PULSATING BRAKE LIGHT CONTROLLER wiring

Does anyone have experience with one of these? They mount inline and cause the brake light to flash four times before staying constant.
It has an in connector, an out connector and a ground.
I seem to have identified the wire on my 2008 R1200RT that controls the brake light (blue/purple striped with gold bands). However, it also seems to send weak power to the tail light any time the ignition is on.
Anyone out there with more electronic savvy than me or experience with this controller than can help.
Thanks so much.......................

This seems to come up from time to time. I guess due to the Can-Bus way of running power it really comes down to the light trying to be installed has to be specific to the bike. I only mention this as the few successes that I'm aware of, the light had real specific instructions on the hook-up procedure.
One light manufacturer I contacted, due to me not quite believing what I was reading, said something like- "it's a bit different on a BMW".
OM

Not just BMW.

The issue is how brake and tail light are handled by the bike. The old method was to run one bulb (or filament) for the taillight function and another bulb (or filament) for the brake light function. The problem is that when the bulb/filament burned out you lost one of your lights.

A solution to that issue is to run the bulbs or filaments at 1/2 power for the taillight function and bring it up to full power for the brake function. 1/2 is a guestimate. It could be any number less than full power that gives a noticeable reduction in light compared to the brake function. That lets you still have a tail and a brake light when one of the filaments burns out. Both are less bright, but less bright is better than none. The bike also notices that a bulb/filament has burned out and gives you a warning on the console.

So what does this have to do with the wiring question... a pulsating controller made for old method won't work on bikes that use the new method. Before doing any wiring make sure you have the proper type of controller for your bike. The "weak pulses" are how the bike generates the tail light. They are usually not weak, just fast. It's called pulse width modulation (PWM).

Yeah Marc, I didn't want to get too fancy It sounds like a "back off buddy" type of light and if your not familiar with this "PWM" type of deal- it can be real frustrating when you hook it (or try to) up.
I like the feature of those lights, my Brother has one on his Honda
Gary

Had the same thoughts when I bought my 1200GS, due to CANBUS on later bmw bikes, decided it wouldn't work without sending a fault message. That said went with SKENE designs P3 lights, couldn't be happier. Simple install
My buddies must like them, cause I've installed over a dozen sets on beemers, Harley's, Hondas and yamahas

I, too, like the Skene P3 lights and have them on my '13 GS mounted next to the license plate.



My install: http://www.snafu.org/pics/r1200gsw/2013/0702-p3-lights/