 volts but have a reverse breakdown of iirc 50 volts, so if I connect them backwards to my 36v power supply then nothing will happen. But lower quality or specialized LEDs may have a lower reverse breakdown voltage, e.g. a 12v LED may have a reverse breakdown voltage of 5v, so if you connect that backwards then bad things will happen. It depends on how the LED is designed and its electrical characteristics.

Granted, any half decent diode (really, most every diode) will have a higher forward voltage than reverse voltage, but if you buy really cheap chinese stuff, or if the manufacturer wants to save a fraction of a cent on their materials cost, it's possible to blow a LED by hooking it up backwards.

Yes, I said that.

If you are using the correct voltage than no, you can't hurt a diode by reversing polarity.

Not sure who you are arguing with or just agreeing with me in a very strange way. IDK what's up with this forum but it seems like people would rather argue than discuss. It's a shame really.

 

It's the same on every forum, annoys me when I find a thread about an intriguing topic and then there are pages upon pages of people talking/arguing about some minor irrelevant thing. Seems that we all fall victim to it every once in a while.