Autocom Wiring Into Brake Light

Hi,

I have an 03 VFR non ABS, and a new Autocom Active Duo system. It seems like it would be a simple install, but I am a complete novice.

It says: "Connect Red (pos) wire to a recommended, switched ignition, fused supply, such as the positive feed to the tail lights, or rear brake light"

So, 1 - Is the brake on the 03 a switched ignition/fused supply?

2 - If so, where would I splice the power into it? There seems to be a bundle of wires that are all taped together for all of the tail lights (L + R indicators, and 2 different bulbs in the tail). And then when this bundle separates so that smaller bundles split off to each light, there is 3 small wires that go into each of the brake light connectors (a green, green with yellow stripe, and blue with red stripe). I'm guessing green is Ground, and the other 2 are a "live" and "switched" (for when the brake is ON.

Would I connect here - right at where I can see individual wires right before the connector to the light? Or elsewhere? And how can I tell which is which?

Sorry if this sounds daft.... It's my 1st bike, and the missus and I are doing a trip on it next week and I'm starting to get pannicked!

Thanks in advance for your responses. :musik20:

I had to refer to the wiring diagram in the manual for my '98. I'm an electrical dummy, but I was able to figure it out.

[image: View Post]Knife, on Aug 25 2008, 06:35 PM, said:

I had to refer to the wiring diagram in the manual for my '98. I'm an electrical dummy, but I was able to figure it out.

Thanks.... a manual never came with my bike though. Sucks to be me.

It must be your day cause here's a link for the owners manual in PDF form. Just print the pages you want and take them to the garage with you!!!!

http://www.vfrdiscus...p...s&showcat=2

The LAST thing I would do is to power non-essential aftermarket accessories from the same fuse with the brake light. Or from the same fuse with any other mission critical circuit. It would be pretty stupid to lose your headlight at night, or stall in the middle of rush hour traffic, or get rear-ended just because your intercom (radar detector, mp3 player, GPS, cigarette lighter, shaver...) shorted out.
Install a separate accessory fuse. You will thank yourself later.

I am betting it is a relay he is powering, and not an actual connection. I am 99% certain it is the blue-red wire you need, although it is supposed to be brown-blue, with green-yellow being the brake and green being the ground.

[image: View Post]Tightwad, on Aug 25 2008, 07:14 PM, said:

I am betting it is a relay he is powering, and not an actual connection. I am 99% certain it is the blue-red wire you need, although it is supposed to be brown-blue, with green-yellow being the brake and green being the ground.

Sorry, yes it IS brown-blue. Not sure if it has a RELAY on it?? And couldn't find any wiring diagrams in the owners manual.

Help!!

Best to use a separate relay. You can get them for about $5 at the auto parts store; they're probably somewhere near the fog lights. The purpose of the relay, is to use your taillight wire to switch the power, without actually pulling power from that little wire and perhaps overloading it. The relay allows you to get your actual power straight from the battery, while getting your switching logic from the taillight.

There are four contacts going into the relay, and on most auto parts store relays they have numbers like 30, 85, 86, 87. Check the diagram on the package to confirm, but here's what the ones I've used have:

86 should be connected to switched power. (Run a piece of wire from here, to some convenient spot on the taillight wire, because the taillight wire is live whenever the bike is on. Use the taillight wire, not the brake light wire, because the brake light is only on when you're braking, and you want your Autocom on whenever the bike's on, rather than just when you're braking, right?)

85 should go to ground. Run a wire from it, to some convenient bolt on the frame, or to the negative terminal of the battery.

87 should go to the positive terminal on the battery, by way of a fuse. You can get an inline fuse holder from the auto parts store. I like the blade fuses better than the little tube fuses.

30 should go to the red wire on the Autocom. The Autocom wiring harness may already have a fuse, or it may not. I can't remember if it came with one, or I added one. I know this puts two fuses between the battery and the Autocom, but since I power several things using switched power through my relay, things with varying power requirements, I like to have fuses for each device.

The black wire on the Autocom should go to ground. Route it to either a convenient bolt on the frame, or back to the negative terminal on the battery.

That's all!

I added a relay to power my Zumo, picked the switched power up off the LIC plate ligth, no guess work as its only 2 wires and no system critical circuit to worry about

I believe the relay advise is spot on, but 30 is positive to battery, and 87 is switched to accessory. 87a would be reverse switched...devise is on when bike is off (blinky LED simulating an alarm would be a possible use).

I use 5 pole relays in my harnesses, but only because they are the same price as 4 pole relays. 85 and 86 are reversible, but generally run them as advised.

[image: View Post]Tightwad, on Aug 25 2008, 10:49 PM, said:

I believe the relay advise is spot on, but 30 is positive to battery, and 87 is switched to accessory. 87a would be reverse switched...devise is on when bike is off (blinky LED simulating an alarm would be a possible use).

I use 5 pole relays in my harnesses, but only because they are the same price as 4 pole relays. 85 and 86 are reversible, but generally run them as advised.

Thanks so much everyone. Awesome help!!

t

:fing02:

[image: View Post]Tightwad, on Aug 26 2008, 01:49 AM, said:

I believe the relay advise is spot on, but 30 is positive to battery, and 87 is switched to accessory. 87a would be reverse switched...devise is on when bike is off (blinky LED simulating an alarm would be a possible use).

I use 5 pole relays in my harnesses, but only because they are the same price as 4 pole relays. 85 and 86 are reversible, but generally run them as advised.

See, this is what happens when you try to write this kind of stuff from memory. Sorry! Anyway, check the package, there'll be a diagram of what goes where, and that's really the definitive answer.

I am a former electrical nimrod. Thanks to articles like the following one, I am no more. :biggrin:
http://www.canyoncha...neric/relay.php
The distribution block is for future farkles, but the wiring and theory behind a relay is the same.

I second dweese's advice to just use the license plate light for simplicity's sake. I made a little piece of wire with connectors that I spliced into, rather than splicing into the factory wiring. This way, I can put it back to normal some time in the future.

One note of caution with doing mods before a big trip. Don't! Too many things can go wrong if you have not had enough shakedown rides. I know it would stink to rely on tapping and hand signals, but it beats the alternative of being stuck somewhere. In theory, this is nothing major, and has been done by many people, but if you move forward with it, just make sure you have enough testing time in there.

Ok... so seeing as this thread is a wealth of info...

I'm having trouble getting my hands on 18guage wire. Would 16 work ok? And would it matter if some was 16 and some was 18? The fuse holder I bought has 16... so if I was to run 18 into it would it cause any problems?

Oh, and how would one know what size fuse to put in? I noticed in the manual it is 30A everywhere else.... should I just put in another 30?

Thanks!

[image: View Post]tbailey, on Aug 26 2008, 04:06 PM, said:

Ok... so seeing as this thread is a wealth of info...

I'm having trouble getting my hands on 18guage wire. Would 16 work ok? And would it matter if some was 16 and some was 18? The fuse holder I bought has 16... so if I was to run 18 into it would it cause any problems?

Oh, and how would one know what size fuse to put in? I noticed in the manual it is 30A everywhere else.... should I just put in another 30?

Thanks!

16 gauge is thicker than 18 (don't know who came up with the lower number is bigger thing :rolleyes: ), so it can carry more current. 16 gauge is fine, and probably better than 18 gauge in this case.

For fuses, just keep a variety pack of blade fuses handy. The Autocom should have a current requirement on it somewhere, if not in the manual. 10A should be more than enough, though.

[image: View Post]tbailey, on Aug 26 2008, 04:06 PM, said:

Oh, and how would one know what size fuse to put in? I noticed in the manual it is 30A everywhere else.... should I just put in another 30?

Thanks!

I don't know the official fuse sizes for any of it.

But the Autocom hardly needs any power at all, so when I did this I just put a 5A fuse in the wiring to it, because that was one of the smaller ones I had floating around the garage.

I put a larger fuse in the supply wire to the battery, like 20A or 30A. This fuse doesn't protect your Autocom. It's purpose is to protect the rest of your bike's electrical system if you somehow manage to short something out while doing your accessory wiring. I put it in because I know I may occasionally have "teh stupid", and I don't want to let the magic smoke out of any of my OEM electrical parts. These larger fuses are overkill for just the Autocom, but I'm only just beginning - I'll be adding more accessories later!