Hooking up Driving lights to 2009 R1200GS

[davehenricks]

I am trying to decide how to hook up driving lights. I got a pair of 55w Halogen lights at Wal Mart and wanted to tie them into the existing lighting circuits so they come on with my high beams. Has anybody done this and where do I tie it in. Also, will the existing wiring handle it or do I need to run it clear back to the battery? Thanks for any help you can give me.

[pdxrmccgs]

I think most guys go for power off the battery with switch
power off the light circuit. There are a lot of cool circuits in the archives.
The existing light circuits seem to be limited to 10 amps and
protected by software virtual fuses (no fuse box).

[marc]

You NEED a relay. One might have come with your driving lights. The control input to the relay can be tapped off of your high beam. The relay will then switch power to the lights. Power input needs to come from the battery. You can not tap into any of the bike circuits for that much power.

Here's an example where I used fog lights instead of driving lights and therefor tapped into the low beam instead of the high beam.

http://www.snafu.org/pics/r1200gs/hella/

and tapping the headlamp: http://www.snafu.org/pics/r1200gs/wiring/

I've since changed the wiring to use a fuzeblock as I was getting too many leads that needed a connection to the battery.

http://www.snafu.org/pics/r1200gs/2009/0204-fuzebox/