Matts_12GS Posted June 22, 2009 Share Posted June 22, 2009 Ok, now that I have the GS and have begun redoing some of the wiring that the PO did, I've come to a point where I want to make a change to what he did, not because it's wrong, I'd just like to do it differently. The bike has some TT foglights wired to turn on with a handlebar mounted toggle switch. The switch fires a relay which lights the lights. Simple, and without drama. I just don't like it. Since the bike has some nature of load shedding relay or something to prevent the headlight from lighting until the engine starts, I was considering tapping the hot lead to the light to enable my foglight relay. After all the hassles Danny went through, I don't really want to worry about about balancing resistors and loads to avoid a bulb error, and I don't want to live with a bulb error that might mask a real issue. So... if I tap the lead, should I be OK? An additional concern with this is that I'm planning to add HIDs down the road and that same circuit will be triggering/powering the HID relay. Thoughts? Link to comment
SageRider Posted June 22, 2009 Share Posted June 22, 2009 As long as you keep the stock wattage headlight bulbs, triggering a relay from the bulb hot lead shouldn't cause any sort of a problem. The relay coil current draw is minimal when compared to the draw of the bulb. The foglights would then be switched through the relay directly (fused) to the battery. When you go to convert to HID, the reduction in current draw of the HID system as compared to the stock bulbs is where you will run into issues... Link to comment
hopz Posted June 22, 2009 Share Posted June 22, 2009 In my opinion, the word CANBUS is the foreign language word for "Don't mess with it..." I vote for direct battery with relay... and just not confuse the controlled area network. Link to comment
OoPEZoO Posted June 22, 2009 Share Posted June 22, 2009 You will be fine Matt. Your fogs will then turn On/Off with your headlight, and the computer shouldn't know they are there. That is fine as long as you only want to run them when either the High or Low beam is activated (depending on which wire you tap). Does the GS low beam stay on when you switch to high beams, or doesn it turn off? Link to comment
Matts_12GS Posted June 22, 2009 Author Share Posted June 22, 2009 IIRC the low stays on with the high beam so they should be on all the time once the motor starts. I'm going to double check with JVB, I think his HID set up was pretty simple, the benefit of first evolutions of the technology. Thanks all. Link to comment
Ken H. Posted June 22, 2009 Share Posted June 22, 2009 Yup, that’s exactly the way mine is. On one set (the Motolights) the relay triggers off the low beam lead, the other set (my HELLAs) trigger off the high beam lead. My handlebar switches are still in the circuit though so I can override them to off if desired. "Seasons don’t fear the CAN-bus, no do the wind, the sun or the rain (We can be like they are)." Link to comment
Matts_12GS Posted June 22, 2009 Author Share Posted June 22, 2009 Excellent! As soon as I get my HID kit ordered I'll make that wiring change. I love this bike, it's so easy to work on compared to the 1100RT! Link to comment
OoPEZoO Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 I love this bike, it's so easy to work on compared to the 1100RT! Shut up Matt..........lalalalalalalalalalalalalala.....I'm not listening Link to comment
Matts_12GS Posted June 23, 2009 Author Share Posted June 23, 2009 Sorry dude... But it really is. The down side is that you need torx bits instead of allen screws. But hey, who doesn't want to have more tools? Link to comment
99Roadster Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 "Seasons don’t fear the CAN-bus, no do the wind, the sun or the rain (We can be like they are)." "More cowbell! We need more COWBELL!" Oh, sorry - we now return you to your regularly scheduled thread. Link to comment
Ken H. Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 "More cowbell! We need more COWBELL!" One of my all time favorate SNL skits! Oh, sorry - we now return you to your regularly scheduled thread. Link to comment
OoPEZoO Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 "More cowbell! We need more COWBELL!" Oh, sorry - we now return you to your regularly scheduled thread. Link to comment
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