Iron Butt
Posts: 763
Anderson, IN (48mi NE of downtown Indianapolis) | The Vision-Mod is a way to convert the Victory Vision front and rear turn signals into sequencing turn signals. It also converts all six rear bulbs into brake lights and sequences them when the brake is applied. I am not providing video because I could not show any more than the vids on www.vision-mod.com already show.
I was surprised when I opened the package at what little it contained. It was a pleasant surprise because the lack of pieces meant it would be easy to install. The rear Vision-Mod comes with a wire harness, two wire nuts, and two zip ties. The front Vision-Mod comes with two short harnesses, two dummy sockets, and two zip ties. I give simplicity an A+.
The build quality of the harnesses are excellent. I read on this forum that the connectors appear to be automotive quality. Well, they ARE automotive quality because GM uses this type from Delphi. The wiring is routed nicely and well wrapped and protected. I give the build quality an A+.
The instructions are easy to follow. The instructions state exactly what parts to remove from the bike and how many screws hold them on. I did not have to waste time trying to figure out what needs to come off and how many fasteners to look for. I give the instructions an A+.
There are three wires hanging out of the harness. Before you begin installation of the rear, you have to wire-nut two of them together and cap the other according to your model year. I used solder and heat shrink tubing in place of the wire nuts. I do not like using wire nuts on vehicles, but I do not know of an easier way for the typical end user to do this. I suppose the Vision-Mod can be made specific to each model year, but that would probably increase the price.
Installation of the rear harness went very quickly thanks to the well written instructions. The connectors on the harness are the same as the stock Victory units making it a plug and play system. I simply replaced the stock harness with the Vision-Mod harness. The only stumbling block was getting to the two relays. The instructions say to pull the connectors off of them and plug the new connectors in. The relays are hard to reach. I read on this forum that it is easier to remove the relays. The instructions also suggest this. So, I only spent a few seconds on them before deciding to go ahead and remove them. Removing them was much easier than trying to work with them attached to the bike. Maybe the "suggestion" in the instructions should be an actual process step. I still give the ease of installation for the rear harness an A+.
Installation of the front was so easy I thought I was missing something. I read the instructions twice to make sure I was doing it right. With the front mods, you are not replacing any parts. You are basically adding a piece of wire (which contains the sequencing circuit) between the stock harness and the bulbs. Could not be any easier. I give the ease of installation for the front an A+ and some additional bonus points.
Splicing in my existing trailer wire harness did not go as I expected. If you are considering installing the Vision-Mod and have a trailer harness already installed, you might want to read this. The Vision in stock form requires a converter type trailer connector. The turn signal on the Vision is separate from the brake light. This setup requires 5 wires to operate: ground, tail, left turn, right turn, and brake. Most small trailers have a 4 wire circuit where the brake and turn are the same bulb. The converter splices into the 5 wires on the Vision and coverts it to a 4-wire system for the trailer connector. The Vision-Mod comes with 4 trailer take-off leads. This means your converter type trailer harness cannot be easily spliced in. You will have to splice the brake line of the converter to the brake line of the Vision. This means you will have to cut into the wire harness. If you have LED brake/turn trailer lights like me, this might not work if the voltage drop of the Vision-Mod combined with the voltage drop of your converter is too high. Incandescent bulbs will work, but they might be dimmer than usual. Rather than hooking everything up to find out if yours works or not, I suggest replacing your converter type trailer harness with a standard one. A standard trailer harness works perfectly. So, if you already have a trailer harness, you will probably need to install a new one for the Vision-Mod to work. A minor inconvenience, but an inconvenience nonetheless. If you do not yet have a trailer harness but want to add one to the Vision-Mod, it is no problem. Simply use the standard 4-wire type. I give the trailer take-off leads an A+ if you do not already have a trailer harness. I give it a C+ if you do have one.
The performance is very good. I really like how the Vision-Mod uses as much of the stock Vision parts as possible. The same stock light assembly and bulbs now perform in a much more attention getting fashion. By attention getting I do not mean it is just nice to see. It is more than just bling. It gives me more brake light which is crucial for my application (more talk about that later). The sequencing effect really works. For the rear, it starts at the bottom of the V and progresses up to the top for both brake and turn. I was a bit skeptical if the front would actually look like it was sequencing since there are only two bulbs. Even after seeing the video on vision-mod.com I still figured it would look like two bulbs flashing back and forth. My skepticism was completely erased the moment I turned it on. Even with only two bulbs it definitely gives the illusion of sequencing. Great job on using stock parts for such a big visual change.
There is one small annoyance regarding performance. When I try to show my buddies the Vision-Mod, it does not work. The website and the instructions for the rear says, "on rare occasions, the sequencer fails to activate if the bike is not running". For me, it fails almost every time. And it began to fail after installing the fronts. It never failed when I only had the rear installed. My bike has to be running in order for the sequencer to work. It will not work immediately after starting my bike either. I either have to let it run for a minute or get the motor over 1,500 rpm. I'm guessing (and this is only a guess) the voltage is too low to activate the sequencer with a dead motor (remember the voltage drop I mentioned earlier?). However, by the time I hit the end of the driveway everything works fine. The Vision-Mod has not failed me while on the road. I give overall performance an A. Not an A+ because I cannot show off the mod without running the bike. Let me give the credit where it really counts though...On-road performance gets an A+.
Is it worth the money? It really depends on each person's needs and likes. I carry bicycles on a rack which somewhat block the view of the my brake lights. Especially since the middle two go out when the turn signal is activated.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-T8AIWP-ANu8/TKevqY8ciFI/AAAAAAAABGU/lGNrPx97gQ0/s400/IMAG0242.jpg
Vision-Mod turns all six bulbs into brake lights. For me, this adds a great amount of safety. I cannot put an exact price on my safety. I bought the Vision-Mod specifically for the brake light feature. The sequential turn signal is just a bonus. I like things to match so I got the front too. The simplicity of the harnesses made it seem like I was not getting much for my money. I had to remind myself it is like purchasing a computer program on DVD. It's not the hardware I am paying for, but rather someone's time to figure it out and make it easy for me to install. For that, I applaud Gary at Vision-Mod.com.
My overall thoughts: The Vision-Mod is well built and well performing. It adds an element of safety for me which I really like. The failure at dead engine and immediately after starting is not really an issue since it performs great when required. I wish the trailer harness issue had been noted on the website and in the instructions. I could have been prepared with a new trailer harness instead of making a special trip the auto parts store. Overall, the Vision-Mod is a great addition to my bike. I definitely recommend it to those who want attention getting brake/turn lights.
Side note:
The Vision-Mod brought an unexpected but welcomed feature to my trailer lights. They now flash twice then steady on. The flash is quick, but I have LED circuits so the flash is very noticeable. It is like the Back Off brake light system except faster flashes. I like it.
Edited by victoryvisiontour 2012-12-13 11:32 AM
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Sequential Turn Signals - Vision-Mod
