Headlight Switch

[mickvp]

Guys,

As I have one of the "later" bikes, I have no headlight switch on my RH controls. In order to give myself a working switch, can I just switch out the RH controls for one with the switch fitted from an earlier bike (i.e. is the rest of the loom the same and all other wiring there) or will I need to wire it all in?

Just one of those little things that winds me up, would be happy to change it if it was a simple swap over job, but dont really want to go butchering or adding in loads of extra wires outwith the main loom.

[g5guzzi]

No chance it would be a major rewire.I had the same idea when I had mine.
Malc

[sadlonelygit]

did it to mine.
mine runs with sidelights and tail on all the time (sidelights power my 12v socket).
i made a sub-loom from the headlight relay behind the screen to the switch then under the tank to the oem fitting. needed to buy a plug in fitting off ebay (£1 iirc) and a bit of wiring.

[mickvp]

hmmm. so a bit of wiring needed then it seems. ill need to look into it a bit more as I would love to have it.

[b1k3rdude]

No chance it would be a major rewire.

Not really, just grab a 3 pin female connector w/wires (I got mine from a local bike shop) which will plug into to the male 3pin connectors from the r/h switch gear. I then found the feed to headlight relay and cut and conncted that to the switch - job done. I can take some pics of mine if that will help.

And in case your wondering about the hazard switch on the l/h side s/g its a simple case of buying the uk r/h/-s/g and plugging it in.   

[Tmation]

And in case your wondering about the hazard switch on the l/h side s/g its a simple case of buying the uk r/h/-s/g and plugging it in.

Be careful with advice like that, you could cost people money. I have an import (USA) 2004 Gen 1 which comes with no headlight pass/flash switch, no hazard lights switch and no lights on or off switch.


On advice from here I bought new switchgear and they most definitely did not plug and play. The amounts of wires and the connector plugs are completely different, as it part of the loom.

[blackcabbie]

Pats fz1oa page describe a way to connect a In line rocker switch on the left side infill panel.  This is what I did. It gives you the functionality to switch headlights off although side lights and rear lights stay on

[blackcabbie]

Me and tmation got our bikes from the same dealers new at same time. We both still own them.  Can't really find anything to replace it with

[sirgalahad3]

I have added a switch to my 03 model. The switch iinterrupts the control wire of the relay behind the clocks,the white one if I remember correctly.
This is only a partial solution though,the tail light and side lights stay on. To stop those coming on would require major wiring surgery,not with it in my case.

[b1k3rdude]

Be careful with advice like that, you could cost people money. I have an import (USA) 2004 Gen 1 which comes with no headlight pass/flash switch, no hazard lights switch and no lights on or off switch.

At the end of the day, this is a public internet forum. There is no liability inferred or implied, its one person experiences versus someone else's. And when you tinker with your bike the buck stops with you.

I also have US import, 2005 model that had the same config as yours. Looking at sirgalahad3's post, my advice also applied to the "euro-always on" model aswell - you just have to check the manual for your year/model and apply a bit of common sense.

[mickvp]

I have added a switch to my 03 model. The switch iinterrupts the control wire of the relay behind the clocks,the white one if I remember correctly.
This is only a partial solution though,the tail light and side lights stay on. To stop those coming on would require major wiring surgery,not with it in my case.

this sounds like the simplest solution so far for me - im not fussed about sidelights or taillights being on, just want the dipped beam to be switchble on and off :thumb:

[sirgalahad3]

To make it look right I suggest you get the right hand switch gear off an early fazer and fit that as opposed to a rocker switch mounted in the fairing.
Simple to do,good luck.

[chaparral02]

Why do you guys want to turn the headlights off ??

I feel safer riding with my headlights on even in daylight..

[mickvp]

Why do you guys want to turn your headlights off ??

Although I would have mine on most of the time, if I go a long time without riding it, then it can reduce the load on the battery for a while and get a bit of a better charge into it. plus its always nice to have it as an option, rather than it needs to be always on.

[chaparral02]

if I go a long time without riding it, then it can reduce the load on the battery for a while and get a bit of a better charge into it.

The alternator regulator is set to charge the battery at around the same 14volts with the headlights on or off while riding..
It really shouldn't make any difference..(apart from when the bike is at only idle revs)

[mickvp]

if I go a long time without riding it, then it can reduce the load on the battery for a while and get a bit of a better charge into it.

The alternator regulator is set to charge the battery at around the same 14volts with the headlights on or off while riding..
It really shouldn't make any difference..(apart from when at only idle revs)

I would have thought it was not an issue of voltage, but an issue of current? the headlights draw a current and therefore there is less available to go to the battery? either way, its making the alternator work harder than it needs to?

[chaparral02]

if I go a long time without riding it, then it can reduce the load on the battery for a while and get a bit of a better charge into it.

The alternator regulator is set to charge the battery at around the same 14volts with the headlights on or off while riding..
It really shouldn't make any difference..(apart from when at only idle revs)

I would have thought it was not an issue of voltage, but an issue of current? the headlights draw a current and therefore there is less available to go to the battery? either way, its making the alternator work harder than it needs to?

Gen1 charging specs
Charging system normal output, 14 V and 365 W at 5,000rpm)

And Gen2
Standard output 14.0 V40.0 A6500 r/min (550 watts)

[mickvp]

So the standard alternator supplies almost 26A, and if you take off the load of the headlights then for the same output it can only charge about 19A - meaning it would take longer to charge a low battery.

Im genuinely not sure, but that was my understanding of it.

(thats going by two dipped beam bulbs at about 50W each).

[b1k3rdude]

From the research I have done into RR's is its more a case of when you turn the lights off the load that would have been going into the lights is being dumped into the RR, which then causes it to warm up. But I think critically, where turning the lights off has the advantage is in overall system voltage. On my FZS with its current (possibly faulty RR) the voltage with the lights off and the engine at 5k rpm is higher, so in theory the battery should receive more charge...

[PaulSmith]

I don't get it. The money and effort you would have to spend on switch gear, wiring and time to be able to turn your lights off, just so you can charge your battery a tiny bit quicker when it is a little bit flat, will buy you a charger, which means it will never be flat and you wont have to drive with your lights off. Is there any other reason you want to turn them off? 

[Fazafou]

And there's me adding two Cree led spot lights to increase visibility, and the voltage still stays at 14v

[mickvp]

I don't get it. The money and effort you would have to spend on switch gear, wiring and time to be able to turn your lights off, just so you can charge your battery a tiny bit quicker when it is a little bit flat, will buy you a charger, which means it will never be flat and you wont have to drive with your lights off. Is there any other reason you want to turn them off?

Just seems like a nice feature I want my bike to have. It would be handy for a number of small reasons - some more petty than others. Most of these reasons have other workarounds, but to me having a simple switch to turn the lights off seems the easiest way to do it, and I think its worth the small cost I would incur to install it

[PaulSmith]

Can I offer a compromise?

Standard headlight bulbs are 55W and there are two of them, so 110W @ 12V = 9.1A and @ 14V = 7.8A.
Change the bulbs to 35W HID bulbs and your power usage goes down to 5.8A @ 12V and 5A @ 14V. You end up with much brighter (and safer) lights and still have a couple of extra amps to charge your battery. You can get a cheap and nasty Chinese rip off conversion kit for £30 (cheaper then posh H4 bulbs) on e-bay and an hour of your time to fit it. If you keep your old bulbs, you can refit them in a few minutes when your MOT is due. If you do like the benefits of HID, you can upgrade to a quality kit whenever it suits you, and if for any reason you don't like the results, you can rip it out and restore the bike to standard.

My personal opinion is that this is the best safety upgrade I have ever made on any bike I have ever owned. Never mind the dramatically improved night time and bad weather visibility, other road users seem to be much more aware of my presence in all conditions from bright sun to bad fog.

[mickvp]

Im not sure if I would fit HID's. dont get me wrong, they are definately a marked improvement over halogen, and I also like the slightly whiter colour you get from certain ones (not a fan of the blue looking ones).

I would need to look into getting projector units as well then if I went down that road - Unless its possible to get a good beam pattern without having them? seems to be a bit hit and miss on that front though, Ive saw some well fitted ones that scatter the light just right. Sometimes they look horrific and badly adjusted though and I wouldnt want to risk blinding everyone else and possibly getting hassle from the fuzz.

[PaulSmith]

... Unless its possible to get a good beam pattern without having them? ...

Beam patterns are a property of the reflector and position of the point* source of light from the bulb when correctly mounted. Every bulb that gives light from the same place will have the same beam pattern when use in a given reflector, no matter how the light itself is generated.