Auxiliary turn signal mirror
Auxiliary turn signal mirror
I recently bought an HD auxiliary turn signal mirror. Since I'm going to ditch the stock signals, can I simply solder the hot wire and ground to the wires used for the stock signals? I have no other electrical goodies on my Street Bob. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 2,036
Likes: 8
From: Temecula, CA
I hate cutting and splicing...just don't like it if I can help it. I'd look at pulling your old wires completely then running new wires to new plugs and having them plug into the stock loom like the stock signals. But that's just me.
Now, you should have THREE wires and not two going to your stock signals. From your stock turn signals, you'll have purple and this is the turn signal wire itself. Note that in the main loom one side it Brown (Left I think????) and one side is Purple but Harley wires all their signals with purple only so they are universal left to right. Then you'll have a blue wire on each. This is your running light. The last wire, black, is ground.
If the Harley mirrors only have a hot and ground, then they are turn signals ONLY and you will lose your forward running lights if you remove the stock signals. However, there is a way to deal with this too. IF you are very comfortable with wiring, you COULD take the blue wire, solder in a resistor that drops the voltage by about half or so and then wire this wire along with the purple wire into the signal's one hot wire. This will send 6v of power to the light at all times, giving you a dimmer "running light". Then when you hit your turn signals, you'll get the full 12Vs from the purple wire causing the light to go to full brightness and giving you a turn signal that is brighter than the running light. I'll need to verify that you don't need diaodes and what resistance resistor you'd need.
Note though that with this setup the resister would have to be mounted somewhere it's not going to start a fire. Resistors drop voltage by converting it to heat through...well...resistance. This means they get hot and you don't want that resting against something meltable or flamible.
Now, you should have THREE wires and not two going to your stock signals. From your stock turn signals, you'll have purple and this is the turn signal wire itself. Note that in the main loom one side it Brown (Left I think????) and one side is Purple but Harley wires all their signals with purple only so they are universal left to right. Then you'll have a blue wire on each. This is your running light. The last wire, black, is ground.
If the Harley mirrors only have a hot and ground, then they are turn signals ONLY and you will lose your forward running lights if you remove the stock signals. However, there is a way to deal with this too. IF you are very comfortable with wiring, you COULD take the blue wire, solder in a resistor that drops the voltage by about half or so and then wire this wire along with the purple wire into the signal's one hot wire. This will send 6v of power to the light at all times, giving you a dimmer "running light". Then when you hit your turn signals, you'll get the full 12Vs from the purple wire causing the light to go to full brightness and giving you a turn signal that is brighter than the running light. I'll need to verify that you don't need diaodes and what resistance resistor you'd need.
Note though that with this setup the resister would have to be mounted somewhere it's not going to start a fire. Resistors drop voltage by converting it to heat through...well...resistance. This means they get hot and you don't want that resting against something meltable or flamible.
Last edited by Robotech; Feb 14, 2012 at 04:50 PM.
The mirrors have only 2 wires but are running lights too - that is, they are constantly on and flash on/off when signalling!
Road Master
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 934
Likes: 0
From: PNW, USA
If you didn't get that harness its expensive ($50 ea and ya need two)
You could just run turns and forget the driving lights, but if you remove the stock ones you lose lighting...
I agree with Photorider. I'll probably just solder the mirror/light to the existing wires leading to the signals. I'll connect to the Purple wire and the ground so it works as a turn signal only.
But what should I do with the blue (running light) wire? Should I just shrink tube it shut and stuff it out of the way?
But what should I do with the blue (running light) wire? Should I just shrink tube it shut and stuff it out of the way?
Road Master
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 934
Likes: 0
From: PNW, USA
If you are not using it it wouldn't cause any harm if it was protected.
You could get two of those small accent LEDs that stick on and use them for parking lights. Come in many colors (amber), look nice, and cost $10. Either on forks or bars. Someone here was using them for turns and they looked good.
You could get two of those small accent LEDs that stick on and use them for parking lights. Come in many colors (amber), look nice, and cost $10. Either on forks or bars. Someone here was using them for turns and they looked good.
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Maybe I am missing something that is specific to your situation, but I installed the HD signal mirrors per the instructions and simply did not connect the original signals to the harness and all appears to be functioning correctly.
- Dan
- Dan
Road Master
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 934
Likes: 0
From: PNW, USA
The OP doesn't have the wiring harnesses - just the mirrors I believe. They are required for full function.
You dud what I did on my FXDX. Took off the stock classic bullets and just used the HD mirrors w/ turns