PIAA 910s with BLM Brackets ( ST1300 )

[KoTAOW]

This article written by Curt Gran, STOC #5137, IBA# 330 and the original content is at this web page:
http://www.hard-core-ware.com/howtos/index.php?page=piaas

Curt is the owner of: fuzeblocks.com

PIAA 910s with BLM Brackets, ST1300A

Part #1 of 2

Installation Tutorial



 This is a great winter project because about 20% of the time on this project will be in getting the body work on and off the bike. That should tell you that this install is not that hard although it does take some persistence and patience. By the way I have none of that and I still managed to get it to work. I take off all the body work in the winter so it was the perfect time to do it. I did have to put the rear, dash, and fairing on though to road test it.

 Both pieces of this install present their own challenges. The brackets are not a hard install but you do have to remove most of the bodywork to get the task done. Getting the bodywork back on gets to be more of a challenge with the BLM brackets in place but it is possible. The challenging piece on the PIAA's is to run the wiring harness and determine how to do it so that it doesn't interfere with anything else. Mounting the switch might be a challenge for some also but overall the switch is easy to run and comes with plenty of wire. It also has a sealed connector for it that plugs into the cable harness. Let's get to it shall we.



Cost:  ~$307 PIAA 910's
Cost: ~$100 BLM Brackets


Difficulty:  6 (there's a lot to do but not much technical work)

Parts List:

   * PIAA 910's Full Kit
   * Spoiled Biker, Joe Sears' Site
   * Joe's Information:
         o Phone: 1-877-246-7187 or 407-334-4539
         o Email: joe@spoiledbiker.com
         o Website: www.spoiledbiker.com

   * Lights, Wiring Harness, switch, zip ties, wire tap

   * BLM Brackets
   * BLM Accessories
   *  Bill's Contact Page:
         o Website: Contact Form

   * You get the brackets and all mounting hardware needed

Tools:

   * Phillip Screwdriver (for bodywork)
   * 5mm Allen (for bodywork)
   * 8mm Nutdriver (for bodywork)
   * 10mm wrench
   * 17mm wrench
   * Wire cutters (optional)
   * Wire strippers (optional)
   * Posi-Lock Connector (14-18 gauge) (optional)
   * Posi-Fuse (optional)
   * Wire Loom (to protect any wiring)

Once the wire is routed it can be reconnected to the harness. The nice thing about using posi-locks is that they can be used and reused. So you can disassemble the cable to make it easier to route and once done just reconnect the ends to the posi-lock and posi-fuse.

Planning

 Yes you want to have a plan. Before you start think about how you want your lights to work and make sure you have the things you need in order to make that happen. This tutorial covers just hooking up the lights so that they operate with the switch included in the kit but I do cover other alternatives on how you can control the PIAAs. The other piece is to figure out how you want to route the wiring harness. In this tutorial I use an alternative way to hook up the power for the PIAAs. However with this simple modification you only have to run one wire instead of trying to route the entire PIAA wiring harness. The modification is simple and reliable. It does not require any soldering but is just as reliable by using posi-lock .

Mounting the Brackets

 If you're not familiar with the ST1300 then you know that to do just about anything with the ST1300 you have to remove the cowlings. So that's the first part of this project. You have to remove the mirrors, the windshield, both middle cowls, the lower cowls, the inner cowls, and the fairing cover. That will leave the fairing exposed enough to install the BLM brackets. These brackets are engineered to a very close tolerance in order to fit through the spot in the fairing that meets where the mirror fastens to the fairing. With any hand made piece though you are going to have some slight variations and that may affect your ability to run the wiring from the lamps back into the fairing along the top of the brackets. More on that later.

 Once you have removed all of the bodywork necessary you'll be able to feed the brackets into place. I'll admit that when I tried to put the bracket in I scratched my head for a while before I figured out how it went on the bike but I removed the fairing completely so I didn't have that as a guide. The brackets use two clip nuts and two bolts to fasten the bracket to the fairing support bracket. Slide the clips on the fairing support bracket over the two holes towards the rear of the plate. Take note to locate the clips so that they do not rub on the inside of the fairing. You may need to hold the clips in place while you tighten the bolts. It's just a precaution so they don't scrape up the inside of the fairing and possibly cause damage to it. Put the supplied washers on the bolts and feed the bolts from the inside out so that the heads of the bolts don't rub on the inside of the fairing. The picture shows it better than I can describe it but I have removed the fairing for illustration purposes.






Wiring

 Once you have the brackets mounted it's time to figure out what way you want to wire up the lights. Running the wiring harness probably requires the most patience because if you don't get it right it can cause issues down the road that are hard to fix. The main one is that you do not want to pinch the harness anywhere that it would rub through and cause the harness to short out against the frame or another grounding point. So take care when running the harness. For my installation I actually left the entire harness up in the front fairing. The pictures below show the harness and how I folded it up so that the wires for each light were pointing in the right direction and then there's the relay, the positive wire (with fuse), the ground wire, and the connector for the switch to turn the lights on and off. I didn't get a picture of the switch itself but it simply plugs into the connector that is on the harness. The one other wire is the white wire that comes off of the switch connector. This wire is hooked up to a switched 12V source on the bike. That 12V will engage the relay when the button is pressed to turn on the PIAA's. It is not to be confused with the 12V that is used to power the PIAA's. The 12V power for the lights will come from the positive white wire with the fuse. The other picture below shows the area behind the fairing along the top of the headlamp where I stored the excess harness. Make sure that the harness does not interfere with the movement of the adjustable windshield.






Running Power

Showing wiring by taking pictures is fairly challenging but I hope this will make sense. By storing the harness in the fairing you only need to run power to the harness. This can be done in a few ways but I decided on the way that made most sense to me. The first thing was that I removed the fuse from the harness and cut off the terminals used for the fuse. Why? Well the wire is not long enough to run back to the battery, which is where you should get power for the PIAA's from. Then the fuse should be located as close to the battery as possible. So I decided to use a Posi-Fuse which simply requires me to strip a wire and then put it in the ends of the Posi-Fuse and simply screw the end caps on to finish attaching the new fuse holder.

 Once you have completed adding the fuse to the positive wire for the harness you can use a Posi-Lock as a butt splice to attach the added length of wire to the other piece of the harness. In the end you'll have a harness with a positive wire that will be long enough to run back to the battery and it will have a fuse that is near the battery.

 Now that you have modified the harness the you'll need to run the positive wire from the fairing to the battery. This is the only wire that you'll need to run back under the tank, which presents an issue due to possibly pinching the wire or something sitting on the wire which would cause it to rub and short out.


Disassemble the inline fuse holder and cut off the two fuse terminals on each wire.


Use a posi-lock on the harness side and add enough wire to run to the battery.


Then add a posi-fuse to the other end of the added wire. Connect the positive terminal wire that came with the harness to the other side of the posi-fuse and now you have completed the new harness.

Wire Routing

 Routing the positive wire under the tank can present it's own challenges so I tried to document this piece in order to help others that have to do this. The key here is that there is a concave area under the tank to allow a wire to run out easily. However you have to run the wire over the frame and getting that in the right place takes a little patience. I used a wire loom to protect the wire and then ran it from the fairing up and along the frame under the tank.

 The positive wire will start outside the frame, obviously, as it comes from the front fairing area. It then crosses over the frame at the front of the tank area. The tank does not actually touch the frame here even when it's bolted down. Then the wire basically goes up on the frame as it gets towards the back of the tank. You can see from the picture below that the frame rail lines up with the area under the tank that is concave. It allows the wire to travel out from under the tank. I used a small piece of tape to hold the wireloom in the correct place. After I ran the wire and the wire loom under the tank I lowered the tank into it's normal position. I was then able to move the wire back and forth to make sure it was not pinched anywhere under the tank.


The original wiring harness before the modification. Notice how it is laid out as it is installed similarly. If installed in the front fairing the wiring harness is much longer than it needs to be so folding it up and storing the extra length is necessary.


Showing the area above the headlamp where the extra length of wiring harness can be installed making sure to keep away from any moving parts for the adjustable windshield.

 After running the positive wire under the tank it is still a bit of a challenge to get it to the battery. This is a wire that carries a lot of juice so using wire loom to protect it is wise. If it shorts against anything you're lights won't work for long. The wire routes down between the frame tube and the bracket for the seat mount. This is the same place that the wire for the tank level sensor routes through. Then route the wire along the side of the lower tank with the other wires and vent tubes that are already there. Once the wireloom is behind the center stand lift handle route the wire across the bike between the top of the rear fender and the back of the lower tank. This will put the wire right near the battery so that it can be routed to the positive terminal. Make sure you connect the fuse back to the wire after it has been routed.

 The other piece of power is the ground. There is a bushing and bolt that connect the fairing support to the frame. I used this point as the place to connect the ground terminal on the PIAA harness. Remove the bolt and then use a small piece of sand paper or emery cloth to remove and oxidation or clear coat from the area where the bolt meets the frame. Then reinsert the bolt through the fairing support rod, the bushing, and the ground terminal for the PIAA harness. Tighten the bolt securely and then route the ground wire so that it routes behind the inner cowl.


The wire being routed between the frame tube and the seat bracket then along the lower tank


Then route the wire between the lower tank and the rear fender


The positive wire reconnected with the wire harness that has been installed in the fairing from earlier. The inner cowl has been left in place on this picture to show how the harness routes around it to get under the tank. The relay can be seen hanging off to the left and the light wiring going up into the fairing running to each side for each of the lights.


Connect the posi-fuse to the positive terminal from the harness and then connect to the positive terminal of the battery AFTER you've completed the installation

Hooking Up Switched Power

The next step is getting switched power to the switch for the PIAA's. There is a small gauge white wire coming off of the small connector on the harness. The connector is used to connect to the push button switch that will need to be mounted somewhere that is easily accessible. I've already went to the trouble of mounting a fuse block in the fairing that uses switched power but I realize that not everyone is going to have that installed already so I'll go over getting switched power in a couple different ways.


This shows the quartet harness connector and the purchased connector from Electrical Connections. The light green with black stripe wire is on the black connector and the white wire from the PIAA harness can have a pin connected to it and then inserted into the purchased green connector to provide switched power to the PIAA switch.


If you do not want to purchase the mating connector then you can use the wire tap included in the PIAA kit to tap the light green wire with a black stripe on the quartet harness to provide switched power to the PIAA switch.

 The Honda ST1300 has an accessory called the quartet harness. You can purchase this harness and install it in about 20 minutes. It simply plugs into a connector that is already accessible if you have removed the left cowling on the bike to install the PIAA's. You can get a tutorial and pinout for the quartet harness at ST-Owners.com. Once it is installed you can use the included wire tap from the PIAA kit. The wire to tap is light green with a black stripe. This is on the black 3 prong connector.

 If you want to take this a step further you can purchase the mating 3 prong connector from Electrical Connections (P/N 02651). You can then add the pin that matches to the light green wire with a black stripe. You can connect a pin from the connector kit to the white wire from the PIAA harness and click it into the connector. Then plug the connector into the black 3-pin connector on the quartet harness. I realize I'm covering this quickly but it is because this is a whole tutorial in itself and people tend to do their own thing when it comes to getting switched power. Once you have the switched power connected you're ready to move on.

 If you do not wish to purchase the quartet harness then the only other easy option is to purchase the 9-pin connector from Electrical Connections (P/N 02654). The connector that is on the ST1300 to connect the quartet harness to is a 9-pin connector. You'll be able to connect to a switched power source at that connector and use it to power the PIAA switch.

[KoTAOW]

Part #2 of 2

Mounting the Switch

  We've come a long way at this point. The harness is installed, the power wire has been run, and the switched power has been connected. Now you'll need to find a mounting place for the switch that will turn on the PIAA's. I mounted mine near the high beam switch on the handlebars. Some people use other methods so that the PIAA's turn on with high beams but there are a few different combinations so it is beyond the scope of this tutorial. An easy solution is to connect the switched power wire from the PIAA harness to the high beam wire on the headlight harness but do not attempt this without getting more information on how to do it correctly.

  I mounted the switch on the handlebar and then ran the wire down the handlebar using the cable retainer that is under the handlebar for the other wires that run to the handlebar controls. There is also a wire clip at the base of the handlebars to hook through. Once you have routed the wire you can then follow the path that the power wire, that runs under the tank, uses to get into the fairing. Then plug the connector from the end of the switch wire into the mating connector on the PIAA wiring harness. That's it. Pretty simple.

  The switch for the PIAA's has an LED in it. If you turn on the ignition the LED should light up. If it is green it means that the switch has power and the PIAA's are off. If it is red then the switch has power and the PIAA's are on. If the LED is not on when you turn on the bike then you need to look at the switched power white wire on the quartet harness to see why it is not getting power.


Ok this is a poor picture but the switch connector has been plugged in and hiding behind the other bundle of wires. It has red, white, and black wires on it. I also tidy up the rest of the white wire for switched power instead of cutting it to length in case I needed to move it.


Here's a nice blurry picture of the switch and the adhesive pad included in the kit to attach it. I decided to use dual lock instead so that I can remove the switch when unmounting the handlebars. Sorry about the blurry pic but it isn't critical.


This shows the path used to route the wire for the switched. Route the wire down the underside of the handlebar using the wire clips that are already on the bike. Once the wire is at the base of the handlebars route it around the inner cowl the same way that the power wire was routed. Then plug it into the mating connector on the PIAA harness.

Mounting the Lamps

  After completing all the wiring we're now ready to mount the PIAA lamps, finally. Feed the black and white wires from each lamp into the fairing through the VERY small space available between the BLM bracket and the fairing. The wires are tough but not indestructible. This takes some patience but it is possible and it make take some pushing to get it through. Once the wires are routed through, along with the wire loom, then connect the wires to the mating terminals on the PIAA harness.

  Bolt the lamps to the BLM brackets. They have swivels for both the vertical and horizontal axis. You can tilt the lamps back and then tighten the bolts. When you tilt the lamp forward it will cause the lamp to tighten even more. I noticed that I had to really tighten the lamps more than I was comfortable with to get them to stay in place. At this point you can turn on the lamps and attempt to aim them. I found that finding a secluded dark road to aim them. Once you have the lamps mounted and at least tested to make sure the switch turns them on and off you can reassemble the rest of the bike.


Here's a close up of the swivel bases on the PIAA's that allow you to tilt the lights on the horizontal and vertical axis.


This shows the small inlet that is used to feed the wireloom and wires from the lamps to the inside of the fairing.


Route the wires through the small gap between the brackets and the fairing then connect the black and white wires to the matching terminals on the PIAA harness.


You can use a small zip ties to keep the wire look from rubbing on the fairing.

Conclusion

This was a time consuming project and it took quite a bit of work. In the middle of all of this I lost my hard drive and had to try and recreate everything I lost. The project is a little difficult because of the routing of wires and getting the proper power to the harness. It just takes patience so don't do this if you're in a hurry. The project was tedious for me but I had all of the electrical ready to go so I didn't have to worry about that. Having said all of that though the project was very worth it. As I rode across west Texas at 3:00am in the morning with deer every mile or so I was very grateful that I had these mounted. They throw a lot of light straight out or wherever you aim them. They are a real lifesaver in any night time situation where critters might jump out at you.

It took me a long time to get this article out and I know there were some people waiting for it so my apologies. I want to thank Joe Sears at SpoiledBiker.com for supplying me with the lights and the brackets. Joe is always helpful with advice and getting the right parts to me at the right time. Much appreciated Joe. I also want to give thanks to Bill and BLM accessories. His brackets are just the ticket for someone who doesn't want to cut the plastic on their ST to mount the PIAA 910's. Thanks Bill for taking to the time to design these. I'm sure it took a few tries. Thanks also to anyone that stops but to read this. I hope it helps people out with their install.

Thanks again to BLM Accessories and Joe Sears for the PIAA kit and the brackets. I'm very happy with the results of the kit. The lights are setup to shine just over the headlamp cast and greatly increase visibility.



Thank You again for your contribution Curt Gran, STOC #5137, IBA# 330