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Remote fuses / relocate?

jforgo

New member
I have a 1982 R100RS, with the fuses buried in the headlight shell and fairing. Does anyone have a clever way to relocate these outside of there somewhere?
Thanks!
 
I recently installed a PDM60 on one of my bikes. It's a self contained fuseless fuse block replacement. It's intended to supplement a bikes electrical system, but I keep thinking that one could be used to replace the cruddy ceramic fuses in the headlight. RocketMoto sells them with a cable that allows you to program each of the output wires to specific behavior and amperage.

http://www.rocketmoto.com/index.php...ion-module-digital-circuit-breaker-panel.html
 
I have a 1982 R100RS, with the fuses buried in the headlight shell and fairing. Does anyone have a clever way to relocate these outside of there somewhere?
Thanks!

I purchased my '78 R100/7 about 1 year ago, and the PO (or one of them) soldered in the newer blade type fuses in. They purchased the holders from an automotive store, and they had approx. 6" wire leads. They soldered the wires to the places on the board where the original fuses used to go. This allowed the fuses to be accessible very easily just behind the headlight, and they were updated to a current popular version.
 
Used to be a product for sale in MOA magazine, etc., called Move-a-Fuze to dash mount the (tubular) fuzes on dash, etc.

There are those that seriously suggest that the old-time plastic fuses as used in Airheads should be periodically proactively replaced simply because they've weakened from vibration, but I can report that in the 27 years I ran my '84 RS, I had one blown fuse and never replaced any for any other reason.

Mostly a solution looking for a problem IMHO.
 
Be careful how you do it. A PO had moved the fuses on my RS to the dash using those screw-in holders like you see on electronic equipment that use glass tube type fuses. He soldered wires to the original fuse connections and brought them out to the dash. When I checked the fuse to see why the lights weren't working the metal ends of the fuse were so corroded to the holder that the glass broke. Both fuse holders were corroded beyond use. I replaced them with blade type fuses the way Jimmy described. They're still buried in the headlight bucket but as Kent said, how often do you have to get to them? In my case, the moved fuse holders were the cause of the problem. And now I have 1/2" holes in the dash to fill. :banghead
 
It's a great idea, but don't do it. You'll end up with a bike that has lost some of its BMWnes, some of its Germanic je ne sais quois, some of its complexity for complexity's sake.
 
Now, now, now. I was just being facetious. I'd be the first person to put a handlebar master cylinder on my R90S if I could afford it and make it fit without doing something ugly to the fairing.

Nonsense!

This change can be easily changed back if wanted.

Besides, its the "Germanic je ne sais quois" that you WANT to get rid of, along with thousands of others who have improved these great bikes so that they are better than they were.

People and businesses selling all those accessories for these machines (check your latest ON magazine) are doing so for a reason: because they (the machines) need improving!

There is known HUGE problematic, convoluted engineering in these machines.

So . . . unless you plan on selling your bike to the Smithsonian or plan on keeping it in your garage just to look at . . . . by all means, change it to make it better to suit YOUR wishes!!

Others have! NO, thousands of others have!
 
Now, now, now. I was just being facetious. I'd be the first person to put a handlebar master cylinder on my R90S if I could afford it and make it fit without doing something ugly to the fairing.

Sorry! I apologize. I thought you were being serious! :dance

Having said that, I really do admire the engineering built into these bikes. It is just, that with so much time passing, technology and design have given us a lot of new ideas. Also, in my opinion, the biggest weakness of the airheads was the electrics, both primary and secondary. Geeesh, have you ever seen the point system, they used when by that time electronic ignitions were well in use. Even when they did try to go electronic, the system was problematic. The frame electrics are worse - as evidenced by this very thread. Even the American auto makers at that time had a better system - including the fuse arrangement.

BMW's strengths were the mechanical design. Built like a battleship! It was (and still is) common to hear of people going hundreds of thousands of miles, and with no major mechanical repairs - only normal and watchful maintenance and wow - great long term operation.

I still think the Germans (today) have a convoluted way of doing electrics and electronics. My son had a Volkswagen Golf, and it was a pile of junk. All sorts of electrical, charging issues and very costly. Couldn't be repaired by Joe Mechanic (me) as they all required electronic gizmos just to diagnose. The rear brakes couldn't be adjusted even without $800 computer program, and none of the local non-VW shops (like Midas) would even touch the car. The car would quit in the middle of the road, or after having been parked in the college parking garage. I will never purchase again (other than a motorcycle) any German vehicle!

My daughter's second brand new VW (a Passat) while on a trip some 600 miles from home, just quit. Had it towed, luckily she and her husband had AAA, and they couldn't find a problem. Battery was dead, so they charged it up. A couple of days later she and my son-in-law drove it home, took it to the dealer as it was still under warranty and guess what? They had no clue as to what happened to it. Never again!
 
Automotive electrics was essentially invented by Bosch, of course.

Germans seem to do best when they have a good budget it appears. VW is the company trying to be both German and cheap and it's a combination that doesn't always work out. Airheads are pretty old school German electrically and I had little problem with mine. I never gave the ignition system on my '84 RS a thought in the time I owned it and never had a problem. Of course I live in a really pristine climate, no humidity, no salt, etc., so that helps. Anything can wear out, and problems with 30-year-old stuff are not really a reflection on the initial design any more.

There was a movement that swept the auto industry in the late 1990s to early 2000s to really squeeze suppliers on price, and German vehicles suffered significantly, especially with Bosch. (See Jose Ignacio Lopez.) Oilhead BMWs, for example, have all kinds of wiring quality problems never seen with Airheads. In this same timeframe, too, there was a "green" movement to make things like wiring harnesses more biodegradable, and the first attempts weren't so successful either.

Still going strong, I think, are German light bulbs. My RS that went away after 27 years ownership still had its factory-installed turn signal bulbs. I shudder when guys on forums talk about "1157," etc., as in comparison these are junk.
 
Automotive electrics was essentially invented by Bosch, of course.

Germans seem to do best when they have a good budget it appears. VW is the company trying to be both German and cheap and it's a combination that doesn't always work out. Airheads are pretty old school German electrically and I had little problem with mine. I never gave the ignition system on my '84 RS a thought in the time I owned it and never had a problem. Of course I live in a really pristine climate, no humidity, no salt, etc., so that helps. Anything can wear out, and problems with 30-year-old stuff are not really a reflection on the initial design any more.

There was a movement that swept the auto industry in the late 1990s to early 2000s to really squeeze suppliers on price, and German vehicles suffered significantly, especially with Bosch. (See Jose Ignacio Lopez.) Oilhead BMWs, for example, have all kinds of wiring quality problems never seen with Airheads. In this same timeframe, too, there was a "green" movement to make things like wiring harnesses more biodegradable, and the first attempts weren't so successful either.

Still going strong, I think, are German light bulbs. My RS that went away after 27 years ownership still had its factory-installed turn signal bulbs. I shudder when guys on forums talk about "1157," etc., as in comparison these are junk.


I think you are right on. There was a man in the '80's - '90's who developed a method for GM to extract the cheapest price from its suppliers, who, in turn, figured out ways to cheapen the products. This hurt the automotive industry badly. Also, the concept of "reverse bidding" took hold, and is still going on today using the internet. This is almost an immoral method of getting bids from suppliers, as it allows each supplier to see what the other suppliers are bidding. This was devised to force them to drive prices down, and it did, and many suppliers were forced out of business as they bid low to get work, but then were too small to keep up losing money. This man, whose name I forget, went on from GM to VW here in America.

I still think that the older airheads did have bazaar electrics! Their quirks show up in ways that defy logic!

I think, too, that my '78 still has its original light bulbs, as did my old /2 many moons ago.
 
It's a great idea, but don't do it. You'll end up with a bike that has lost some of its BMWnes, some of its Germanic je ne sais quois, some of its complexity for complexity's sake.

Well I suppose, but the one time I blew a fuse inside the headlight bucket, behind a frame mounted Luftmeister fairing and had to remove the fairing, in the rain, in a motel parking lot, I relocated the fuses when I got home from that trip. Each to their own!
 
Be careful how you do it. A PO had moved the fuses on my RS to the dash using those screw-in holders like you see on electronic equipment that use glass tube type fuses. He soldered wires to the original fuse connections and brought them out to the dash. When I checked the fuse to see why the lights weren't working the metal ends of the fuse were so corroded to the holder that the glass broke. Both fuse holders were corroded beyond use. I replaced them with blade type fuses the way Jimmy described. They're still buried in the headlight bucket but as Kent said, how often do you have to get to them? In my case, the moved fuse holders were the cause of the problem. And now I have 1/2" holes in the dash to fill. :banghead

Humankind is indeed capable of doing even a simple task poorly. Weather proof fuse holders would have solved this problem, but ....

I happen to have four fuse holders, a couple of switches, and some relays enclosed in a project box on one of my bikes. The switches control Motolights and driving lights in combination with the high/low beam circuits. The relays and fuses are for high beam, low beam, Motolights, and driving lights.

Since the fuse holders are sealed with rubber O rings at the screw-on caps there is no sign of corrosion after they have been on the bike for about 150K miles. I got them at either Ace Hardware or Radio Shack - I forget which.
 
Well I suppose, but the one time I blew a fuse inside the headlight bucket, behind a frame mounted Luftmeister fairing and had to remove the fairing, in the rain, in a motel parking lot, I relocated the fuses when I got home from that trip. Each to their own!

What I did with my Luftmeister fairing that mounts on the frame after I got the bike last December was to install polarized connectors (from Radio Shack) which allowed me to run wires from headlight bucket up and into the fairing (which allowed me to have a separate switch for the headlight), in addition to the one 6-pin type that already came with the fairing. That way, I unplug both connectors (the 6-pin one & the 2-pin one), unbolt the 4 bolts that hold fairing to frame mounts, and I can remove fairing in about 5 to 10 minutes time all by myself.

Yes . . . I am such a genius! :wave
 
Thanks for all the replies!
I found some all weather, in line, sealed fuse holders for the common blade-type fuses. I have some adhesive-backed plastic clips I figured to stick up on the inside of the dash, to slip the new fuse holders into.
As I recall, there is an extra hole or two in the headlight shell for the 4 wires.
I am a very technique challenged, horrible solderer; if I have to do that, I want to solder to the nonfuse side of the stock fuse holder, so it can be returned to stock. I am concerned about hot solder drips in there too.
Or, is there a wiring terminal which will clip to the ends of the stock fuse holder?
A conductive adhesive/goo I can use?
Or should I be tapping in somewhere else?
 
Thanks for all the replies!
I found some all weather, in line, sealed fuse holders for the common blade-type fuses. I have some adhesive-backed plastic clips I figured to stick up on the inside of the dash, to slip the new fuse holders into.
As I recall, there is an extra hole or two in the headlight shell for the 4 wires.
I am a very technique challenged, horrible solderer; if I have to do that, I want to solder to the nonfuse side of the stock fuse holder, so it can be returned to stock. I am concerned about hot solder drips in there too.
Or, is there a wiring terminal which will clip to the ends of the stock fuse holder?
A conductive adhesive/goo I can use?
Or should I be tapping in somewhere else?

IMHO, I think you should solder to the fuse terminals. You can always "unsolder" if you would ever want to return to stock.

When soldering, purchase a good small can of paste flux. If everything where you want solder to stick, it will facilitate the flow of the solder.

Also, purchase the very small gage rosin core solder, from Radio Shack or the like, because it is designed for electric/electronic use, and allows more pinpoint application. It also heats a little faster so it flows better. Be sure to apply enough heat to the wire & fuse tab to make sure solder flows there too. Often times if you "pre-tin" each of the items to be soldered, you can often do the final solder fusion and there will be enough solder present that you won't even need to add any. Helps keep from putting in too much solder and having those "drips" that you are worried about.

For all connections, I always try to solder to avoid corrosion later that can cause contact issues.
 
fuse relocator

As I recall, the fuse relocator was essentially a fuse replacement that had wires that shunted outside to an external holder. So I sacrificed two fuses to make two. I cut the fuse metallic element, soldered wires to each end, wrapped the things to provide mechanical strength, and ran the wires outside to external holders. So the relocators act just like fuses, and can be removed, and replaced with fuses if you like. No mods to the machine, no soldering, and very servicable.
I believe the old relocators were this principle. Any geezers like me out there care to chime in?
 
As I recall, the fuse relocator was essentially a fuse replacement that had wires that shunted outside to an external holder. So I sacrificed two fuses to make two. I cut the fuse metallic element, soldered wires to each end, wrapped the things to provide mechanical strength, and ran the wires outside to external holders. So the relocators act just like fuses, and can be removed, and replaced with fuses if you like. No mods to the machine, no soldering, and very servicable.
I believe the old relocators were this principle. Any geezers like me out there care to chime in?

Hey! I'm an "old Geezer." I think your idea is pretty good and one that came from "thinking outside the box." I like changes that do not fundamentally change the original design. Yours is like that. Does what you want (re-locate outside the headlight) but requires minimal work and minimal changes.

Only issue would be that you need to make sure original fuses (that were modified) need to make good electrical contact, and that they don't get dislodged.
 
I have a 1982 R100RS, with the fuses buried in the headlight shell and fairing. Does anyone have a clever way to relocate these outside of there somewhere?
Thanks!

There used to be a kit for this; I had one installed on my RS. I'll see if I can find it in my Airhead binder.
 
Actually," back in the day", there was an advertisement in the BMWMOA News for a device that mounted between the risers of the handlebars and was a set of CIRCUIT BREAKERS to move the fused connections to that point. Supposedly they were the type of breakers that would reset themselves after "X" amount of time. They also could be mounted in another location or in the dash of a fairing.
Really don't think they lasted long as a useful item as there would be problems with shorts/heat/burning up pieces of harness, and how many times they could reset themselves..................Ahhhhh so great to have so much junk loading up the main memory banks and then getting corrupted by all the new coming in.......God bless..........Dennis
 
Retrieved from my collection of ancient Airhead literature: it was a San Jose kit, and here are the instructions:

san%20jose%20doc007-XL.jpg


Worked well in my bike, but nothing caused anything to trip the breakers.
 
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