relay and diodes keeps headlight off when starting, $10 mod...

[victor441]

Found this over at advrider, when the relay and two diodes are wired into the headlight circuit the light remains off when the key is turned on if the HL switch is on high beam (though the blue HB indicator in the cluster DOES light, a good thing), switching it to low beam turns the headlight light on and then it can be switched to high or low beam normally as the relay is latched by the diodes.  This mod only requires a standard automotive SPST relay and two diodes, under $10 total at Radio Shack.  Wired this up to my Monster this evening and it works great, was motivated by starting trouble brought on by cold weather.  Wiring the mod was easy, tapped into the harness a few inches behind the headlight connector.   Anyway, there is more detail and some pictures at http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=506789

edit 11/25-  Pompetta pointed out that there is still some light when starting w/ HB selected...this is from the little 4W parking bulb in the headlight shell and was NOT affected by the mod, I should have mentioned this as it threw me too at first, thought this was only lit w/ the key in the PARK position but it is also lit w/ the key set to ON

[NAKID]

This is also an option....

[victor441]

considered a Euro switch, but the cleverness of the advrider mod really appealed to me, waaaay less $$$ too, and still get the result I wanted...the headlight is off when starting, warming up, working on the bike, etc....

[seevtsaab]

Hmmm very nice, sounds like you have this mounted outside the light bucket, back in the rat's nest?

I wonder how this would work with my garage door opener, which is wired into my hi-beam switch as well.

[TAftonomos]

A+++ Victor.  This will work great with my HID light to keep the ballast from trying to start the light, shut it off (when cranking) and starting it again.  HID's don't like that, and I really didn't want to put a switch on the bike (nor spend the $$$ on the euro switch).

-Theo

[victor441]

Hmmm very nice, sounds like you have this mounted outside the light bucket, back in the rat's nest?

I wonder how this would work with my garage door opener, which is wired into my hi-beam switch as well.

yep, have the relay temporarily zip tied to the gauge harness but will fabricate a bracket when I have more time.....would guess that your opener would work normally once the lights have been turned on, once the relay is latched the HL circuit is functionally no different than before the mod

[NAKID]

I wonder how this would work with my garage door opener, which is wired into my hi-beam switch as well.

Is it wired into the high beam switch or the flash to pass?

[RB]

A+++ Victor.  This will work great with my HID light to keep the ballast from trying to start the light, shut it off (when cranking) and starting it again.  HID's don't like that, and I really didn't want to put a switch on the bike (nor spend the $$$ on the euro switch).

-Theo

i am considering an HID also and reading the Taftonomos thread about starting the bike without the ballast firing up, makes me think that the diode idea is better as a fail safe. I know i would forget to turn the lights off when i turn off the bike, and having it reset automatically in the off position would be great.
So am i thinking about this right?.....If i stall the bike and immediatley try to recrank would the diode turn the light off upon recrank, my guess is no, the key needs to be turned to off. If i stall and need to recrank is that bad for the HID?

[victor441]

i am considering an HID also and reading the Taftonomos thread about starting the bike without the ballast firing up, makes me think that the diode idea is better as a fail safe. I know i would forget to turn the lights off when i turn off the bike, and having it reset automatically in the off position would be great.
So am i thinking about this right?.....If i stall the bike and immediatley try to recrank would the diode turn the light off upon recrank, my guess is no, the key needs to be turned to off. If i stall and need to recrank is that bad for the HID?

It does not reset automatically when the bike is shut off (assuming the switch is on low beam), still need to switch to high beam before turning the key if you want the light off.....though you could wire the relay to open the low beam lead instead, but I think the high beam is a much better choice as the blue hb indicator is a good reminder to turn the headlight on before you start rolling....and you are right, to turn the hl out after stalling w/ the headlight on you would need to switch to hb and cycle the ignition key

[DucHead]

I couldn't understand the instructions at advrider.    He said 5 wires to the relay, but only showed 4.

[booger]

I couldn't understand the instructions at advrider.    He said 5 wires to the relay, but only showed 4.

+1
Better photos showing everything more clearly is needed, but sounds like a great mod. He kludged his stuff up a bit but
someone with more craft could actually make the effort to make it neater. I'd need specific part numbers for the components
required from Radio Shack as well. So Vic, post up photos of your installation and part #s and be a hero to us all eh?

[victor441]

I'll take some photos when I get a chance and also write up a Monster specific description and schematic of the wiring....I work in electronics so the advrider description was enough but can now see that without an electrical background it probably wouldn't be.  So far as parts go RS only carries two auto relays (30A and 40A) and either will work, I used the 30 amp model pn 275-226 ($6.79) and a 3 pack of 1N4004 diodes is pn 276-1103 ($0.99).....these are in store items and are found in the components cabinet.

[seevtsaab]

Is it wired into the high beam switch or the flash to pass?

The garage door opener is actually wired to both, it's a common 'signal' to the connectors in the light bucket (I didn't want it tied to the switch, just the flash-to-pass but no issues).
I tied the +battery to the hi beam wire, and wired the switch closed.
The garage door just goes up a little early if I get too close to home with the hi-beam on!

[victor441]

+1
Better photos showing everything more clearly is needed, but sounds like a great mod. He kludged his stuff up a bit but
someone with more craft could actually make the effort to make it neater. I'd need specific part numbers for the components
required from Radio Shack as well. So Vic, post up photos of your installation and part #s and be a hero to us all eh?

OK, here is a basic wiring diagram and a photo.  Only the yellow/black high beam wire needs to be cut, the other two wires (low beam and ground) just need to have a short section stripped so you can solder a wire to them.  The headlight connector can be seen to the right against the headlight bracket and the new relay is below the instruments.  The numbers shown on the drawings are the terminal numbers as marked on the bottom of the relay and the triangles are the diodes, the band side is wired towards the relay.  So far as parts go RS only carries two auto relays (30A and 40A) and either will work, I used the 30 amp model pn 275-226 ($6.79) and a 3 pack of 1N4004 diodes is pn 276-1103 ($0.99).....these are in store items and are found in the components cabinet.

[booger]

Awesome, thanks for the effort