Switches

I don't want a CB, expecially a $40 40 channel CB unit that costs $600 just because it interfaces with the video screen on my StealthWing. But, I'm left with four totally useless switches on my left handlebar. What can we do about that? Something very useful and attractive I hope. Many options are available for these four switches, but with only one exception, these momentary switches aren't very useful. We can change that too.

There are a number of options here, but this is the way I chose to do it having these goals in mind: A) easily reversible (back to OEM); B) simple to wire up, color coded and no need to dig into the OEM wiring too much; C) attractive and can pass for EOM; D) use only parts that are available almost anywhere.

Modify these methods in any way you choose or find convenient to suit your needs. This page was written over a coupla weeks as I did my own setup and these steps can be largely performed in any order, but read the whole deal before diving in so you'll have the big picture in mind as you proceed.

NOTE THE SINCE THIS PAGE MAY BE ADDED TO MANY TIMES, LOOK IN TEXT FOR THE PARTS NEEDED AND SUBSTITUTE AS DESIRED
MATERIALS Radio Shack Push button switches Lube Gel Bullet or spade connectors Basic auto relays 10' 8 conductor CAT5e wire Ethernet cable many small 4" zip ties electrical tape black heat shrink Other wire as needed Isolated Power Supply	TOOLS several listed below #2 phillips power screwdriver awl wire cutter needle nose pliers solder gun

PREPARE YOUR PIGTAILS AS NEEDED
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Bear in mind that the ACC circuits used here are not very hardy and only have a 20 & 15 AMP fuse which is used by a lot of things. Preparation of these pigtials is not a must, but doing this may prove helpful in the future. Don't expect them to carry a lot of current, tho. They are good for some decorative lights and other things as you'll see, but they won't handle your heated clothing or espresso machine.

Here I used bullet connectors that I buy in bulk from others are available or you can use Radio Shack ones. Using ¼" spade connectors with one tine insulated and the other lubed, attach as many pigtail leads as you think you may need (then add one just for the heck). See the pic for more details on how to hook them up. I used YELLOW for always hot, BLUE for key switched and GREEN (like Honda does) for isolated non-frame ground. When plugging these in, put the center one reversed so there's less danger of shorts. The lubed tine goes into the ACC plug, as you have guessed.

PREPARE YOUR 8 CONDUCTOR SWITCH WIRE
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We need to get from our handlebar switches to under the seat where there's lots of room to work with. I was able to get the 8 conductor 24 gauge ethernet CAT5e wire (4 color coded twisted pairs = 8 wires inside) by the foot at Radio Shack (Lowe's has it for 18¢/ft) so I spent a little under $1.00. Ask -- you sure don't want to spend $20 buying 100 feet when you only need six. OR if you have an old Ethernet cable long enough, just clip off the ends.This is thin wire (24 gauge) which is what we need for squeezing into the housings, but it is suitable only for triggering relays, not carrying too much current (which, by the way, is the best way to handle accessories on a bike anyway). From I obtained an Isolated Power Supply. This item is really just a bank of four relays (like the basic one below) and it's a useful neat kit and saves lots of work. In similar fashion, it uses multi-lead phone or thermostat wire as well for switching. The package is neat, supplies us with the switches we will use and the labor involved in making this kit will save you hours upon hours of your time. I highly recommend it though it's just a bank of relays and switches. But that's just what we need!

We will use our 8 wire wire to run from our switches (four of them) to under the seat where you can do what you like with the leads there easily and anytime later on. You'll want to put some black heat shrink at about a foot into the 8 wire. Then, as shown, work the wire with your fingers until it's flat and squeeze with pliers (you'll see why shortly). Set it aside since....

WE MUST ACCESS THE CB SWITCHES
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The pics are descriptive here and you should peruse all of them and read this whole spiel before you dig in. We need to disassemble the entire left switch housing. Remember to use a #2 large Phillips screwdriver. The screws are small but using a small Phillips will have them stripped in short order. It's also useful to have a mag screwdriver. Once you've got the housing apart and switches out....

INSTALL THE 8 WIRE IN THE CLAMP
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Here you can see why we flattened the wire before. It needs to fit in the clamp on top of the OEM switch wire harness. Shown here in white for visibility, your wire should have black heat shrink on it for good looks after we are all done. We left a lot of wire up top to make it easy to work with so.....

ROUTE IT AROUND ALONG WITH THE OEM HARNESS
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You can do this step later after you have the switches installed and soldered up, but since this is the routing section, check the pic to see where it goes. It simply follows the OEM harness around and into the fairing pocket area then under the top cap to the seat area where we can work with the colored leads anytime easily. But what should we do first?

UTILIZE THE MOMENTARY OEM PUSH TO TALK SWITCH
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The first switch we are going to use is the momentary PUSH TO TALK (P-T) switch. Since it would be hard to replace this oddly configured puppy with anything else, it's good that we can use it as is. There are two leads on each terminal of this switch and you only really need to preserve the connection of the YELLOW wire so after cutting them off the switch, solder the yellow wires together like they were on the switch. Leave some wire on the switch if you should ever want to go back to stock (reversible - one of our goals). I have shown this with the GREEN wire also preserved for illustration (and because I did this last week and finished up the rest of the switches this week). All our other switches will use the same principle more or less when we go cutting into the OEM circuit to replace with our own stuff. Here I chose to use the GREEN and GREEN/WHITE twisted leads of the 8 wire for this switch which is merely an OPEN/CLOSE momentary that suits our needs very well since we are going to .....

INSTALL A GARAGE DOOR OPENER!
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There are many ways to do this and how you do it will depend on your own needs and your equipment. You just short the terminals of your remote's button with the leads from the PTT switch by soldering the leads to the switch ends on the board and use the remote's battery (recommended so you can also use the PTT to work a RADIO >CLICK< headset). You can use the bike's battery (if the remote is 12v) so you don't ever have to worry about a dead one (use +12v and ground under the seat >CLICK< - works with 12v remotes ONLY).

REMOVE THE OEM MOMENTARIES
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Well, we've pretty much exhausted the need for momentary switches and the EOM's are momentary HI/LO so let's take them out and put them in a bag. Shown are the wires that need cut and remember to leave about an inch of wire on each switch for later restoration. The only one that needs preserved (like the YELLOW wire on the P-T) is the BROWN wire on the channel switch. Solder the brown wires together and insulate all the wires from each other. Tuck these switches away in a safe place with a copy of this pic to go back if you need to (maybe someone will donate a CB to you).

INSTALL PUSH BUTTONS IN THE PANEL
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The pushbutton switches that come with the Isolated Power Supply do the trick neatly. They fit right into the openings and look good besides. Shown is what the front panel should look like. If you worry about the space underneath, it's not really visible from normal viewing angles and this housing is by no means hermetically sealed from the elements anyway. One could wire up an LED to each and shine it out the opening to show the switch is "on" or one could paint the inside of the housing with flat white paint and put a super bright LED in there to light up the whole panel. I think they look good and function well as is, so ....

HOOK THEM UP
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I chose the color scheme shown in the pic below. Use what you like and below is a blank pic for you to color in and make notes. Click here for scrollable printable pic of the blank if you wish to use it for notes. Click here for scrollable printable pic of the EOM circuit should you ever want to put the original switches back in there. Button it all back up and remember that now under your seat are the leads to these switches to hook up and change around any way any time you like. It's thin wire good only for garage door remotes and relays, but it works just fine indeed!

Don't worry about the panel. It's only about $2.00 each from the dealer if your installation sullies it down the road. I've got a whole set of panels on order to put in the bag with the EOM switches and the drawing for future restoration if needed.

Below are some pics you may find useful. Click each to get a new window for printing.

Above is what I currently use for my wires and switches. Left CB VOL switch is momentary.

Here you can use the above pic. Just print it and color and label as needed for your new setup.

When I got my '06 after the crash of Aug 24, 2013 (see pics here) I did not really want to do this all over again. I made the drawing below which would have given me my PTT for my HAM and two other momentary switches with the OEM wiring. After drawing this and knowing that I would have to isolate the wires at the radio end and cut a bunch anyway, I just said screw this and redid my 8wire as descrined above. Now I have one PTT totally clean with it's own isolated contacts, one momentary for my garage door opener in the CB VOL slot and two latching switches all with their own isolated wires in the other slots. Much easier to do actually and there is no butchering of the tiny wires in the right pocket area keeping all copasetic. I did, however, keep the mute configuration shown. I never really used my Mute switch and now I can use it to connect the ground pin of a relay to chassis ground by pushing MUTE. It only needs to have the light green wire cut to keep any feedback from/to the audio unit. You can use the switch without the audio unit muting. If you cut the green lead as well, you can use the Mute for anything ignoring ground. I have three latching and two momentary switches easily reachable on my left bar cluster.

Above is the wiring diagram for the OEM left handlebar audio/CB/CD unit should you want to restore to stock.

Showing the fuse needed to protect a run of wire. Note that 16 gauge covers 30 amps up to 7 feet which is about as long as you will get on this bike.

How a basic auto relay works and what terminals need hooked up to do what you like.

I added this so that I can work on my bike with the key on but with the headlight (Lo Beam) off. The relay "defaults" to "LO BEAM ON" using terminal 87a output for safety just in case my relay loses power for some reason when riding. When "triggered" it blinks a very bright blue flashing LED and turns off the lo beam (kills power to the OEM lo relay).