Where does the highbeam wiring go?

[RiceToy]

Wife (2004 R1150RT) and I (2007 K1200GT) have been using Starcom1 Digital units for many years. Occasionally the push-to-talk buttons used for bike-to-bike communication go bad. This happens more frequently than I would like, as they are expensive and time consuming to replace. On the MSTA "Buddies of Bruce" ride this year, we rode the entire day in downpour - resulting in both push-to-talk buttons being killed - again. And now I know how what is causing them to die... water.

 

Since the Starcom PTT buttons are apparently not up to the task, I searched for alternates, and found that constructing my own would be best. While looking at how I might mount the DIY buttons to the switchgear, it dawned on me that there is a perfectly water-tight momentary spring-return switch already on the switchgear - the high-beam switch. I asked my wife if she uses the momentary side of that switch (high-beam flash), and she confirmed that she never uses it, much like myself - who uses it very rarely (sometimes before passing).

 

In my many years of owning these and two other BMW's with this very same switchgear, I've never had one apart, so here's my question... Where do the wires from the momentary side of the high-beam switch end up going? If they end-up in the fuse box, that would be especially nice!

Also, does anyone have experience re-purposing the momentary side of this switch?

 

The Starcom1 PTT-03 button needs single-pole normally open switch on socket pins 1&4 (and a 1Kohm resistor between socket pins 2&3 for VOX disable) to work, so all I need is a momentary spring-return N.O. switch (pin-out numbers received from Starcom1).

[Dennis Andress]

Your GT has a CAN bus i.e. most switches work on an serial bus. Kind of like an automotive version of PLC. Long story short, you can't use that switch for what you want to do.

[RiceToy]

Oh yeah, forgot about the CANbus. What about on the wife's 04'R1150RT?

 

That would take care of half the problem.

 

Where do those high-beam flash wires go?

[markgoodrich]

To the high beam.

 

Oh, no need to thank me, happy to be able to help.

[smiller]

On the K-GT the 'flash-to-pass' switch wires go to the ZFE module, and as long as you intercept them before the module then I don't see why you couldn't re-purpose the switch for PTT if you like.