Wiring your headlight switch

Post by **Indawoods** » 10:38 pm Mar 26 2005

Hey guys.. I came up with a circuit that allows you to control just the headlight with the lighting switch and keep the rest of the system hot. It took me a little while to figure out how the voltage regulator actually worked in their wiring but I have determined that there are no separate circuits at all in the wiring. When it goes live from the magneto, the voltage regulator puts anything above 12 volts to ground.

In this pic you can see how I got around their wiring to be able to use my brake light all the time.

The two wires to the right normally aren't connected together.
The yellow is from the magneto and normally goes to the headlight switch and the red one is the return and makes the entire circuit hot if fed.

To the left you see the switches wires (yellow and red) I have the red feeding into the hot on the headlight and the yellow going to the normal hot headlight feed. (Making the switch only switch the headlight)
The black ground wire is in the circuit as normal.

The tail light and brake light are alway hot on this setup. Mine is a LED setup so burnout is not an issue or so I hear and pulls very little current.

So... what do ya think?

skipro3 · Post by **skipro3** » 12:08 am Mar 27 2005

Sounds o.k. but to what purpose do you want to turn off the headlight and leave the brake/rear light (or anything else you've heated up with the onboard power) on?

Post by **Indawoods** » 12:29 am Mar 27 2005

The headlight in the system is the most volatile part of the lighting system. I don't want to run the headlight all the time to have a brake light available and this is the simplest solution without a major rewire.
I don't know about anyone else but when you are riding fast on single track and someone is behind you, it is a good thing to let them know that you are slowing down.
How many near misses have you had in the past? Me... plenty.
My brother was rear ended and it put him in the hospital. To me, it is just as important as hand guards, wrist braces or any other safety device. It's hard to prepare for something when you don't know it's coming.

For some reason Ski... you sound skeptical. Maybe because you don't run any lights and run wide open areas. Someone may find it useful.

Colorado Mike · Post by **Colorado Mike** » 10:08 am Mar 27 2005

Hey Inda,

I notice your steering damper appears to be upside down, What's the reason for that? Also, where did you get your brake switch, and what kind is it? Do you have one on the front too? A friend of mine says he had a KDX that the dealer made street legal as part of the sale, and it had brake switches front and rear.

Thanks for the tip,

Post by **Indawoods** » 10:33 am Mar 27 2005

Hey Mike..
It's upside down because it accommodates a computer also. When you order from Scotts, you go through this questionaire and it will ask you if you are running a computer and they send you the clamp and the stabilizer setup for a computer. You can't see it in the pic but the computer is mounted above the stabilizer. It's a great setup.

K&S makes the Nissin style brake light switch that just takes the place of your master cylinders banjo bolt and it has two wires coming out of the top.
Just like a switch controlled with hydraulics. You wire it on the hot wire... send and receive. You can use them for front and rear if you wish. I have mine on the rear only... out of the way and first instinct for me is always to hit the rear first even though the fronts are always more effective.

There are different types of these switches but this one is by far the easiest to install.
I bought my switch and light here:

http://www.kevinscycleracing.com/ ** Under Plastics **

Great people...

canyncarvr · Post by **canyncarvr** » 11:28 am Mar 28 2005

Different strokes for different folks....

I wouldn't want the system hot all the time. The OEM system is 'tuned' as far as the VR and load go. The less load, the more the VR has to deal with. How much over spec can it 'deal with' before it goes poof?

...besides, having 'always on' wires running around the bike (no fuse? no switch?) is problematic.

My VR is out of the circuit when nothing is running.....by design (well, how about 'on purpose'?). When the system is 'hot', the VR is running with the load of either lights or grip heat...but the VR is never clamping the full output of the coil.

..which is what suits me...which is why I did it that way!

...and so, the differerent strokes idea, 'eh? ;)

Nice forks! Looks like your front brakeline is running KDX style. I guess the black line I see is the brakeline... I thought you ended up with your KX caliper on?

How is it (again?) that you hold the line when it makes the turn around-and-up the forks?

Post by **Indawoods** » 11:43 am Mar 28 2005

The line you see is the computer cable... it runs around and up...just like the KX brake line. It's all KX up front baby

Look in the gallery...fresh pics!

So you think the VR is "tuned" to handle those grip heaters, or the extra output of your lighting coil? Interesting glass house!

Besides... I have an extra VR

Post by **Mr. Wibbens** » 12:54 pm Mar 28 2005

Indawoods wrote: I don't know about anyone else but when you are riding fast on single track and someone is behind you, it is a good thing to let them know that you are slowing down.

Its also a good thing to have your headlite on when riding fast down that single track so the guy coming the opposite direction has some sort of clue that some whacko is coming the other way.

canyncarvr · Post by **canyncarvr** » 01:24 pm Mar 28 2005

I tuned it myself! Added current to match the added coil output!!

...where's my Windex....

re: whacko
Yeah. On some 800# DR, even!!

Post by **Indawoods** » 11:24 pm Mar 28 2005

Those grip heaters must suck in the summer time!

As it sits stock... nothing at all is getting through until you click the "LIGHTS" switch. The VR does nothing more that put anything above 12v to ground. We are not talking watts here... just voltage. Voltage is a constant (not really since it has a VR, but you get my point) regardless how many lights you are running, it's the wattage that becomes a problem.... right? RIGHT!

canyncarvr · Post by **canyncarvr** » 12:36 pm Mar 29 2005

That's why my grip heaters are switched. ;)

re: VR Yeah. When it clamps 60-some volts, there isn't any current to it at all!

...right? RIGHT!

Post by **Indawoods** » 12:44 pm Mar 29 2005

canyncarvr wrote:That's why my grip heaters are switched. ;)

What difference does it make having your heaters on the wrong grips?

60V? My goodness.... is that how much it's clamping????

canyncarvr · Post by **canyncarvr** » 01:12 pm Mar 29 2005

re: switched

One is for the throttle tube, one for the non-throttle tube. You don't want to be (trying to) twisting the left grip to go faster.

I had an o'scope on mine once...long time back. I think it's quite a bit more than that, actually. Seems it's up around 100 volts.....

Part of why I don't want that running around (sitting around?) my wire loom.

Post by **KDXGarage** » 01:42 pm Mar 29 2005

The guy from ricky stator said it can get up to 100.

Post by **Indawoods** » 08:52 pm Mar 29 2005

Well... if that's the case then I'm sure the VR is built to take my little wiring side step.

quailchaser · Post by **quailchaser** » 12:33 am Apr 02 2005

Very interesting, the idea of running brake light w/o the headlamp. Vince, where did you get your tail light set up? I can see from your Gallery photos that you are running a MX fender with an enduro led light. Looks sweet, I'd like to copy it if you don't mind sharing the info.

Later
Robb

Post by **Indawoods** » 08:28 am Apr 02 2005

Yeah... My idea of what the new '06 KDX upgrades should look like!

The tailight is a Baja Designs LED tailight/brake light combo, I bought it from http://kevinscycleracing.com

quailchaser · Post by **quailchaser** » 01:28 am Nov 29 2005

Well, now that I have the KX for the nasty trails, it's time to get the KDX dual sported. Unfortunately, I'm electrically challenged.

There is a voltage regulator on the headlamp/tail lamp circuit. I don't understand how it works, as it's in the middle of the circuit sort of "clamped" on the hot wire to the tail lamp.

Ok, I guess I really don't need to know how this works. Do I?

What I want to do is have the brake light work independently from the head lamp and tail lamp circuit. I really don't want to run the headlight and tail light unless it's dark. I was thinking I could run wires off the "yellow" (aka...hot) wire from the magneto to the front and rear banjo bolt style brake switches and then back to the brake light wire. Do I need to add a VR to this circuit? If so, how? Am I way off base? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

P.S. Please word any response or explanation in terms that an IDIOT (aka...me) can understand. Thank you.

canyncarvr · Post by **canyncarvr** » 02:44 pm Nov 29 2005

As I understand what you're after...wire it up just like Inda's. Ask him for particulars...wire by wire...if you need to?

Do NOT wire the yellow output wire to ANYthing unless the regulator is ALSO in the circuit. The 100+VAC the lighting coil puts out when not regulated will blow up most anything.

Yes, you must use your/a VR.

A BTW..

If you are going to license the bike, make sure you know what AZ requires. Some states do require a horn that works when the machine is NOT running. That will take some sort of jury rigging..not necessarily something you need to KEEP on the bike..but have it on for the licensing inspection.

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Colorado Mike · Post by **Colorado Mike** » 02:53 pm Nov 29 2005

Colorado lets you use a squeezy horn like off a kids bike. I think the streamers are optional, but a nice touch.

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Wiring your headlight switch

Wiring your headlight switch