Manual Headlight switch

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Skooby.snaxxs

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Hi all. I am :newbie: to your site as I am now a very happy owner of a FZ1S 07 plate.
The only thing I want to change at the moment is a switch to bypass the auto headlights.
Dont get me wrong I do think having headlights on is a good thing and I almost always have them on but I hate having the choice made for me.
I have seen one mod on the net which is a seperate switch but wondered if I bought a second hand switch with the kill/run, start and headlight on/off. Could I replace the existing switch with this one?
It would look better hopefully as if it was original.
Hopefully someone can help or have some other ideas.

Appreciate any help.
 
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Thanks for that. Might go down that route but was ideally looking for a swith which lets you turn sidelights headlights on or off as I want.
Is there any other way to do this?
Thanks
 
You may want to check to make sure that you are not breaching any road regulations by modifying your headlight/park functionality.
In Australia, headlights & park lights must always be on and can only be amber or white.
If all ok, good luck with your project :D
 
Skooby.snaxxs said:
Hi all. I am :newbie: to your site as I am now a very happy owner of a FZ1S 07 plate.
The only thing I want to change at the moment is a switch to bypass the auto headlights.
Dont get me wrong I do think having headlights on is a good thing and I almost always have them on but I hate having the choice made for me.
I have seen one mod on the net which is a seperate switch but wondered if I bought a second hand switch with the kill/run, start and headlight on/off. Could I replace the existing switch with this one?
It would look better hopefully as if it was original.
Hopefully someone can help or have some other ideas.

Appreciate any help.
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I was under the impression that Europe didn't mandate "always on" headlights. The UK must be under a different set of rules?? My KTM came with the "European" headlight and switch mechanism. It allows me to turn off the headlight while leaving the tail light and a small marker (peanut bulb) lit in the headlight housing, or turn everything off. Neither position has any affect on the turn signal function.

Link: http://www.ktmtwins.com/ktm-european-headlight-switch

Just so you know what I'm talking about.

The North American ones, by comparison, head light and tail light come on when you start the bike.
 
Skooby.snaxxs said:
In the UK there are no regs (at the moment) to have lights on all the time.
Could be a couple of weeks before I try this but will post when its done.
Cheers
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Good luck, just don't buy your components from Lucas (the prince of darkness):eek:

The Lucas motto: "Get home before dark."

Lucas denies having invented darkness. But they still claim "sudden, unexpected darkness"

Lucas--inventor of the first intermittent wiper.

Lucas--inventor of the self-dimming headlamp.

The three-position Lucas switch--DIM, FLICKER and OFF.

The other three switch settings--SMOKE, SMOLDER and IGNITE.

Lucas dip-switch positions: LOW and BLOW (Bruce Miller, www.hermit.cc)

The original anti-theft devices--Lucas Electric products.

"I've had a Lucas pacemaker for years and have never experienced any prob...

If Lucas made guns, wars would not start either.

Did you hear about the Lucas powered torpedo? It sank.

It's not true that Lucas, in 1947, tried to get Parliament to repeal Ohm's Law. They withdrew their efforts when they met too much resistance.

Did you hear the one about the guy that peeked into a Land Rover and asked the owner "How can you tell one switch from another at night, since they all look the same?" "He replied, it doesn't matter which one you use, nothing happens!"

Back in the '70s Lucas decided to diversify its product line and began manufacturing vacuum cleaners. It was the only product they offered which didn't suck.

Quality Assurance phoned and advised the Lucas engineering guy that they had trouble with his design shorting out. So he made the wires longer.

Why do the English drink warm beer? Lucas made the refrigerators, too.

Alexander Graham Bell invented the Telephone. Thomas Edison invented the Light Bulb. Joseph Lucas invented the Short Circuit.

Recommended procedure before taking on a repair of Lucas equipment: check the position of the stars, kill a chicken and walk three times sunwise around your car chanting: "Oh mighty Prince of Darkness protect your unworthy servant."

Lucas systems actually uses AC current; it just has a random frequency.

How to make AIDS disappear? Give it a Lucas parts number.

Recently, Lucas won out over Bosch to supply the electrical for the new Volkswagens. So, now the cars from the Black Forest will come with electrics supplied by the Lord of Darkness -- how appropriate!

Lucas is an acronym for Loose Unsoldered Connections and Splices.
 
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Personally I think its stupid to not have a headlight especially on a bike. There is a guy with an older cruiser with no headlight. It's hard to see him and he rides very reserved. Much harder to do on a fz1.
Just my .02
 
You are right it can be easier to see a bike with a light on but also it has been noted that it can be more difficult to judge a vehicles distance and speed when it has its lights on. So there is always difference of opinions.
As I said in my first post I almost always have the headlight on I just want to have the choice.
Sorry if this seems like a rant but I hate having decisions made for me even if I agree with them.
Rant over.
 
Sebastian F7 said:
Personally I think its stupid to not have a headlight especially on a bike. There is a guy with an older cruiser with no headlight. It's hard to see him and he rides very reserved. Much harder to do on a fz1.
Just my .02
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I don't have a switch to turn them off but there have been many instances where I wished I could, mostly when I don't want to disturb others with the lights leaving a place like a motel or campground. On the road, I agree, there isn't a reason to have them off unless you've done something illegal and are running.... ;)
 
There are times

FZ1inNH said:
I don't have a switch to turn them off but there have been many instances where I wished I could, mostly when I don't want to disturb others with the lights leaving a place like a motel or campground. On the road, I agree, there isn't a reason to have them off unless you've done something illegal and are running.... ;)
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On road I totally agree. I wouldn't have the switch except that it was there when I bought the bike. Off-road is another matter. I have replaced more than a few low beam bulbs when I forgot to switch it (headlight) off on extremely rough trail. The hot filament is susceptible to breaking when subjected to the repeated shocks of rough terrain (even with good suspension).

I was backtracking on a dead end trail and losing daylight fast so I was really cooking on it and the trail was rough. just as it got dark my bulb blew from the vibration. Had I remembered to turn it to the peanut bulb marker only, it gives enough light to been seen (not that there is any traffic) and would have saved my low beam for when I really needed it. There was the high beam in this case, but not nice for the oncoming traffic.
 
Skooby.snaxxs said:
You are right it can be easier to see a bike with a light on but also it has been noted that it can be more difficult to judge a vehicles distance and speed when it has its lights on. So there is always difference of opinions.
As I said in my first post I almost always have the headlight on I just want to have the choice.
Sorry if this seems like a rant but I hate having decisions made for me even if I agree with them.
Rant over.
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Childish.
You need to pick your battles more wisely.
I have nothing against not wanting choices made for you, however hours upon hours of research and time and money are spent to come up with good ideas to save lives because they know somewhere out there is a person of a lesser mind wanting to go against the grain. Good luck.
Take your tail light off too. Im sure the argument will uphold that you didn’t think anyone would be behind you when you hit the car that pulls out in front of you..
Go with square wheels that makes more sence.
:bowdown:
 
I'm old enought to have been riding at a time when all motorcycles had light switches. You would be amazed by how many riders forgot to turn on their lights at night. We also had manual fuel petcocks to switch from off, run and reserve, again you would see many riders walking/pushing their rides to the nearest gas station.
 
Oldschool said:
On road I totally agree. I wouldn't have the switch except that it was there when I bought the bike. Off-road is another matter. I have replaced more than a few low beam bulbs when I forgot to switch it (headlight) off on extremely rough trail. The hot filament is susceptible to breaking when subjected to the repeated shocks of rough terrain (even with good suspension).

I was backtracking on a dead end trail and losing daylight fast so I was really cooking on it and the trail was rough. just as it got dark my bulb blew from the vibration. Had I remembered to turn it to the peanut bulb marker only, it gives enough light to been seen (not that there is any traffic) and would have saved my low beam for when I really needed it. There was the high beam in this case, but not nice for the oncoming traffic.
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That's strange. I've never blown a bulb on a sled. They stay on all the time, dont get consistent voltage since they are on a batteryless ignition system, and those trails get really rough after guys tearing em up all day
 
OldBiker said:
We also had manual fuel petcocks to switch from off, run and reserve, again you would see many riders walking/pushing their rides to the nearest gas station.
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My previous bike was a carbied 1998 Honda CB600 with no fuel guage and a manual fuel switch. Funny enough it did have a headlight switch tho.

Great fun when she starts spluttering and you're doing 100 in the fast lane on the freeway in heavy traffic with a bigrig up yer clacker.

No pressure :eek:
 
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