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Bikes, Hints'n'Tips => FZS600 Fazer => Topic started by: davec on 10 November 2012, 05:04:14 pm
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Has anyone on here actually done this?I am just about to embark on this modification and would be interested to hear how you went about the headlight wiring as the two looms are completely different as are the fitments in the back of the headlight.The rest of it I'm happy with but electrics are not my strong point.I would be grateful for any information.Thanks.
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A couple of people have asked whether its possible or not in the past but no one has actually posted back saying if they had ever managed it. It was something I was curious about but never got round to it. If you do do it, a guide / How To would be greatly appreciated by myself and many others but obviously that's your call. As for electronics, they aren't my strong suit either :(
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It is possible and relatively easy, but not sure it is worth the expense. You will need the fairing, headlight unit, mounting bracket, left & right infills, the side fairing brackets and if possible a fox eye headlight loom to modify to fit the older loom. The foxeye model uses 2 relays to control the headlights, a make/break relay controlled by the right handle bar switch and and a change over relay powered from the contacts of the make/break relay and controlled by dimmer switch on the left bar.
Just be aware also that there is an uprated alternator and different rectifier/regulator on the foxeye models to cater for the higher output of the alternator. See difference below.
The 1998 /1999 Squareye :) charging output is 12 volts 18 Amps at 5000 rpm
The 2000/2001 Squareye charging output is 14 volts 18 Amps at 5000 rpm
The foxeye 2002/2003 charging output is 14 volts 21 Amps at 5000 rpm
Might even be cheaper to sell your own and buy a foxeye model
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Thanks for the replies.I now have most of the parts, so it's just down to the wiring and whether I can adapt the original loom or if I will need the Foxeye loom and adapt that or maybe an amalgamation of the two.I may even need the handle bar switches from the foxeye as well.It has been done as I have read on the old site, but the detail on the electrics are a bit unclear. Unfazed thanks for the technical details I'm hoping not to have to start mucking around with the alternator and regulator and Deadeye when I get it done I will put up a detailed how to guide.
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Believe it or not, the alternator and regulator would be the easiest thing to change :)
Using the fox headlight loom and splicing the headlight section into the squareye loom would be the best thing to do as you could utilise the relays of the foxeye. You may need to run and extra wire to the fuesd headlight wire in the box under the tank. You should not have to change the switches but maybe modify the plugs in the box under the tank.. I posted the wiring diagrams of the 4 fazers models, the 1997/1998 Fazer 400 and the 1998/1999, 2000/2001 and 2002/2003 Fazer 600s in Downloads » Manuals » Fazer 600 » Fazer 400 and 600 models Wiring digrams. Might be usefull to compare the different versions.
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I think you're right they would be the easiest part of the job to sort if you were going to do it.Just another added cost that can hopefully be avoided.I have a Haynes manual with the wiring diagrams for the different models, but I will check out the wiring diagrams you have uploaded.It's going to be one of those jobs that unfolds and gets sorted as I go along.
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Adapting the existing wiring should be much simpler and cheaper than stripping out the entire loom/generator/regulator.
Run in an extra 20A fused cable to carry power to the first relay, the coil of which should be energised by the feed that used to go to the left hand (dip) lamp... that then (when you turn on the headlight switch) supplies the next relay which is controlled by the wire that used to feed the right-hand (main) beam and directs the power to the dip or main filaments.
It's something I'll be doing shortly to my own '98 Fazer as the existing long cable run through multiple switches and connectors causes a fair old voltage drop. Of course, the bulbs won't last quite as long when running at full output, but the extra light should be noticeable.
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Thanks Fazerider all of this information is going to be very handy. As I said electrics are not my strong point so I need to keep it simple but make sure it works properly.
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What ever way you do it make sure you use relays to take the load off the switches.
The advantage of using the foxeye loom is that all the connection and relays are already made up and will be neat and tidy and should require the mimimum changes.
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I will get and use the foxeye headlight wiring loom as it has the relays and the headlight connectors. Then I'll look at splicing it to the original headlight loom.The sidelights will need adapting as the foxeye has two and the square eye only has one. I'm guessing some of the connectors on the foxeye loom will be redundant ie the clock connector and the indicator wires and a couple of wiring blocks.As I've said electrics are really not my bag so any advice is and will be gratefully received.
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I have done it on a 1998 model. Didn't change the alternator or regulater and had no problems, but that bike doesn't do much town work so battery always kept well charged. I don't think it will be a problem unless you regularly spend a lot of time in town traffic.
Appart from the brackets previously mentioned on here you will need to make a couple of brackets for the fairing rear side fixings. That is because the brackets on the frame are in a different position to the foxeye model. I didn't need to change any switches or existing connectors, other than the headlamp socket for the three pin bulb in place of the two pin bulb. If I remember right I connected a control wire to main beam relay from the connector under the tank that is described in the Headlight mod article on this site. The pilot light holders came with the foxeye stuff I got, so that was just a simple wiring mod to wire them in.
I have a wiring diagram I did at the time, but unfortunatly won't be able to get it and post it on here for a couple of weeks, sorry. From what I remember it was very much as Fazerider outlined. Especially running a fused live feed to the relays.
I didn't have a foxeye loom so I used a three pin socket from a car loom for the headlight bulb. I also used a couple of standard relays from Maplin which are commonly used on cars.
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Thanks for the reply Limax.A wiring diagram would be a great help. I'm going to be sorting the Fairing out to be sprayed over the next couple of weeks and making up some brackets for the rear mounts.Did you use the original rear Foxeye mounting brackets and attach them to something you made up or did you make the mounting brackets from scratch? I won't be tackling the wiring for a while so If you could post the wiring diagram I would very much appreciate it.
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I used the foxeye rear brackets and attached them to brackets I made. The brackets I made bolted to the original brackets welded on the Mk1 frame, and I think to the horn bracket on the left. On the right I seem to remember there was also a bracket welded on near the front that I also used. (Not sure if it's for the infill panel on the Mk1???). The bracket on the right I made also carried the two relays, one for dip and one for main beam. I should still have some photo's of it which I will post up, when I get back to base. The wiring diagram I did just shows the extra wiring and connections etc. so is easy to follow and should be useful.
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Thanks Limax. That's what I thought about doing, making a bracket to attach to the foxeye rear mounting bracket and the original mountings on the frame.Do you think the foxeye headlight wiring loom could be used as it already has the relays and bulb connectors and just leave the other connectors on the loom like the clocks redundant or would it be easier to start from scratch?Photos would be great if you have them.
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I'm working from memory here so bear that in mind. The foxeye (Mk2) relays work in a different way to how I modified the Mk1. On the Mk2 a relay controls headlight power, on or off, to a second relay which controls high beam or dip beam. I found it easier to to have a live feed to each of two relays, one for high beam and one for dip. These relays controled by the high/low switch on the handlebar. When I eventually post the wiring diagram it will be clearer and details the relays I used.
If you do it the way I did it I don't think the foxeye headlamp loom will be much use other than for a few connectors, such as headlamp bulb connector and maybe the connectors to the pilot light wiring. I think the pilot light bulb holders are on a seperate bit of wiring, but they certainly would be handy to have. I don't think you would be able to use foxeye relays or the relay sockets if you do it my way. I mounted the relays using the small brackets that came with them and push on connectors for the wires.
If you have a foxeye headlamp loom and the relays with it you may choose to do it the foxeye way. However I seem to remember that would involved changes to the main wiring loom of the Mk1, which could be why I adopted a different approach.
To be continued ;) .
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Keeping it simple is what I want!Adapting the main loom seems like a potential headache.I have the pilot bulb holders they came with the headlight as luck would have it. I'm thinking your way is now tried and tested and seems the way to go.
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Finally made it back to home base so hopefully here is the long awaited wiring diagram.
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On the diagram above I'm affraid the colours don't show very well, which would have made it a bit easier to follow. What looks like dashed lines, at least on my computer, is where yellow has hardly shown at all. Obviously the actual colour you use is not important, but it makes the job a bit easier if you have different colours for specific parts. Black is normally for earth connections and the rest were just what I happened to have in the right sort of size.
If you read the diagram in conjuction with the Mk1 standard wiring diagram you will see the original black/blue wire to the left head light is no longer used. (This normally provides a permanent feed for dip when the right side switch is in headlight on position). The feed for dip is now from the green wire feed into the blue connector block, in the black box under the tank. Well shown in this posting http://foc-u.co.uk/index.php/topic,181.0.html (http://foc-u.co.uk/index.php/topic,181.0.html) . You probably knew that already so I will stop rambling on, any questions just ask.
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Here are the photo's of the fairing mounting brackets I made on the bike. Having looked at my mk1 I now see there are two mountings for the fairing on each side welded to the frame. These are the one's I used, not the horn mounting bracket that I mentioned earlier. The strip material I used for the make up brackets was 16mm x 2.5mm mild steel. (Recycled Upvc door looks, scrap metal to most locksmiths ;) ). These brackets then provided the rear mounting points for the Mk2 fairing rear brackets and also for the two relays. With the fairing and inner panels in place the relays and wiring are covered and hidden from view. Heat shrink tubing is good for making a neater job of the new wiring. Along with the relays it is available from Maplin and other places.
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While I'm on a roll with the photo's here is a 1998 FZS600 on the left with the foxeye's and a 2001 square eye on the right for comparison :) .
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:thumbup That's a nice neat job (and very clean bikes too).
Ignore my method Davec, I happened to have some SPDT relays so came up with a scheme that made use of the double throw. Limax2's plan is better because the current only flows through a single set of contacts rather than two the way I was going to do things.
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Thanks Limax. I will look at it in detail tomorrow. I have had the fairing repaired and sprayed and I'm collecting it tomorrow. I've got the headlight as well and I'm just waiting for some fittings from AJ Sutton, I'll then start to assemble it.Can I use any H4 3 pin bulb connectors?I've seen these on ebay http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/290729774870?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649 (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/290729774870?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649) or would you recommend something different?
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Those bulb connectors look very like the ones I bought... the leads supplied were only 9" long.
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I got the H4 3 pin connectors from stock at my local car accessary shop. (He's a bit of a classic car type, so I don't know if that helped). I can't remember how long the leads were but I probably had to extend them to reach the relays where I mounted them. Some types of connector have the wires comming straight out and others at 90 degrees, but I think there is enough room so it doesn't matters which type you use for this job.
The pilot light is not shown on my wiring diagram, but it's just a case of connecting into the existing pilot wire for the two pilots on the foxeye light. The pilot bulb holders are different but I think you said you had them for the foxeye so no problem there.
Nice job for the bad weather.
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Thanks for your time Limax. The wiring diagram is a great help.How did you run the blue wire going to the +ive on the battery?Did you just use an inline fuse and run the wire under the tank straight onto the battery?Did you cut the connectors off the ends of the pilot wires on the headlight and from the pilot on the harness and reconnect them all together with a connector block?I know this may all sound very basic but I'm just trying to get it all straight in my head.
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Glad to be of help. My brother has that bike at the moment and I can't remember exactly how I connected the pilot wires. What you suggest sounds o.k. as long as it's all insulated. i.e. insulated connectors or wrap some insulation tape round it. For the live feed I connected the two relays together with a short wire (as per wiring diagram), and from one of those connectors ran a wire under the tank to an in-line fuse which I positioned near the battery.
Looking at the photo with the relays and lots of wires, I seem to have used some sort of socket to connect to some of the relay terminals?? Don't let that confuse you as it was probably something I had in my box, and simple female blade connectors will do. I think I put a short length of shrink rap on them for insulation and neatness. If you want to go really profesional you can get a proper socket that the relay plugs into. This supplier might be handy for you if you haven't already seen it http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/VWP-onlinestore/home/homepage.php (http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/VWP-onlinestore/home/homepage.php)
Next time I go to my brothers I'll have a good look at the bike and refresh my memory a bit ;) .
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I'll use insulated connectors,think it'll be a neater job in the end.I did notice that connector on the relay,it took me a minute to suss out what it was doing.So with the live feed wire you just put a connector on the end and bolted that onto the +ive terminal of the battery?I'll check out that site and see what they've got.It's all starting to make sense now I've seen some pictures.
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Looking at the photo with the relays and lots of wires, I seem to have used some sort of socket to connect to some of the relay terminals?? Don't let that confuse you as it was probably something I had in my box
Just realised that that socket is the original main beam light socket which must have fitted the relay terminals number 86 and 85. I think I must have cut off the redundant plastic bit that would normaly be used with a twin fillament bulb, but not used on a standard Mk1 Fazer light. Very handy that as the feed and earth wires that would normally control the main beam will now control the main beam relay instead.
Hope that makes sence.
On the live feed connect to the battery + with a ring (eyelet) terminal and a short length of wire to the line fuse.
A steep learning curve if you are not used to dealing with bike electrics, but as long as you take your time and double check before finally connecting to the battery you will be fine :thumbup
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I can see that now you can just make out the black/yellow wire in the socket in the photo of the main relay.Are the 3 wires going to earth in the wiring diagram the ones attached to the frame near the main relay bracket in the 3rd photo?Hopefully no more questions for a while seems to be it pretty clear now.Nice one.
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Yes they are the earth wires shown. The earth for the main beam relay is catered for by the original earth in the bulb socket that is clipped to that relay. Main thing is to get a good electrical connection to earth (i.e. frame) that's not insulated by paint.
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Thanks again.
Did you use any particular gauge wire?Does the live wire feed from the battery need to be heavier than the other wiring or can it all be the same and if so what gauge do you recommend?
Also, If I use a pre-wired socket to connect to the relay, as you mentioned, could I connect two wires (ie the blue/white and the blue/red on the diagram) to the single wire coming out of the relay socket by using a bullet connector? Would this be safe or is there a danger it could overload the single wire?
Also, where the blue wires on the diagram come out of the dip beam relay, would it be possible to do the same with these two wires...ie have the two wires coming off the single wire on the socket?
Hope I'm explaining it ok and it's not too confusing for you to understand! I don't know whether running two wires off of one is practical or will cause problems, but I'm thinking if I get a ready wired socket it will be easier for me to connect the wires.
Thanks a lot
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I'm not an electrical expert so maybe one will step forward. However here is my opinion for now.
I can't remember what I used but my thinking would be max load on feed wire from battery to relay is two 60 watt bulbs. So 120 watts at 12 volts = 10 amps. From the "Vehicle Wiring Products" web page (earlier link) that would suggest using 28/0.30mm standard type cable which has a continuous rating of 17.5 amps. You could use a smaller wire size for the rest as each individual bulb is only taking half that load. The bulb holders I got had the wires attached and may have been a small size, but then they are only taking half that load each. No harm in using the thicker wire though.
I don't know what the operating current of the relays is but it will be much less. i.e. the green/yellow and the black/yellow on the wiring diagram.
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I just spotted that you must have edited your last question while I was writting a reply. So to answer the bit about using pre-wired relay sockets.
No harm in connecting the two blue/white wires together and then connecting to a single wire from the relay. But the single wire needs to be of a suitable size to take the load of two bulbs. i.e. 10 amps. (You could connect them together just behind the headlamp if you want and run a single wire to the relay). Same goes for the blue/red wires of course. Given that the relays are rated at 40amp I guess the wires from a pre-wired socket should be the same, but I don't know.
If you are using pre-wired relay sockets then you would connect the wires from the two 87 teminals together and then to the main feed wire. The relay wires would be taking 10 amps each, but as the relays are never both live (on) at the same time the main feed is also only ever taking 10 amps.
The reason I have two wires going to each relay terminal 30 is because I used pre-wired bulb sockets and it was easy to solder/crimp the two wires into a single female blade connector at the relay end.
Hope that helps and let us know how you get on.
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Yeah.I keep coming up with different ideas,I think I will buy the components from VWP and make the sockets up myself. I'll know the wire is man enough for the job then.Do you see a load problem with connecting the pilot wires from the headlight to the single wires on the harness or should it be man enough to do the job?Hopefully this is all the info I need.It's all making sense now.
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Good choice. The pilot light current is very small so I can't see it being a problem. It's what I did.
In case you don't know, the relay blade terminals are 6.3mm. So that's the size of blade connectors you want. I'm always a sucker for that sort of thing when I see an interesting box of bits in Aldi or Lidl.
I tend to favour soldering the wires into the connectors, but plenty just use the crimping pliers to secure the wire without a problem.
I would also get some shrink wrap, as it make a good need job of insulating the terminals and only needs a hot air gun or an air drier for the heat to make it shrink.
Good news and bad news about the bike I did this mod on. Bad news is it blew over the other week when we were parked up and damaged the fairing. The good news is the fairing is now off the bike for a bit of repairing so when I next go to my brothers I can have a good look at the wiring etc. I'll report back if I see anything we have missed. Must remember to take my camera :) .
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It's definitely more satisfying doing it yourself and once it's straight in my head I'm happy to do it.The pilot light should be an easy fix then.I'll make a list of what I need and put an order into VWP next week I reckon. I've just got my fairing back it needed a smallish repair ,it had a crack up through the indicator socket, It's been resprayed black and is looking very nice and shiny. Mine blew over a couple of years back, off of the side stand,the wind caught the cover and lifted the whole bike up and over.Only caused a small crack,about 3/4", just below the indicator. It's now secured to the ground so shouldn't happen again.Once again thanks for you time and if you do spot anything you've forgotten to mention I'd be glad to hear about it.
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Just waiting on the electrical bits from VWP. So should be able to start putting it all together next week.
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Finally got round to having a look at the other Fazer. Not much to add to what has already been said but a couple of things I noticed.
1) The original left headlight socket, which is no longer used, I left attached to the harness and insulated it with a rubber sleeve and tucked it behind the clocks. You could snip it off and insulate the wires, but from working on classic bikes I have a thing about being able to put things back to standard spec. No other reason :\ .
2)I seem to have used the original Mk1 pilot bulb holder (black) on the R.H. side and a Mk2 holder (grey) on the left. I have connected the wires from the Mk2 holder to the wires from the Mk1 holder at the plug end of those wires. (Although the holders are different the fitting into the light unit must be the same). On the photo below you can see the black socket on the main harness and the white plug with black tape round it where I made the connection. It's probably easier to snip the socket of and use a connector block as you said, but again I didn't want to alter the original harness.
For good measure another view of the relays as well.
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I've started to put it all together now,still waiting on a couple of bits. I've snipped the wires on the original harness close up to the bulb on the side light and will be connecting the mk 2 side light wires into the harness with spade connectors,they will obviously go from the 2 wires on the side light side into 1 wire on the harness side.I will keep the original headlight block on the left hand side and just tuck it away. I was wondering whether it was possible to put the relays further back on the bike, like under the seat or near to the flasher relay,as there is more room, and run the wires up to the headlights or do they need to sit close to the headlight unit? Also did you choose a 40 amp relay for a reason or could you have used a 30 amp?I'm asking this purely out of interest as to how you came to to choose the 40 amp. Thanks for the pictures having gone over everything I understand how it all works and it now makes sense. Eurika!I'm just trying to fine tune it now.
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You can mount the relays anywhere there is room for them, the dryer the better. If you were increasing the length of wire greatly there would be a slight power drop. But by mounting the relays nearer to the battery you will have a shorter run from battery to the relays and a longer run to the headlamps, so more or less no change. You will probably have a longer run for the wires controling the main beam relay from the original main beam light socket (R.H. side), but as this is only carrying a very small current it won't matter anyway.
The reason I used 40 amp relays is because that is what I could easily get hold off. (From Maplin). Each relay is handling nominaly about 10 amps, maybe a bit more on switching, when the filaments are cold, so anything from 15 amps capacity would probably have been o.k.
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That's good.I will have a look under the seat and see if there is a good mounting point for the relays.I'll run all of the new wiring alongside the existing loom if it seems suitable to do it this way and I'll extent the original main beam wires back along the the original loom under the tank to the relays.If it works it will keep the area around the fairing clear and tidy.After offering the fairing up the other day I realised just how little space there was to mount the relays and the sockets.I bought some 30 and 40 amp relays from VWP so I could use the 30amp relays if I wanted.I'll let you know how it goes if I go ahead with doing it this way.
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Fairing so far.
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That's a very nice looking bike you have there with a few other useful mods on it 8) .
I see you have gone for mounting at least one relay under the fairing panel rather than under the seat.
Is the new bracket firm enough with only being mounted from one of the frame brackets? I'm not saying it isn't, but I also used the rear frame bracket as a mounting point to give it more rigidity due to the extra overhang.
Wiring looks good. :thumbup .
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Thanks Limax. Both relays will be mounted on that bracket under the fairing, once I'd looked at it properly I could see there was going to be enough space .The other relay is wired up I just haven't put it on yet.I'm still waiting on the headlight connectors,they should be here soon hopefully. I've got some of that heat shrink wrap to put around the wires once everything's sorted and cut to length so that will tidy it up under there.The strength of the brackets remains to be seen, the whole thing feels pretty rigid but if it needs more support I will add the extra bracket .I've used locking nuts on the bolts holding the brackets in place which will hopefully stop them from coming loose. As you know somethings may need altering as I go along but they can be sorted as and if they arise.I'll add more pictures as I go.
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looks great well done :thumbup
haven't read the whole thread but would it be possible to use the original bulbs and loom in the newer fairing and do away with all the rest of the modifications? would make things a lot easier
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Thanks. I've wondered that myself. With the headlight mod both lights are wired with 3 pin.The sidelights would need rewiring as there are 2 of them.But I'm only a novice when it comes to electrics so I've followed a tried and tested route which Limax used, and advised me on, when he did the modification.So I think he could probably answer that question.The 2 relays are used separately one powers the dip and the other the main beam both running off of a wire from the battery whilst the dip makes use of the redundant feed from the main beam switch on the handlebars which is used in the mk1 headlight mod.
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would it be possible to use the original bulbs and loom in the newer fairing and do away with all the rest of the modifications? would make things a lot easier
Interesting observation Dude. Must be possible to fit the H1 (dip) bulb in the H4 holder but I don't know what the beam pattern would be like. You would miss a big advantage of the foxeye of being able to have two main beams on together or two dips on together.
Alternatively you could alter the connection on the left headlight so you could still use that for dip beam (but with H4 bulb) and use the existing connection on the right for high beam. Lights would then work as the standard square eye set up. i.e. for dip only left light on, and for high beam right light on (high beam) with left still on dip. You could also do the standard square eye mod and have both dips on together.
Either way you still miss a big advantage of the foxeye of being able to have two main beams on together.
I guess you could just use the one pilot light instead of two.
Not only will Davec end up with better lights but he is fast becoming an expert on the theory and practice of Fazer electrics :) .
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Better lights,yes,expert on Fazer electrics,ummm,Anyway I have one more question I have just ordered the inline fuse, and I see the fuses have a continuous and a fusing rating,I have gone for the 10 amps continuous, 20 amps fusing is this ok? or should I have gone for the 20 amps continuous, 40 amps fusing?
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The 10 amp continuous fuse will probably be o.k but will be working at its full rating. There is a brief higher surge when you switch on (or switch from high to low beam) but I don't think that will be enough to blow the fuse. You'll soon find out when you try it. The standard headlight fuse on the bike is 20 amps, but to be on the safe side I would go for 15 amps if the 10 amp doesn't last very long. Also tape a spare fuse somewhere under the seat just in case you need it.
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Thanks Limax.I assumed a 20 amp fuse was just that. But looking at the VWP site the fuses have 2 ratings and the 20 amp fuse has a 40 amp fusing rating,which I assumed was the point at which it would blow,this seemed quite high to me,so I went for the 10 amps which are fused at 20 amps so I reckon I will get a couple of 15 amps as well as they have a fusing rate of 30 amps and being in the middle might be the best compromise.
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That's a nice neat job you've done there davec, looks like a really well fettled bike. :thumbup
As Limax says, a 10A fuse is marginal. The initial resistance of a cold 60W 12V filament is only about a tenth of an ohm, so the fuse is in a race with the headlight as to which one lights first. The last thing you want as you gas the bike down a country lane and flick to main beam is to be plunged into darkness instead!
A shorter run of thicker cable is good for getting the power to the bulbs but gives the fuse a harder time as the initial current is much higher, the higher resistance of the old cable run limited that current. The fuse is there to protect the cabling rather than the load, I don't know what wire gauge you've used but judging from the photos it looks beefier than the original so a 20A fuse should be regarded as a minimum.
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Thanks Fazerrider.The wire is thicker it's 28/0.30, 17.5 amp.So ,I'm going to order a couple more fuses today.I'll get a couple of 15/30amps and a couple of 20/40amp.It was the continuous amp and fusing amp that confused me when I went to order them.I just assumed a 20amp fuse was just that!
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Current ratings of cable and fuses are a minefield of confusing information.
The cable rating assumes that it's in a bundle with no cooling and so is extremely conservative, it is actually capable of carrying vastly more than that figure suggests.
As a rough rule-of-thumb fuses will carry their rated current indefinitely, twice their rated current for about a second or ten times their rated current for about 15 milliseconds.
Adding up the estimated resistances for your wiring, connectors, relay contacts and a couple of cold tungsten filaments in parallel gives a total that might be as low as 0.15Ω. That means the initial current as you switch from low to high beam (or vice versa) could be 90 amps! A 10A fuse will cope with that for perhaps 20ms... probably long enough for the bulb filaments to heat up, but the fuse will only survive for a limited number of cycles. A 20A fuse is still more than enough to provide decent protection against shorts but will handle 90A for a tenth of a second.
Unless you have an independently fused circuit supplying another source of light, LED driving lights tucked below the fairing for example, I really wouldn't consider using anything less than a 20A fuse.
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Thanks for that explanation Fazerider :thumbup .
I was hoping someone with a greater depth of knowledge on the subject than me would come along and clarify it. Just what was needed.
I must check what fuse I used on the one I did.
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I try to avoid going into full-on nerd mode most of the time, but have always had a fear of the lights going out. :lol
That's partly because almost half the riding I do is at night and partly because of a chap called Rex at the motorcycle dealership where I bought spares for my Honda CG125 when I first started riding. Lovely, helpful bloke who was adept at operating the till with his hook. One day he mentioned he'd gambled on getting home after one beam on his bike had failed, unfortunately the remaining filament packed up at an inconvenient moment... and that was why he only had one arm.
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Almost finished now.All lights working just needs to be tidied up a bit and a right hand side fairing infill.Thanks once again to Limax2 for his help.
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Further proof on what Fazerider posted on fuse size (not that any was needed), I can now report that I had fitted a 15 amp fuse and it has now blown. Fortunately not in the dark :eek .
I have now replaced it with a 20 amp fuse. (I guess that's continuous as it's the only figure given).
Just to make sure there was no short circuit I temporarily fitted an ammeter into the circuit. No short found and as predicted there was a quick jump in amps above the normal when switching on and also when switching from dip to high and vice versa. I can't say what the top figure was as it was just a quick flick of the finger on my old dial type ammeter. The steady reading with the lights on was about 10 to 12 amps, but my gauge might not be very accurate.
You done a nice job there Dave and a very nice clean looking bike. Out of curiosity what are those things on the floor each side of the side stand?
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Thanks Limax.Yeah,I've put a 20 amp fuse (continuous) in mine and it seems good,I'll carry a spare with me just in case.I didn't bother with the 15 amp after all.The two brackets are bolted to the floor either side of the side stand and a bar is put through to stop the bike lifting and falling over in the wind,as happened a couple of years ago.It seems works well.
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When I had a 2000 boxeye I did the old green wire from the switch fix which brought on two dims but the main beam still was not great. I picked up a broken headlight from a local breaker open itand remover the right side reflector and other bits . Then opened my own one (carefull use of a heat gun to melt the glue holding it together) and removed the left reflector and replaced it with the right one from the one from the breaker.
A little bit of fiddling and setting up but I finally had two H4s like the Fox Eye and the Fazer 400 and now much better main beams. Took me nearly a full day to do, but was well worth the effort.
I am at present in the process of converting a European specification Fox Eye headlight to a Irish/English specification one by changing the reflectors. This is even easier to do than the box eye. Still trying to get my hands on a broken fox Eye headlight as I one I got had one cracked reflector.
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Hey all. First post!
Loving my Fazer and loving this forum even more!
Unfazed, how are the reflectors actually attached to thr headlight unit? I'm thinking of upgrading to projector style lenses andwas hoping it might be easy to take out the old reflectors and manufacture a mounting plate to attach the new lenses and maintain aim adjustment . Think it'll be easy enough?
Thanks in advance!