• Welcome, Guest! We hope you enjoy the excellent technical knowledge, event information and discussions that the BMW MOA forum provides. Some forum content will be hidden from you if you remain logged out. If you want to view all content, please click the 'Log in' button above and enter your BMW MOA username and password.

    If you are not an MOA member, why not take the time to join the club, so you can enjoy posting on the forum, the BMW Owners News magazine, and all of the discounts and benefits the BMW MOA offers?

  • Beginning April 1st, and running through April 30th, there is a new 2024 BMW MOA Election discussion area within The Club section of the forum. Within this forum area is also a sticky post that provides the ground rules for participating in the Election forum area. Also, the candidates statements are provided. Please read before joining the conversation, because the rules are very specific to maintain civility.

    The Election forum is here: Election Forum

PIAA light switch

gnrogers

New member
Yep, this is the same guy who needed advice on a battery/brake light flashing problem.:wave , but the beemer that I bought has piaa lights and for the life of me can't find a switch to turn them on/off. I asked the previous owner, and he first told me to look under the handlebars for a button type switch, but there was no switch. I called him back and he said that the thought that if you held the turn signal cancellation switch down for a few seconds this would turn the piaa lights on and off. I haven't tried this last suggestion yet because my battery is dead and the new one hasn't arrived. Any suggestions about finding the switch? Thanks!
 
It might be on the signal cancellation switch if you hold it in for a few seconds, for on and off. That is how mine is.
 
Josh, what kind of bike is yours? I'm just now in process of hooking up some piaa's, and it sounds like a great idea to hook them up this way....

Any advice?

Thanks,
Ken
 
piaa light switch

Thanks Josh. Maybe the previous owner was right! Still waiting for my Odssey PC680 battery to ship.
 
Ken, mine is a 02 R1150RT. I can't really give much advice on how to do it, when I bought it a couple years ago it was already hooked up. But I like how they did it, he had a dealer do it. Sorry can't help much more then that.
 
Try turning on the power and holding down the turn signal cancel switch until the lights come on. I have PIAAs with an Autoswitch and I wired it into the turn signal cancel switch.
 
Thanks for the answers you two!
Autoswitch seems to be the answer....
HZ it must be hard to stay humble...:)

Ken
 
Still waiting for my Odssey PC680 battery to ship.

Right now there is a massive battery shortage. I tried to order a battery from four different merchants. I was finally able to get one from batterymart.com. I would call your supplier and make sure it has shipped. If not, start looking for a new supplier. It took me two weeks to find a battery.
 
Thanks Josh. Maybe the previous owner was right! Still waiting for my Odssey PC680 battery to ship.

Just ping them with an email. For some reason they did not notify me either about the shipping but when I emailed during biz hours they answered right away with the waybill.
 
pc680 battery

Well guys I was a bit nervous over the weekend about ordering the pc680, especially when they didn't return my phone messages; however, I received an email this past Monday(as they said I would when the battery shipped). I received a notice today from usps that the battery will be delivered tomorrow. I'm both relieved and happy that I will be able to ride Monday (I won't be back home to install it until Monday). From what I've read on forum this battery should be a good one!
Thanks so much!
 
Piaa

There are two styles of Autoswitches. One uses the turn signal cancel switch (press and hold for > 1 second) and the other uses the high beam 'push to pass' button (press and hold for >1 second, but less than 3 seconds or something gnarly like that).
My RT has Motolights triggered by the high beam flasher, and LED driving lights controlled by the turn signal cancel button.
 
There are two styles of Autoswitches. One uses the turn signal cancel switch (press and hold for > 1 second) and the other uses the high beam 'push to pass' button (press and hold for >1 second, but less than 3 seconds or something gnarly like that).
My RT has Motolights triggered by the high beam flasher, and LED driving lights controlled by the turn signal cancel button.

My RT had fog lamps that turned out to be controlled by a high beam Autoswitch. P.O. had not known why they didn't work, so I replaced the bulbs and played with the switches. Eventually I found the Autoswitch wiring and the little LED status light with it. Works great now.

Then I added PIAA 1100X spotlights to the high beam circuit for flashing cages who look like they might pull out on me -- very effective! I just leave the PIA manual switch on all the time, with the white control wire tapped into a high beam wire.
 
Interesting that you posted this....I was about to pull the trigger on a autoswitch, but the delay has been nagging at me. I think I'm going to find an alternative that will provide "instant-on".

Ken
 
Then I added PIAA 1100X spotlights to the high beam circuit for flashing cages who look like they might pull out on me -- very effective! I just leave the PIA manual switch on all the time, with the white control wire tapped into a high beam wire.

that is how i originally had my 1100Xs wired in, thru the hi beam + lead. then i thought "hey, more conspicuous would be PIAAs on all the time. so i wired them in thru the + low beam circuit. with the 1100S, my lows are on all the time, with or without the hi beam, so now my PIAAs are always on. can not recall the last time i had a vehicle pull out on me unexpectedly- it has been many years, at the least. i suspect that the HIDs hi & lo also help with that. :heart
 
Yep, this is the same guy who needed advice on a battery/brake light flashing problem.:wave , but the beemer that I bought has piaa lights and for the life of me can't find a switch to turn them on/off. I asked the previous owner, and he first told me to look under the handlebars for a button type switch, but there was no switch. I called him back and he said that the thought that if you held the turn signal cancellation switch down for a few seconds this would turn the piaa lights on and off. I haven't tried this last suggestion yet because my battery is dead and the new one hasn't arrived. Any suggestions about finding the switch? Thanks!

I have PIAA lights on my 04' 1150RT, and the way they turn on is through the turn signal cancel switch. Press and hold the switch for 1 second, release, then press and hold for 3-4 seconds and they turn on. I have a green indicator light built in on my dash that comes on when they are on. They turn off when you shut the bike off.

These switches can be wired many ways, from what I've heard. But this is how mine turn on. The turn signal cancel switch will still cancel your turn signals, but I don't use mine for that. For some reason they shut themselves down after about 10 seconds, which is a bit too quick if you ask me. I often have to re-signal at corners because I'm waiting for traffic, which is annoying.
 
Silversurfer it sounds like you have a "signal minder" installed which is what is shutting off your turnsignals. It can be replaced with a factory turn signal relay if you don't like it.

Ken
 
that is how i originally had my 1100Xs wired in, thru the hi beam + lead. then i thought "hey, more conspicuous would be PIAAs on all the time. so i wired them in thru the + low beam circuit. with the 1100S, my lows are on all the time, with or without the hi beam, so now my PIAAs are always on. can not recall the last time i had a vehicle pull out on me unexpectedly- it has been many years, at the least. i suspect that the HIDs hi & lo also help with that. :heart

Good evening Bikerfish. Here's what mine look like in daytime (PIAAs + hi beam, but fog lights off). Next I'll post night view...
 

Attachments

  • PICT2775.jpg
    PICT2775.jpg
    73.9 KB · Views: 44
Back
Top