Fitting Spot Lights

[Guest akey]

So this is my guide to fitting spot lights to a bike, however the usual caveats apply, if you don’t know what you’re doing and you play with your bikes electrics you can screw it up, don’t hold me or the forum responsible. If you are in any doubt please get them fitted by the garage.

I used SW motec 55w lights with a fitting kit for use with engine bars, this is what you get in the kit.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c344/akey_uk/Gen/IMG_4809.jpg

As you can see this kit comes complete with wiring loom and switch, and there are 2 options when it comes to connecting it up. You can either wire it direct to the battery this way the lights will come on when the switch is on, even if the ignition is off, or you can power the relay from the ignition switch. If you want to do the first option then you do not need to modify the loom at all and you can ignore the steps I did highlighted in red.

Before I did anything I tested the loom and lights by fitting it all together switching on and holding the connectors to the bike battery, just to confirm it all worked.

First step was to remove all the panels I needed to get access to the battery and the areas where I was to be running the loom. Once the panels are off this it was a good time to think about the route I want the loom to take.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c344/akey_uk/Gen/IMG_4816.jpg

Once I had an idea of where the loom will run its worth doing a test fit, when I did this I had 2 options of running the loom and doing a dry run fit this allowed me to select the best one. It also allowed me chance to check that everything was long enough.

I took some time here to ensure that I was happy with the way the loom fitted and that it was hidden and secure as far as possible, I also had to locate the 2 fuses and the relay securely

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c344/akey_uk/Gen/IMG_4815.jpg

Once I was happy with the loom position and the switch location then just use a few tie wraps to keep it all in place while I fitted the spot lights themselves.

Once it was all in position I tested it all using the standard (non ignition) wiring to make sure it all still worked.

Because I wanted the switch to be powered through the ignition I decided to use the same wire that my heated grips use. The easiest way to do this was to remove the in-line fuse on the switch power lead, I replaced the fuse with a rubber blank.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c344/akey_uk/Gen/IMG_4824.jpg

I then used a crimp connector block to connect the heated grips trigger wire to the switch wire.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c344/akey_uk/Gen/IMG_4822.jpg

Once again I then tested that the system operated as it should.

Once happy that it all worked as it should I set up the spot lights against the wall to be at the same height as low beam, this will give me a stronger wider low beam and also fill in the gap when high beam is selected.

Happy that everything functioned as it should, I then sealed up the crimp using self amalgamating tape and then methodically worked round the loom fixing it in place with tie wraps, ensuring that nothing fouled not forgetting to check the handlebars lock to lock.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c344/akey_uk/Gen/IMG_4823.jpg

Finally all I needed to do was refit all the panels, and enjoy.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c344/akey_uk/Gen/IMG_4827.jpg

[Pete]

A superb guide akey, nice one. I'm sure many people will find this very useful.

[Guest]

been there , done that, just not done the "Haynes" bit (type up with Pics..)..

low beam..

http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg250/simonevans73/Copy3ofImage0076.jpg

high beam..

http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg250/simonevans73/Copy3ofImage0077.jpg

high beam with spots..

http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg250/simonevans73/Copy3ofImage0078.jpg

[Guest akey]

Quick update.

When I fitted my spots I ensured that the alternator was man enough for the job, the tiger has a 420-480 Watt alternator which is sufficient the one thing I forgort was that this is rated at 2500 RPM.

anyway spots are 110w and heated grips are 14-57watts so there should be loads to spare.

After my little battery run down incident at the weekend I decided to check, so bike on tickover normal lights on and we have 12.7v at the batt, put the spots on and this starts dropping to 12.1 then add the heated grips and it continues to drop. Rev the bike up to 2500 rpm and the voltage climbs back up to a healthy 12.9-13.1v.

Moral - if you are doing lots of stop start riding (and with the tiger I can crawl along nicely at 2000rpm) turn all the extras off

[Guest]

spotlights in daylight Akey.... chav or BMW GS wannabe.....

[Guest akey]

spotlights in daylight Akey.... chav or BMW GS wannabe.....

 

trying to keep up with my cousin on his fully loaded GSA

[Guest]

relay wiring for spots and grips..