Installed my aux lights, hooray!

[Salish900]

I'll begin with a sincere "Thank You" to this forum and the people who have posted information on their aux light installations. This was not my first rodeo, having installed aux lights on my prior Connie, but each beast has its own fur. I had finally assembled all the parts tonight and am happy to say that from start to finish it was maybe 2 hours or so. 

I got a wiring harness off Amazon, a nice switch, and 25W flood and spot lights. I did have to prop up the tank to run the wires up front, but that wasn't tough. The plastic  on/off on the 900 is lightweight compared to the Connie! I have always felt rather naked or exposed on a bike without aux lights of some type. I'm very happy to have these babies installed. 

I went for a ride tonight and what a difference. I'll run them in the daytime, and if I don't get too many people flashing their brights at me, I'll run them at night around traffic too. Like many here in the wet side of Washington, I ride a lot of rural and remote roads. These will really help me see and be seen. I'm no electrician, but I do know 12V systems pretty well from having a sailboat. I have good Ancor fittings and shrink wrap. I didn't use anything exotic but if anyone has questions on parts I am happy to provide that. 

 

 

[bowlin01]

Nice! Please can you post a link to the switch and lights?

Thanks

Steve

[Salish900]

7 hours ago, bowlin01 said:

Nice! Please can you post a link to the switch and lights?

Thanks

Steve

You bet. I've had good experience with low cost LED lights. Many years of service. Giving these a try. And I like the look and feel of this switch. I will say it was a bit of a bear getting it on the bars as it seems to be meant for a smaller size tube, but it does work fine with some patience. You can see I installed it on my clutch side. 

These light mounts are perfect for my crash bars. Solid. And this wiring harness did the trick. I cut off all the connectors and used high quality Ancor marine butt splice connectors. Sprayed ACF 50 on all wiring and connectors before clamping down, and then heat shrink wrapped. 

[Salish900]

I'm really liking the light triangle this creates. If I drop the bike the lights on one side are toast, but that's a benefit of using cheaper lights. It gives me a wide light triangle and we all know that helps with being visible and helps cagers judge distance day and night. 

[mellow]

Nice!...

I went with this approach.

 

[Salish900]

1 hour ago, mellow said:

I went with this approach.

I was going to go that route until I put on the crash bars. And with them, I liked having the wider stance of lights they afforded. 

[JeffersonRider]

On 5/25/2021 at 10:38 PM, Salish900 said:

I'll begin with a sincere "Thank You" to this forum and the people who have posted information on their aux light installations. This was not my first rodeo, having installed aux lights on my prior Connie, but each beast has its own fur. I had finally assembled all the parts tonight and am happy to say that from start to finish it was maybe 2 hours or so. 

I got a wiring harness off Amazon, a nice switch, and 25W flood and spot lights. I did have to prop up the tank to run the wires up front, but that wasn't tough. The plastic  on/off on the 900 is lightweight compared to the Connie! I have always felt rather naked or exposed on a bike without aux lights of some type. I'm very happy to have these babies installed. 

I went for a ride tonight and what a difference. I'll run them in the daytime, and if I don't get too many people flashing their brights at me, I'll run them at night around traffic too. Like many here in the wet side of Washington, I ride a lot of rural and remote roads. These will really help me see and be seen. I'm no electrician, but I do know 12V systems pretty well from having a sailboat. I have good Ancor fittings and shrink wrap. I didn't use anything exotic but if anyone has questions on parts I am happy to provide that.

Awesome! Thank you for sharing! I'm pulling the plug on lights in the next day or two. Just trying to figure out which ones.. I'm not very electrical savvy but will hopefully get through it. I was eyeing Denali's but also have Givi crash bars sitting in the box yet to be installed so was looking for a more inexpensive yet decent lighting option since they'll be out and exposed..

Edited June 13, 2021 by JeffersonRider

[Garybinnyc]

Awesome job they look really solid.. eventually I get around to this as well. How difficult was the install? 

[Vic2021]

On 5/26/2021 at 4:26 PM, mellow said:

Nice!...

I went with this approach.

 

What mounting bracket did you use?

[Salish900]

21 hours ago, Garybinnyc said:

Awesome job they look really solid.. eventually I get around to this as well. How difficult was the install? 

Install was quite easy. Nothing technical. Took a couple hours maybe. Beware that my install method does not connect the lights to the ignition, but instead directly to the battery. This means the lights can be left on after you have turned off the key. If you are not the type to remember your lights are on, then you will want to tie it into the wires that are energized by your ignition. 

[Pupsi]

On 5/26/2021 at 10:26 PM, mellow said:

Nice!...

I went with this approach.

 

I went with that approach too. SW Motech fog lights mounted on GIVI bike specific mounts.  My reasoning was that if I ever topple the bike, the lights wouldn't be crushed. I do admit that I prefer lights to be more spaced out, but there's always a compromise between the various factors.

[wordsmith]

2 hours ago, Pupsi said:

I do admit that I prefer lights to be more spaced out, but there's always a compromise between the various factors.

Common wisdom I have read on many Forums - and followed on my own bikes - is that the optimum location for DRLs is as high as possible and as wide apart as possible - all within reason of course.

[DavidS]

On 6/14/2021 at 1:09 PM, Salish900 said:

Install was quite easy. Nothing technical. Took a couple hours maybe. Beware that my install method does not connect the lights to the ignition, but instead directly to the battery. This means the lights can be left on after you have turned off the key. If you are not the type to remember your lights are on, then you will want to tie it into the wires that are energized by your ignition. 

One tip I would recommend is purchasing a Fuze Block. ($89.99 on Amazon) It allows you to wire multiple (5 or 6) electrical items into the Fuze Block which is easily mounted under your seat. You do have to wire the positive and negative from the Fuze Block to the battery, but that is pretty straightforward. You can decide which items you want wired to switched accessories vs those that are always live.

After that, you just connect the wires from each accessory to the fuze block, and install the correct size fuse for the item you are installing, and you are good to go.

I have been using these for years, and they make electrical additions very easy. And you can document what each wire goes to on the top of the fuze block case. (they provide a handy sticker to label the items going into the fuze block.

[andz]

On 5/26/2021 at 7:38 AM, Salish900 said:

 if I don't get too many people flashing their brights at me

I ride with high beam on all the time during the day and if cagers flash at least I know they saw me. 

[Salish900]

4 hours ago, DavidS said:

One tip I would recommend is purchasing a Fuze Block. ($89.99 on Amazon) 

This is a great tip and something I need to do. Thank you. I've seen and heard of these. I use something similar on my boat.