Well, I spent a good part of Sunday disassembling, soldering, drilling, and reassembling the Goldwing. I removed the speaker grilles and panel and the top shelter in about 10 minutes. I never really set out to be good at disassembling the bike, but when you’re particular like me and you want things just so, that’s just part of the deal. First, I replaced the power jack for the GPS with a barrel-style connector (center pin positive, housing negative) as it’s smaller and less noticeable when the GPS isn’t plugged in. I also replaced the aux input cord with a longer cord so that I could connect the stereo output from the XM radio into the sound system.
On the Goldwing’s dash below the key and above the gas filler cap is a rectangular logo, which I removed. I modified a circular RAM base to fit there, made a backing plate for strength, and bolted it in place. I am hoping that the GPS will vibrate less there than when attached to the RAM mounts on the handlebars. Time (and a quick ride) will tell.
Now for the more serious mod. I removed the instrument cluster and the triple tree cover so that I could get to some wires for the turn signal cancel unit. I found the wires, cut away a little insulation, and soldered a wire to each of them. I routed the wires down to the left side of the fairing. I also found the wire I needed on the stop light relay under the seat and soldered a wire there. I also ran that wire up to the left side of the fairing. The fourth wire was in the turn signal switch connector, which is in the left fairing. Now I have all four wires I need. I verified that the stop light wire was correct with my meter, as it reads 0 volts until the brake lights are on, then it reads 12 or so. I connected the wire from the stop light relay to the coil on a small relay through a diode to prevent feedback. The other side of the relay coil connects to one of the wires from the cancel unit. The other two wires connect to the NO contacts on the relay. Why would I do all of this work, you ask?
The Honda turn signal cancel design is going to get someone killed, and I don’t want that to be me. The turn signal cancels in two ways: after completing a turn, the signal will cancel; or it will cancel after a set amount of time (speed based). I put my signal on well in advance of the turn so that drivers behind me have plenty of notice that I’m turning. If you put the signal on and the cancel unit decides it’s been blinking long enough, it will turn them off. NOT GOOD, especially when you’re waiting to turn left on a two-lane highway and now you realize that you’ve basically stopped in the middle of the road with no signal to indicate ANYTHING. This mod resets the countdown timer when you are braking, and if the brakes are on, it is being continually reset. It will only count down when the brakes are released so you can indicate your turn in advance and not have the turn signals mysteriously stop blinking.
One less thing to worry about while riding, and there is plenty to be aware of while you’re on the road.