[moenko]

I had a 12V outlet that was directly wired to a fuse panel - not through any relay. I had power always, running or not. It's unlikely that a GPS will run your battery down unless you leave it on for weeks on end. If you fear that someone can play a trick on you and de-juice your battery for kicks through the outlet, put a hidden switch somewhere in line and hide it Don't see a need to have the outlet run through a relay.

But I would put the fuse panel where the one inline fuse is, i.e. between the battery and pin 30 of the relay. If you were controlling a single circuit with a relay, you need one fuse. The fuse panel performs the same function, a fuse for each circuit, as a single fuse does in absebce if a fuse panel. NO?

^^ Well it wouldn't seem like you needed one, but think of this: Let's say you overload the fuse block with too many high-current circuits (10 Amps and up). All application will work fine if switched on all at once, but the main wire feeding the fuse block has to withstand all the current you allow through the fuse block. I know, it's unlikely but let's say you run 35 Amps continuously through the block ... the wire from the battery to the block will get warm, I promise you. Protect the entire circuit with a cheap 30 Amp fuse as outlined above and you don't need to worry

 

[Yaatri]

At 5700rpm plus or minus

Thank you so very much. I have been trying to search for this information for a while now. How did you find out? Does the repair/shop manual have this info? I used to buy a manual for any car/vehicle I bought, but then I found that I could do little things without the manual.
When I bought my first car, it was a used Opel, I did not know, of the three pedals on the floor, which one was the brake, clutch or the gas pedal!

Note: fi system bikes the fi uses a noticble chunk of that.
I went LED for alll my ancilliary lights and hid (usesless power than halogen) for the head light

Glad my BMW puts out 720

Yes, I understand that only a portion of the 360W will be available for expansion. based on my memory and experience, here is, what I think the budget would be.

Headlight 60W
Front marker/turn signal 21/5W
Brake/Tail light (21/5W)
The rest of the lights are LED
Horn is used intermittently (not sure ho much power it draws). The normal state for the brake and turn signal bulbs is the lower power. We can turn signals and brakes would be used a lot more in city driving than on Hwy driving. Let's assume 25% use of brakes and turn signals, which gives us 10W for each bulb. 5*10W=50W
the wiring itself consumes some power. I estimate it as follows: By calculating voltage drop across a certain length of a wire of certain gauge, I can get the power draw by that wire.
10ft of 18 AWG wire drawing 5A, is roughly 10W,
another 10W for wiring to other lights
20W for the rest, including the ignition circuit (but not starting circuit).
Fan, when operating will be another draw. Say, another 100W?
This gives a total of 150W steady and 250W when the fan is operating.
There is no way to know when the fan operates.
I have no idea how realistic my estimates are. If my total is realistic, even if individual numbers are not, using Walmart lights maxes out the alternator.

This brings us to why it would be a good idea to install a switch in the circuit to turn off the auxiliary lights. If you were to use a an air pump to inflate one of your tires, you should turn the auxiliary lights off.

In winter time, the fan would run less often. If one could install a little LED indicator to tell one when the fan comes on, using your heated garments at 50% or less duty cycle, and turning them, off when the fan comes on, you could just about get by.

It all depends on how realistic my numbers are. I would be uncomfortable with using a full suit of heated garments on the bike.

 

[moenko]

Never knew they had Opel in this country ... my first car was an Opel Kadett Sprint like the one below, just in white:

 

[Boxwrench]

From Clymers repair manual 2001-1006 issue:

No load voltage ( engine cold ) : geater than 70Volts (ac) @ 5000 rpm
Max output: 370 watts @ 5000rpm
Regulated voltage (charging voltage): 14.0-15.5 volts @ 5000 rpm​

 

[Yaatri]

I had a 12V outlet that was directly wired to a fuse panel - not through any relay. I had power always, running or not. It's unlikely that a GPS will run your battery down unless you leave it on for weeks on end. If you fear that someone can play a trick on you and de-juice your battery for kicks through the outlet, put a hidden switch somewhere in line and hide it Don't see a need to have the outlet run through a relay

No, I am not worried about someone playing a trick with me nor do I have any enemies. You are right, always on outlet doesn't need to be wired through the relay. It's just that when you have a 5 pin relay, it seems to be a bit more elegant. Nothing else.

If you don't overload your electrical system, the fuse panel alone would suffice. That's why I wanted to know the power output of the alternator.

^^ Well it wouldn't seem like you needed one, but think of this: Let's say you overload the fuse block with too many high-current circuits (10 Amps and up). All application will work fine if switched on all at once, but the main wire feeding the fuse block has to withstand all the current you allow through the fuse block. I know, it's unlikely but let's say you run 35 Amps continuously through the block ... the wire from the battery to the block will get warm, I promise you. Protect the entire circuit with a cheap 30 Amp fuse as outlined above and you don't need to worry

If the current draw from all electronics in normal operation was through the fuse block does not exceed, what the electrical system is designed to handle, you wouldn't need the extra inline fuse if the fuses in the fuse panel did their job. However, if you had an alternator with higher power rating, and the wiring to support the current draw, the extra fuse would be redundant, and I accept that redundancy is not useless.
Thanks for the good discussion.


However, if one overload the system so that ones power draw would exceed the alternator output, or the current draw would be more than what the wiring is deigned to handle (when all the gadgets were running), one is taking a risk. Adding the inline fuse covers the risk. It's bad practice to pile on gadgets on one's vehicle. Isn't there a 30 Amp Fuse in the system already?

In an overloaded situation, this, once again shows that it's important to wire a switch in your auxiliary headlights, so that you can turn them off, if you wanted to use other gadgets.

 

[Yaatri]

Never knew they had Opel in this country ... my first car was an Opel Kadett Sprint like the one below, just in white:

Never knew they had Opel in this country ... my first car was an Opel Kadett Sprint like the one below, just in white:

Your Opel Kadett is much younger. GM brought its OPEL in the U.S. as its U.S. division did not have any small cars. In the mid 70's it hurriedly put together Chevy Chette to replace the OPEL in the U.S. market. The OPEL models were sold as Buick-Opel through Buick dealers. Opel Kadett (Sedan and Wagon) and OPEL GT, known as mini Corvette were sold in the U.S.
I owned a 1970 Opel Kadett and a 1973 Opel Kadett. Both were wagons.
1970 Opel Kadett. The same colour as mine. One of my friends and my thesis advisor in Graduate school also had Kadetts in the same colour (Both 1968 models)
Here is the 1973 Opel Kadett of the same colour as mine.
Where did you own your Opel?

 

[moenko]

I had my Kadett between 1989 and 1993, then I came to the USA for good. I am from Germany. My father always drove Opel until he finally got a Mercedes before he died. Opel is still GM's biggest division in Europe. Below is our 70s Opel Ascona, and me in Lederhosen with my mom and grandma, ca. anno 1974

 

[Yaatri]

I had my Kadett between 1989 and 1993, then I came to the USA for good. I am from Germany. My father always drove Opel until he finally got a Mercedes before he died. Opel is still GM's biggest division in Europe. Below is our 70s Opel Ascona, and me in Lederhosen with my mom and grandma, ca. anno 1974

I have been arguing with a kid? I came to the U.S. in 1977 and bought my first car, 1970 Opel Kadett station wagon for $250. I learnt to drive on it and lots of other things, such as replacing brake pads, rotors, wheel bearings, brushes on an alternator, water pump etc. I bought my second Opel, a 1973 Station Wagon for $750 as the first one needed some work. I sold it 4 years later for $1000.

 

[moenko]

So, from where did you come in '77 ? Your screen name sounds Greek....

 

[woodylsp]

Can anyone give me a wiring picture on where the wires for a rach would go ,I have a 2006 C-90 VL-1500,dont know which tach yet but Iam told they all have the same wires, grnd,ignition,12vdc,and the the one for the tach itself,where does that go exactly ,thanks to anyone and everyone who can help,,,,,,WOODY

 

[woodylsp]

That mispelled word is Tach not Rach sorry for that WOODY

 

[Boxwrench]

Not off hand but make sure you get/make a single fire adapter for the tach or the tach itself it set up for single fire.

Reason: Vols use dual fire and wastes a spark.
Bouls fire on the cylinder that is next to be set off.

 

[Yaatri]

Not off hand but make sure you get/make a single fire adapter for the tach or the tach itself it set up for single fire.

Reason: Vols use dual fire and wastes a spark.
Bouls fire on the cylinder that is next to be set off.

I think many twin cylinder bikes do that. IO suppose it makes things simpler and cheaper, as you can do away with the distributor.

 

[Yaatri]

So, from where did you come in '77 ? Your screen name sounds Greek....

No, I am not Greek. I'd give you one more guess.

I have a retraction for my earlier idea of putting the fuse block and all additions between the +ve terminal of the battery and the realy. It's a bad idea as any accidental grounding prior to the relay would turn on your devices, lights and all even when not supposed to be on, say, during ignition. Inputs to all the additions should be powered by the ooutput of the relay. Hence, the fuseblock also must be placed after the relay.

Therefor, location ( order in the circuit) of the relay is important.

 

[Farmboy]

I just want to add my two cents. My sincere and extreme appreciation to everyone involved in bringing this wiring procedure down to my level of understanding. You guys are aces!

 

[Jbyrd]

This kind of is related to this thread but does anybody know if you can purchase the male end of that accessory plug that's in the headlight bucket on the Blvds? I would like to make a clean installation of some LED lights I have added by using what should be connected to that accessory plug. Thanks!

 

[dimarrco]

I bought 2 of the prewired relays , as the link shows above. I am sure these will come in handy as I proceed with my mods. Thanks

 

[Blinky]

About to wire in a set of 55 watt driving lights and want a check on eliminating the switch in the diagram below. I don't really want to drill or cut a spot for a switch. If I use the aux power lead in the headlight bucket wired directly to the relay, they should come on just when the ignition switch is on, correct? Any issues eliminating the switch? Sorry to ask for a check but for me, electricity is right there with women and religion, both not intended to be understood by man.
Thanks in advance and great thread moenko.

I came across quite a few fellas who were unsure how to wire new accessories on their bike. Those who are totally unfamiliar with electricity will be interested to know that if you add too much ballast (wattage-drawing devices) to your AUX plug in the headlight bucket, you are likely to draw more than 10 Amps, for which it is fused. The fuse rating is matched to the 18 AWG wire used by Suzuki, so the fuse protects the WIRE first (from overheating) and your devices second. Since we can't change the OEM wire from Suzuki running through the harnesses, we have to live with what they gave us: A 10 Amp circuit translating to a maximum of 120 Watts ballast.

Even if the fuse withholds higher Amps (and it usually will, which is quite contradictory to their purpose), your wires, now getting pretty warm in the IGNITION SWITCH, will slowly but surely damage the switch which may eventually fail. So you want to put add'l accessories on their own circuit with a relay.

A relay is an electric switch which, when energized, will close a second, totally independent circuit. Below is a drawing I made for a simple setup of wiring two add'l driving lights. Note that the rocker switch gets its energy from the IGNITION circuit and when turned on, will close an independent circuit (in the relay between poles 87 and 30) and safely run your lights (or anything you connect) on it's own, fused(!) circuit.

Why do we want a relay and not simply wire the lights directly to the battery? Well, of course you can do that, but if you do, the lights will come on whenever someone throws the switch, even if no key is in the ignition. Or, you walk away from the bike accidentally leaving your lights on. 3 hours before your battery is dead! A correctly wired relay will only allow the circuit to your aux. lights come on when the ignition is on.

Just for clarification on the drawing: This drawing assumes that you have a LIT switch where a little light comes on when it's in the "on" position. That is the only reason there is a third post on the green rocker switch - to energize the lit button. If you have just a simple, unlit toggle switch, it will only have two terminals, so you can forget the third one with the black ground wire coming from it (in my drawing I spliced it to negative in the circuit).

Also you will wonder why I just said that the AUX can handle 120 Watts but my lights in the drawing only add up to 110 Watts. You are correct, just that 120 Watts is the MAXIMUM load the wires can safely handle, but not continuously. So we're getting pretty darn close to their acceptable Ampacity, making it safer to go this route.

The wires coming TO the Aux plug in the headlight are orange with blue stripes (positive) and black with white stripes (negative).

There are wiring harnesses on the market that have this cicuit so you don't have to wire yourself if that's not your cup of tea, but they still usually need a little modification here and there. Check at autozone.com, Part# PL-HARN3

I used a 20 Amp fuse in my drawing, which is actually overkill for the driving lights. 15 Amps would do fine, even 10 in a pinch. Just make sure to match the fuse to the WIRE SIZE that it protects (see charts posted belows).

Hope this helps. Any questions, just PM me.

 

[Psyc0]

You could wire the lights in that fashion, however, those 55 watt lights will pull a lot of current through the ignition switch, and the switch would likely fail prematurely.

I'd create a complete fused circuit with origin from the battery, (with relay) for 55 watt auxiliary lighting, and it's simply best to have an on/off switch included in that circuit.
Then, I'd bore a toggle switch hole in the right side-cover, near the front/top...there it would be convenient, yet out of the way, plus, You could house the relay inside that same cover.

 

[Midnight]

You could wire the lights in that fashion, however, those 55 watt lights will pull a lot of current through the ignition switch, and the switch would likely fail prematurely.

I'd create a complete fused circuit with origin from the battery, (with relay) for 55 watt auxiliary lighting, and it's simply best to have an on/off switch included in that circuit.
Then, I'd bore a toggle switch hole in the right side-cover, near the front/top...there it would be convenient, yet out of the way, plus, You could house the relay inside that same cover.

+1 That's what I did and it worked just great.