Installation of DennisB light bar

I've had all the parts and pieces to install the DennisB light bar and Optronics driving lights along with a 12V power outlet in the LH storage for a few weeks now, but have been very intimidated at the thought of removing all that bodywork. I finally gathered my courage and started on the project yesterday. I'm not very far along as I have to work slow with frequent rests, but I'm making progress.

Relay & DennisB taillight connector mounted, but not yet wired:


12V power outlet mounted: I used the pre-existing hole (covered with a rubber plug) in the LH storage box. The panel-mount 12V outlet I bought from PCA required a larger mounting hole than the existing hole, so I used a 1.25" 3-flute countersink mounted in my cordless drill to open the hole up. I was careful to remove only a little material at a time with several trial fits. I was able to do some final trimming of the hole with a knife and achieved a fit that allowed the power outlet to thread itself very tightly into the hole, eliminating the need to use the backing nut. That's a big plus as getting to the back side to install the jam nut would have required removing a lot more bodywork than I am comfortable with.


Kinda ugly with all the pretty plastic off, ain't it?


I'll take more photos and post them along with my experiences as the work progresses.

A few more photos:

Wiring exiting the rear of the left floorboard support tube. Note the protective spiral wrap around the wires, The ends of the tube have extremely sharp burrs.


And the front of the floorboard tube. Note that the front of the tube curves up.


Plenty of wire pulled through to wire the lights and on/off switch.

That is a clever method of running the wires to the front using the frame tubes

RArch wrote:

That is a clever method of running the wires to the front using the frame tubes

Straight from DennisB's instructions!

I see the light at the end of the tunnel! No work Friday. We went to pick up the Shadow Mini-Trailer from the factory Friday afternoon. (unexpected several days early call!)

The relay has been wired to the taillight connector and the fused power wire from the battery and the power wire to the front of the scooter are wired and routed. (Be generous with the wire ties. It makes for a neat installation and keeps everything where it belongs.)


Power wire routing:


Waterproof pushbutton switch for on/off control of the driving lights:


Wire tie the switch wires to the handlebar to avoid stress on the switch:


Don't forget to connect the ground wire to the ground lug!


DennisB light bar installed and Optronics lights installed: (Yay!)


All that remains is connecting the light wires, testing the lights and power outlet, and replacing the body panels!

Looking good

hotwings wrote:

Looking good

+1

I need a little help, please.

When I went to test the driving lights, They did not come on. I checked voltage at the front terminus of my lead wires from the relay in back. No voltage...

I noticed that the tail light was not on. I checked, and the rear turn signals work, but there are no brake lights. I immediately suspected the taillight connector, so removed it and plugged the stock taillight plugs back together. Same thing - turn signals, but no tail or brake lights.

I checked the taillight fuse with an ohmmeter and it is good. The inline fuse from the battery to the relay is good. (It would have no effect on the taillights though - different circuit.)

I checked the ground wire stack to make certain I did not miss one when I added the driving light ground.

What's up with that?

There were a couple of blown fuses. See my "I killed it" thread.

The problem turned out to be with the relay I purchased from Ebay. It was crap - internally shorted. A new relay from the local Auto Zone store fixed the problem and everything is now working correctly.

Now comes the fun part - putting all that bodywork back in place!

All Done!

Nice, they will give it a good presence on the road.

I wonder could you fit some sort of daylight running LED on each of the rear mudguards... another project perhaps

RArch wrote:

Nice, they will give it a good presence on the road.

I wonder could you fit some sort of daylight running LED on each of the rear mudguards... another project perhaps

I have thought of that. Danson offers a tail/brake/turn signal light kit for their conversions, but I have no idea what is involved in installing one, or what it's like. It should not be all that hard to fit a couple of LED trailer lights to the fenders, if some stylish ones could be found.

Gyro wrote:

RArch wrote:

Nice, they will give it a good presence on the road.

I wonder could you fit some sort of daylight running LED on each of the rear mudguards... another project perhaps

I have thought of that. Danson offers a tail/brake/turn signal light kit for their conversions, but I have no idea what is involved in installing one, or what it's like. It should not be all that hard to fit a couple of LED trailer lights to the fenders, if some stylish ones could be found.

Give these a gander ....

http://www.lights.skenedesign.com/PB_Features.shtml

....... or those ........

http://www.hyperlites.com/hyperwhite.html

BTW, nice job on the light bar install and the troubleshooting.

Gyro thats a nice looking combo you have. Was never a fan of anything "triked" but i'll admit yours looks sharp especially with the trailer!! Good job!!

Gyro, I'll second what hotwings said.
That's a good looking trike/trailer combo.  Good work.
WB

I emailed Danson and asked for details on their lighting kit.  They sent me a complete set of installation instructions and a photo of the lighting kit installed on a Suzuki B400.

That's a $250.00 lighting kit.

Err, Umm...........