T7 90% offroad build

[Camel ADV]

4 hours ago, Canadian-t7 said:

Step 1 completed. Made bracket 1 of 3, headlights will have there own bracket, as will the speedo and gps. All welding will be done after mock up. Lights also arrived and I have figured out my wiring layout. It's complicated but not, at the same time. 

 

I'll be curious how you make out with the wiring. Four wires, one +12V keyed, one -12V and two that don't do a damn thing (with or without the high beam switch on). There is a circuit board in the headlight assembly itself that seems to process the signals to fire the LEDs. If you tap the wires with a multimeter (with the headlight connected), you'll see some strange stuff going on. I've got my LEDs wired to separate switches which is less than ideal as without the OEM headlight plugged in, the check engine light stays on.

[Canadian-t7]

@Camel ADV that's not great news, and I wonder why the engine light comes on? I was assuming the headlight would have worked on a Power side control, guess not. I will pin it tomorrow and see if I can figure something out. I'll see if I can get a wiring diagram too.

[Camel ADV]

On 9/24/2021 at 9:15 PM, Canadian-t7 said:

@Camel ADV that's not great news, and I wonder why the engine light comes on? I was assuming the headlight would have worked on a Power side control, guess not. I will pin it tomorrow and see if I can figure something out. I'll see if I can get a wiring diagram too.

I was expecting it was just ground side switching… nope.

 

[Canadian-t7]

@Camel ADV a complicated lighting system for a bike that is supposed to be simple, makes sense.  So the headlight would be a module, but I would think there's another module on the bike that receives the inputs, then communicates them over a LIN, or CAN system to the headlight?

[CoreCass]

i have bin thinking about this as well..  i remember that a french guy figured out how it worked.

as i see it. its the same as a swish dimmer. but instead of dimmer a switch.

also added his website. [frensh part of this forum also has all his details. but cant remember]

the google translate is the article he placed somewhere else.

 

 

 

Google Translate

 

 

 

 

 

mvdbr also recently did this apparently.

 

Edited September 25, 2021 by CoreCass
aditional info.

[Canadian-t7]

Edited September 25, 2021 by Canadian-t7

[Canadian-t7]

@CoreCass we are replacing the headlight assembly with different lights, not adding auxiliary lights to the system. Separate problem. I wonder how rebelxsports did it though? They replaced the headlight somehow.

[Canadian-t7]

I made a few measuring mistakes, some of it I made work, some I need to redo tomorrow. I was planning on trimming the windshield a bit(that wasn't part of the screw up).  I need to trim the headlight mount a bit too.  I few other pieces to fabricate still. 

[Camel ADV]

On 9/25/2021 at 5:30 AM, Canadian-t7 said:

@Camel ADV a complicated lighting system for a bike that is supposed to be simple, makes sense.  So the headlight would be a module, but I would think there's another module on the bike that receives the inputs, then communicates them over a LIN, or CAN system to the headlight?

 

Something goofy like that I'm sure. The fact that the engine light is on due to the headlight being unplugged makes me think the 2nd circuit is likely a part of the ECU.

 

[Camel ADV]

14 hours ago, Canadian-t7 said:

I wonder how rebelxsports did it though? They replaced the headlight somehow.

 

It could be wired to non-OEM switches like how I have mine currently set up.

[Canadian-t7]

I'm not the greatest at drawing wiring schematics, but this is how to wire lights if your not using the factory headlight. The blue/black wire and yellow wire are ground side switch for lights, they carry to much resistance to wire directly to the ground wire of the headlight (you will have dim lights) so you use those wires to switch on a relay(primary side) (blue/black for low beam, yellow for high beam) . You then have a dedicated ground on the secondary side of the relay that supplies ground to the light(can use the yellow/black headlight ground/accessory plug ground/ground directly from battery or chassis) . Supply voltage for the light comes from the accessory plug/headlight 12v supply/ or from a fused wire attached directly to the battery.  My lights have a dim feature so I will run that switch on my dash and it uses ground to complete the task. Also check whether or not the lights you are installing are case grounded (this won't work on a ground switched light, so you will need to isolate the light from case grounding ie. Rubber mount)

 

Edit: the key on wire color is brown, brown/white after the headlight(forgot that in the schematic)

Edited September 26, 2021 by Canadian-t7

[Canadian-t7]

The rally tower is nearing completion.

[Canadian-t7]

Just a quick Light test video, using factory high low switch plus a dimmer switch beside the speedo to give me a dimmer low and high beam for the street. The rally tower isn't completely finished, but it's nearly there. Still need to make a surround to fill the area around the lights,  relocate a couple wires, and waiting on a wide cornering lens for the low beam. High beam need to be adjusted up a bit too.

[Canadian-t7]

Comparison between the baja designs and the stock headlight w/ an amazon 12" lightbar. Spoiler it's not even close and the 12" lightbar is really bright.

[Canadian-t7]

Finished the rally tower although I'll probably need to have it powder coated, Paint is coming of to easy.  Made the front headlight cover and wrapped it in the same flat black 3m vinyl that I did the windshield with.  Installed the wide/corning lens on the low beam. Now I just need to ride it and see if anything breaks.

[Camel ADV]

On 10/7/2021 at 1:04 PM, Canadian-t7 said:

Finished the rally tower although I'll probably need to have it powder coated, Paint is coming of to easy.  Made the front headlight cover and wrapped it in the same flat black 3m vinyl that I did the windshield with.  Installed the wide/corning lens on the low beam. Now I just need to ride it and see if anything breaks.

 

Nice work!

[Canadian-t7]

A recent video of me doing some singletrack night riding. I also bought neutech tubliss for front and rear that I'll be installing shortly. 

 

https://youtu.be/9dO5KvcwB0I

[Canadian-t7]

I put together a video from the 2022 ktm adventure rally in Quebec, Canada back in June. 

https://youtu.be/9NYa9wpLoOI

[Canadian-t7]

Update: I'm on a weight savings mission so im ditching my aluminum nav tower build, plus I didn't like that the xl80's stuck out the front to far.  I removed the yamaha crash bars, altrider rear rack, Installed a lithium battery and in the next few weeks will be deleting the abs completely and going to a single front disk.

[Canadian-t7]

So v2 of nav tower progression. I already know there will be a v3, but his will do for a year or  more. The carbon tower weighs 2lbs less then the aluminum tower, I also shaved another pound out of the lights. It now comes in 1lb lighter then the oem setup, but it's at least 4x brighter. The lights now fit inside the fairing space, I have a few more things to finish up, but it's getting close.

[Canadian-t7]

My original plan to build a 1 piece windshield went out the window, so I used the leftover piece to build a filler. Not a fan, so I ordered a clear piece of polycarbonate (3/32 thick) to build a winshield piece that I'll add a couple louvers to, to allow air to cool the lights. Learned a few things about molding plastic though.

 

Edited May 12, 2023 by Canadian-t7

[random1781]

It dawned on me last night that a clear headlight protector would be a decent drop-in solution...

 

 

Don't know how much dirt and dust would accumulate behind it through.

[Canadian-t7]

@random1781 the headlight cover would do in a pinch, but it is spaced out to far and the v-shape at the top doesnt work either . The dust and dirt was the main reason i was trying to stay away from doing a clear windshield over the lights, but i dont like the look of the windshield i just built. It's easy enough to remove and clean so we will see how it goes.

Edited May 12, 2023 by Canadian-t7

[random1781]

6 hours ago, Canadian-t7 said:

remove and clean

I don't understand this process.

[Canadian-t7]

@random1781jokingly, like you don't wash your bike? The lower windshield is held on with 4 push clips so it can be removed and cleaned when cleaning the bike. It would need to be removed because of clearance between the lights and windshield. Similar to how the dust collects behind the upper windshield and winglets.