Opening your garage door with your light switch

This mod will enable you to open your garage door remotely, just like you do in a car. These instructions will allow you to open or close the garage door just by flicking the low beam (if you're one of those people who always rides with the high beam on). You can also wire it for the low beam, the horn, or an accessory switch. This works well for people who don't want something in their pockets in case of a fall, don't like the look of an opener duct taped to the bars, or often forget to bring their remote with them.

Here is the business end of the mod. It is nothing more than an opener and a 12 volt low amp relay. When the light button is pressed down, it closes a circuit between two plates, which triggers the door. A wire is soldered to each plate, and the wires are routed through a relay, which turns on when a 12v current is passed through the incoming wires. These incoming wires are tapped into the high beams in this case.

The ~16 gauge wire is tapped into 2 of the 3 wires heading into the headlight. The only wire left out is the red/black wire. (See the Wiring Schematic.) Shown here is the wire tap used. You use them by putting two wires through two holes and clamping down on a metal clip with pliers. The clip then slices into both wires and closes the connection between them. Here is a picture of a wire tap:

And the taps installed:

Note: There have been a few reports of intermittent problems with wire taps. Other methods you may consider are soldering, Molex connectors, or crimp or bullet-type connectors, such as the ones used for the front signals.

Using rather long wires to connect the tapped headlight to the garage door opener enables you to pick and choose the location for the remote.

When the high beams are on, the garage door opener is off.

When the low beams are on, the garage door opener is on. This might present a problem, as the battery of the garage door remote may go dead if the low beam is left on for a long period of time.

The remote is installed right behind the battery.

With your handy-dandy tool kit on top, no one will ever know it's there.

The wires are routed along the right side of the bike, attached to the upper frame just below the gas tank.

Here is video:

http://s108.photobucket.com/albums/n1/mxmatrix77/?action=view&current=MVI_0700.flv