Locating Blue/White wire

I'm going to add auxiliary lighting to my ST1300. I've pretty much decided on the 2" Round 10 Watt LED Mini Auxiliary Work Light from superbrightleds.com.

I want the relay to connect to the blue/white wire from the ignition so the lights will be on all of the time. The lights will be daytime running lights as well as additional lighting at night. Since they will always be on, I will keep them aimed low enough so that they won't blind oncoming traffic.

Where can I find the blue/white wire and how much tupperware do I need to remove to get to it?

My 2003-2006 service manual diagram doesn't show a blue/white wire out of the ignition switch. Maybe in later models?

You can get a switched 5 amp fused lead from the quartet harness. I think said harness costs about $17 (this is a guess, its been more than 2 years since I installed mine, purchased at a dealer) and plugs into a connector on the right side of the bike (take off inner lower cowl (behind front wheel) and left inner cowl, and the left side tupperware (starting to lose correct names)). One of the outputs from the harness gives you constant power (never turns off) another is switched by the ignition key.

Two 10 watt lamps will yield a load of about 1.67 amps, so you are fine on a 5 amp fuse.

The accessory wire harness has four switched power outlets. See https://www.st-owners.com/forums/showthread.php?7682-ST1300-Quartet-Harness-Pinout

The black connector generally powers heated grips, the red connector is generally wired to the power socket in right glove box, the 3 pin clear connector is a spare I use for the Garmin, the nine pin connector has no assignments I'm aware of (I use it for my volt meter). Everything I run from the accessory harness, except the heated grips, draw low wattage. I'm concerned with overloading the ground wires that other people have experienced.

There is also the accessory wire at the ACC fuse: https://www.st-owners.com/forums/showthread.php?56085-ST1300-Switched-Power-Tap I just used this to the relay on a FZ1 fuse block. This would work for a trigger wire to a relay, but I don't think I'd use it to power the lights since other accessories down the line are using this source. Those ground wires are already carrying a load. Another point you might consider is using a ground on the front cowl stay like Clearwater Lights install recommends on the ST.

Thanks for the good information. I hadn't considered the quartet harness, but I think I'll use the accessory wire at the ACC fuse. Less tupperware to remove that way.

Reginald said:

I'm concerned with overloading the ground wires that other people have experienced.

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Adding a new ground as others have done would seem to be a sound idea as is using a separate ground point for the lights.

since other accessories down the line are using this source.

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What else is on that buss? The clock and some factory LED for the panel? In the old days the tail light came on for some bikes as sort of a parking light. Sucked the life out of the battery quickly. I've always been curious as why to Honda included an ACC position. Maybe for the option radio in some markets? I think the four-way emergency flashers work then too.

I'd still want an On/Off switch if the lights "off-road" only. Or at least find a 12V+ source from the On position of the switch. But if that's the only electrical mod you'll run from the ACC side electrically you should be in good shape. I'd heed the ground wire recommendations though.

ST Gui said:

What else is on that buss? The clock and some factory LED for the panel? In the old days the tail light came on for some bikes as sort of a parking light. Sucked the life out of the battery quickly. I've always been curious as why to Honda included an ACC position. Maybe for the option radio in some markets? I think the four-way emergency flashers work then too.

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What ever you have on the quartet harness is on the wire. I have a power socket, Garmin, voltmeter, and heated grips on the quartet harness. The quartet harness went out last year and took me a while to get it fixed, so I learned everything that fed to it so I could Isolate it. Ended up never determining the exact failure point/connector, because it failed at about 20 minutes into a ride. After restarting it after a couple of minutes it would reset. I replaced the harness, socket, and Garmin; problem solved. I'd have to look at the wiring diagram, but as I remember, the horn, flashers, and turn signals are connected too. It was though these last items I was able to isolate the issue to the harness, they all worked while nothing on the harness did.

Bottom line: If you're using the harness, I wouldn't power any thing like lights from it. It's fine for a trigger wire to a relay.