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Schematic and guide to fit relays

  • Thread starter Thread starter Matchless
  • Start date Start date
M

Matchless

Guest
Hi,
I have finally finished the schematic and a guide on how to fit relays for your coils, your horn and your lights, headlamp cut out and a 12v accessory/battery tender connection as these older bikes do have some problems with their electrics due to corroded connectors etc.
There are a couple of threads where people are having trouble with the spark and are suspecting their coils or the lights are not as good as they used to be etc.
I will add some more photos when I redo my bike later this year after the powder coating of the frame, but this is not on my immediate agenda.
Hope this helps someone.

Have a look at this it may help, updated version 2009/10/15:[URL]http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=3a0ab726f6117e564012e8015643d9c85717b31bfbde8fc1[/URL]
 
Last edited:
OOOO you only need one relay for the headlight mod as a five prong relay will do the job.

I have the power for the headlight coming from the ignition switch relay and low beam is default. when the dimmer switch is set to high beam is triggers the relay and that makes the switch to high beam.

I also have a micro relay that cuts off the headlight when the starter button is pushed.
 
OOOO you only need one relay for the headlight mod as a five prong relay will do the job.

I have the power for the headlight coming from the ignition switch relay and low beam is default. when the dimmer switch is set to high beam is triggers the relay and that makes the switch to high beam.

I also have a micro relay that cuts off the headlight when the starter button is pushed.

You are right, one change over will easily do the job, the two relay issue was to allow a mod to have both beams on when on Hi. I must get that starter relay for the headlight worked in as well. Do you have any details on it? Any ideas where we can fit a large enough relay box when all such mods are done?:-$
I still even still have the voltage charging monitor lying here and not installed yet.
Keep well and thanks for the feedback.
 
You are right, one change over will easily do the job, the two relay issue was to allow a mod to have both beams on when on Hi. I must get that starter relay for the headlight worked in as well. Do you have any details on it? Any ideas where we can fit a large enough relay box when all such mods are done?:-$
I still even still have the voltage charging monitor lying here and not installed yet.
Keep well and thanks for the feedback.

well I have the starter headlight over ride relay mounted in the headlight bucket.
I have it cutting the ground for the headlight so it works even on high beam.
instead of power I have the headlight ground run in the 30 terminal and out to groung via the 87A terminal. and spliced in a line to the wire coming from the starter button.

where to mount a relay panel or box realy depends on the bike as packaging varies pretty widely between models.

I have the horn and master power relay behind the left side panel next to the aftermarket fuse panel. and have the headlight relay under the tank and starter headlight interupter in the headlight bucket.
 
Focus,
Thanks, I think I will add yours to my schematic. Then it is an all in one and anyone can just leave out the features they do not want, if you are OK with that.
Thanks again
 
I like the way you think!

I like the way you think!

After I went to dual high-volume horns, and blew the main fuse when I was riding in traffic. I added a relay direct from battery positive (in-line fuse)and negative, and actuated it with the horn button switch. This is making me think hard about a lot of issues. The GSes are known for electrical gremlins, but there are good solutions, and make the bikes very reliable.
 
I am busy adding some further modification suggestions to the schematic with some (hopefully) improvements and will post the new version soon.
 
Applauding the effort

Applauding the effort

We all know that it takes a certain type of person to endure the challenges that are thrown in the path of anyone who endevoures to own a classic motorcycle. But for someone to go the extra yard to publish in detail the steps neccessary to overcome these obstacles is in itself saying something about the person. You are truly a twisted individual who will with no doudt require therapy in the future. Until that time, write on.
 
We all know that it takes a certain type of person to endure the challenges that are thrown in the path of anyone who endevoures to own a classic motorcycle. But for someone to go the extra yard to publish in detail the steps neccessary to overcome these obstacles is in itself saying something about the person. You are truly a twisted individual who will with no doudt require therapy in the future. Until that time, write on.

Uh... thanks :?. I think my wife may find this analysis quite interesting! I may do the update on the schematic this evening or tomorrow, just have to replace cambelt on my daughters Opel today.
 
Now c'mon MR MATCHLESS your letting your family get in the way of motorcycle pursuits. You know the penalty for that.
Cheers
Don
 
Now c'mon MR MATCHLESS your letting your family get in the way of motorcycle pursuits. You know the penalty for that.
Cheers
Don

Don,
I think you know exactly that that is the only way to go! The Opel cambelt went off without a hitch, but I noticed the plugs were a bit lean. My daughter said she heard a soft whoosing sound when before braking thet goes away when she pushes the pedal and it was the brake servo with a leak allowing more air to be pulled into the manifold. Sounded very much like the GS's and their intake rubber issues!! Now need to find a servo, then I will update. The schematic is nearly up to date and I just need to tidy it up a bit. Watching Orange County Choppers on Discovery got me wondering when they did the Intel bike with the onboard computer.
Watch this space![-o<
 
I have just uploaded a later version of the guide. The link in the first post now goes to the latest version. As well as adding the headlight cutout as per focus-frenzy, I have also shown wiring to a 12v accessory jack. The written procedure still needs some editing, but will do that a bit later.
Any comments or suggestions are welcome.
 
newer version

newer version

I have just once again updated the version. Some photos of the material required added, an error in the schematic fixed and a few more changes.
The first post has the latest link.
Hope it helps someone.
 
Hi,
I have finally finished the schematic and a guide on how to fit relays for your coils, your horn and your lights, headlamp cut out and a 12v accessory/battery tender connection as these older bikes do have some problems with their electrics due to corroded connectors etc.
There are a couple of threads where people are having trouble with the spark and are suspecting their coils or the lights are not as good as they used to be etc.
I will add some more photos when I redo my bike later this year after the powder coating of the frame, but this is not on my immediate agenda.
Hope this helps someone.

Have a look at this it may help, updated version 2008/03/26: http://www.mediafire.com/?cz9h9msz12j
LINK NOT WORKING
 
Thanks for that, I have relinked and it now seems OK from my side
 
wow you have been busy Matchless!
a item I would like to add. it is very common for auto parts places to have a fog/driving light relay in close proximity to the electrical connectors and lights.
this is a decent relay and it was made to be used in continuous operation (on all the time) it also has a mounting tab making it good for our purpose, but is is different from the standard generic VF4 type relay in that it has 5 terminals but instead of one being a 87A, it has two 87 terminals so two different items can be controlled from the one relay without splicing.

these relays can't be used for the headlight cut out mod though.
 
I also went and picked up a relay and fuse holder to do the master ignition relay mod I had mentioned documenting earlyer but when I pulled the seat and side covers I discovered I have oldtimers and have already done it! (DOH!)

so here is how it goes.

this is a good all around mod and eliminates a healthy chunk of the voltage loss in all systems on a GS. unfortunatly this mod is desgned for the larger GS that have a full fuse panel. smaller GS often have just one fuse, the master fuse, a cost saving step Suzuki did that lieves them vunerable.

earlyer glass tube fuse panel/ box have a pigtail, later models have the plug dirrectly connecting to the fuse panel with better blade type fuses.

this plug has seven wires. two red, solid orange, orange with white stripe, orange with yellow stripe, orange with green stripe.

first disconnect the ground from the battery, you don't want to let the smoke out the harness doing this mod.

chose a location for the relay, I mounted mine to the frame tube that passes over the fuse box mounting panel.

the inline fuse holder needs to be connected to the battery side of the starter solinoid and the other end connects to the 30 terminal of the relay.
a ground leed runs from the 86 terminal on the relay to a good ground. as I have already done the ground mod for the R&R I just ran the ground to the starter solinoid mounting bracket screw.
you now need to cut the solid orange wire that runs to the fuse box, this is the master power return from the ignition.
 
make sure to just cut the solid orange wire as there is three other orange wires but they have white, red, and green stripes.

splice on enough wire to reach the relay and the one that comes from the fuse box connects to the 87 terminal on the relay and the one coming from the harness end connects to the 85 terminal on the realy.

and you are done, nice and simple!

001-2-1.jpg
 
I have just once again updated the version. Some photos of the material required added, an error in the schematic fixed and a few more changes.
The first post has the latest link.
Hope it helps someone.

it sure does, matchless!
i'm in the phase of "study" of your writing and plan on embarking on the coils and headlight relay upgrade as soon as i get my head around the background #theory#
[-o<

cheers

ps. interesting to learn you have "Opel" in SA, much like in Europe, but unlike here in NZ (or AUS) where they are called "Holden"
 
psyguy,
Glad to know that it is of interest. Let me know if anything is not clear as the writeup is more sort of generic and the schematic is really what you have to follow.
I recently built a control box for our clay target trench machine that interfaces to the scrambler and the 5 traps, using the 5 pin relays and various other parts and all runs off a 12volt battery. The only problem to date has been the glass fuses and I think we should seriously start replacing the fuse holders with blade type fuses on our bikes. These are very old technology and not used in vehicle manufacturing anymore because of their unreliability and tendency to make bad contact.

Yes we have Opel here, in actual fact it is marketed as Vauxhall in the UK, my daughter has an Opel Corsa and I have an Opel Astra and a Opel Corsa ldv.


Focus frenzy,
Thanks for the tip on the double output relays, I am going to try and find some here for a picture and will then add a small schematic to help with connecting up.
 
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