Se7enLC
Nerd
So I bought a new (to me) 2007 FZ6. It came with a lot of nice mods already done, one of which is the Givi V46 top box with admore lighting LED kit. However, I don't think it was installed quite right.
I'm not really thrilled about the V46 case. The latch is near impossible to open and close unless you're the owner. And even then it takes a lot of finesse. I've already TWICE ridden off with the case locked but the top open and flapping around. To close the case:
1). Turn the key to the unlock position
2). Push the latch mechanism IN and DOWN
3). While holding the latch in AND holding the top of the box shut, turn the key back to the locked position. Yes, this requires 3 hands.
If you don't hold the latch in, it will just pop back out. If you don't hold the top of the box down, it will just open up (or worse, it will be just a little open, and the box will latch without actually holding the case shut)
So then I notice that the taillight on the box flickers while riding. I assumed at first that the box wasn't firmly attached to the rack on the bike. There are spring-terminals there to connect the wiring when you attach the box. Turns out that connection is fine - it's the pair of spring terminals INSIDE the box that are the problem. WHY are there spring terminals inside the box? Instead of having a wire run to the back of the box, over the hinge, and back to the front, they decided to add another point of failure with a spring loaded connector. To fix it, I will have to remove that connection and splice in a longer wire.
Finally, I just got around to considering why only the taillight works and not the brake light. The quick-connector only has two conductors, so it seems to make sense that only one should be active - but then I read the description on the AdMore Lighting page. From the sounds of it, it is running both the tail and brake lights on one conductor. To do this, they've included a "controller" embedded into a wiring harness. That wiring harness came in a little plastic bag among the other things I got with the bike. I guess the previous owner never bothered with it or never got it to work.
I am guessing that the harness includes two diodes and two resistors of different values to regulate the current going to the LEDs. The diodes prevent cross-contamination between the brake and taillight wires on the bike.
I've asked admore to send me installation instructions so I can try installing it properly. We'll see how well it goes.
Here's my educated guess as to what's going on inside the "controller" for the lights. Measuring with a meter seems to agree, but I'm not 100% positive.
I'm assuming there must be another resistor, perhaps in with the LED bank in the box, otherwise the lights wouldn't be working right now.
I'm not really thrilled about the V46 case. The latch is near impossible to open and close unless you're the owner. And even then it takes a lot of finesse. I've already TWICE ridden off with the case locked but the top open and flapping around. To close the case:
1). Turn the key to the unlock position
2). Push the latch mechanism IN and DOWN
3). While holding the latch in AND holding the top of the box shut, turn the key back to the locked position. Yes, this requires 3 hands.
If you don't hold the latch in, it will just pop back out. If you don't hold the top of the box down, it will just open up (or worse, it will be just a little open, and the box will latch without actually holding the case shut)
So then I notice that the taillight on the box flickers while riding. I assumed at first that the box wasn't firmly attached to the rack on the bike. There are spring-terminals there to connect the wiring when you attach the box. Turns out that connection is fine - it's the pair of spring terminals INSIDE the box that are the problem. WHY are there spring terminals inside the box? Instead of having a wire run to the back of the box, over the hinge, and back to the front, they decided to add another point of failure with a spring loaded connector. To fix it, I will have to remove that connection and splice in a longer wire.
Finally, I just got around to considering why only the taillight works and not the brake light. The quick-connector only has two conductors, so it seems to make sense that only one should be active - but then I read the description on the AdMore Lighting page. From the sounds of it, it is running both the tail and brake lights on one conductor. To do this, they've included a "controller" embedded into a wiring harness. That wiring harness came in a little plastic bag among the other things I got with the bike. I guess the previous owner never bothered with it or never got it to work.
I am guessing that the harness includes two diodes and two resistors of different values to regulate the current going to the LEDs. The diodes prevent cross-contamination between the brake and taillight wires on the bike.
I've asked admore to send me installation instructions so I can try installing it properly. We'll see how well it goes.
Here's my educated guess as to what's going on inside the "controller" for the lights. Measuring with a meter seems to agree, but I'm not 100% positive.
I'm assuming there must be another resistor, perhaps in with the LED bank in the box, otherwise the lights wouldn't be working right now.
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