Identify that wire!

[OFOAM]

The '09 GS has an LED brake light. Therefore the plug for the tail/brake light is different than my '05 KS. Does anyone know the color code or pin number for the brake and tail light wires on that plug. I can take the time to figure it out with a meter, but I thought I'd save myself the trouble if someone has already been through it.
Mick

[malmac]

I assume you will have sorted this out by now if you are a normal sort of person - however if you are rather scared of the canbus system like I am - it may still be bothering you.

The wiring harness has three wires to the tail light. A grey wire with a red trace and small yellow bands every few cm's this goes to the tail light. A grey wire with a black trace goes to the stop light and the brown wire is the earth.

Well that is what the wiring diagram tells me.

I am currently wiring in a trailer plug for my 2008 GSA - so I am working through this little part of the wiring problem very slowly.


Cheers


malmac

[marc]

The use of the wires is not consistent. On my bike one is the tail light, the other is the brake light. On other bikes -- and I don't know if there is any way to tell other than by breaking out a meter and checking -- both wires are used for tail and brake lights, but instead of using on/off the ZFE uses a pulse width modulated signal with about 1/2 duty cycle for tail light function and a 100% duty signal for brake light function.

Or something like that. I haven't put a 'scope on one of the bikes using PWM to see what the actual signaling looks like.

It was the change to the PWM method that broke the then popular Brake! after market LED taillight module. Some reported that a working Brake! module stopped working after a controller firmware update... others had no issues.

<soapbox>
NONE OF THIS HAS ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE CAN BUS. It is a function of the programming of the ZFE.
</soapbox>

[mikec]

On the '09 GS, here's the way my bike was sorted out:

Plug at Tail Light-
Brown-Ground
Gray/Red/Yellow-Tail Light
Gray/Black/Yellow-Brake Light


I hope this helps.

Mike

[malmac]

What is ZFE and will it impact on me taking a trace wire to a micro switch that activates the lights on my trailer?

I am in the process of wiring in a set of micrp switches that I imported from the UK which apparently takes a small amount of current from a given wire and then uses a micro switch to divert power directly from the battery to the trailer tail lights, stop lights or what ever.

Well that is the theory. I have put in place the trace wires, however I am not really sure what will happen when I turn the whole thing on.




malmac

[mikec]

ZFE : Zentrale FahrzeugElektronik is the Central Vehicle Computer.

Mike

[marc]

Microswitches controlling a relay that switches power from the battery should be fine.

The ZFE is the controller that manages switches and lights for the bike. Every switch and light is wired directly to the ZFE (I'm ignoring switches having to do with engine management which may be wired to a different controller). When you depress something like the turn signal switch it is the ZFE that sees the change. Firmware in the ZFE decides what to do with that information... blink a light.

Since power to lights comes from the ZFE it can monitor current. Not enough current and the ZFE can tell the instrument cluster that you've got a bulb out. Too much current and the ZFE can shut down the circuit. No fuse needed.

It is that last function that causes problems for add ons. Whatever you add can't draw so much current that the ZFE thinks there is a problem. Using a relay for high current items and triggering the relay off of some existing light has not caused issues.

[malmac]

Thanks - at this stage getting information has been a priority.

I have now connected in the trace wires to the harness and without connecting the micro switches have run the bike and tested the functions. All systems are working without error messages.

My next planned step is to connect in the micro switch unit for one trace wire from one indicator - and connect in the earth. The logic is to see if the bike still runs without any error messages.

If that works fine then, I will wire in the rest of the input side trace wires and test again.

I am working on the assumption that the micro switch input side is completely independent from the out put side and that the system does not register the load or lack of load on the output side.

Attached is my wiring diagram for the project.

Any comments are of course welcome.


Thanks again


malmac

[malmac]

Just a note to let you know that I have now tested the electrics and it is all working fine.


Here is a link to a pic of the waterproof box I have put the micro switches in - so no tool kit anymore - was not much room anyway.

Cheers



Mal


http://www.r1200gs.info/forum/pictur...2&pictureid=54

[marc]

Originally Posted by malmac

Here is a link to a pic of the waterproof box I have put the micro switches in - so no tool kit anymore - was not much room anyway.

You can put the tool kit in the trailer.