fender brake light lens

[Nails]

I was taking the rear fender off my '97, and discovered a whole unused light back there -- presumably brake/running. Kinda weird, seeing the whole thing, not even wired up (the wiring grommet is really a blank, apparently from the factory).
It looks like the lens is there, but painted over. Has anyone had any luck using something like steel wool to get the paint off? Other forums indicate this light was used in other models. So maybe mine is just some PO weirdness.
I'd like to be able to ditch the trunk when I don't need it. But that's my only brake light now.

[Chris near Kansas City]

I have heard of people using a citrus stripper on, I believe, both inside and out, to remove the paint and then polishing the outside. Others may chime in though. Find some auto store sockets and wire it up. I converted mine so long ago, the unpainted lens was still available from Kawasaki.

[Mr Jensee]

I never had any luck with citrus or any other kind of stripper taking that paint off the lens. Someone I spoke to on here sent me a completely wired light section with red lens. So far I managed to wire up the tail lights on it but have never found that brake light wire to make the brakes work. The first year Kawasaki produced the Voyager they had a working light system there. Honda threatened to sue them because it looked too much like their GL1100 Goldwing unit. So Kawasaki disabled the system and painted over the lens.

[Air Force]

I have stripped the paint off two rear fender lenses and one trunk lens. If memory serves I started with two hundred grit sandpaper. Very aggressive but the paint is thick. As soon as I saw red and I mean a speck I then used those rubber sand blocks fine grade. After that the citrus. It will not look like a nice shiny brand new lens but it will pass muster. I am currently using the trunk lens and one fender lens and sold the other lens. This is a time consuming process but I was committed. Also, the plastic part that the bulbs mount into I rattle canned with chrome paint. I am running stock bulbs no leds' and they look good at night. Start on the edges first that no one can see. If you screw up the first side learn from your mistake and do the second side then move on to the important part. If you do a trunk lens the whole bottom side is good to practice on unless you are worried that someone decides to bend over and look at the underside of your trunk light. Good luck!

[VoyKimmer]

Citrus strip is the only option now except sanding. I used a product called chameleon quite a number of years ago with great results but it is no longer available. If you use citrus strip be very carefull and do it just as little time as possible. It can ruin the plastic if left on to long. I was successful on using it on a trunk center section and the fender lens. It will turn the plastic white and deform it a little. After using it I spent a lot of time polishing the hell out of the lens with 2 grades of mcquires plastic scratch remover then finer polish. Mine came out nice with a lot of time, labor, and sore fingers and hand. Don't want to do it again.

[Avidrider62]

I have one for sale, from an 87. $40 shipped. Carl Leo may have the harness

[voyager55]

$40????? Holy smokes!

[Avidrider62]

lol, getting harder to find. Maybe 5 years they'll be worth more. Removing the paint on it will be more time and citrus remover than 40

[Avidrider62]

to late , Carl bought it

[Nails]

Thanks all. Interesting history -- can't help but wonder why they continued to install all the rest of the brake light, for all those years.

Regarding the trunk center section, I didn't notice light sockets. Did you add some by drilling big holes into the white plastic? (But honestly, I'm trying to get rid of the trunk altogether.)

Appreciate knowing there's red down there somewhere. I don't think mine is painted on the inside. (I've been on the road and don't remember clearly.)

It won't be hard to splice this into the harness near the plug for the trunk. Apologies for not looking at all, but I hope to find another plug just like what's on the trunk. I'm also looking for a big rack, to sort as an alternative to the trunk for around town -- I'll figure out something to hide the under-trunk ugly. I'm thinking one of those thin LED strips would look fine for the rack's brake light.

I'm repainting the whole thing, and a bit more sanding won't really make much difference. If it fails, I can just paint it like everything else.