[image: Posted Image]
About 15 years ago, I "discovered" the advantages of a shift light vs. watching a tachometer and trying to anticipate when that needle will reach my chosen/safe shift point. Looking out the windshield, concentrating on driving, preparing to shift...and then you see a flash and BANG--next gear!
I have a Raptor brand shift light in my Z-06, set at 6400 rpm to just miss the 6500 rev control. That motor spools up real fast, and until I got my Raptor shift light installed, I was always "hittin' the stop". I LOVE full-throttle max rpm shifting....but I don't like having the car nose over hard when the fuel is shut off by Mr. Goodwrench.
When I got my VFR last spring, I was very leery of the odd redline markings on the tach (what IS redline, anyway?), very leery of rumors of it reading 400 high, and very, very leery of looking at the thing at 12,000+ rpm when I should be looking forward! Solution? Spend $85 and get an adjustable, precise, bright Raptor shift light! http://www.raptorperformance.com/ There are several LED colors available, and the same for the housing. Of course I picked nice, bright fast YELLOW, with a simple black housing, but I suspect many of you will choose the slower RED version. BLUE is kinda cool, for you oddballs who have blue bikes, and I don't know WHAT you SILVER guys are gonna do. Anyway, to each their own. Each light comes with a color matched cap which is fine in a car interior at night, but no good for us during the day. Use it to cover the light in rain or when washing the bike. The Raptor isn't a waterproof unit, (it is all solid state/low voltage, so no big deal with water for me or other bikers, as far as I know) so don't drench it. Raptor says a waterproof version is in the works for cycles, since so many people are now using this little gem on bikes. You'll notice that the light can be used with 1-12 cylinder engines, and it works up to 19,800 rpm. All that's required is to set the cylinder switches and the rpm dials. (We won't be setting it for 4 cylinders OR 12,400 rpm, more on that below)
Start by removing the side fairings and the front (headlight) fairing, which includes mirrors, windshield and the bezel around the gauge panel. Use a thick towel taped to the front fender so you can let the front fairing rest there while you unplug the headlight connectors (not 100% necessary), and the turn signals, if you haven't already done so by then. When removing the bezel, be careful around the triples and hydraulic reservoirs, as it's easily scuffed. Put some masking tape on all those items (ALL of 'em!!) to prevent heartbreak.
Okay, now locate the light. Use the smaller, less "robust" light clip, as it provides more clearance from the forks/triples/stuff and is easier to get the light in and out for adjustments. I found that it could go surprisingly close to the center without interference, as you can see in this photo.
[image: Posted Image] border='0' alt='user posted image' />
Shift Light Location
Do NOT cheap out and secure the clip to the bezel with a cheesy sheetmetal screw, as it will certainly loosen up in no time! Use a nice stainless 10/32 machine screw (1/2 inch long or so) and nut, drill thru the bezel about an inch down from the top edge, and screw the clip down nice and tight (a drop of Loctite on the nut is a good idea). Now you can put the bezel back on. Hopefully, you didn't scuff it....but I'm betting that you did, because you didn't listen to my precaution about using masking tape/towels, etc. It's your own fault.
Now to the electricals. The instructions with the Raptor are very good, so if it seems like I'm glossing over things here....there's plenty of info with the light.
For the rpm signal to the light, we tap the number 2 ignition coil. We DON'T tap the ECU tach wire or the speed sensor or whatever. If you do that, you're sure to fry the electronics....and that puny milliamp/millivolt ECU signal won't fire the light anyway. And who KNOWS what that signal's frequency is and what it's telling the LCD electronic tach. So....simply connect the light's green trigger wire to the number 2 coil primary wire, like this:
[image: Posted Image] border='0' alt='user posted image' />
Ignition Coil Tap
As you can see, I simply used the crimp-type splice/tap connectors. Works great for these very low amperage applications, but I don't trust them for "serious" power tapping, i.e. anything that should use a fuse, like that old 8-track tape player you've been wanting to add to your Goldwing. Just to avoid any confusion, you can hook this green wire to ANY coil primary wire....but the number coil 2 is simply convenient.
Now you need power and ground for the light's red and black wires, respectively. You have plenty of choices, but you'll want to use a power lead that's energized only when the key is ON. I found a nice little power source and ground coming off of the bank angle/engine shutoff/tilt sensor thingo. The fat white wire is power, the fat green is ground. You don't want to touch the red/white striped wire. And pay no attention to the color of the wires I used that lead back to the shift light....I spliced in the thick red and blue wires for some reason (don't remember why...not important, might have been due to the particular crimp taps I had laying around..dunno), but you can certainly use Raptor's wires to tap power and ground....they come about 10 feet long!
[image: Posted Image] border='0' alt='user posted image' />
Power and Ground Taps
I won't go into details of wire routing....you're on your own but it's no big deal at all. The 3 wires out of the light are in a black plastic sheathing and it simply disappears amongst all the other wires down there. You need to leave some slack for removing the light and changing rpm setting, but not more than a foot or so.
Okay, if you think you're all hooked up, set the light on 1 cylinder (remember that one coil you tapped?) and set the rpm to something easy like 4000, but no more than 9000. Turn the key to ON and the light will count out for you its setting by going through a blink sequence. Then, start bike and rev it slowly, watching the tach. At 4400 rpm your light will go off, because the @#&*#$%^ tach reads 400 rpm high!! So, now you know the light works and fires at 4000 rpm, and you've confirmed that the factory tach is bogus. Good.
Now, on the one cylinder mode, you can only set the light for 9,900 rpm. But we want to go higher!! To do that, as discussed in the Raptor info, you simply set the light for twice as many cylinders and halve the rpm setting, and somehow the electronicals inside the light make the right decision. :P So, I set my light for 11,800 rpm by changing to the 2 cylinder mode and then turning the two rpm dial settings to 5000 and 900. 5900 x 2=11,800. I choose this setting because it gives you a few heartbeats of time to actually perform the shift....be it full-throttle, closed-throttle or whatever, and from what I've learned here, the motor is running out of breath at that point anyway. But I gotta tell you....having a shift light makes it really easy and fun to probe the higher limits of our horsepower (and noise!) range. My bike, with my PC changes (particularly timing) still pulls pretty hard up there. :thumbsup: I might go up to a 12,000 rpm setting, but I don't see any real need to.
Here's the light with the color matched cap. And it comes with a black cap, if, for some strange reason you DON'T want to see the light. (?)
[image: Posted Image] border='0' alt='user posted image' />
Shift Light w/ Yellow Cap
Before long, you'll forget the light is there, until one day soon you'll really wick it up, watching that car you're passing or that Harley you're showing off to instead of the tach. You'll see that flash of your chosen color.....next gear! http://www.raptorperformance.com/
Oh...there is one odd thing about this mod. When you toot the horn, the light will flash for a bit...a second or two. It's not a big deal, because you're probably not tooting at 12,000 rpm....at least I hope you're not. At first I thought it was because of a momentary voltage drop due to current draw to the horn. But those are big wires I tapped into, and aren't part of any direct horn electrics. So....I thought maybe it's due to the magnetic field that's generated around the horn. Or maybe the Dilithium Crystals are low on power. Anyway, I've gotten to where I sorta like it. Toot! Flash!
About 15 years ago, I "discovered" the advantages of a shift light vs. watching a tachometer and trying to anticipate when that needle will reach my chosen/safe shift point. Looking out the windshield, concentrating on driving, preparing to shift...and then you see a flash and BANG--next gear!
I have a Raptor brand shift light in my Z-06, set at 6400 rpm to just miss the 6500 rev control. That motor spools up real fast, and until I got my Raptor shift light installed, I was always "hittin' the stop". I LOVE full-throttle max rpm shifting....but I don't like having the car nose over hard when the fuel is shut off by Mr. Goodwrench.
When I got my VFR last spring, I was very leery of the odd redline markings on the tach (what IS redline, anyway?), very leery of rumors of it reading 400 high, and very, very leery of looking at the thing at 12,000+ rpm when I should be looking forward! Solution? Spend $85 and get an adjustable, precise, bright Raptor shift light! http://www.raptorperformance.com/ There are several LED colors available, and the same for the housing. Of course I picked nice, bright fast YELLOW, with a simple black housing, but I suspect many of you will choose the slower RED version. BLUE is kinda cool, for you oddballs who have blue bikes, and I don't know WHAT you SILVER guys are gonna do. Anyway, to each their own. Each light comes with a color matched cap which is fine in a car interior at night, but no good for us during the day. Use it to cover the light in rain or when washing the bike. The Raptor isn't a waterproof unit, (it is all solid state/low voltage, so no big deal with water for me or other bikers, as far as I know) so don't drench it. Raptor says a waterproof version is in the works for cycles, since so many people are now using this little gem on bikes. You'll notice that the light can be used with 1-12 cylinder engines, and it works up to 19,800 rpm. All that's required is to set the cylinder switches and the rpm dials. (We won't be setting it for 4 cylinders OR 12,400 rpm, more on that below)
Start by removing the side fairings and the front (headlight) fairing, which includes mirrors, windshield and the bezel around the gauge panel. Use a thick towel taped to the front fender so you can let the front fairing rest there while you unplug the headlight connectors (not 100% necessary), and the turn signals, if you haven't already done so by then. When removing the bezel, be careful around the triples and hydraulic reservoirs, as it's easily scuffed. Put some masking tape on all those items (ALL of 'em!!) to prevent heartbreak.
Okay, now locate the light. Use the smaller, less "robust" light clip, as it provides more clearance from the forks/triples/stuff and is easier to get the light in and out for adjustments. I found that it could go surprisingly close to the center without interference, as you can see in this photo.
[image: Posted Image] border='0' alt='user posted image' />
Shift Light Location
Do NOT cheap out and secure the clip to the bezel with a cheesy sheetmetal screw, as it will certainly loosen up in no time! Use a nice stainless 10/32 machine screw (1/2 inch long or so) and nut, drill thru the bezel about an inch down from the top edge, and screw the clip down nice and tight (a drop of Loctite on the nut is a good idea). Now you can put the bezel back on. Hopefully, you didn't scuff it....but I'm betting that you did, because you didn't listen to my precaution about using masking tape/towels, etc. It's your own fault.
Now to the electricals. The instructions with the Raptor are very good, so if it seems like I'm glossing over things here....there's plenty of info with the light.
For the rpm signal to the light, we tap the number 2 ignition coil. We DON'T tap the ECU tach wire or the speed sensor or whatever. If you do that, you're sure to fry the electronics....and that puny milliamp/millivolt ECU signal won't fire the light anyway. And who KNOWS what that signal's frequency is and what it's telling the LCD electronic tach. So....simply connect the light's green trigger wire to the number 2 coil primary wire, like this:
[image: Posted Image] border='0' alt='user posted image' />
Ignition Coil Tap
As you can see, I simply used the crimp-type splice/tap connectors. Works great for these very low amperage applications, but I don't trust them for "serious" power tapping, i.e. anything that should use a fuse, like that old 8-track tape player you've been wanting to add to your Goldwing. Just to avoid any confusion, you can hook this green wire to ANY coil primary wire....but the number coil 2 is simply convenient.
Now you need power and ground for the light's red and black wires, respectively. You have plenty of choices, but you'll want to use a power lead that's energized only when the key is ON. I found a nice little power source and ground coming off of the bank angle/engine shutoff/tilt sensor thingo. The fat white wire is power, the fat green is ground. You don't want to touch the red/white striped wire. And pay no attention to the color of the wires I used that lead back to the shift light....I spliced in the thick red and blue wires for some reason (don't remember why...not important, might have been due to the particular crimp taps I had laying around..dunno), but you can certainly use Raptor's wires to tap power and ground....they come about 10 feet long!
[image: Posted Image] border='0' alt='user posted image' />
Power and Ground Taps
I won't go into details of wire routing....you're on your own but it's no big deal at all. The 3 wires out of the light are in a black plastic sheathing and it simply disappears amongst all the other wires down there. You need to leave some slack for removing the light and changing rpm setting, but not more than a foot or so.
Okay, if you think you're all hooked up, set the light on 1 cylinder (remember that one coil you tapped?) and set the rpm to something easy like 4000, but no more than 9000. Turn the key to ON and the light will count out for you its setting by going through a blink sequence. Then, start bike and rev it slowly, watching the tach. At 4400 rpm your light will go off, because the @#&*#$%^ tach reads 400 rpm high!! So, now you know the light works and fires at 4000 rpm, and you've confirmed that the factory tach is bogus. Good.
Now, on the one cylinder mode, you can only set the light for 9,900 rpm. But we want to go higher!! To do that, as discussed in the Raptor info, you simply set the light for twice as many cylinders and halve the rpm setting, and somehow the electronicals inside the light make the right decision. :P So, I set my light for 11,800 rpm by changing to the 2 cylinder mode and then turning the two rpm dial settings to 5000 and 900. 5900 x 2=11,800. I choose this setting because it gives you a few heartbeats of time to actually perform the shift....be it full-throttle, closed-throttle or whatever, and from what I've learned here, the motor is running out of breath at that point anyway. But I gotta tell you....having a shift light makes it really easy and fun to probe the higher limits of our horsepower (and noise!) range. My bike, with my PC changes (particularly timing) still pulls pretty hard up there. :thumbsup: I might go up to a 12,000 rpm setting, but I don't see any real need to.
Here's the light with the color matched cap. And it comes with a black cap, if, for some strange reason you DON'T want to see the light. (?)
[image: Posted Image] border='0' alt='user posted image' />
Shift Light w/ Yellow Cap
Before long, you'll forget the light is there, until one day soon you'll really wick it up, watching that car you're passing or that Harley you're showing off to instead of the tach. You'll see that flash of your chosen color.....next gear! http://www.raptorperformance.com/
Oh...there is one odd thing about this mod. When you toot the horn, the light will flash for a bit...a second or two. It's not a big deal, because you're probably not tooting at 12,000 rpm....at least I hope you're not. At first I thought it was because of a momentary voltage drop due to current draw to the horn. But those are big wires I tapped into, and aren't part of any direct horn electrics. So....I thought maybe it's due to the magnetic field that's generated around the horn. Or maybe the Dilithium Crystals are low on power. Anyway, I've gotten to where I sorta like it. Toot! Flash!