Aux lights and relays - Enter at your own risk...

[Harv]

Greetings tron chasers. I've spent the last week bingeing on relays and wiring YouTubes and Google diagrams. I'm a slow learner and need lots of pictures. I've ordered a crash bar and and some lights to mount to it and am to the point where I feel comfortable wiring it up once it all gets here.

My question is to the guys using relays - Where/how are you mounting them?

 

[Timmy6216]

i have the one i just installed last night run under the center battery cover plate, ziptied in a spot out of the way. my bash bar lights are little LED pods that are hella bright, and work perfectly

 

[Harv]

Ok, let's ramp it up a notch. I'm mounting RIGID Radiance lights. They have 3W amber backlights and 15W white fog lights. I want the amber backlights on with the ignition on and the main white fog lights to come on with the high beams. The amber lights are basically useless in bright daylight but are better than nothing after dusk. The white fogs are to augment the high beam. They are only 900 lumens each but better than nothing.

Will this work?

 

[JTB]

There are three beams in the headlight. Position(the halo), low and high.

Position is always on when ignition is on.
Low is always on when engine is running.
High is on when engine is running and HB switch is on.

So your amber will be on in concert with the Pos beam, except when you switch on the HB and the engine is running, in which case your white will be on (and amber off).

I put my relay in the neck of the bike right above the N in HONDA. I removed the metal mounting bracket from the relay to allow it to fit easier. I was already using the space in the battery compartment. I did not mount the relay. I figured anyplace I might easily mount it would probably give it less protection/exposure then keeping it in the neck(wrapped in tape).

 

[Harv]

Thanks for the input guys! I knew it would be either/or with the two lights. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't pulling too many amps somewhere or needed to put a fuse in the mix. (Edit - which I did)
I plan on running the wires through the crashbars so YouTubed a bunch on that also. Should be a fun project.

 

[JTB]

A fuse is certainly the best practice. It would go between the black/yellow and the relay. Close to the tap end is best.

 

[Harv]

5A?
From what I can gather, both 15W lamps are pulling less than 3 amps, right? About 1.25 each?

 

[JTB]

That's right. If you have 16 gauge or thicker wire then 5A would be a fine choice.

 

[Harv]

Thanks JTB. I can't believe how much I learned in the last week. I originally had two 4-pin relays drawn out because I had two different light paths to deal with. Once I found out how a 5-pin worked it changed everything. Still a lot to learn but at least I don't stare at a relay with a trout-look on my face anymore. (I updated my diagram above to reflect the fuse change.)

This video was a great help in breaking the code on this stuff: (Instead of running off the battery, I used the black/yellow wire. Instead of a switch, I used the high beam tap.)

Here's the 4-pin relay video :

 

[kbro]

I grew up about 45 miles from Memphis in Arkansas. This week, I installed lights with crash bar mounts and a wiring harness with relay and switch. I wired the trigger switch to the headlight and zip tied the relay and extra harness wiring to the main wiring harness. The 10 watt lights are plenty bright enough to make you more visible when riding. I ordered everything from Amazon except for the crash bars which I ordered from Beez Deals.

 

[Cpd419]

I ordered the same mounts they are excellent on my Vstrom. I'm going to try the minis on the reflectors.