I posted this on another thread and thought a few might be interested it my approach to wiring a garage door opener to the bike. Yes, HD has their own unit ($?), and I've seen other aftermarket remotes, but if you have a spare remote lying around you can rig it to work on the bike. Or, buy another unit on Ebay. My opener is an old (circa 1990) Overhead Door brand that uses dip switches, but I think this method would work with any remote having an internal switch.

I had this arrangement on my old RK for about eight years, and it worked great. I took the remote control and replaced the internal switch with a remote switch by soldering two wires to the switch poles inside the remote and out to a pushbutton on the dash (red button on left in photo). On my RK I mounted the remote inside the right side cover and the switch on the frame near the starter, so on my SG I have the remote wire-tied inside the fairing, and my experience is the battery lasts for several years. I didn't experiment with this, but someone once described wiring the switch to the horn, but since the remote is 9VDC I would not want to wire it into a 12VDC system, and the 9V battery lasts long enough.

I got the switch from Radio Shack and it isn't labeled as waterproof, but a similar switch on the RK (also from RS) lasted many years on the RK and was used through all types of weather, so I'll wait and see how well it lasts. They also have this switch with a black button if you don't like the red, but I thought red would be easier to see in the dark. It isn't very visible at night in front of my garage, actually, and in retrospect I might prefer black. I did buy both, but I really don't dislike the red enough to bother swapping.

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I did something simular. I ran a relay to the switch contacts on the remote, then I ran the relay to the hot to the high beam. Velcroed it to the radio with a little plastic over the top just in case water trys to get to it. Works just like the HD one, and cost you the spare remote and > $5 relay. took me about an hour on a rainy day. Still waiting to see how long the battery last. I guess it would depend on how much you use the high beams

 

just completed the same thing as you with the exception on me puttin TWO remotes on mine....after reading your previous post, i got busy....i used the momentary rocker switch i had already installed for the DB system..rock it up, gate at office opens....rock down, home garage opens....it was easy...thanks for the tip....i didnt use any relays or splice anything, how many times has anyone ever changed a batt in one?...[8D]

 

I never thought about using a relay, but it sounds like an excellent idea. This way you isolate the 9V and 12V, but still get to switch it remotely. I'd have to wire it to something other than the lights, though, since I run high-beams at all times in daylight (with modulator) and mostly low-beams at night. Not sure what else would be feasible, but the horn is out since I have air horns, and my neighbors would likely dislike this method during late-hour arrivals.

Probably the best for me under the circumstances is the status quo, but I like the relay idea if a power source was available. It seems like even if you don't use the high-beams often, that when they are used they'd be running the remote during that time, wearing down the battery. But the battery is easy to change and durable. I think I've changed mine once since 1998.

I just thought of this: HD makes some small accessory switch panels (http://*******.com/y3kbf2) that mount on the handlebars and could be used for this purpose.

 

I must've posted this idea before today, as the previous post I mentioned was also done about an hour ago. If you "got busy" and did the just in that time frame, you're a very fast worker! Maybe I'm getting senile and posted this method some time ago on yet another thread.

Anyway, that's a good solution for your needs. As for battery life, I think I changed my 9V battery out once since 1998.