Motolights on my R1200GS
I was in my wife's car one afternoon when I noticed a bike in the rear view mirror. I couldn't help but notice it due to that rider's addition of 2 amber riding lights. I decided to do something quite similar to my bike. I eventually decided to go with Motolights. This was partially driven by my desire to be seen, not so much to add night-time lighting. If night-time lighting were my goal I'd probably have gone with some outboard HID lights.
Motolight has a brake caliper mounting, but I thought that would put the lights too low; at least too low for a GS. I originally thought I'd use a strap mount just above the lower fork brace. However, if the bars were right or left of center the lights would hit the plastic before the suspension bottomed, not a good thing. I mounted them just below the brace, about even with the fender.
Once the lights were physically mounted I took the tank off the bike.
I wanted all wiring under the tank. I didn't want to have to futz around
with wiring just to remove the tank in the future. I also decided to
re-route my power for GPS and radar detector while I was at it.
The lights are wired directly to the battery through a fuse, controlled by a
relay. The relay is wired to a source of 12V through a switch. I picked the
switched 12V that's available at the diagnostic plug and found that I could
just fit the relay and fuse under the tool tray.
See this page for a better way
to get switched relay control power.
The harness from the relay goes along the right side of the bike. The
harness from the two lights is cable tied to the ABS sensor wire. They come
together just under the steering head, cable tied to the frame.
The switch is temporarily coiled up under the saddle. I'm not sure exactly where I'm going to put it, yet. I don't think I'll need the switch very often, so it can go in an out of the way place.
The last thing to do was replace the stock clear bulbs with the amber bulbs I ordered. I'll aim the lights after I get the bike back together.
I used an accessory socket extension cable attached to the power
distribution block that came with my V-1 for V-1 and GPS power. The cable
is routed on the left side of the bike up to the brace that goes toward
the instrument mounting from the steering head by the horn. You can just
see the cable in the picture at the far left. The second picture is a
close up of the brace with the V-1 distribution block. Before the
cables were tied in place I made sure that the fork tube has clearance
when in full lock. It does. Barely.
It didn't take long to put the bike back together. That's one of the things
I like about the GS. The light switch is on, under the saddle, so the
lights go on and off with the ignition switch. I made sure the lights
were aimed slightly down, then took a test ride. My wife then sat in her
car with the bike behind the car to get a rear-view-mirror look at things.
They are noticeable. Good. They don't blind her. Better. I'll have
to take a night ride and see how they are in the dark.
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