LED switches

[Gandan]

Does anone know where I could obtain a small led switch to put in my instrument surround to operate some auxillary lights for my 1200GS please. Some moisture resistance capability would be a bonus as well!
I understand the autoswitch doesn't work on the 1200 unless anyone knows differently:-thanks

 

[BTBR]

As a word of warning and before you go any further, just be careful what you are adding to the circuit.

The KanBus system does not like additional stuff being plugged into its circuit. Unless it has been programmed in to "read" it.

BTBR

 

[Gandan]

Thanks BTBR
I was planning on installing one of the centech fuse boxes and running the lights through that with one of their relays. Bought them from Motorrad Concepts and Dutch has kind added to the instructions and even sent photos. Who thought up this Canbus mullarky and do we know where they live? Are there any new/demo 1150's left for sale? Your avatar is strangely hypnotic and relaxing. I need Bitty!

 

[hightower]

For more switches than you can shake a stick at, try www.cpc.co.uk They carry a massive range of pretty much everything electrical. Their catalogue is like 2 phone books stuck together!!! Their web site is a bit outdated, but you get used to it after a while, definitely worth a look

 

[The Machine Cat]

I have killed three sets of switches, including one from Touratech and one designed for army copters..
They all died on me.
I am waiting for the GSA extra light switch now. Should fit on the 1200GS. Hope it will not be another POS

 

[BTBR]

To be fair the kanbus system is very good, it saves weight and it saves money.

The down side is that to add extra stuff, can sometimes prove a little difficult.

Nearly all modern cars and trucks have gone that way now.

I/we deal a lot with Volvo trucks, and one of the biggest causes of breakdown is drivers that add extra spotlights. Five on the roof and five under the bumper type of arrangement.

The result is that in a certain situation the trucks system will "think" that there is a fault. The system is then designed to shut down certain circuits to prevent any further damage. It will keep shutting down parts of the circuit in an effort to cure the "problem".

The final shutdown is when it stops the truck...........dead!

BTBR

 

[Mouse]

With all respect to BTBR, I think he's being very pessimistic about this. Many people on these forums, myself included, have added extra lights to their 1200s with no problems.

The issue is this: The electric circuits on the bike are controlled not by simple wiring, but by electronic "control units". For example when the engine starts a sensor will tell the headlight control unit to turn the headlight on. This is not, strictly speaking, the "CAN bus" - the CAN bus is merely how these various control units talk to each other.

The control unit is slightly clever, in that it can detect whether your headlight bulb has blown, or if the circuit is drawing too much power. Therefore simply wiring extra lights in parallel with the headlight would cause the control unit to cut the power, thinking there's a fault.

But the amount of current drawn by a relay is tiny in comparison to that drawn by a 55W bulb. The contol unit has some tolerance in the amount of current it will allow on the headlamp circuit. Therefore adding a relay in parallel with the headlamp bulb is perfectly safe. The relay can then be used to switch a feed direct from the battery (via a fuse of course) to power the extra lights.

You're not connecting anything to the CAN bus - you are simply adding to the conventional part of the bike's wiring loom. The only difference between this wiring and that on any other bike is that the power is supplied from a "black box" control unit rather than direct from the battery.

The bike does not have to be reprogrammed or fiddled with in any way for extra lights fitted in this way to work.

If you look in the FAQ section, you'll find a simple circuit diagram I drew and other information about adding extra lights.

HTH

 

[JohnP]

I was planning on installing one of the centech fuse boxes and running the lights through that with one of their relays. Bought them from Motorrad Concepts and Dutch has kind added to the instructions and even sent photos.

Could (or Dutch) you post instructions and photos of the installation, since I'm interested in fitting the same. Thanks in advance.

 

[ianm00]

With all respect to BTBR, I think he's being very pessimistic about this. Many people on these forums, myself included, have added extra lights to their 1200s with no problems.

The issue is this: The electric circuits on the bike are controlled not by simple wiring, but by electronic "control units". For example when the engine starts a sensor will tell the headlight control unit to turn the headlight on. This is not, strictly speaking, the "CAN bus" - the CAN bus is merely how these various control units talk to each other.

The control unit is slightly clever, in that it can detect whether your headlight bulb has blown, or if the circuit is drawing too much power. Therefore simply wiring extra lights in parallel with the headlight would cause the control unit to cut the power, thinking there's a fault.

But the amount of current drawn by a relay is tiny in comparison to that drawn by a 55W bulb. The contol unit has some tolerance in the amount of current it will allow on the headlamp circuit. Therefore adding a relay in parallel with the headlamp bulb is perfectly safe. The relay can then be used to switch a feed direct from the battery (via a fuse of course) to power the extra lights.

You're not connecting anything to the CAN bus - you are simply adding to the conventional part of the bike's wiring loom. The only difference between this wiring and that on any other bike is that the power is supplied from a "black box" control unit rather than direct from the battery.

The bike does not have to be reprogrammed or fiddled with in any way for extra lights fitted in this way to work.

If you look in the FAQ section, you'll find a simple circuit diagram I drew and other information about adding extra lights.

HTH

I agree with you on this Mouse.

Also I think it should be possible to use an autoswitch on the 1200GS. Essentially the autoswitch is just a piece of electronics that detects (Ground signal) that the indicator cancel switch has been pressed and held for a period of time (0.8s for autoswitch I think). This switch then "toggles" the state of a relay which is then used to power extra lights etc.

Unless the Indicator cancel switch doesn't switch to ground in the same way as other BMW bikes I cannot see how connecting the autoswitch sense wire to this switch would upset the canbus controller. Similar to mouse example above I would not expect the autoswitch to take significant current from this sense wire to make the controller think that there is a problem.

I cannot be sure that Im correct in this however!

Ian

 

[PRR]

Also I think it should be possible to use an autoswitch on the 1200GS. Essentially the autoswitch is just a piece of electronics that detects (Ground signal) that the indicator cancel switch has been pressed and held for a period of time (0.8s for autoswitch I think). This switch then "toggles" the state of a relay which is then used to power extra lights etc.

Several sources agree that it doesn't work on R12GS:
Nippy Norman (a bit inconsistent when I looked but at least in one place they said it doesn't work), http://www.autoswitch.de/products.htm and http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=51363

In the last thread it is said that the high beam version of the Autoswitch works on R12GS and that they have a new version coming out??!

 

[Wapping]

With all respect to BTBR, I think he's being very pessimistic about this. Many people on these forums, myself included, have added extra lights to their 1200s with no problems......

 

[Gandan]

Switch

Thanks everyone for the help and advice. I have just e-mailed autoswitch from the link given asking for an update on the switch for the 1200. Hope he reads English. If anyone wants the photos/info sent to me by Dutch pm and I will try to forward. If anyone has any more info/links/photos/idiot guides then I will accept gratefully

 

[JohnP]

If anyone wants the photos/info sent to me by Dutch pm and I will try to forward.

Yes please Gan.

 

[Gandan]

Autoswitch Response

Well I hope this means something to the technically minded. I have received a response from Autoswitch and if anyone can explain to me and I am sure one or two others out there what he means exactly in short simple terms then I would be grateful. I get the basics, just not some of the wording.

Stefan Schiedermaier - Autoswitch Europe <[email protected]>
Hi,

unfortunately the switch for the CAN bus is not developed yet.
As a workaround you can use the 5P autoswitch and trigger it
using the high beam switch or the foot brake switch (positive pulse).

Regards,
Stefan

 

[PRR]

I have received a response from Autoswitch and if anyone can explain to me and I am sure one or two others out there what he means exactly in short simple terms then I would be grateful.

This one doesn't work on a R12GS (or other CAN-bus bike): http://www.autoswitch.de/autoswitch-5nb.htm

This works (but of course not on the turn-signal-cancel-switch): http://www.autoswitch.de/autoswitch-5p.htm

 

[JimVonBaden]

My post from another forum. I have since added Hella FF50's as well:

The R1200GS Canbus system is somewhat reluctant to be messed with. OK, that is an understatement. It wont tolerate being messed with.

So, if you want to add accessories, you need to either wire them directly to the battery, or create a fuse box. Of course for the fuse box to work right, and to prevent your accessories from killing the fairly small battery on the 12GS, you need to hook the fuse box up to a relay.

Here is the wiring diagram I made up, and used. Note that I have the GPS wired directly to the battery still, since I want power at all times. If you have a unit with a battery, you can use the fuse box.

Lots of wires can be messy, but BMW was thinking about us when they elected to furnish a tool kit with no tools in it (for all intents and purposes), so I put the fuse box in the spot where the tools used to be. It is the perfect location.

I used a Blue Seas fuse box because it is a quality unit, and marine rated for protection, so I figured it would work on a bike. I got it for $20 on E-bay new.

The relays are under the fuse box, and it is held in place by the tool strap. This makes it easy to lift up if you want to add more accessories, or change a fuse.

The big picture. Pretty clean considering I did it in 25 degree temps, outside, at night. When I add more lights I will make the wires a little neater, but it works.

I took the signal power for the main 30amp relay, purchased at Pep Boys for $3.99, from the testing plug at the back of the fuse box. I used the green wire with blue stripes because it is ignition on only, so the fuse block is only powered when the key is on. The power needed is so low that the Canbus ignores it.

When I wired up the fuse box, I also installed some new Motolights that I got for a steal at just $250. They work well, though I may add more light, as you can never have too much.

The big picture.

The wires coming up the brake lines are nearly unnoticable.

I put the switch on the inside of the left brush guard, which lets me turn them on and off with my index finger, bit is out of the way.

Anyhow, it works great. I did 200 miles today and no problems. After dark the Motolights definitely improved on the already good stock lighting.

I also routed the power for my electrics to the fuse box, and have set it up to add my new FIAM horn as soon as I find a 5amp relay.

Finally got the rest of the lights installed on my GS. Hey, it was too nasty to ride.

So, my total number of lights is back up to my comfort level of 5! Seems this is where I always end up.

I now have a new set of Motolights, $250 new off the IBMWR web site, and a set of Hella FF50's $40 from E-bay, and a Bestrest adjustable light bar, that I got from ADVRider for about $100.

Anyhow, here is the finished product (cept I need to fab a light switch mount for the Hellas.).

Hella FF50 mounted.

From below.

All lights mounted.

Low beam only, actually it isn't that bad alone.

Low beam with Motolights. My normal daytime running condition.

All except the high beam. I was using a flash to minimize glare so you could see the lights better.

All lights, no flash, from Motolight level at about 8'.

All lights, including high beam, at the Hella Lights level, no flash.

I think these will be great for my favorite night time twisty rides, and long straight two lane blasts.

No issues for the last 3K miles or so.


Jim