Comagination Headlight Modulator

[FJRocket]

Got my Comagination modulator today, via the USPS. Not much to it. Yes, it's going to be a bit dangley. At least it's supplied with one tie wrap. I'll probably try to hide/tie the blue pot in there inbetween somewhere. Shouldn't be too hard to figure out. I'll even try to take photos when I get it in there.

Give me a few minutes and I'll upload a pic of the package contents. Probably plug it in tonight. Pouring rain here though, so it will be a garage test only.

Note that there are separate and equal length wires for plugging onto the bulb and plugging into the headlight circuit. Pretty straight forward. The light sensor is not tremendously sturdy, but eventually, I'l sure a tiny hole somewhere and a bit of RTV will set in in place. For the time being, I'll probably just tie wrap it somewhere, too, until I get a handle on how much "exposure" it is really going to need.

Also note that there are no gasket or seals with this thing, so generous electrical taping may be required. I have some liquid ET to use, although the stuff is a bit sloppy to use in tight places. I may just RTV those connections, too. Either way, probably good to do some insulation.

The instructions say be sure to properly attach the ground wire to the battery. There isn't a ground wire on this model, so fuhgeddaboudit.

This unit can be set for either low OR high beam modulation. It defaults to high beam. That's probably how I'll use it. To change from high to low beams, you just have to swap the red and blue wires on all the connectors.

 

[Carnifex]

Ok, so you ordered yours after mine, and it arrived first.

Greeeeat.....

Maybe it's at home in the mailbox..

 

[FJRocket]

Nah, I'm just closer to Arizona than you are. Or my mail carrier likes me better.

Thanks for the tip. I'll let you know how it works.

 

[Woodstock]

So, it looks like you unplug both headlamp plugs, plug one of them into the modulator which then has two plugs to go back into headlamps, right? So one of the stock harness headlamp "plugs" also dangles?

The light sensor not being sturdy would concern me a bit, does it look like it would "last" if just zip tied up with, say, the clutch lines?

 

[FJRocket]

I have an LED in my "A" panel that has been sitting there just RTV'd in place. It's been there for almost 2 years and working no problems. That should work fine for this.

The "receptor" is heavily shrink wrapped, then another piece of shrink wrap is supplied so you can adjust the "daylight". I think I misspoke when I said the receptor was flimsey. It's just unsupported. I would have liked a screw in piece for it, or something sturdier to support it.

Would have been nice if they supplied 6 or 8 zip ties. Fortunately, I have a couple hundred spares. Otherwise I would be using twist tie or string. Seems you can never have enough tie wraps.

Yeah, I'll probably just zip it to the dash or something. Eventually, I may put it in one of the black panels. The lead is about 2 feet long, so there are several options.

 

[Woodstock]

Of course, take lots of pictures during the install, too. :agent:

 

[Just Plain Dave]

So, it looks like you unplug both headlamp plugs, plug one of them into the modulator which then has two plugs to go back into headlamps, right?  So one of the stock harness headlamp "plugs" also dangles?
The light sensor not being sturdy would concern me a bit, does it look like it would "last" if just zip tied up with, say, the clutch lines?

The plugs connected to the headlamps are female plugs, so the two females will go to the two males from the modulator. If there ain't two female plugs in that picture on top of each other (control your mind TWN) and looking like one plug, I'm very confused. Which of course, is my normal condition.

 

[twowheelnut]

(control your mind TWN)

Er, it ain't my mind that needs controllin'...

 

[Woodstock]

So, it looks like you unplug both headlamp plugs, plug one of them into the modulator which then has two plugs to go back into headlamps, right?  So one of the stock harness headlamp "plugs" also dangles?
The light sensor not being sturdy would concern me a bit, does it look like it would "last" if just zip tied up with, say, the clutch lines?

The plugs connected to the headlamps are female plugs, so the two females will go to the two males from the modulator. If there ain't two female plugs in that picture on top of each other (control your mind TWN) and looking like one plug, I'm very confused.

Ah, counting the wires going into what looks like the famale plug, there must be two, so the blue unit is in the middle of an X, both the wiring harness plugs and both the headlamps plug in there. Right FJRocket?

 

[Just Plain Dave]

(control your mind TWN)

Er, it ain't my mind that needs controllin'...

Ok, move the control function down a couple feet or so. :haha:

 

[Carnifex]

Ah, counting the wires going into what looks like the famale plug, there must be two, so the blue unit is in the middle of an X, both the wiring harness plugs and both the headlamps plug in there.  Right FJRocket?

You are correct, Sir.

Mine was waiting for me when I got home today as well. Took about 2 minutes to install - unplug headlight, plug in modulator, plug headlight power lead into modulator, repeat for other side, run light sensor up into the daylight.

I just ran the sensor up the clutch cables and tied it off at the top.

Took another few minutes to tie everything up nice and neat, but it really couldn't be simpler.

I did not take pictures of the installation, anticipating FJRocket was going to, but really, I'm a moron and I figured it out.

A few early impressions - it does modulate only one headlight if you want it to - plug in one side of the unit and leave the other undone. I'm not sure why you would want to do this, but.. there you go if you do. I suppose if you wanted to save a few $$, you could order the unit for a single headlight and only modulate one.

And yea, one zip tie, which I dropped on the floor where it was quickly claimed by a cat. Tho I suppose if you're the sort of person to want to put one of these in, it's likely you have extra zip ties lying around.

I did go out for a quick ride to my dad's and back (11 miles each way) I'll post my impressions of the efficacy in the other thread.

 

[FJRocket]

I also installed mine already. 5 minutes to install, 15 minutes to tie it back. Pictures are worthless, but it's pretty brainless. Zip-tieing everything out of the way was the hardest part. I have so many cobbled wires under there I had a hard time stuffing that stuff away from the triple tree.

I thought the connectors were kind of chintzy (looked exactly the same as the yammy connectors which are also chintzy), so I used electrical tape to tape them closed with about 4 or 5 wraps end to end, then I folded the wires against the side and taped around the plugs and the wires to keep it all water resistant and together. Then I zip tied all that stuff back to whatever I could come up with. I think it'll be OK.

My XM radio antenna is on my left rearview mirror. I ran the sensor out there and pointed it back a ways. I left it fully exposed to get the maximum light which will be the maximum amount of modulation during light-time. I can always turn the brights off if I get annoyed at dusk. It's raining again here, so I didn't test ride the modulator at dusk, which was when I finished the job.

Job accomplished, though. Took a flashlight and shined it on the sensor. VIOLA! It modulates the high beams. Now all that traffic in my garage will know I'm coming.

Now I may need to get a Goober avatar (TWN, you got one of those?) to go with my pseudo deputy bike. "Citizen's arreyest, citizen's arreyest!" I think I'm gonna confuse a lot of people. That's ok, as long as they see me.

 

[Woodstock]

This is the D115H4, right? And a "yes" to the X question? (the blue piece is in the middle of an X with 2 male and 2 female)? - thanks.

This looks, then, like a good $80 alternative to the $140-$160 Kisan unit. :yahoo:

 

[FJRocket]

I believe that is the correct model number. I ordered mine by bike model. Dual H4 setup.

And yes, there are two males and two females. I wondered if that pic might not confuse someone. Then I thought, naw, they'll trace the wires and they can tell that the middle connectors are just laying together.

SO it's about as simple as can be. Break the connections behind each headlight. As stated, female plugs on to the H4 bulb, male plugs into the yammy harness. Then turn on the motor, and test the unit's sensor under incandescent light (Fluorescent will NOT work, even daylight corrected tubes). The tape and tie it back. Heck for $80 it's s nice little unit.

I was tempted to tape ALL the wires into bundles, to decrease the chance of a chafe. I did tape a lot of the wire bundles together, then tried to zip them so that the wires would not rub against the hard/sharp bits. I think that would be a reasonable thing for you to to prior to the install. Too bad Comagination doesn't shrink wrap them all.

 

[Woodstock]

One point about the Kisan unit, though, is a "replaceable" daylight sensor. If it's damaged, you can buy another one and plug it in. Hmm...

 

[dkirk]

:agent: Is there a web sight , showing these units with more info.

Thanks, Dan

 

[Carnifex]

Comagination web site

Review of Comagination modulator

Review of Kisan modulator

 

[Woodstock]

Comagination web site
Review of Comagination modulator

Review of Kisan modulator

And FWIW, Kisan PathBlazer website

 

[Woodstock]

I believe that the Kisan model number for the FJR is P115W-S-D, and it comes with a "master" and "slave" unit, but I'd love confirmation from one of the Kisan users here??