Too many lights burning with fog lights on.

[kwn306]

I have a set of factory Guzzi fog / driving lights installed on my Stelvio.

A couple weekends ago I was in the hills of SW VA and it was dark as the inside of your hat and I turned the driving lights on and was constantly looking for eyes balls along side the road way, the damn deer are thick in this part of the country.

I came around a long sweeper with the wife in tow on her BMW and we had a car coming in the other direction, being the nice fellow I am I turned off the driving lights until the car passed, then threw them back on. Needless to say I was really lighting up the road. Next thing I know there is a blue light specail behind my wife, she moves over and the cop comes up behind me and pulls me over.

Now I know I was freight training it a bit but there is no way he clocked me in the corner, I asked him why he pulled me over and he said "lights; you have too many burning". What; I said, he said my high beams and fog lights were on at the same time and that is illegal in the state. Sure enough he was correct, I had hit the high beams on and the driving lights were on.

Now every bike I have owned that came with factory installed driving lights had a relay installed to drop out the driving lights when the high beams were on, the Stelvio doesn't do it and it is a DOT requirement.

So fellows..........with the stock head light configeration that the Stelvio has.....I need to break the circuit so the driving lights drop out when the high beams are on, any thoughts on how to accomplish this?

I talked to my dealer and that was the waste of a long distance call, I called and talked to Guzzi USA which was another waste of a long distance call, they claim there lights conform to DOT standards, then I faxed them the article # from the DOT hand book and they said OH!

I have a $125 ticket and 2 points on my record that I can get removed if I can prove to the judge that Mother Guzzi fu*ked up and I rectified the problem. I have the paperwork for the fu*ked up part, I just need to make the repair, document and photo and then the charges will be dropped.

I know the cop is being picky but he said the lights were truely blinding.

Can any of you fellows look at the wiring diagram and give me some direction?

 

[GTM®]

I've never been more harassed then while driving in VA, Kurt. Don't know what it is. Did you know there is still a law on the books from the late 1800's (my good buddy got cited for this too!...) that you are required to sound your horn before passing another vehicle.

Without looking at the wiring diagram, does the low beam drop (when going to high) on either side? If so, there's the direction to head.

 

[kmartin]

Kurt,

Put a normally closed relay in powered by the high beam circuit. Run the fog lights through the normall closed contacts so that when the high beam are on, the relay opens the circuit.

 

[kwn306]

Kurt,

Put a normally closed relay in powered by the high beam circuit. Run the fog lights through the normall closed contacts so that when the high beam are on, the relay opens the circuit.

I think that is what I am going to have to do. I went down to the parking garage at lunch to see if the low beam drops out when the high beam comes on and I can not tell and I don't have a 12v test light at work to check either.

If I'm not too damn tired when I get home tonight I will attempt to see if it does, but the wife is out of town for three days so my honey do list has increased greatly for the next few days.

Mmmmmmm; wonder if Radio Shack sells and 12 volt normally closed relay?

 

[DanPez]

When I did the mod on my Stelvio I checked to see if the low beam dropped when the high beams were on ..... they didn't.
https://www.guzzitech.com/forum/190/4820.html#p37093
You got lots of LUMENS when they are all on ..... I too have a set of driving lights on the crash bars.

I would agree with Keith .... the best bet would be to wire up a 12V relay with the high beam wire and use the NC contact in series with the driving lights.

Thanks for the heads up .... gotta check if they have a similar law here in Quebec!

 

[john zibell]

Mmmmmmm; wonder if Radio Shack sells and 12 volt normally closed relay?

See if this one is in the store http://www.radioshack.com/product/index ... Id=2049722

I'd use it to break the coil power or ground path on relay 6 in Carl's schematic https://www.guzzitech.com/guzzi007/schem ... telvio.gif

One relay opens breaking contact, causing another to open and turn off the fog lights.

 

[DanPez]

Thanks for the heads up .... gotta check if they have a similar law here in Quebec!

Well I found a Federal regulation concerning headlight on a motorcycle up here in Kanada ....for any one that is interested eh!
They really know how to make it easy up here.
You would need a Photometric device that is capable to convert the intensity emited from your headlight into candle light value while measuring the angle where you are positioned from the front of the bike at a given distance.(For crying out loud) :?

The way I interpret the Figure 32: Motorcycle Headlamp Photometric Requirements is that you can have 6.5Kw of halogen light ..... as long as its pointing the right direction. :laugh:
OK my calculation may be a little off!

http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/roadsafety/safe ... toc%20s7.9

 

[bigtex]

Interesting topic, and boy what a jerk of an officer.

Oddly enough, my HID converted headlights would pass this test, since there is only one bulb/filament in each headlight, and high beam is just a toggle of the shield. (Of course, they would not pass the legal bulb issue, but that is not much of a worry with the very legal white spectrum light).

And just to offer up another datum point, my 1999 Toyota does the same thing as our Stelvios, leaves the low beams on when the high beams are activated. Since I have fog lights and white forward-facing "marker" lights, I guess I have 8 forward facing lights when I have the high beams lit. All stock as from the factory.

 

[WayneOrwig]

he said my high beams and fog lights were on at the same time and that is illegal in the state. Sure enough he was correct, I had hit the high beams on and the driving lights were on.

I'm not sure you need to change the hardware. Virtually every auto store driving light kit that is DOT legal allows you to leave the lights on when you switch to high. It is up to the operator to turn them off.

 

[draidt]

I have a set of factory Guzzi fog / driving lights installed on my Stelvio.

A couple weekends ago I was in the hills of SW VA and it was dark as the inside of your hat and I turned the driving lights on and was constantly looking for eyes balls along side the road way, the damn deer are thick in this part of the country.

I came around a long sweeper with the wife in tow on her BMW and we had a car coming in the other direction, being the nice fellow I am I turned off the driving lights until the car passed, then threw them back on. Needless to say I was really lighting up the road. Next thing I know there is a blue light specail behind my wife, she moves over and the cop comes up behind me and pulls me over.

Now I know I was freight training it a bit but there is no way he clocked me in the corner, I asked him why he pulled me over and he said "lights; you have too many burning". What; I said, he said my high beams and fog lights were on at the same time and that is illegal in the state. Sure enough he was correct, I had hit the high beams on and the driving lights were on.

Now every bike I have owned that came with factory installed driving lights had a relay installed to drop out the driving lights when the high beams were on, the Stelvio doesn't do it and it is a DOT requirement.

So fellows..........with the stock head light configeration that the Stelvio has.....I need to break the circuit so the driving lights drop out when the high beams are on, any thoughts on how to accomplish this?

I talked to my dealer and that was the waste of a long distance call, I called and talked to Guzzi USA which was another waste of a long distance call, they claim there lights conform to DOT standards, then I faxed them the article # from the DOT hand book and they said OH!

I have a $125 ticket and 2 points on my record that I can get removed if I can prove to the judge that Mother Guzzi fu*ked up and I rectified the problem. I have the paperwork for the fu*ked up part, I just need to make the repair, document and photo and then the charges will be dropped.

I know the cop is being picky but he said the lights were truely blinding.

Can any of you fellows look at the wiring diagram and give me some direction?

Substitute being an ASSWIPE for Picky

 

[bigtex]

I'm not sure you need to change the hardware. Virtually every auto store driving light kit that is DOT legal allows you to leave the lights on when you switch to high. It is up to the operator to turn them off.

I read "driving lights" in the original post to mean low beams, not supplemental lights. So the ticket was for simulaneous:

Low beams
High beams
Fog lights

 

[kwn306]

Well after some checking with the Federalies (DOT & NHSTA) I find out that the lights are supposed to drop out when the high beams are on, been a rule since 2000. So I filed a formal complaint with NHSTA, ordered parts from www.wiringproducts.com in NV and have looked over the wiring diagram and have a plan. The complaint process can take up to a year since no one died because of the malfunction.

As for aftermarket fog / driving lights being sold as DOT approved kits.........they are only DOT approved for lumen output not for the wiring configeration, ya need to read the fine print.

 

[WayneOrwig]

Well after some checking with the Federalies (DOT & NHSTA) I find out that the lights are supposed to drop out when the high beams are on, been a rule since 2000. So I filed a formal complaint with NHSTA, ordered parts from http://www.wiringproducts.com in NV and have looked over the wiring diagram and have a plan. The complaint process can take up to a year since no one died because of the malfunction.

As for aftermarket fog / driving lights being sold as DOT approved kits.........they are only DOT approved for lumen output not for the wiring configeration, ya need to read the fine print.

Makes sense I guess.

As an aside. I have been driving my EV to work for the past week, and just switched back to the Stelvio. My work has me driving home at 1am.
The EV has a single low or high beam, and a pair of driving lights. So on high, it is a single 60w headlight plus the two 35w driving lights. The Stelvio has been modified to light both high bulbs, and the low filaments stay on with the highs. So, it has two 55w lows, two 60w highs, and two 55w driving lights.
Looking at some distant objects, the EV and it's 130 watts of light lights up the distant object a bit better then the Stelvio and it's 340 watts. :? But the Stelvio does put a lot of light up into the trees. :lol:

BTW, if you plan to control the driving/fog lights with a relay. a) You need to control the coil with the high beam and pass the power through the NC contacts, since the low stays on all the time. b) If those are HID lamps, you really do NOT want to toggle them on and off constantly with the high beam. That will shorten their life a lot from what I understand.

 

[kwn306]

Wayne,

I gave up racoon huntin a few years ago even though I still live out in the country and the good lord has to pump sun light to me; I do not need to be lighting up the tree tops.

Yes, I will tie the coil to the high beams to drop out the driving lights. I'll probably also kill the low beams when the high beams are illuminated as well.

The cagers on RT 95 in the morning (4 AM) already have heart burn with the Stelvio's head light shiming in their rear view mirror. Since they out weigh me by 1000's of pounds I don't want to piss them off and attempt to run me off the road.

When I have all the tupperware removed I will also install my freeway blaster 142 db horn, my right leg is getting sore from kicking off rear view mirrors when the cagers don't pay any attention to the MG scooter horn they install on these bikes. :shock: