Here is the simple scenario... wires off the sidecar: Right turn signal (from the bike only), brake light and running lights (front and rear).
They will tap in the bike's tail proper wires, assembled with a quick disconnect at some point, a trailer hitch disconnect would work (???), DO THOSE WIRES NEED TO BE ALSO GROUNDED or because they are tapped in already grounded wires they do NOT need to be grounded?
This is in anticipation of the arrival of my new Ural friday... decent mechanical skills (1100GS that I have taken care of for 150K), but my electrical skills are very poor for some reason!
Such a newbie here... after riding 47 years solo... even borrowed a rig from the local parts guy (I live in the country... well kind off... the city folks are slowly taking over... will have a 2 stories Walmart soon! 5 miles from here...) and so far all I can say is... driving a Spaceship must be similar!!!... It does put a constant smile on my face however and my dog with his Doogles (!!!... red please...) is as excited as I am in my trial runs... and doughnuts around the property!!!
Awesome website... I appreciate all you input... Didier... a Million Thanks for all the pictures and counseling you have already send me... including your patience... Jay, at Dauntless, thanks for putting up with me and getting this rig in accordance to my schedule...
Yoy be well... Ara
A trailer hitch plug works best. Make sure you wire the one with the three male plugs to the sidecar and the one with three female plugs to the bike. The fourth wire, the male lead from the bike is the ground. That way if you ever unplug it and turn the ignition on, you don't have hot wires hanging down to touch something. To be safe, wire the plug in as follows
A. White wire - is your ground.
B. Yellow wire - is brake.
C. Brown wire - is for tail lights, driving and marker lights.
D. Green wire - is for your right turn signal lights."
Then you can pick up a neat little 99 cent tester that looks like a trailer plug. If you have an electrical problem on the sidecar, you unplug the lights, plug this in in it's place, and immediately know if it's got the power it needs. http://www.boatersworld.com/bm/trailerlights/Sierra/198420895.html Ignore the price on this one. Most any place that sells wiring will have these for under a dollar.
Beemer,
A trailer connector set will do fine.
Just tap into your bike's tailight. [brake and tail light]. and run the wires forward on the bike to the center area, and hook up a trailer plug there. short part on the bike, and a long one going to the SC lights.
AS for your right signal, remove the bulb from the bike socket, add a wire to the bulb wire inside the housing, and extend it to the other wires from the tail light , to the trailer plug , and splice it in to the plug. you will have 4 wires there tail, brake, signal, and ground. ground the white wire on the bike side to the bike somewhere, then hook up the other 3 to your SC tail light.
I had to install a small converter inside my bike tail light [from a trailer place], because my bike used a separate wire for the right signal , and the SC light is combined brake/signal. this converter has 3 wires to use...very easy to hook up.
OOOOPS!
Sorry, the converter I installed is for wiring up my trailer tailights...combining the bike tail/signal/and brake lights together to match up with the trailer lights.
all else applies to the SC.
here's a link to a converter, and explaination....
Electronic Tail Light Converters Tow vehicles with separate stop & turn signals require an electronic tail light converter to convert the vehicle's 3-circuit wiring system to the trailer's 2-circuit wiring system, assuring the safe operation of all trailer lights.707295 draws power directly through the tail lamp circuit, providing the basic electronic components for conversion to US & Canadian trailer lighting systems. Includes a standard 4-flat 4' trunk connector with an 18 ground.Includes a standard 4-flat 6' trunk connector with an 18 ground.All electronic components are sealed to ensure a waterproof and corrosion resistant unit and are 100 factory tested.
You won't need a converter for the Ural. The brake and turn signal are already separate. You only need a converter if the bike has separate brake and turn signals, as most of them do, and the sidecar or trailer uses the same bulb for both. My trailer has orange turn signals in addition to brake/tail bulbs, so I just used a 5 pin plug instead of the 4 you usually see.
I knew that there is no such thing as a simple... scenario!!!
Excuse my ignorance (I will get better... promise), but the turn signal confuses me... OK... one wire to the running light((bike running light)
one wire to the brake light (bike brake)
and... finally why not tap into just the wire that turns the R signal on?
I really appreciate the thought of grounding the 4th wire... very good idea...
Good?...
And I really appreciate your input...
Be well... Ara
That's exactly what I did. One to the tail light from your bike's running lights, it will also light up the small white light on the front of the sidecar fender. One wire from the sidecar brake to the bike brake light, and one wire from the sidecar turn signal to the bike right turn signal. And of course, the ground wire.
I didn't quite follow Bob's comment about adding a wire to the socket, but it might have been something necessary for his rig. On mine I tapped into the wires where the rear lights plug in under the seat and right side cover. You'll have to look yours over to find the best spot, but try to keep them all attached to the same harness. I once had a Goldwing that the Previous Owner had wired a trailer hitch light setup. Two of the wires were tapped into the main harness and two were tapped into the rear harness. I had to cut wires to remove the saddlebags so I could change the rear shocks.
AH!!! Sidecar Mike... just what my Artistic logical mind wanted to read...
Life is Good as they say... Thanks for all the input... I will document this new Adventure... from the delivery to the mounting to the Space ride... and lets not forget Spirit with his new Red Doogles!!!...
Be well... Ara
the Beemer has the rear wire loom running thru the rear bike frame and exits out just in front of the tail light housing. .the signal wires all enter the tail light housing also.I could not[did not] cut into the original loom up in front.
so , I needed to install the converterinside the tail light housing, to separate the combined tail/brake light wires to go to the separate tail lights on my trailer.when i mentioned adding a wire to the signal light socket, I meant the wire from the socket inside the tail light housing.
Originally written by SidecarMike on 3/21/2006 6:25 PM
That's exactly what I did. One to the tail light from your bike's running lights, it will also light up the small white light on the front of the sidecar fender. One wire from the sidecar brake to the bike brake light, and one wire from the sidecar turn signal to the bike right turn signal. And of course, the ground wire.
I didn't quite follow Bob's comment about adding a wire to the socket, but it might have been something necessary for his rig. On mine I tapped into the wires where the rear lights plug in under the seat and right side cover. You'll have to look yours over to find the best spot, but try to keep them all attached to the same harness. I once had a Goldwing that the Previous Owner had wired a trailer hitch light setup. Two of the wires were tapped into the main harness and two were tapped into the rear harness. I had to cut wires to remove the saddlebags so I could change the rear shocks.
Thanks for explaining. I had an image of those light bulbs that the trailer rental people used to have. You know, where you take out your bulb and put theirs in and two wires hang out for trailer leads. :0)
Hi SidecarMike... seems like since you have mounted an Ural... maybe you will know the answer to this... also waiting for an answer from Jay as my rig just arrived this pm...
http://beemerchef.smugmug.com/gallery/1204831/2
Back to the lights! three wires... PURPLE, GREEN and YELLOW... would you know which one is the turn signal... running light and bike brake???
Regarding the wheel... there are a small washer and a large one, very large... I am assuming that the samll washer goes in first... the wheel and then the big washer of cover as I would even call it... (have disc brake).
If you don't remember... don't worry about it... I am sure jay might know...
Be well... Ara
I really don't remember. I just went out to look, but my wires were cut short so I soldered pieces and then encased it all in insulation. Sorry. Take your battery and a set of jumper cables, connect one cable to the sidecar frame and the ground - post. connect the wires one at a time to the positive post + .
The big washer does go on the outside. Mine is drum brake, but it has a washer on the inside, then the rim and then the large chrome cup.
WOW... that easy! Thank you for the tip... I have jumper cables hanging right here!!!...
Thanks for the wheel tip also... I will be doing that... maybe tonight...
Here we go...
Be well...
Ara
Well.. slowly... hard to do this alone... it is getting there...
For those interested 2 pages of it so far...
I can tell that the geometry of it is not going to be the easy part...
http://beemerchef.smugmug.com/gallery/1204831/1
Thanks for all your inputs...
Be well... Ara
