Easy taillights for a motorcycle hitch carrier

Picked up a lightweight motorcyle/scooter carrier (a Rage Powersport AMC-400) for the back of the Ranger. Neat gadget to tote our Buddy 50 to areas with less traffic, more friendly for low power, low speed riding.

One problem. When the Buddy's on the carrier, the left side Ranger taillight is completely obstructed, and the one on the passenger side partially so.

So I got to tinkering. I had a scrap 44 inch section of angle iron. I cut it in half. Twenty-two inches easily spans the width between two rear bolts holding the aluminum carrier to its steel hitch insert/carrier frame. Once mounted with the same bolts holding the carrier together, I used a couple screws and bolts to attach the second piece of angle iron to the first, creating a U shaped bar.

Harbor Freight had its budget trailer light kits on sale earlier this month, and I picked one up for about 15 bucks. The taillights from the kit mounted well on the vertical side of the second piece of angle iron.

Not the brightest set of turn signal/taillights, but a darn sight better than none. The way they're mounted, the frame of the carrier should provide some protection from road hazards. And they're out of the way from the scooter when carried.


Update: One more photo of the light rack and wiring. For full size, click on the photo.