Autoswitch/Hella, It Works!

Hiker · Post by **Hiker** » Sun May 28, 2006 4:07 pm

I have surfed the world looking for just one pic of where the heck you find the green wire with blue stripe...

Everyone posts loads of stuff about their swank installs and how tidy it looks when its done.

Can anyone offer a pic of where you splice into the turn cancel signal wire, which I hope to God is green with a blue stripe?

I'm going to lie down. Removing the tank has stressed me out.
At least the new Odyssey is in.

Oi! Hope you all are enjoying the holiday in better ways...

Hiker

beemerphile · Post by **beemerphile** » Sun May 28, 2006 6:43 pm

My turn signal cancel wire is NOT green with a blue stripe. It is brown with white dashes. My bike is a 2004 R1150R with no ABS. The best way to find the connector is to follow the wire bundle from the right hand control switch. Mine is a white connector on the right side. It is the top connector of a double stack.

Hiker · Post by **Hiker** » Sun May 28, 2006 7:53 pm

Thanks for the reply, Lee!

I'm glad I haven't done any damage yet. I've got an '04 w. ABS (FWIW).
I was hoping someone would just know and take the guessing out of it., so i can button up the tank. I hate having the bike disassembled.

I have all the driving light and Autoswitch wiring laid out on my coffee table.
Doesn't do much for the bike, but looks interesting...

I'll go look for brown and white dashes.

Hiker

beemerphile · Post by **beemerphile** » Mon May 29, 2006 7:34 am

don't know where you got the color code guidance, but my manual shows the same brown with white dash for the ABS model, which makes sense.

Lee

Hiker · Post by **Hiker** » Mon May 29, 2006 8:01 am

Thanks, Lee. I was looking at the Autoswitch instructions, but I think I mistook the colors of the power tap with the signal cancel.

My apologies. I hate wiring.

But, I'm determined to go at it again today since I really want to reassemble the bike. It drive me nuts having it in pieces and unrideable. I have other bikes for that (lol!)

Hiker

beemerphile · Post by **beemerphile** » Mon May 29, 2006 12:41 pm

Had a look at the actual wire on my bike. It is brown with a white stripe, not brown with a white dash as my manual describes. Lee

Hiker · Post by **Hiker** » Mon May 29, 2006 1:13 pm

Thanks, Lee, I think I have that located under the...I dunno some kind of square big connector thing on the RH side of the fuse box. So that's one of the taps for the Autoswitch. Wheee!

Now I'm trying to guess which fuse I should attach the little 'add a circuit' thing I bought. I have 4 pics from various sites all show varying # of fuses, but seem to pick the rightmost fuse, maybe the heated grips?

Off for wiring connectors as I have butchered the Hella harnees which has the property of being both too long and too short at the same time. Genius!

Anyone know if I Ireally need to connect that green wire from the Hella relay to anything except the violet Autoswitch wire? It doesn't HAVE to go to the high beams like in the instructions? I just want to be able to turn the lgihts on independently and have them off when the ignition is off.

I'm really glad it's not cold out, but must it be 90+? Sigh....

Whining Hiker

beemerphile · Post by **beemerphile** » Mon May 29, 2006 6:50 pm

Hiker wrote:Thanks, Lee, I think I have that located under the...I dunno some kind of square big connector thing on the RH side of the fuse box. So that's one of the taps for the Autoswitch. Wheee!

You should't have to make any connections at the fuse box it is a PITA to deal with. The Brown/White wire can be easily accessed at the connector in front of the ABS/Battery box. Just skin it and solder the tap (Autoswitch orange) to it. cover with tape. I would power the Autoswitch relay from the bike Green wire which it hot when the ignition is on. I'd add the power circuit for the lights straight from the battery terminal through an inline fuse. In fact, your light harness may already have an inline fuse. I am not familiar with the Hella brand. Mine are PIAA's. - Lee

Hiker · Post by **Hiker** » Mon May 29, 2006 7:24 pm

I'm not married to the fuse box, but I did like that idea of the added circuit for power, so I could keep the invasion of the BMW harness to a minimum. For that I only need to know which fuse to piggy back on.

The fuse box is good location for the relay and the Autoswitch IMO, since it's all in one place and not covered by the tank in case troubleshooting is required (and I'm betting it's required.)

I will look for the connector by the ABS. I would like to tap in elsewhere since that fuse box is tight and I don't want to remove it and hide everything underneath as others have done. It looks good, but again PITA if you need to examine the connections.

Thanks for the convo, Lee. It's keeping me going...

Just looking for which fusebox location to use (or what amp is required for Hella's...in case anybody knows...

Hiker

beemerphile · Post by **beemerphile** » Tue May 30, 2006 10:55 am

Hiker wrote: Just looking for which fusebox location to use (or what amp is required for Hella's...in case anybody knows...

If they are 55 watts each it would be just under 10 amps for two of them. That would dictate a 15 amp fusing. - Lee

Post by **rdsmith3** » Tue May 30, 2006 11:05 am

I am not sure what you are trying to do.

If you are adding lights, you want to use a relay. Hellas normally include a relay with the lights AFAIK. Therefore, the lights will be wired directly to the battery, and switched with the relay. The full power draw of the lights is not going through the switch. You can use an Add a Circuit fuse holder to power the relay. Any switched power circuit will do. I used the heated grip circuit because it is turned off when you are cranking the engine. Because you are just powering the relay, you only need something like a 3 or 5 amp fuse.

I have posted about this before -- try searching. If you can't find it let me know.

You should be able to do this without removing the tank and without lifting the fuse box. I have done both and learned the hard way that both are a PITA. Also, I do not recommend splicing into a wire. The connection can flex with the vibration and eventually come loose or the wire could break.

Trust me -- the simplest, cleanest way to power an accessory is with one of these things. There is no splicing involved. Just remember that you have to use a relay with the lights.

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/pshowdet ... er=071-580

Can't help with the turn signal cancel wire, but that is the reason I decided not to use the Autoswitch. I leave my Motolights on all the time for conspicuity. I have a switch under the seat, but I see no reason to turn them off.

Hiker · Post by **Hiker** » Tue May 30, 2006 11:38 am

Bob,

Yes exactly, I have the Hella's, the relay and that little 'add a circuit' device, which is pretty neat.

I have a 2004 ABS R1150R and was wondering which is the heated grips fuse? The 7th fuse from the left or the 8th? I guess I could pull fuses.
But that was what I wanted to know, if the amps on that fuse mattered. So it does not. Cool.

I reassembled the harness and will hook the thing up tonight.
Getting close...

Thank you for the feedback! It helps.

Hiker

Ps, I did much searching on this topic. I think I vapor-locked my head.

Hiker · Post by **Hiker** » Tue May 30, 2006 8:13 pm

I attached all the wiring and wouldn't you know it, the darn thing works!

So tomorrow, I make it pretty, replace the tank and start on the light mounting...finally.

Yahoo. Lights.
Thanks for the feedback guys. It only takes a little sometimes to keep you going.

Hiker

Post by **queenpdog** » Tue May 30, 2006 10:03 pm

Sonja,
Congratulations on getting the job done. Anything that involves wires and fuses usually scares me away. Maybe you can come to Minnesota and do mine for me?

Anyway, good job. Did you take photos? Maybe you could post some over there for the ladies?

Post by **CycleRob** » Tue May 30, 2006 10:31 pm

Hiker,

"Wiring in" driving lites is really easy once you either:

A) Understand all the basics of the simple circuitry and will make no improper decisions

-or-

B) You are able to follow excellent directions to the letter.

The problem is that . . . in reality . . . . A and B are rare.

I wired in my driving lites with the relay "Batt" power to the starter solenoid's fat upper cable (battery) and use an AutoSwitch to actuate the load relay. Yes, the circuit was "hot" when fatwire "battery" connections were made, but I didn't want to take the fueltank off. My care with swinging wrenches for that segment was fanatical.

Using the bike's weirdly formatted, all black wiring schematic I purchased from BMW, all other soldered wire connections were available and made under the fusebox lid which has to be removed. I also added 2 blocking diodes from the relay coil to the high beam power wire and relay coil to the AutoSwitch. That way, either the bike's high beam or the AutoSwitch will turn on the driving lites and the diodes will isolate the two circuits from each other. I added the diodes to the cirduit months later because the 1.6 second cancel button press took way too long to shut off the driving lites for oncomming cars at nite.

My regime now is . . . "ON" with the AutoSwitch after start-up and drive away, or when niteriding, they go on with the bike's high beam when no oncoming traffic is there. The extra nitetime visibility is absolutely phenominal !!

The best thing about the AutoSwitch is that if the driving lites were on when you turned the key off, they will not be on when you turn the key on again.

Hiker · Post by **Hiker** » Wed May 31, 2006 10:53 am

HIiCyclerob!

I'm limited to 'B' as I have little confidence in my 'A', especilally the first time. If I had it to do again on another bike, I'd be quick about it as I've alreadly made all the iffy decisions...

Your set-up sounds superior for faster switching. We'll see how I do with what I have.

I know you are well-versed in this machine. There is a drilled and tapped hole on either side of the frame up near the front that just screams "I AM YOUR GROUND SPOT!" It is, however without a bolt. Is there a chance you might know what size that may be?

Hiker

beemerphile · Post by **beemerphile** » Wed May 31, 2006 11:53 am

Hiker wrote:There is a drilled and tapped hole on either side of the frame up near the front that just screams "I AM YOUR GROUND SPOT!" It is, however without a bolt. Is there a chance you might know what size that may be?

If it's the one I am thinking of, I believe it is an M6 x 1.0 thread. The bolts that hold your oil cooler shrounds on are M4 and probably smaller than this one. The bolts in the handlebar clamps are M8 and probably larger. BMW doesn't use many 5's and I've never seen a 7. - Lee

Post by **rdsmith3** » Wed May 31, 2006 3:20 pm

There are not a lot of good places to put a ground. I ended up connecting my lights directly to the battery terminals (negative and positive) because my first choice for a ground came undone.

But since you don't want to remove the tank to get to the battery, it sounds like you have found a good place.

beemerphile · Post by **beemerphile** » Wed May 31, 2006 6:45 pm

beemerphile wrote:If it's the one I am thinking of, I believe it is an M6 x 1.0 thread.

Not the one I was thinking of. That hole is not threaded. If the threaded hole you are talking about is in a flat unpainted mounting boss, it is probably the upper attachment point for the optional crash bars. That one would be M8 x 1.25 thread. - Lee

Hiker · Post by **Hiker** » Wed May 31, 2006 8:14 pm

Thanks, Lee. It was those huge unpainted areas. I'm not doing crash bars but even if, what a monster ground.

They were M's, not sure if M8 or 10, I took a pair of each and one fit.

Happiness.

The oil cooler covers are mostly in place and tomorrow I fit the Hellas to them. Someone used wellnuts for this and I though it looked like a good idea, so another evening in the garage...

Hiker