Which wire is where?

OK,
i have (almost) completed install of a set of dual beam LED driving lights that have a flood and beam combo (essentially High and Low beam settings).
I have them running through a relay for the high/low function and need to tie it into the same circuit as the High/Low on the bike....(use the high on the switch to trigger the relay) and I left my manual home.
Which wire do I tie into to get this function? I see references to a high beam headlight relay ...(?) but apparently my searching skills are a bit rough as I am finding it hard to actually figure out which one it is!
can anyone provide details on what I am looking for?
I am a complete amateur at this so please be gentle!

oh yeah ... 2012 ST1300a

Thanks,
Scott

To my way of thinking, you should not tie these aux lights into your headlight system without a relay. If something goes wrong with either the new lights or your headlight, everything goes down and you are left without light on a dark and stormy night.

What I propose might be a bit more involved installation, but it solves this problem. You will need two new relays, and an aux fusebox (or a fused wire coming directly from the battery if you have no need for additional circuits down the road).

Tap off the wire going to the high beam behind the headlight and run this tap to a new relay. Center wire on the connector (again behind the headlight) is your ground and that also goes to the relay's coil. (You could also pick this switched power up at the high beam relay (but I don't know where that is either)). A new circuit from your aux fusebox would provide power to the aux lights and this is switched by that new relay. Hitting the high beam switch triggers the relay to provide power to your new lights. Duplicate this for the low beam with a second new relay. Now your aux lights are isolated from the headlights by your two new relays and the power for both spot and flood beams comes from a new circuit.

SMSW said:

To my way of thinking, you should not tie these aux lights into your headlight system without a relay.

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sah48 said:

I have them running through a relay...

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I'm thinking he already has a relay for the aux lights and he's looking for a trigger. My ST buddy just replaced his high beam relay. I wish I had asked him where he found it but I read that it's behind the clock inside the front fairing.

A link to a headlight wiring diagram— https://www.st-owners.com/forums/showthread.php?62641-ST1300-Headlight-Wiring-Diagram&p=706872&viewfull=1#post706872

Both headlight relays are behind the left side cover, behind the folding lift handle. The high beam should be the one, toward the rear of the bike. According to my manual, the switched wire from the relay is Blue/Black.

John

SMSW said:

To my way of thinking, you should not tie these aux lights into your headlight system without a relay. If something goes wrong with either the new lights or your headlight, everything goes down and you are left without light on a dark and stormy night.

Click to expand...

Thanks to to everyone that commented. I think the job will be completed quickly when I get back to it!

if I wasn't clear .... YES - the aux lights have power direct from the battery with a relay that triggers when the ignition comes on (one of Eastern Beaver's relay harnesses) They are not powered off the headlights. I like my slightly dented hide way too much to risk blowing that circuit! I also put a switch in the trigger line as a master On/Off function.
Once the power comes on, it runs thru a SPDT relay that in its resting mode (NC contacts) powers the aux light's low/flood mode. When the relay is triggered it flips and powers the aux light's spot/high mode.

Now that the relay has been identified, it SHOULD be fairly easy to hook up that trigger wire!

I also have a time delay module I may wire into the circuit later..... Turn on the ignition, start the bike, and a few seconds later the circuit engages... Takes some of the initial strain off the battery when starting! I am pondering the best approach to implement that function!


Scott

sah48 said:

I am pondering the best approach to implement that function!

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A cap, a pair of resistors and 2 transistors will let you build a delay from a few mili-seconds to 45+.
I think the schematic is in my gallery.
Found it: