There are four generation of handlebar control switches used on Airheads
These switches were made up until the turn signal was standardized to be on the left side. They can both be replaced with the following generation switches if replacements are not available.
Length | Part | side | Features |
---|---|---|---|
230 | 61 31 1 243 598 | L | |
61 31 1 243 247 | L | with headlight control | |
61 31 1 243 245 | R | ||
380 | 61 31 1 243 597 | L | |
61 31 1 243 248 | L | with headlight control | |
61 31 1 243 246 | R |
With spade connectors
Length | Part | side | Features |
---|---|---|---|
230 | 61 31 1 243 804 | L | |
61 31 1 243 864 | L | with headlight control | |
61 31 1 243 808 | R | ||
380 | 61 31 1 243 805 | L | |
61 31 1 243 865 | L | with headlight control | |
61 31 1 243 812 | R | ||
520 | 61 31 1 243 806 | L | |
61 31 1 243 866 | L | with headlight control | |
61 31 1 243 810 | R |
With connector blocks, all the same length
Length | Part | side | Features |
---|---|---|---|
? | 61 31 1 244 418 | L | |
61 31 1 244 410 | L | with headlight control | |
61 31 1 244 420 | L | G/S and GS* | |
61 31 1 244 417 | R |
'70~74 | '75~78 | '79-on | Monolever | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
L E F T |
Horn | black | green/black | ||
brown 1 | brown/white | ||||
Clutch | brown 1 | ← | |||
blue/yellow | yellow/brown | ||||
LIGHTS | |||||
Flash pwr | red | red 2 | green | ||
HL pwr | yellow/white | ← | ← | ||
high | white | ← | ← | ||
low | yellow | ← | ← | ||
L or R |
TURN SIGNALS | ||||
in | green/yellow | ← | ← | ||
left | blue/red | ← | ← | ||
right | blue/black | ← | ← | ||
R I G H T |
brake | green/black | N/A 3 | ← | ← |
green/red | |||||
starter | blue/yellow | ← | ← | ← | |
brown/yellow | ← | ← | 2x green/blue |
||
kill | green/blue | ← | |||
green | ← | ← |
1 common ground for horn and clutch?
2 red changed to green during production
3 Separate switch, not in main switch bundle
US models came with no way to turn the headlight off while riding. The ignition switch controls the headlight and has positions for Off, Park and On. In Park you get eyebrow lamps (RS/RT) or the park bulb in the headlight as well as taillignt, and On gives you full lights. As you can see there is no way to run the engine without lights so many people added the 'European' switch (really the Rest Of World switch) which adds a headlight on/off/park control to the left switch assembly.
Keep in mind that the On/Off/Park component is entirely separate from the High/Low part.The new left switch assembly has the following connections (with the two greens tied together):
Horn:
Turn signal:
High/low
Headlight On/Off/Park
US models came with a wire running from the ignition switch to the headlight relay (the green/white wire if the bike has a remote switch, like on the RS and RT) which powers the relay any time the key is on, except on later models when the engine is cranking. This wire gets removed and the functionality is taken over by the new switch, so that the ignition feeds the solid green and the green/red goes to the headlight relay.
For RS/RT, the gray wire from the ignition switch runs directly to the eyebrow light, so this will not be controlled with the new headlight switch. For this reason the eyebrow light comes on with the ignition in Park, where the key can be removed. With the ignition in Run, power also goes to the headlight switch.
Here is a diagram of the correct switched headlight circuit. Note that the headlight relay coil is shown as grounded on 86 where typically it is grounded on 85. This only matters if you are using the relay with diode (in which case you must ground 85).
The headlight relay is wired on later models as a load shed relay, with the coil grounded by the starter relay. When the starter relay is triggered, the headlight relay loses its ground and shuts down. Early models were grounded to regular ground, so the starter relay didn't affect the headlight. If your headlight relay is grounded by a black wire, it's a load-shed. If brown, it probably goes straight to the terminal board and is a standard ground.
There are three similar headlight relays used from /6 onward:
Although the diode version was used with the US-style always-on headlight, and the non-diode was used with the headlight switch models, they aren't related by functionality. The diode relay will keep the park circuit energized whether you have an always-on headlight setup or a switch that is turned on. Likewise, the non-diode version will extinguish all lights during cranking, switch or not, as long as it is wired to load shed.
The wires are the same as for the Twinshocks except they are terminated in two connector blocks with 3.5mm sockets. Installing a headlight switch on most models is plug and play. Keep in mind that the G/S, ST, and early GS and early R65 models use a special switch that has dual outputs for the turn signals and cannot accomodate a headlight on/off switch (that function is performed by the ignition switch for those models). With some creative wiring, the 410 switch can be used on any model bike such that the headlight switch controls an accessory.
General function for 410 and 418 |
Pin |
Continuous light 61 31 1 244 418 |
Switched light 61 31 1 244 410 |
G/S, GS and R65 61 31 1 244 420 |
General function for 420 |
|
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
R |
High/low | 1 | Yellow |
<- same | <- same | high/low |
2 | Green x 2 power for FTP and horn |
<- same | Green power for FTP |
|||
3 | White to HL high |
<- same | <- same | |||
Headlight on/off |
4 | Yellow jumper to 6 |
Yellow/black to HL relay |
Yellow/white power to hi/lo |
||
5 | Gray (park) to HL relay |
Blue/red jumper to black 4 |
Turn signals |
|||
6 | Yellow jumper to 4 |
Green/violet power to HL switch |
Blue/black |
|||
B L A C K |
High/low | 1 | Yellow/white power to hi/lo |
<- same | Brown ground |
Horn |
Horn | 2 | Green/black power out to horn (from Red 2) |
<- same | Brown/white switched ground for horn |
||
Turn signals |
3 | Green/yellow power in for TS |
<- same | <- same | Turn signals |
|
4 | Blue/red |
<- same | <- same | |||
5 | Blue/black right signal |
<- same | <- same | |||
Unused | 6 | Unused |
The 1991 and later R100GS, R100R and Mystic used the K-style controls, which have the optional headlight switch on the right switch assembly. The big change is that the turn signals are momentary pushbuttons, with "left" on the left switch and separate buttons for "right" and "cancel" on the right switch. Although the switches are identical between the Airheads, 2V K bikes and 4V K bikes, the part numbers are different because the connectors differ. The early switches (for 2V K75/K100) used a 9-pin connector with 3.5mm pins, while the late (R100 and 4V K/R) switches used 8-pin and 12-pin connectors with 2.5mm sockets.
61 31 2 305 232 | 61 31 1 459 462 | ||
---|---|---|---|
T U R N |
right | 5 blu/yel | 5 blue/yel |
cancel | 10 brown/wht | separate | |
ground | 8 brown | 8 brown | |
L I G H T |
power | 3 green | 3 green |
park | 7 gray/blue | 7 gray/blue | |
lights | 4 yel/wht | 4 wht/yel | |
R U N |
power | 9 green | 9 green |
kill | 2 green/red | 2 green/yel | |
S T |
power | 6 green/yel | 6 black/green |
start | 1 black/wht | 1 black/yel |
These are the switches for this style:
The 177/178/179 switches are the same as the 231/232/233 switches but do not have the clear plastic shrouds over the connector. The 178 and 179 have been superseded by the shrouded versions. The 461/462/464 have shrouds.
The 058 switch (with windshield control for the R1100RT and K1100LT) can be used on any of these bikes to control whatever you want, but the main connector will have to be changed over to the 3.5mm pins for use on a K75 or K100.