Introduction: Installing a Garage Door Opener on Your Motorcycle
When I moved into my first house I was glad to finally put my motorcycle in a garage. I purchased extra garage door openers to make things more convenient one for the truck and one for each bike (wife rides too). The problem I had with this is:
A) Having to fish around to find the button of the remote (even though the button took up half the face it sometimes turned around in my pocket facing the wrong way)
B) Some times if I left it in my pants pocket it would accidentally open the garage door and I wouldn't find out till the morning.
C) Wifes opener fell out of her pocket on the road.
So I need a way to keep the transmitter on the bike as we do in our vehicles and also have easily accessible while riding.
This bike is an 04 Yamaha R6. I have also done this on a 97 Yamaha 600 and two Honda F4 can't remember what year they were.
A) Having to fish around to find the button of the remote (even though the button took up half the face it sometimes turned around in my pocket facing the wrong way)
B) Some times if I left it in my pants pocket it would accidentally open the garage door and I wouldn't find out till the morning.
C) Wifes opener fell out of her pocket on the road.
So I need a way to keep the transmitter on the bike as we do in our vehicles and also have easily accessible while riding.
This bike is an 04 Yamaha R6. I have also done this on a 97 Yamaha 600 and two Honda F4 can't remember what year they were.
Step 1: Supples
You will need a garage door opener
Speaker wire (I think I used 18 or 20 gauge)
Shrink tubing
Soldering iron
Wire connectors
Zip ties
And maybe some scrap tin
Multimeter
Also something to keep in mind. if you live close to a corner try to give yourself some distance before canceling your turn signal when leaving so you don't open your garage door by mistake. This happened to a friend of mine on occasion.
Speaker wire (I think I used 18 or 20 gauge)
Shrink tubing
Soldering iron
Wire connectors
Zip ties
And maybe some scrap tin
Multimeter
Also something to keep in mind. if you live close to a corner try to give yourself some distance before canceling your turn signal when leaving so you don't open your garage door by mistake. This happened to a friend of mine on occasion.
Step 2: Wiring the Transmiter
Drill a small hole in the back of the garage door opener and feed the wire though. Solder the this end to the button leads. The wire connectors will come in to play if you want to be able to remove the transmitter from the bike from time to time. A good placement for the transmitter is either under the seat or in the tail, I originally had my wife's transmitter velcroed to the gas tank under the plastic shell but the gas tank was interfering with the signal. When I moved it to the tail it worked a lot better.
Step 3: Setting the Activation Switch
There are two ways to do the switch. One is to install a separate switch to the handlebar or integrating it to the turn signal kill switch. I have tried both and I like the integration method, I think it was a bit more work but it looks cleaner.
Start by opening up the turn signal control box. Take the multimeter set it to the diode checking option and try to find two points that are open but make contact when you push the button. If you can find one then great if not this is where the tin scrap comes in handy.
The shrink tub is just used to blend the new set of wires in with the wires that are already there again just to make it look nice and clean.
I soldered the one end of my wire to the tin scrap and the other I tethered to the screw as shown in the photo. I then wedged the piece of tin between the housing and the turn signal mechanism. Test the setup to make sure it works and does not inter fear with any of the mechanics of the control box before putting it back together.
Start by opening up the turn signal control box. Take the multimeter set it to the diode checking option and try to find two points that are open but make contact when you push the button. If you can find one then great if not this is where the tin scrap comes in handy.
The shrink tub is just used to blend the new set of wires in with the wires that are already there again just to make it look nice and clean.
I soldered the one end of my wire to the tin scrap and the other I tethered to the screw as shown in the photo. I then wedged the piece of tin between the housing and the turn signal mechanism. Test the setup to make sure it works and does not inter fear with any of the mechanics of the control box before putting it back together.
I hope you liked this little how to.