Electrical Insurance
ELECTRICAL INSURANCE
Do-It-Yourself Cycle Thief Repellent.
Garson Hayward
Nothing makes a more lasting impression on a motorcyclist than the sight of an empty parking spot that used to contain his bike.
If the motorcycle was chained and locked, outfitted with alarms and spotlights and protected by everything short of a minefield and it still got stolen, chances are it was hit by a pro. Someone shopping for that exact bike was armed with the right equipment to take it. Professionals are hard to stop. If, however, the bike was casually parked, left with the steering lock open, or just parked in an unattended area where heroic theft-prevention measures were not possible, then there is an equally good chance it was merely hot-wired and ridden off by an opportunist who is handy with pliers and a short piece of wirç.
Fortunately, most bikes aren’t stolen by professsonal thieves; they’re stolen by punks who have found that jobs, savings accounts and bank loans are not the fastest path to motorcycle ownership. Unlike the professional, the punk usually isn’t that well versed with a motorcycle’s electrical system. He may know how to hotwire a bike, but his brilliant mind is likely to become overloaded if it has to contend with any sort of modification. And, if you take the time to exercise the little bit of electrickery described here, you may be able to ruin his day and keep him on foot.
Basically, a thief needs two things if he’s going to steal your bike: Time, and quiet. Locks and kill switches are designed to
and so inundated with tiny black lines that it’s virtually impossible to read, let alone understand.
It’s much easier to understand your bike’s wiring if, rather than considering it as a single system, you regard it as a set of several separate systems. We’ll be concerned with only the basic ignition circuit and the horn circuit. (See Fig. 1.) Once you’ve identified which wires are which, you’re ready to start work.
The first step in wiring the alarm is to find a suitable place to mount the switch. Ideally, it should be located in a spot where it is hidden from view, and accessible only with a key. Inside a locking saddlebag or fairing compartment, under the seat, in the tailpiece—any of these places will work well. If your bike doesn’t have any lockable compartments—and many older models don’t—you’ll simply have to conceal the switch as best you can. Just remember, wherever you mount the switch, it is crucial that it remain dry at all times.
When you’ve found a mounting point for the switch, you’ll need to locate a wire from the ignition circuit into which your switch can be wired. The lead from the ignition switch to the coils or the lead from the coil to the points will work well; the better choice will be whichever would be less readily accessible to a thief. Be sure that, when you cut the wire, you do so near the coil so that the gas tank will conceal the modification. Just be sure to leave
deny him some of the necessary time; and alarms are designed to deny him some of the necessary quiet. The modification outlined here is designed to deny him a little of both. The procedure is simple: A center-off, double-pole, double-throw switch is wired into the ignition and horn circuits. The switch serves as a hidden kill switch for the ignition, and reroutes the horn circuit so that the ignition switch serves as the horn switch. Consequently, if the motorcycle is hot-wired or the key is turned on, the horn will blow and the ignition will remain dead.
The only materials you’ll need to wire this alarm are a few yards of good wire, some electrician’s tape, some silicone sealer, and a center-off, DPDT switch. (This is a switch which turns on one circuit when flipped to the left, turns on a different circuit when flipped to the right, and shuts off both circuits when left in the center position.)
Wiring the alarm is easy, provided you’ve got a little patience. Keep in mind that electrical work is something that should never be hurried; if you get careless and connect the wrong wires, you’re liable to set something on fire. (I know—I’ve done it!) Nonetheless, you shouldn’t let yourself be intimidated by all those wires—you’ll be dealing with only a few of them. The only problem lies in determining which of those few wires are the correct ones; as a general rule, the schematic provided in the owner’s manual is so small
each part of the wire long enough to make a good, strong splice.
Using some of the extra wire, cut two leads just long enough to reach from the switch terminals to the ends of the ignition wires Splice one lead to each of the cut ends of the ignition wires, using a Western Union splice. (See Fig. 2.) Ideally, you should solder each splice before covering
it with several layers of the electrical tape. Then, once the splice is secure, connect the two leads to the alarm switch. Since different brand switches sometimes use different arrangements, you may have to do a little experimenting to find out which terminals the wires should be connected to. The switch I used was from Radio Shack, part no. 275-1533. The proper hookup for this particular switch is shown in Fig. 3.
At this point, you should have an operational kill switch for the ignition circuit.
Before you go any farther, you should check to verify that the ignition does, in fact, remain dead when the switch is in the “Off” or “Alarm” position. If it doesn’t, consult the schematic in Fig. 4 to find the source of the problem.
Once you’ve determined that everything is working properly, you’ll need to cut two more pieces of wire. These two leads will serve to bypass the horn button when the alarm is on. One of these wires (No. 10 in Fig. 4) should be connected to the switch and spliced into the lead between the horn button and the horn itself. Use a tap splice (Fig. 2) for this, and try to make the splice in a place where it will be hidden from view. Otherwise, an alert thief might see the extra wire and realize that the bike has been rewired.
The final wire (No. 11 in Fig. 4) should be hooked to the alarm switch terminal and connected to a good, clean chassis ground, unless your bike has the horn button positioned between the horn and the ignition switch rather than between the horn and a chassis ground as shown in Fig. 1. If your bike has the button between the horn and the ignition switch (as do many Harleys and a few other models), you'll have to splice this wire into the lead between the horn button and the ignition switch, instead of grounding it.
As a final precaution, once you have all the wires properly connected, cover all the switch terminals with a liberal coating of silicone sealer. This will lessen the chance of a short circuit if the switch gets wet. Also, double check to make certain that all the splices are tightly wound and well covered with tape. And finally, tape all the wires leading from the switch into a single bundle; and secure the bundle to the frame where friction and vibration won’t wear through the insulation.
Now your alarm should be fully operational. With the switch in the “Alarm” position, and the ignition on, the horn should sound while the engine remains dead. With the switch in the center position, turning on the ignition should have no effect; both the ignition and the horn circuits will remain dead. And, with the switch in the “Run” position, the bike will function normally.
A couple final points to keep in mind: First of all, be sure to keep your bike’s battery well charged. Not too many thieves are going to be frightened away by a horn that’s too weak to be heard. And remember, even the best security system is useless if you don’t activate it. Whenever you leave your bike, turn the alarm on. Lock the forks. Park in a brightly-lit, easily observed spot. And, if you can afford one, get a good lock, one made especially for motorcycles. Don’t think that “it only happens to the other guy.” And don’t think that precautions aren’t worth the expense. Any measures you take are cheap when you consider what you stand to lose. GS
