The International CBX Owners Association

Hey all.

I'm having my bike converted to a keyless ignition that uses an RFID reader & tag to arm the bike, then the kill switch to disarm it.

I'm doing this for the following reasons:

1. Might offer a bit of extra theft protection.
2. It's definitely cool (as long as it works).
3. Helps to clean up the area around the top triple & gauges - important to me because I'm having a custom triple made, and am also switching to handlebars & mounting a GPS on the bar clamps.

The work is supposed to be done early next week, I'll post some details about the completed wiring and a video of the system in action when it's been completed & debugged.

But the basic idea is to get a short-range RFID reader (surprisingly cheap - about $15 with a 10A relay that includes an on-board driver circuit) and position the antenna somewhere near the control area. When the tag is presented to the reader, a signal line goes high which energizes the master relay. I will use some diodes and a pick-up from a circuit controlled by the kill switch to latch that master relay, so it will stay energized until the kill switch is opened. The output from that master relay will energize 2 additional (heavier) child relays which will close the same 2 circuits that would be closed by the original ignition switch. The RFID reader will get its ground via the clutch switch - so it will not draw any current until the clutch lever is pulled in.

So the operation will go like this:

To start the bike:
1. Turn the Kill switch to ON.
2. Pull in the clutch lever.
3. Present the tag to the reader (I'll have a tag in my right gauntlet and the antenna in the front frame opening on the right side).
4. Bike is energized, same as if the key were turned to ON.
5. Hit Start and drive away.

To stop the bike:
1. Turn the Kill switch to OFF.


Should work pretty slick. As backup, I'll also have a connector in place with a specially-wired plug that will act as a switch in parallel with the 2 child relays - I'll keep that plug hidden on the bike somewhere as an emergency workaround for relay or RFID reader failure.


Has anyone else done something similar? I wasn't able to find anything here, but maybe my search skills just aren't very good.

Sounds like the proto-type of a kit?

Rick Pope wrote:Sounds like the proto-type of a kit?

I'll post my results. If someone wants to make a kit based on that, they're welcome to it - I won't be doing anything along those lines, although I'm happy to share info & experiences. The inspiration (and ideas about wiring) came from this thread:

http://www.svrider.com/forum/showthread.php?t=121880

D'Ecosse, the starter of that thread, is known on many forums for his helpful electrical knowledge. He makes kits for some stuff but also freely shares diagrams and ideas, as well as sources for parts. It was his analysis of FET vs. SCR voltage regulator/rectifiers that helped me finally sort out the world of agony I was having with my old SV.

Along with going keyless, I'm also having the fuse block replaced with modern blade fuses. My mechanic likes these combo fuse/relay holders (they snap together like lego) and will be using 2 of them on my bike, mounted to the swinging door for the battery behind the left side cover:



The 2 relays will replace the ignition switch, and we'll have enough fuses to replace the 4 from the fuse block, plus 1 each for my heated vest/gloves and the GPS. Should make a nice tidy install.

Here is one also.

http://store.revivalcycles.com/collecti ... reless-key

I love the Motogadget stuff and believe that it's very high quality, but the bit about no mechanical parts to wear out is a lie - a relay is a mechanical part and can definitely wear out. Also, RFID itself may be tamper proof, but it's not so hard to energize the relay with a jumper.

Most importantly, though, I just don't see how the 1000% markup is worth it in this case:

http://www.rfidadvance.com/

Glad I decided to have this work done - I've been nervous about having a 35 year old wiring harness, but wasn't quite ready to preemptively replace it. But when he went looking for places to tap into the harness to make these wiring changes, my mechanic (who's a bit of an electrical specialist) found that while the insulation looked good, the wires were in bad shape inside - many of them had leads that had turned black. So with that evidence, I decided to just have him redo the whole thing - every wire on the bike should be trustworthy when this is (finally) done.

This project is dragging on and on. There were wait times when ordering the wiring, connectors, and integrated fuse/relay holders, but the major issue is inefficiency at the shop. It's driving me batty. Still, I went out there yesterday to see the work done so far and while I'm displeased at the lack of progress, I'm quite pleased with the quality of work that's been done.

The new setup uses high capacity wires with heat resistant insulation (NAMZ NWR-90-100 for most stuff, 14ga for headlights), wrapped in wear resistant tape, all new connectors crimped and VERY carefully soldered so that the solder is all at the connector and doesn't extend into the insulated part of the wire, 40A relays, and new blade-type fuses in a new fuse block. Also, every circuit has its own dedicated ground, and the parts of the harness that are visible will be covered in black braided nylon sheath.

When he told me he soldered the connectors, I started screaming in my head: "YOU DON'T USE SOLDER ON MOTORCYCLE WIRING!!!" Without my having to say anything, he showed me how the solder is wicked into the wire end crimped in the connector, but not past that - so the wire remains perfectly flexible but is less prone to corrosion.

Dude is good. I just wish it was done.

Here's the system in action as it's currently set up. Mechanic ignored my explicit and repeated instruction to use the clutch safety switch as the ground for the RFID reader, and instead wired it so that the kill switch switches the power to the reader. I'm pretty unhappy about it, but this will do for now until it gets cold enough to make me willing to pull the bike back off the road.



The reader antenna is hidden behind the left side cover, nice and stealthy. With the tag in my right pocket, I just have to stand beside the bike and turn the kill switch to ON. From that point, the bike is energized until the kill switch is turned to OFF.

One thing I have to give my mechanic a lot of credit for is that he came up with a very neat demo/trick. Let someone else turn the key to ON, and then tell them that the bike requires a voice password. Say "OK, turn on", or "Open sesame", or whatever, then nudge your leg close to the reader and it switches on. I pulled that on my godson and told him that it only turns on if you say "Please".