Designer & bike rider in British Columbia, Canada

R80 15 We’re gonna need a bigger box

Biggest learning curve and most time on this project has been spent on the electrical system. Not knowing anything about vehicle electrics, or really even how electricity works, has been a steep but satisfying learning curve.

Will get into the wiring diagram later. Here’s the progress made on the actual bench this week.

This first bench test of the Motogadget m.unit blue looks messy, but it’s really just doing this:

  1. Power on by connecting power to the ignition input (as if you were turning your key). “M.ride ready” is the speaker on my phone, which has the Motogadget m.ride app, which is paired securely to the m.unit.
  2. Press handlebar button on left to start left blinker, then right button to start right blinker. The blinker tick-tock noise is simulated through the phone (and through your blue tooth helmet headset, if you want)—it’s a setting you can turn off, too. Considering the what, No.3 cause of motorbike accidents are in traffic turns, it seems like A Good Thing™ to know when your blinkers are on or not.
  3. Turn headlight on, then headlight highbeam flash and stay on, and all off, all with different presses of the dedicated headlight button on the handlebars (also configurable).
  4. Brake light test (by grounding the light—simulating your foot or handlebar brake switch connecting (or disconnecting the circuit, depending)
Ordering all these little connectors from Eastern Beaver, who I’ve used for my UJM motorbikes before, took as long to compile as it will to implement.
Drop in Grote LED. Expensive as hell, but easy and recommended by two buddies using them in their vintage bikes.
New addition: fog lamp. Got the classic Hella 500 true fog lamps (wide short beam). Also ordered the Hella yellow film to glue to the lens.

I really, really like the toggle feel of this waterproof switch I got from Del City.

Drop in 1156 and 1157 size LED bulbs into the blinkers.
Crimping terminals test.
Experiment: putting an LED into an H3 bulb fog lamp. Tad longer.

For the fog lamp experiment I wanted to try some cheap LEDs, but with the desire to have the drop-in H3 for the Hella lenses, and the temperature as warm as possible (most bulbs are a very white or blue light), and bright as possible, it narrowed down the field considerably. I think these pair were $25 on Amazon, and they have this weird feature of dual temp—turn on, one temp, turn off then on again, another temperature.

The Motogadget m.switch buttons are very nice, if very small on the inside.
The buttons thread into the Motogadget m.switch housing. The buttons can be purchased individually, too, and mounted anywhere.
Testing out under-seat electrical boxes—this is just too tight. We’ll need room for service loops, labeling—who knows what else. I do know now, though: no plastic. It looks cheap. Lots of metal box options from the local Lee’s Electronics here in Vancouver, but will likely fabricate something specific, and have a plexi lid so you can view that sexy m.unit.

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One response to “R80 15 We’re gonna need a bigger box”

  1. Michael Zerafa Avatar
    Michael Zerafa

    Giday Jeff ! have been enjoying watching your progress on the R80 but have got to page 15 but with no more forward links….is this where it ends ?? Looking at buying a similar model , in similar nick ,any advice that you haven’t already given ? regards Michael

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