Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech Guidance on Wiring Driving Lights

I just bought a couple of the small Kuryakyn Silver Bullets (20 watt halogens) that I am going to use as spot/driving lights. Disclaimer: I am no electrician, so my question might be silly, but here goes - I've read a lot about various installs, and most seem to relay the driving lights off of other things like the headlight. I was wondering, could I just go direct from the battery to the lights with a fuse and switch in between? I can then turn the driving lights on when needed. I know this means I need to remember to turn them off lest I drain the battery. But can this be done? Thanks all!

I believe there is a factory installed wire harness for driving lights already on your bike. You might want to cut into that, as it's ignition key powered.

As for the relay, I defer to those with better knowledge of relays, and I'm not clear exactly how that factory harness is wired.

I spent the $35 and bought the factory harness and used it to wire in my JC WHitney lights. Makes the job ever so simple and quick.

To answer your question, yes, you'll need a relay to switch the power for the lights unless you plan to use a high amperage switch. 40 watts is going to draw at least 3.5 amps and most mini toggles won't tolerate that much current. You'd use the switch to engage the relay latch on the keyed side of the power and the other side of the relay would carry the power to the lights directly from a fused battery lead.

I wired Wendy's into the high beam circuit so they go off with low beam and back on with high.

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could I just go direct from the battery to the lights with a fuse and switch in between?

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Well, yes you could but as Ed was saying, you'd need one heck of a heavy duty switch to handle that much current. Much better to go with a relay. Relays can seem mysterious as first but they're quite a simple device really. All they are is a switch that uses small current to trigger the switch that turns on the heavy current to the lights.

I also like Ed's idea of buying the $35 harness to make it easier. I couldn't do that to mine because my lights are hi/low just like the headlight but with your lights the factory harness should do just fine.

Thanks to everyone for your comments, which are very helpful!

So I ended up getting the universal wiring harness from Kuryakyn that was suggested for the Silver Bullets. This seems to make the wiring a lot easier, with the exception that I need to tap into a "keyed on" power source for the wire that runs to the switch. It's not a real long wire, so I am thinking of connecting to one of the headlight wires. I would like to have the Silver Bullets be on regardless of whether I am using my low or high beams, so does anyone know which wire to tap into in the headlight, i.e. , the location and color of that wire? Also, could I use a scotch lok connector to tap into this? Thanks for your continued help!

You could tap into the wire that provides current for that little parking light on the headlight. It's there when the key is on.

Thanks Keith - do you know what color of wire that is?

When I had driving lights on my bike, I did the same as OldRoadie and bought the factory driving lights wiring harness. It makes everything pretty much plug-in and go. The part number is A99300037

Thanks Soren - maybe I should have gotten the Triumph harness. The Kuryakyn is pretty much plug and play too - it has a relay and ring connectors for the battery, and all of the wiring to the lights and the switch. It's a pretty nice package for $30. My only problem, due to my lack of electrical experience is that I am just trying to figure how to tie the switch into a "keyed on" power source so when I turn the key on, the driving lights are operable. Did you have to do this with the Triumph harness? If so, which color wire did you tap into and how did you do it?

Spend another $35 and get yourself the Triumph wiring harness. It plugs right into the connector already on the bike, so no slicing, dicing or splicing of the wiring already on your bike.

However, if you insist on splicing, here is a diagram someone made a few years ago (wish I could remember who). The part that says connector, is the connector under the tank that the Triumph wiring harness would plug into for the factory driving lights.

Thanks - both your posts are very helpful. I think I see the connector under the tank - a tank removal appears to be in order for this?

If you do end up pulling the tank (very easy) just remember to pull the breather hose, which is attached underneath near the front of the tank. As for your question about the colour of the wire from the parking light, work with the black w/yellow stripe wire (if you decide to keep the harness you have).

Keith and Soren, much appreciation for your help. I am starting to (ahem) "see the light."

So, I just wanted to close my post with a big thank you! to all for your assistance and comments. After cutting up several wires and still being unsuccessful in getting the lights to work, I ended up having the dealer finish the wiring for me, which in the end was good since they did a great job - nice and clean. Here's a couple of pics - these are Kuryakyn Silver Bullets (20w) mounted on British Customs mounting brackets on the front of the forks instead of the back to avoid hitting the engine guards (thanks Brent for that idea).

Here's the other pic:

Now will this pic start the reflector saga again

Thanks Keith!

Now I see what was meant by boof when he mentioned the
"reflector saga"!