Trail Tech Vapor Indicator Light Wiring ...

[azcycle]

Hello all... I haven't been around in a VERY long time (having a kid tends to reduce amount of free time). And on that note, we're due for baby #2 in a few months and with that comes the very hard decision to sell the ole r65. It's been collecting dust more often than not over the last couple of years, and now we need the funds for a second car. (So if you're in the Tucson/Arizona region and are interested, let me know!)

With that said, I'm trying to get some projects finished that have (literally) been sitting around since 2011 or so, including the "new" Trail Tech Vapor and surrounding indicator lights.

I've searched the forums and read all the other Trail Tech threads but they seem to cover the speedo/tach portion (which is straight forward). I've got some questions on how to wire up the Vapor Indicator Light cluster.

The original r65 dash/gauge cluster is off the bike and in it's place, my father-in-law added just the indicator dash from an r80GS. It looks like the wiring harness is plug and play as the r65. But I've got a couple questions about how to wire in the new Trail Tech Vapor, that has four spots for LEDs.

First off, the charging light will NOT be part of the Vapor and I'll add it as it's own non-LED light as part of the new dash bracket I'm building.

So that leaves me with four LEDs to utilize.
1) High Beam/Flash
2) Oil Pressure
3) Neutral
4) Combined Turn Signal

Question 1: The R80 dashboard combines the two separate turn signal wires into a single indicator light, but it does so through the circuitry of the board. Meaning the two separate wires plug into the dash via the harness plug, but there is only one indicator light. To mimic this setup, can I attach BOTH left and right signal indicator wires (blue/black right turn wire and blue/red left turn wire) to the positive of the single LED?

Question 2: Similar question. I see there is a green/blue wire that runs from the ignition coil, up to the starter and emergency stop switches, then over to a diode and finally going to THREE indicator lights: Charge, Neutral, and Oil. This green/blue wire seems to replace the ground wire for these three lights. And like the turn signal wires, there is only the ONE wire going into the dash, and it utilizes the dash circuitry for the three separate lights.

So how do I wire up these three? Two are Vector LEDs and the other is the non-LED charging light. Is it as simple as splitting the blue/green wire in three and running each to all three lights in place of the ground? If so, does the blue/green attach to the positive or the negative of the LED? (or does positive/negative matter here?)

Thanks for your help...

[mrclubike]

Hello
Sorry to hear that You have to sell your bike
I had the same situation when my daughter was born 19 years ago and I had to sell my beloved 1962 IIA short wheel base Land Rover Station wagon 

Question 1
you  need to get  2 diodes
Put one between the light and the left side turn circuit and put the other between the light and right side 
The diodes  connect to the Positive side of the LED Light and ground  the other side of the LED
If you don't it will feed back and all 4 turn signals will flash at the same time
The silver band on the diode goes to the LED 

Question 2
The Green and Blue wire is battery positive coming from the kill switch and battery positive going to the ignition coil

Oil Pressure
connect the   GRN BLU wire to the positive side and the  BRW GRN to the neg 

Neutral LED light 
GRN BLU on the Positive
BROWN  BLACK on the Neg

The charge light
gets the GRN BLU wire to one side and the BLU wire on the other

The high beam light does not use the GRN BLU wire
 You need to find the white wire coming from the high beam circuit and connect that to the Positive side of the High beam indicator Light and a ground wire to the other side of the HB light 

[mrclubike]

Wire the Turn signal LED like this

[azcycle]

Hello
Sorry to hear that You have to sell your bike
I had the same situation when my daughter was born 19 years ago and I had to sell my beloved 1962 IIA short wheel base Land Rover Station wagon 

Question 1
you  need to get  2 diodes
Put one between the light and the left side turn circuit and put the other between the light and right side 
The diodes  connect to the Positive side of the LED Light and ground  the other side of the LED
If you don't it will feed back and all 4 turn signals will flash at the same time
The silver band on the diode goes to the LED 

Question 2
The Green and Blue wire is battery positive coming from the kill switch and battery positive going to the ignition coil

Oil Pressure
connect the   GRN BLU wire to the positive side and the  BRW GRN to the neg 

Neutral LED light 
GRN BLU on the Positive
BROWN  BLACK on the Neg

The charge light
gets the GRN BLU wire to one side and the BLU wire on the other

The high beam light does not use the GRN BLU wire
 You need to find the white wire coming from the high beam circuit and connect that to the Positive side of the High beam indicator Light and a ground wire to the other side of the HB light 

Thanks so much! I was reading about diodes this morning had just about come to that same conclusion on the diodes for the signals

That said, in the r65 electrical schematic, it looks like there is a black wire coming from the ignition coil and going to a diode with the green/blue out the other side. As far as I can see, my black wire has been clipped (nothing attached) and I don't see it connected to a diode at at all. But I need to remove the fuel tank and trace all the wires back to see if they're original or if they've been spliced weirdly somewhere.

For the Charge... does it matter what is connected to positive/negative?

[mrclubike]

No separate  diodes are standard in the 81 R65
Do you have a single or double ignition coil

GRN and BLU is positive to the coil and BLK is the ground coming from the points or ignition module

For the GEN light
Standard bulbs are not polarity sensitive

[mrclubike]

I think the black wire you are talking about is your Tach signal
The diode your seeing is the tachometer

[azcycle]

I didn't get notifications of your responses, so my apologies for "going dark." I appreciate the feedback, thank you. I'll check tonight and get back with you. Obviously the black wire was cut some time ago and the bike functions fine so I suspect it will continue to be fine left that way.

If you take a look at the attached electrical diagram, toward the upper left you'll see the black wire going to a diode, with the brown/ground wire and the green/blue connected. I was just concerned I was missing something vital to the system, since that black wire traces back to the ignition coil.

Once I get everything wired up (having a friend build a small mount for me) I'll post up my results!

[mrclubike]

Here is the actual BMW schematic
The black wire is definitely the old tach signal
I don't know why they are calling the tachometer a diode

"SW" Translates to Black

[azcycle]

I'm about ready to dig into the dashboard project this weekend. Before I go buy diodes for the combined turn signal, what amp diodes do I need? Would a 12v, 1-amp diode work? I read that if I used too large of an amp, the lights could possibly get dimmer.

[skippyc]

You need at least 20volts 1 amp should do with ease. most places will have a cheap generic diode to do the job and should be able to direct you to what you need.

[azcycle]

You need at least 20volts 1 amp should do with ease. most places will have a cheap generic diode to do the job and should be able to direct you to what you need.

Nice, thanks for the quick response.

I hope to have it wrapped up this weekend and will post some photos.

[azcycle]

Made SOME progress on the Vapor installation and got ALMOST* all of the new indicator lights to light up like they should. Thanks for the help on the electrical questions, fellas! First time I had tried soldering diodes and, frankly, I was pretty impressed with my soldering job!


* EXCEPT the neutral. Looked under the bike to find the neutral switch wet with gear oil and filthy. I just replaced it a couple years ago with the used transmission I put in. I verified that the switch is bad (jumped the neutral wire and the new N indicator light lit up.) Ugh. New neutral switch on order. Not looking forward to replacing it again... what a PITA.

I'll get some photos of the install early next week... probably start a new thread so it's easily found for those wanting to do it in the future.

But here is the dash I had a friend make me. The key switch and charge light will be mounted on the left, and Vapor on the right.