Best place to tap into high beam

[Phil50]

I'm fitting some auxiliary driving lights and want the relay to be triggered when the main beam is on.

 

I believe that the wire I need to tap into is white. I've found this under the left side dash and confirmed that it goes live when the main beam is switched on. I may just pull open the plug and socket and see if I can solder into it there but it would make much more sense to open up the fuse box (officially called the central electrical equipment box) and tap into the wire there. It's not a massive job but I'm only assuming that the white high beam wire shows it's head in the box.

 

I wonder if anyone could confirm if the white high beam wire does reappear in the central (fuse) box. If it is I'll take some pics of how to get the box out and where the wire is and pop them on this thread for others who will follow this way later.

 

Alternatively is there any other really good place to tap into the correct wire.

 

Thanks

[dirtrider]

What you working on there Phil?

[Phil50]

Sorry I should have made it clear its an 03 R1150RT (UK spec of that vintage).ie I think the 03 UK bikes were slightly different to US ones but I don't think that affects what we are talking about here.

 

Thanks for taking an interest.

 

Cheers

 

Phil

[Sheepherder]

I used a male and female conector and used a tap on the wire and did not have to cut wires, That useally in my world causes problems.

 

check out easternbeaver, he sells quality parts and you get parts quick.

 

http://www.easternbeaver.com/Main/Elec__Products/Connectors/Headlight_Connectors/headlight_connectors.html

[dirtrider]

Evening Phil

 

Unfortunately the wire you are trying to access only runs from the handlebar switch to the headlight (nowhere near the fuse box). You might be a able to pull the wire connector off the back of the headlight then pull the harness out far enough to get a solder joint into that wire near the headlight connector. If you ride in the rain or winter roads be sure to seal that solder joint up real moisture tight.

 

[Phil50]

Thanks SH and DR. I have a 3M wire tapper that came with the loom for my lights. I'll see how easy it is to get that in later or see below ...

 

I did a bit more searching last night and noticed on the wiring diagram that there's a wire goes from the high beam switch to the middle of the flasher relay. I'm going to pull out that relay later and test to see if there's a change there when I switch high beam on and off. I'll report back later.

 

Thanks again.

 

Cheers

 

Phil

[dan cata]

Phil,

 

I have also installed aux lights and for the harness, I have used an relay and got the logic part to it from the connector on the headlight. I made 3 "Y" wires so that I would not interfere in the bike harness at all and if I ever want to take the aux's off, there will be no trace that the lights or harness was there

 

Dan.

[Jim Moore]

I know nothing about electricity. That being said, I tapped into the high beam by connecting to the high beam bulb wires behind the dash on my GS. I used a clip-type connector to power the switch to the aux lights. The lights are off when the low beam is on and they come on when I activate the high beam.

[dirtrider]

Thanks SH and DR. I have a 3M wire tapper that came with the loom for my lights. I'll see how easy it is to get that in later or see below ...

 

I did a bit more searching last night and noticed on the wiring diagram that there's a wire goes from the high beam switch to the middle of the flasher relay. I'm going to pull out that relay later and test to see if there's a change there when I switch high beam on and off. I'll report back later.

 

 

Morning Phil

 

 

Go ahead and check it out but there is nothing in the T/S relay that needs headlight input so you are probably looking at either the switch power side coming from the load relief relay area or the T/S switch input from the turn switch or cancel switch to the T/S relay.

 

[Phil50]

Hi D.R.,

 

I spotted this on a wiring diagram by Doug Raymond.

 

 

but you are right pulling that relay has no effect on the headlights. When I pull the load relief relay the headlights go out but I can't seem to test for the relevant pin. The front and RH pin are live when I pull out the relay. Do you know which of the LH or rear pins are for the high beam.

 

Many thanks

 

Phil

[AndyS]

Contact 87 of the load relief relay feeds power to the lighting switch.

Why don't you just use a Scotcklok connector to break into the main beam indicator wire and take this as you switching logic for the auxilliary light relay you desire to fit?

[Boffin]

My aux lights are triggered by the main-beam indicator light - as fitted by the dealer. The wire is blue in colour and as it is only being used as a relay trigger can easily handle the extra current.

 

ANdy

[Phil50]

I think that I'm going to have to use a Scotchlok into the indicator wire. I was just trying to find a neater solution.

 

Thanks to everyone for your suggestions.

[dirtrider]

Afternoon Phil

 

I would discourage you from using a Scotch Lock as those things are not waterproof and only make peripheral wire contact. If you ride in wet weather or especially where there is road salt you are surely looking at connection and wire oxidation issues some time in the future. Over the years I have repaired more electrical problems caused by those darn Scotch Locks than any other single source.

 

Why not do it right the first time with a more weather proof connection.

 

If you insist on using a Scotch Lock then at least cover the entire connection with silicone sealer to keep moisture out.

 

 

 

[AndyS]

Hi DR. What readily available devices do you recommend for tee'ing into another wire that would give a compact, reliable and waterproof joint?

I'm ready to change, but I have been using Scotchloks in salty inclement UK weather since their inception and never had a problem with those,whilst having pleanty of problems with OEM connectors oxidising and causing bad continuity.

Andy

[Phil50]

Anyone see a problem with this approach?

 

I've made a T by soldering a male and female spade connector together with a tap wire in the middle. This fits between the male spade on the main beam bulb and the female connector. I plan to pass a short length of wire with connectors on each end through a grommet in the cover at the back of the headlight. If I change my mind about the auxiliary lights I can put a new unbroken grommet in the hole and that is the only sign of having aux lights I'll leave on the bike.

 

 

 

I've seen some HID kits that take a similar approach but am I making a mistake. (this is just for the relay trigger.)

 

Thanks

 

Phil

[Boffin]

That will work just fine.

 

Andy

[dirtrider]

Afternoon Phil

 

That looks like it should do the job just fine. Personally I would fold the red wire along the connector towards the bulb side then cover as much of that joint as possible up to the spade with heat shrink tubing.

 

[Phil50]

Hi D.R.,

 

This may be a stupid question but what size heat shrinkable tubing do I need? Is the size quoted the finished size or the starting size? Sorry to sound dumb but I've never used the stuff before and I'd like to buy some for this sort of job.

 

Could I also ask how what you use to shrink it.

 

Sorry to be a pain.

 

Phil

[dirtrider]

Afternoon Andy

 

I usually spend the time to make a good low resistance connection using a splice clip crimped to the wires with a proper Packard crimping tool, solder the connection, then cover the splice with adhesive-lined, heat-shrinkable tubing.

 

[dirtrider]

Phil

 

The size is the pre-shrunk size. Just take your bulb/fancy connector to the store the see what fits. Some shrinks better than others so ask how small it will shrink before buying.

 

You can shrink the tubing using a small heat gun (sounds like you don’t have that) or a match, or a butane lighter, or a candle. Anything that is hot enough to burn your fingers and throws heat a short ways. Get a little extra tubing and practice on an old doubled up wire.

 

 

[AndyS]

In addition to what DR has just said, Heatshrink is often available in different shrink ratios which can allow you to get a tube to go over some of your connectors (if you had made off the ends before you remembered to put the tube of - for example).

Common ratios are 2:1.

3:1 & 4:1 are also available, but you may need to look harder and to be honest you probably dont' need.

Also worth looking at is heatshring with adhesive lining. This is great when used in very small lenghts over spliced joints such as what you have produced and also over the kind of joint DR was discussing with me (2 entries above). This Heatshrink is used in just the same way, but in the process of heating, the lining melts into the surrounding wires and makes a hermetic seal (most of the time). It is not so good in longer lengths as it tends to be very stiff once cooled and cured.

Andy

[Phil50]

Hi Andy,

 

I've ordered a selection pack of different sizes and colours from Ebay. It was cheaper than the fuel to go into my nearest Maplin. I may have acted in haste however as it isn't adhesive which sounds like a really handy thing to have around.

 

I may end up dropping into Maplin at some stage anyway

 

Cheers

 

Phil

[AndyS]

Hey Phil, no worries. Normal stuff will be just fine. The adhesive was a bonus. You take a look at some of the terrible, rough electrical bodge work on some bikes - which still amazingly works - and you will feel good you have even gone to the lengths you have.

Andy

[Phil50]

I have a tendency to bodge and this little project was a concerted effort to resist it.

 

I've just loosely wired up the driving lights as a try out and they work perfectly. On with high beam off otherwise. I've mounted the relay on the top of the air filter box with some double lock HD velcro which is somewhat a bodge but has the benefit that I can strip the whole lot out easily and the live wire, with inline fuse, from the loom that came with the lights is just the right length to reach the battery.

 

Thanks for your help, and D.R.

 

Cheers

 

Phil

[AndyS]

Which lights have you fitted, and where have you located them?

[Phil50]

The are just Ring ones from Halfords. I saw somewhere that the mini fog lights at Halfords are exactly the same as Wunderlich sell for our bikes but much, much cheaper. Search on Google for "Ring Micro Cruise-lite". So I went in to have a look and I liked the small rectangular look of them and figured I could fit them like Joe Frickin Friday fitted them on his R1100RT ie under the oil cooler. I decided against these lights though because they are Fog lights and don't throw the light forward. I want more high beam power. I ended up with "Ring Lights Ice Blue" and I'm going to mount them on my black plastic head guards. In fact the will be on some short stainless steel bars with the main structural support coming from the stud that secures the front of the head guards. I've bought some stainless washers and longer hex studs. Once I have them fitted I'll take some pics and let you see.

[Syro]

Phil50,

i will visiting UK,London during July and i would like to have a quick look at these Halford aux lights.Can u supply more info (link) on what are u talking abt?

 

Tx

[AndyS]

Phil50,

i will visiting UK,London during July and i would like to have a quick look at these Halford aux lights.Can u supply more info (link) on what are u talking abt?

 

Tx

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_158408_langId_-1_categoryId_165688

[Phil50]

The very small fog lights are actually cheaper at Motorworks

 

http://bit.ly/mCRx9h

Scroll down to item LIA00370

 

Halfords

http://bit.ly/mwlEa2

 

Here they are as Wunderlich fog lights mounted on a GS.

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35675

 

I ended up going for these driving lights as their beam pattern is what I was looking for, ie a powerful beam lighting the road way ahead. http://bit.ly/j6PydA

 

The lights seem fine but I would like to use them for a couple of years before I'd recommend them to anyone.

 

Cheers

 

Phil

 

PS When I was 19 (34 years ago) I came to Greece on one of the 3 day coaches that ran from London. We got off the bus at Katerini, exhausted. We bought some of the sesame buscuit sticks for breakfast and walked towards Paralia. We sat under the shade of a tree and a lady came out from one of the nearby houses and gave us an arm full of fresh peaches. You Greeks are wonderful people!

[Phil50]

Finished (nearly).

 

Lights mounted on 20mm x 3mm stainless steel, one piece of which seems to have been accidentally case hardened in the rolling mill as it ruined a box full of drills. Both were cut from the same piece of steel right next to each other, very odd.

 

They are held in place using a 10mm longer hex stud at the front of the head protectors. I've just used extra stainless washers to make up the thickness. I've put a wire tie around the mount in case my friction hold comes lose. The ground is simply taken from the same hex stud. I bought some good thick black insulated wire and this is plaited so it is hidden and held by the head protectors at each side. I slipped the wire from the LH side in front of the battery box and all the wiring is just simply tied to the frame.

 

I'm just waiting for a grommet to come in the mail to finish the tap from the main beam.

 

"Are these lights good quality?" If you measure quality by if they look well made, give off good light then I'd say yes. The other main measure of quality for these things is "do they corrode quickly?" I'll let you know on that one. From my point of view now I have the wiring in and assuming I like the resulting lighting from where they are positioned it would be an easy job to replace them in a couple of years if they turn out to not last well.

 

[Syro]

Phil50 thank u for your kind words.We Greek do have our moments (not many trust me but we DO have them).

 

From the pics i can tell that you have done an excellent work!!!The light emitted is more than great.I would go for a bar installing them under the main headlight but your arrangement seems to be better.I sincerely do hope that i will be able to locate a Halford store in London when i come there cause they don't delivery outside UK.

I do have a question or two though as far as the fitting is concerned:

1.how are these controlled?through a separate switch?(any pics?)

2.a more detailed pic of the bracket u have used and how is this attached to the cylinder head,

3.wiring and lights are 100% waterproof in this spot u selected?

4.don't they get a bit melted duirng summer season by the extreme temperatures the cylinders emmit?

 

Regards,

 

Fotis

[Phil50]

1. The lights I chose came with a simple wiring loom and relay. The instructions simply said to use the provided Scotch Lok to tap the "blue wire" into the high beam wire. I have not fitted an on/off switch the lights simply come on when I put the headlight on high beam. I may put an "Autoswitch" in the circuit so I can switch them off completely if necessary but I'll see how I go first.

 

2. I'll do you some pics later. Others may think that my brackets are not sufficiently rigid.

 

3. I don't know re waterproofness of the wiring. The lights appear to be sealed. The wires come out through a rubber seal. I'm going to put some heat shrink tube over the positive wire joint (hopefully that will come today) and the ground wire connector will remain dry in usage (one benefit of being near the header pipes). I just soldered a ring connector onto the spade connector and put this between the bracket and a washer on the stud that fixes the front of the head guard.

 

4. The plastic head protectors would be far more likely to melt. The tail wires from the lamps looks like high temperature wiring like what you see on an H3 main beam bulb.

 

Cheers

 

Phil

[Phil50]

There is a chance that vibration and gravity may loosen these as they are only fixed at one end. I've put a wire tie around just in case. If I find that the stud does loosen I plan to drill a hole in the head protector and use a stainless steel M5 hex screw and nut and tap washer (as a spacer) to secure the out board end. At the moment only friction is holding it in place.

 

[dan cata]

Phil,

 

Do bulbs go out often if mounted there because of vibration?

Also, my RT gets a lot of dirt in that area... I wonder how often you have to clean them...

 

Dan.

[Phil50]

Dan,

 

I literally finished putting the tupperware back on around 11PM last night.

 

I'll tell you how they work out in 6 months. One of the reasons I went for these was the horrendous cost of Item image

PIAA proprietary replacement bulbs for the PIAA 1100X, £50 each in the UK. These Ring Ice Blue lights are a little too big to go under the oil cooler like the 1100x's but take standard H4 bulbs.

 

If they don't work out I'll just take them off and try and find a plan "B".

 

Cheers

 

Phil

[oldyam]

Phil,

 

Do bulbs go out often if mounted there because of vibration?

Also, my RT gets a lot of dirt in that area... I wonder how often you have to clean them...

 

Dan.

 

Hi Dan

 

I have fog lights mounted there for the last 18 months without any problems, and I use then quite a lot. I have only had to change one bulb so I dont think vibration is a big problem.

 

I also have a pair of Hella FF50's mounted over the mirrors that also work very well ( cant think where I got the excellent brackets from, a very nice man in Hungary I think ) tested them on the IOM circuit last week.

[oldyam]

Phil,

 

Do bulbs go out often if mounted there because of vibration?

Also, my RT gets a lot of dirt in that area... I wonder how often you have to clean them...

 

Dan.

 

Hi Dan

 

I have fog lights mounted there for the last 18 months without any problems, and I use then quite a lot. I have only had to change one bulb so I dont think vibration is a big problem.

 

I also have a pair of Hella FF50's mounted over the mirrors that also work very well ( cant think where I got the excellent brackets from, a very nice man in Romania I think ) tested them on the IOM circuit last week.

 

Strange couldnt edit the last post, should hav3e said "Romania"

[Phil50]

Dan,

 

I was searching for some brackets to mount the lights above the mirrors for days. I assumed they had stopped being made by EMP when I couldn't find them. I'll see how I like the lights and may buy some of your excellent looking brackets and move them up higher. I don't think I'll have a problem relocating the wiring, I've left a loop in the main feed to the lights.

 

Cheers

 

Phil