Opening your garage door with your light switch
|
This mod will enable you to open your garage door remotely, just like you do in a car. These instructions will allow you to open or close the garage door just by flicking the low beam on (if you're one of those people who always rides with the high beam on). You can also wire it for the high beam, the horn, or an accessory switch. This works well for people who don't want something in their pockets in case of a fall, don't like the look of an opener duct taped to the bars, or often forget to bring their remote with them. Here is the business end of the mod. It is nothing more than an opener and a 12 volt low amp relay. When the light button is pressed down, it closes a circuit between two plates, which triggers the door. A wire is soldered to each plate, and the wires are routed through a relay, which turns on when a 12v current is passed through the incoming wires. These incoming wires are tapped into the low beam in this case.
These are the soldering points on the opener. You can see that each of the three areas have two separate and unconnected mazes of circuitry. The button is nothing more than a flat piece of metal that, when pressed down, connects the circuit to make the opener function. (Slightly smaller wire may make your soldering work easier.)
The wiring is very simple. One low beam and one ground run from the headlight to the relay. Two other wires go between the relay and the opener. The relay acts as a switch, and when it gets 12 volts it completes the circuit and activates the opener. As for connecting the relays, you may have to solder them, or some may use crimp connectors. The back of the relay box should contain information about the circuits and connection points.
The ~16 gauge wire is tapped into 2 of the 3 wires heading into the headlight. The only wire left out is the red/black wire. (See the Wiring Schematic.) Shown here is the wire tap used. You use them by putting two wires through two holes and clamping down on a metal clip with pliers. The clip then slices into both wires and closes the connection between them. Here is a picture of a wire tap:
And the taps installed:
Note: There have been a few reports of intermittent problems with wire taps. Other methods you may consider are soldering, Molex connectors, or crimp or bullet-type connectors, such as the ones used for the front signals. Using rather long wires to connect the tapped headlight to the garage door opener enables you to pick and choose the location for the remote.
When the high beam is on, the garage door opener is off.
When the low beam is on, the garage door opener is on. This might present a problem, as the battery of the garage door remote may go dead if the low beam is left on for a long period of time. This may be a good reason to find a circuit other than the lights (such as the horn or a switch) to trigger the opener.
The remote is installed right behind the battery.
With your handy-dandy tool kit on top, no one will ever know it's there.
The wires are routed along the right side of the bike, attached to the upper frame just below the gas tank.
|
