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On the headlight harness, the side from the bike to the headlight has 4 pins. One of the pins is for the orange and white wire.
As per the wiring diagram, on some models, there is an extra lightbulb. On my model, there's no extra little bulb in the headlamp housing. So on the wires which lead from the headlight to the bike harness, there is no connector for that pin.
I could add a connector to that pin.
I want to use the power for LED lights that I have sitting around in my garage. This should be a key controlled circuit, so that the lights will turn on and off with the key.
The lamps are inexpensive LED spotlights left over from another project. 2.4 amps, gives me just under 30 watts. Which is probably the lumen equivalent to 2 55 watt halogen spotlights.
Does anyone know how much of a load that orange and white wire can handle? Will I overload the circuit?
The orange and white wire is only used on HDI models for the position lamp known here in the UK as the parking lamp. You could install a pin into the unused position and use the orange and white and the black (ground) wire to operate your LED spotlights. On my Iron the position lamp is on when the ignition switch is on, if you connect your spotlights to the orange and white wire your LED lights will be on with the ignition. If you are worried about the spotlights overloading the circuit, you could install an inline fuse on the orange and white wire.
I have small LED spotlights installed on my 2011 XL883N, the lamps are connected to the yellow wire (dipped beam) and the black wire (ground). My spotlights come on with the ignition, when I select the high beam button the spotlights go out. I haven't had any overloading problems with my spotlights. My lamps are 60 watts and 6000LM.
I haven't had any overloading problems with my spotlights.
As I look at the diagrams and such, the accessory fuse is 15 amp. I don't think I'm going to overload the circuit and blow a 15 amp fuse. I am considering using a fused relay, with a 5 amp fuse, between the OEM headlight harness and the spotlights. The orange and white wire could be my common, and my coil positive.
Originally Posted by Rob Roy's Revenge
My lamps are 60 watts and 6000LM.
My lamps will be just under 30 watts. I have no idea what the real lumens are. The stuff sold on Amazon is always misrepresented. It's a rough "guess-timate" that each one of the lamps is slightly over 1 amp. Which would be close to 13 watts on the LED lumens charts. those charts say 900+ lumen. So with two spotlights, each supposedly 900+ lumens, I expect to see a little more at night.
The manufacturer says that the spotlights are 27 watt and have 2,700 lumens, each. I don't believe it.
When I tested, the lamps are 2.4 amp, or 28 watt for both lights. So I'll go with what my test equipment says. I want to believe that it's reasonable if I am adding 1,000 watts of lighting. About the equivalent to a headlight.
A fused relay will work fine, if you don't want the spotlights on all the time you could fit a handlebar mounted switch to turn them off and on when you desire.
Here's a snap of my Iron 883 with the spotlights on, you'll notice that I have day riding LED strip lights on the fork sliders.
Looks good. Are some of those lights the kind that mount with 3M double sided adhesive?
Just a personal opinion. As for lighting on a motorcycle, it's just as important that the lights make you more visible. When I'm driving a car or truck, I don't always see the motorcycles on the road. It's just a fact, that when someone says, "I didn't him, he came out of nowhere" - it sometimes happens that way. The person in the car doesn't see you coming from behind. While lights won't help everyone see you, before they change lanes right in front of you, LED lights could make a difference.
I mounted and tested the lamps today. They looked okay. Too bad I'm not a professional photographer, and my cell phone camera isn't that good.
Looks good. Are some of those lights the kind that mount with 3M double sided adhesive?
Just a personal opinion. As for lighting on a motorcycle, it's just as important that the lights make you more visible. When I'm driving a car or truck, I don't always see the motorcycles on the road. It's just a fact, that when someone says, "I didn't him, he came out of nowhere" - it sometimes happens that way. The person in the car doesn't see you coming from behind. While lights won't help everyone see you, before they change lanes right in front of you, LED lights could make a difference.
I mounted and tested the lamps today. They looked okay. Too bad I'm not a professional photographer, and my cell phone camera isn't that good.
Yes, the LED strip lights on the fork sliders are attached using 3M vehicle double sided tape, the wiring runs up through the rubber gaiters for a neater look.
I installed my additional LED lights to be more visible to other road users.
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Orange and White Wire
