Need help with fog light installation

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BlixxilB
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Posts: 1
Joined: Wed May 22, 2019 4:11 am

Need help with fog light installation

Post by BlixxilB »

I am looking at installing a pair of led fog lights to the front rack of my buddy 170. I have a switch, 4 prong relay, wiring and connectors. Can anyone advise which wire I can splice into for power (location and color of wire)? Really appreciate the help!!
PNWbuddy
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Joined: Thu May 02, 2019 3:29 pm
Location: pnw

Post by PNWbuddy »

I'm no expert but I have wired LED fog lights on a few motorcycles. None of my installations required using a relay. You might already know this but in my limited experience a relay is only needed for higher current draw situations where current running through the switch itself isn't enough to handle current needs. In that case the switch to the relay uses a low current circuit, the relay is just a secondary switch that when activated by the low current circuit flips another switch internal to the relay that taps into a higher current circuit - like a wire directly from the battery. None of the fog lights I have used were high enough draw to require that type setup and the Buddy stator output might not be able to handle the addition of a high current draw appliance anyway.

On my Buddy 125 I did add LED lights to where the dummy turn signal bulbs are in the front shield. I used a multimeter to find a wire where there was only power when the key switch was on and didn't bother to add a second on/off switch. The wire I used was one that leads to the speedometer cluster, I think it is brown but not entirely sure about that. It looked like a 16 gauge wire to me, I tapped into it using a "posi-tap" connector so no scooter harness wires had to be cut and it works fine so far. There is a larger gauge wire, hot with key on, that can be accessed at the key switch that you could probably use (don't know about the 170 specifically). An inexpensive multimeter might be worth it to you so you can confirm which wire you want to use. If you want to be able to turn your fog lights on without turning the key on you can just run wires from your battery but that risks running your battery down if you forget to turn them off or if they get turned on while the scooter isn't running.

Out of curiosity what LED fog lights did you buy?
Last edited by PNWbuddy on Wed May 22, 2019 3:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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JettaKnight
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Joined: Thu Mar 29, 2007 2:19 am
Location: Fort Wayne

Post by JettaKnight »

These sorts of questions make me nervous, so I'll throw a wet blanket out, just take it FWIW, not trying to a jerk.


Maybe I'm being snobbish (I'm an elec. engr.), but there's a wiring diagram in the bike's manual, so if that's not enough, then I worry what else you might not be thinking about.

And what's the purpose of these fog lights? 'Round these parts, it's rarely foggy enough for truly needing fog lights, yet you see them widely abused. Now in the PNW, or Bay area, it's probably essential equipment.

A lot of people slap lights on their (2 & 4 wheeled) vehicles without considering how it will affect other drivers; and that endangers everyone.
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