Inline headlight switch

paulie75 · Apr 16, 2013

Hey Guys!

I know it is getting brighter outside but I just started thinking about this. I work on a military base and it is a courtesy to turn your lights off for the guards esp in the fall/winter. I wanted to know if anyone can give me some tips to wire an inline switch to kill the headlights when I approach the gate.

I would like to use a switch with a LED in it, just another reminder to turn them back on.

Any tips are appreciated.

Thanks,

Paulie :Flash:

pookamatic · Apr 16, 2013

Regardless of it being a courtesy, I recommend against adding something that leaves you vulnerable. It would also be another point of failure on a system critical to safety.

That said, I'm sure it can be done really easy. I'll defer to those wiser than me on the best way to go about it though.

ticktock · Apr 16, 2013

You should just be able to run a simple 2 prong switch between the low beam wire on the H7 plug.

I've converted my bike to naked so I can't remember off the top of my head what color it is.

Hope this helps.

Motogiro · Apr 16, 2013

ticktock said:
You should just be able to run a simple 2 prong switch between the low beam wire on the H7 plug.

I've converted my bike to naked so I can't remember off the top of my head what color it is.

Hope this helps.

The low beam wire color is black with a green tracer.

red_rock_beetle · Apr 16, 2013

what would be sweet would be a relay inline with the low beam that was fired off the neutral saftey switch, that way when approaching the gate drop into neutral and coast to the gate

FrozenBiker · Apr 16, 2013

Do you have the dual low-beam mod on the bike? You'll want a DPST switch to handle both lights. Otherwise, it just needs a SPST.
Del City has a good selection of water-resistant switches. I bought one last week to do this also

Surf
N Turf Rocker Switches

paulie75 · Apr 16, 2013

pookamatic said:
Regardless of it being a courtesy, I recommend against adding something that leaves you vulnerable. It would also be another point of failure on a system critical to safety.

That said, I'm sure it can be done really easy. I'll defer to those wiser than me on the best way to go about it though.

I have thought about the saftey part of it. I would hope to get use to it as I do all of the things I need for riding on base. I have the dual headlight mod so it is brighter than normal... I just dont want to be that guy you know!

paulie75 · Apr 16, 2013

Motogiro said:
The low beam wire color is black with a green tracer.

What would the other wire be for the DB dual headlight mod?

paulie75 · Apr 16, 2013

FrozenBiker said:
Do you have the dual low-beam mod on the bike? You'll want a DPST switch to handle both lights. Otherwise, it just needs a SPST.
Del City has a good selection of water-resistant switches. I bought one last week to do this also

Surf
N Turf Rocker Switches

I do have the dual headlight mod so DPST it is. Thanks for the link!

pookamatic · Apr 16, 2013

red_rock_beetle said:
what would be sweet would be a relay inline with the low beam that was fired off the neutral saftey switch, that way when approaching the gate drop into neutral and coast to the gate

Now that's an awesome idea... certainly aren't going to forget that your in neutral! However... every time you shift out of first, there would be a flash. Also - for those moments where you sitting at a light and need to rest the clutch hand...

DavesFZ · Apr 16, 2013

Re: Re: Inline headlight switch

paulie75 said:
I do have the dual headlight mod so DPST it is. Thanks for the link!

Be sure to post back here after the install. I'd be interested how it turns out.

Motogiro · Apr 16, 2013

paulie75 said:
What would the other wire be for the DB dual headlight mod?

The other wire is the low beam which is black with a yellow tracer. The all black wire is the ground.

What headlight mod do you have?

paulie75 · Apr 18, 2013

Motogiro said:
The other wire is the low beam which is black with a yellow tracer. The all black wire is the ground.

What headlight mod do you have?

I have the BD43 Mod. Do you know anything different I might need to look for?

FrozenBiker · Apr 19, 2013

You just need to intercept the power wire for each headlight. Basically just make a cut,
and run the wires to a switch. With the DPST switch, you can kill both low beams with one switch.
The one that I bought is HUGE, but that should be nice with gloves on.

phranK2k11 · Apr 19, 2013

I'm not an electrition or anything so maybe my idea is flawed from the start....how about a button like the one in a fridge, goes off when you close the door. That way it takes an action to turn the lights off but you wouldn't have to "remember" to turn em back on.

Close the door = press the button = light off
Open the door = let go of button = light on

Again, just an idea from a frequent fridge user

fb40dash5 · Apr 19, 2013

Personally, I'd never add another switch between the dimmer switch and the headlight wiring itself. You're passing the full current of the bulbs through that switch, adding resistance and a failure risk- that switch burns up, you've got NO headlights.

Maybe Motogiro can answer this: is the 'dimmer relay' a latching relay, or does the ECU just keep power to it after the bike is started, until the key is turned off? Assuming it's a regular relay, I'd intercept the signal from the ECU to the relay if I wanted to kill the lights. A failed switch could still kill the lights, but it's a lot less likely to fail passing 0.1A to power the relay coil than it is passing 10A to light the headlights.

I think phrank is on to something... maybe a momentary pushbutton on the left bar, so you can't accidentally leave the lights off?

Motogiro · Apr 19, 2013

fb40dash5 said:
Personally, I'd never add another switch between the dimmer switch and the headlight wiring itself. You're passing the full current of the bulbs through that switch, adding resistance and a failure risk- that switch burns up, you've got NO headlights.

Maybe Motogiro can answer this: is the 'dimmer relay' a latching relay, or does the ECU just keep power to it after the bike is started, until the key is turned off? Assuming it's a regular relay, I'd intercept the signal from the ECU to the relay if I wanted to kill the lights. A failed switch could still kill the lights, but it's a lot less likely to fail passing 0.1A to power the relay coil than it is passing 10A to light the headlights.

I think phrank is on to something... maybe a momentary pushbutton on the left bar, so you can't accidentally leave the lights off?

Good thought! I was thinking the same thing.

Yes there is a headlamp interrupt relay. Power goes to this relay coil with key on but it needs the coil ground path enabled through the ECU. When the engine is running the ECU enables the ground. Probably a pass transistor operating in the ECU. You could break this coil voltage with a small low current switch. This relay is located in on of the plastic pods on either side of the seat.

The wire going into the relay will be red with a yellow tracer. the wire that you would put the inline switch in would be yellow with the black tracer.

FrozenBiker · Apr 20, 2013

Nice, I hope Paulie sees the last few posts before doing anything; there are some great ideas there.
I didn't think about that dimmer at all. :spank:

On the 'ole Honda, I had a cheap-o switch that lasted the life of the bike, but for this one
I bought a 21a IP56 NEMA rated switch.

paulie75 · Apr 20, 2013

Thanks guys!

I will start to investigate next weekend when I do my coolant. Having your light system fry out would not be a good thing! I can turn the lights off on my 72 CB750, it is a nice feature sometimes but having the headlight on all of the time is a nice safety feature as well. But you never want to irritate the guy holding a big gun!

FB400 · Apr 26, 2013

Motogiro said:
Good thought! I was thinking the same thing.

Yes there is a headlamp interrupt relay. Power goes to this relay coil with key on but it needs the coil ground path enabled through the ECU. When the engine is running the ECU enables the ground. Probably a pass transistor operating in the ECU. You could break this coil voltage with a small low current switch. This relay is located in on of the plastic pods on either side of the seat. The wire going into the relay will be red with a yellow tracer. the wire that you would put the inline switch in would be yellow with the black tracer.

Anyone able to locate the yellow/black tracer wire for adding this switch?. alot going on inside those pods!! :don'tknow:

Inline headlight switch

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