Magic Strobes Brake Light Flasher: The 10 Patterns Explained

The Magic Strobes Brake Light Flasher makes your existing brake light flash a short pattern and then hold solid every time you hit the brakes. No integrated tail light or special lamp required. It wires into the brake light your bike or car already has, works with LED or incandescent bulbs, and gives you ten selectable patterns ranging from a subtle four-flash to an aggressive max strobe.

This guide walks through all ten patterns, explains which kind of bike or car each one needs, and covers the one wiring requirement that trips most people up.

What is the Magic Strobes Brake Light Flasher?

Magic Strobes is a small inline brake modulator. It sits between your brake circuit and your brake light, watches for the brake signal, and plays a flash pattern before letting the light go solid. Because it works on the brake light you already have, you do not replace anything. It is designed by Custom LED and built by Custom Dynamics, and it carries a 5-year warranty.

The hardware is compact at 2.25 x 1.25 x 0.5 inches, sealed in a weather-tight case, and handles up to 84 watts at 12 volts DC. It includes over-current, thermal, short-circuit, and reverse-wiring protection, so a wiring mistake during install is far less likely to damage anything. This is the GEN2 version of the design, and the brake modulation it uses comes from the proven Brake Alert feature in the Blaster-X integrated tail light line.

Magic Strobes Brake Light Flasher for standard tail light systems. The universal version, for any vehicle with a dedicated brake circuit. Works with LED or incandescent brake lights. Simple 3-wire install. This is the version most riders and drivers want.

Does it work on cars and motorcycles?

Yes. Magic Strobes is universal. On a motorcycle it taps into the brake light circuit. On a car the third or high-mount brake light is usually the right place to connect it, because that lamp is almost always a dedicated brake-only circuit. The patterns themselves behave the same on either type of vehicle.

Magic Strobes is also CANbus and cruise control compatible on most bikes. A few bikes throw a CANbus error or lose cruise control when you modify a tail light circuit, because the bike expects a certain amount of current to flow. On those bikes, add a small CANbus Load Equalizer to restore normal behavior. Most installs do not need one. Think of it as the documented fix for the minority of bikes that complain, not a required part.

The 10 brake-flash patterns

Magic Strobes ships with ten patterns you can step through and select. The first four work on both incandescent and LED brake lights. The strobe patterns require an LED brake light, because incandescent filaments cannot turn on and off fast enough to strobe. The patterns below are the ones on the standard universal unit.

• P0: Four brake flashes, then solid (incandescent or LED).
• P1: Four flashes, solid for 3 seconds, then repeat (incandescent or LED).
• P2: Seven flashes, then solid (incandescent or LED).
• P3: Seven flashes, solid for 3 seconds, then repeat (incandescent or LED).
• P4: Quad strobe, solid for 1 second, then quad strobe (LED only).
• P5: Quad strobe, solid for 1 second, quad strobe, solid for 3 seconds, then repeat (LED only).
• P6: Blaster-X cycle for 3 seconds, then solid (LED only).
• P7: Blaster-X cycle on repeat (LED only).
• P8: Max brake strobe for 4 seconds, then solid (LED only).
• P9: No strobe, disabled.

Which pattern should you pick?

The easiest way to choose is by how much activity you want before the light settles. The four-flash patterns (P0 and P1) are the most restrained. They give a quick burst and then go solid, which is enough to draw attention without being busy. The seven-flash patterns (P2 and P3) extend that burst. The strobe patterns (P4 through P8) are progressively more aggressive, with P8 being the most intense before it returns to solid.

The patterns that end in a single burst and then hold solid (P0, P2, P6, P8) flash once per brake application. The repeating patterns (P1, P3, P5, P7) keep cycling the flash and solid as long as you hold the brake. For one clear announcement per brake press, pick a single-burst pattern. For continuous motion while you hold the brake, pick a repeating one. P9 simply leaves the light steady.

What you need before you buy

The one requirement that catches people out is the brake circuit. Magic Strobes needs a dedicated brake wire, meaning a wire that carries +12 volts only when you are braking. On a standard tail light system that is exactly how the brake wire works, so the standard universal unit is the right choice. On a car, the third brake light is usually the safe dedicated tap for the same reason.

Some newer bikes, including newer BMW models, use a 2-wire tail light system where a single wire carries both the running-light signal and the brake signal. Magic Strobes only works on a 3-wire system with a dedicated brake wire, so it is not compatible with these 2-wire shared run-and-brake tail lights. If you are not sure which your bike uses, contact us before ordering.

For some bikes there is also a fully plug-and-play kit that applies the same modulator through a microprocessor harness, with no cutting or splicing. The 2011 to 2018 Ducati Diavel kit is one example. These kits add per-bike logic, such as canceling the modulation while a turn signal is active. Plug-and-play kits exist for select models, but most people use the universal unit on a standard brake circuit.

How is this different from an integrated tail light?

Magic Strobes is a modulator. It adds a brake-flash pattern to the OEM brake light you already have, and that light keeps doing its normal job. An integrated tail light, like the Blaster-X line, is a full replacement that builds the run, brake, and turn functions into one bright LED unit, and the Brake Alert flash pattern is built into it.

If your tail light is fine and you only want the brake-flash behavior, Magic Strobes is the simpler and cheaper path. If you want a brighter, all-in-one LED tail light with integrated turn signals and the flash built in, look at the Blaster-X integrated tail lights instead.

How do you install it?

The standard universal unit is a simple 3-wire install: power, ground, and brake output. You connect the unit to your dedicated brake circuit, ground it, and run the brake output to your brake light. The modulator reads that +12 volt signal to know exactly when to play the pattern. The built-in protection against over-current, short circuits, and reverse wiring gives you some margin if a connection is wrong, but double-check your taps before powering up.

After wiring, you step through the patterns to select the one you want, and you are done. The unit seals up in a weather-tight case, so once mounted it tolerates the elements.

Still not sure which version fits your bike or car, or whether you have a dedicated brake circuit? Contact Custom LED with your make, model, and year and we will point you to the right part.