BOB install question on 2012 170i

pinthea · Post by **pinthea** » Thu Jul 19, 2012 12:58 am

Hi,

I've already PM'd VSP on this but wanted to put this out there in case anyone had any insights.

Received my BOB harness today and when I went to install it on my 2012 170i I find that the ignition wire bundle is quite tight and taught and offers very little in the way of play needed to crimp on the included power connector.

The actual wiring of my 170i differs from what I saw in the YouTube video.

I was just wondering if anyone here who installed a BOB for the activation of the deadlights as running lights and turn signals has encountered the same issue and what did you do to address it.

Were you able to successfully wiggle the wires in the bundle to create enough slack for the crimp on the orange wire? Did you get 12v from somewhere else? Might I be able to use the power outlet lead wires? Other thoughts or suggestions?

Thanks!

jonlink · Post by **jonlink** » Thu Jul 19, 2012 1:39 am

Please read this:
viewtopic.php?t=19540&highlight=deadlight

Then let me know if you have any questions. I'll be happy to help if I can.

pdxrita · Post by **pdxrita** » Thu Jul 19, 2012 2:18 am

I don't have a 170i, nor did I do the BOB adaptor, but I have installed two deadlight adaptors on 2 different Buddy's, a 150 and a 125, so maybe it's applicable, I don't know. What you need to do is cut a little slit in the electrical tape. Dig in there and find the wire you need - probably the yellow one. You should be able to pull out enough to get the crimp on there. I slipped a screwdriver behind the wire and wriggled it out just enough to get the crimp on there. You don't need a lot. There wasn't much play when I did it, but there was enough to pull it out a little bit.

jonlink · Post by **jonlink** » Thu Jul 19, 2012 10:21 am

pdxrita wrote:I don't have a 170i, nor did I do the BOB adaptor, but I have installed two deadlight adaptors on 2 different Buddy's, a 150 and a 125, so maybe it's applicable, I don't know. What you need to do is cut a little slit in the electrical tape. Dig in there and find the wire you need - probably the yellow one. You should be able to pull out enough to get the crimp on there. I slipped a screwdriver behind the wire and wriggled it out just enough to get the crimp on there. You don't need a lot. There wasn't much play when I did it, but there was enough to pull it out a little bit.

It's been a while, but if my memory is correct, the electrical work is more complicated on the 170i. There are a fair number more wires. It is definitely a more complicated procedure on the 170i because of the "i"

pinthea · Post by **pinthea** » Thu Jul 19, 2012 12:55 pm

Hmmm, then maybe I should ask another question to confirm something I had previously thought was a fact -- that the ORANGE wire is the one that the BOB adapter connects to.

Is this still true on the 170i, or is it the case that on the 170i one has to get the 12v from a different colored wire in the ignition bundle?

pdxrita · Post by **pdxrita** » Thu Jul 19, 2012 2:55 pm

pinthea wrote:Hmmm, then maybe I should ask another question to confirm something I had previously thought was a fact -- that the ORANGE wire is the one that the BOB adapter connects to.

Is this still true on the 170i, or is it the case that on the 170i one has to get the 12v from a different colored wire in the ignition bundle?

On the non-170i's, the orange is one of the options. The difference between using the orange and using the yellow is that with the orange, your lights will come on as soon as you turn the key on. With the yellow, the lights come on only when the engine is running. The orange, in non-170i's, is a simpler install because it doesn't require slicing into the main harness. The yellow wire is the power for the headlight. The orange wire is from the ignition. So you could try tracing from the headlight or the ignition to find the one you want to use. My guess is that the colors will be the same, but it's just a guess. Worst case scenario if you choose the wrong one is that you have to put a bit of electrical tape on it to cover the wound after you remove the vampire.

pinthea · Post by **pinthea** » Thu Jul 19, 2012 3:39 pm

I was just reviewing the wiring diagram for the Buddy 125 for 2007+, and assuming that the 170i is similarly wired (might be a big assumption) what you mentioned is correct; orange is live starting with when the key is first turned on.

I'm afraid I don't read wiring diagrams well enough to verify that yellow is hot only once the engine is running, but that seems to be case given that, per the diagram, what is fed from yellow is lit up when the engine is running.

Also it would seem that the cell phone charging port is always on, as it is fed directly from the battery without running through the ignition switch... So any thoughts I initially had of running the BOB adapter off the cell phone power lead is right out the window.

The orange wire coming from the ignition switch feeds lots of things, among them is the flasher relay...

It occurs to me that having just replaced the stock flasher relay with one that's LED light compatible, it would be a total easy thing to do to tap into the orange wire feeding the flasher relay for the BOB adapter...

Seems a lot less invasive to connect the BOB power vampire crimp connector to the little wiring harness that came with the universal flasher relay than to the ignition wire bundle... This way the BOB connection would be 100% reversible with absolutely no traces that anything had ever been done if a warranty item ever came up... I would just remove the universal relay, its little wiring pigtail with the vampire crimp connector, and reinstall the original flasher relay.

I think it's a go! If anyone's interested, I'll report my results after I get to it later today.

pinthea · Post by **pinthea** » Fri Jul 20, 2012 4:20 am

For what it's worth, I was right -- the orange wire feeding the flasher relay is suitable to tap for the power vampire crimp connector for the BOB adapter.

In actuality it is an orange wire, yes, but it has a little trace of what seems like either gold or yellow. It is indeed 12v, however.

Everything is up and going and I didn't need to defile the ignition wiring adapter.

Grant H · Post by **Grant H** » Mon Jul 23, 2012 4:09 pm

How long did it take to receive your harness? I was in contact with VSP a week ago, but not any more. I need to order a couple more things through him but cant get any response to emails.

pinthea · Post by **pinthea** » Mon Jul 23, 2012 4:27 pm

I think it took a week between sending him paypal payment before I sent him another email asking for a status update. Magically the next day I received a shipment confirmation.

Drop him a note and see where he is on your order.

I've sent him a few PMs and he has more often than not responded.

When I received my BOB adapter, however, disappointingly I found that the power wires easily slipped right out of the not-so-crimped connector. I had to reinsert them and crimp properly, so I would have to say check all of your connections and crimps when you get yours...

Grant H · Post by **Grant H** » Fri Aug 17, 2012 5:25 pm

I'm having the same problem finding the correct power on my 170i currently.

The only accessible orange wire on my 170i in the front always has 12v to it, so the lights will never turn off. I cant seem to find the ignition 12v nor the headlight 12v but I havent torn into the wiring harness yet.

pinthea · Post by **pinthea** » Fri Aug 17, 2012 6:47 pm

No tearing into a wiring harness necessary...

Find the turn signal relay. It's up front and center under the horn cover.

There's a 12V wire going into it which is only hot when the scooter is running, not like the cigarette-lighter-accessory-socket which is always hot or the other wires in the ignition bundle which are hard to get at.

Tap into the 12V feed wire going into the flasher relay. I did, it was no problem. It seemed a little (redundant?) to get power for a turn signal accessory from the power wire feeding the turn signal relay itself. But it's all good.

Look above in this thread for a post by me where I discuss the color of the wire I tapped into.