Hey so, I developed a slightly pathological dislike of the stock front turn signals. They never seemed to align perfectly; dangling there like a pair of vestigial appendages and, to make matters more unseemly, the left one often loosened on it's perch. I embarked on a mission to install bar end signals. Here's how it played out.
Step 1) Connectors
For reasons that don't make a whole lotta sense, the turn signal connections on our R18's are dissimilar from other BMW applications. The female side of the connection is wired to the bike, while the male side resides within the signals themselves. Aftermarket "adapter" offerings ARE the part we already have and finding the corresponding male bit wasn't easy. I'll spare everyone the details and cut to the answer: the male bit is also found in the heated windshield washer loom for a 2009 (probably other years of the same generation) MINI Cooper. I bought two on eBay for $20 and confirmed applicability. They's the ones.
Step 2) Lights
There appear to be two high-quality bar end signal options: Motogadget and Kellermann. Maybe Rizoma is a third, not 100% sure. The Kellerman looked nice but small, hence Holan's modification. Both have ways to affix them to BMW threaded bars but the methods are disparate. Kellermann uses a M6 to M12 threaded insert and with Motogadget you can buy a piece which screws into the bar end to which you then attach the signal. This method obligates you to add bar end mirrors or fashion a ring to cover that space. To make matters more confusing, Kellermann makes an adapter FOR the Motogadget unit. Same idea, probably a bit cleaner. Anyhow, I had experience with the Motogadget and preferred their look but really didn't wish to add clutter (the adaptor is only black) or change my mirrors to bar end. The Kellermann method seemed better, but there's a problem: the Motogadget units are 14mm wide and our handlebars have just over 12mm of inner diameter.
(Take off the nut, washers, and rubber bit)
Step 3) Handlebar modification
My step drill bits weren't deep enough so I picked up a 9/16th inch bit, wrapped it with enough tape to stop me from plunging too deeply, and, carefully, slowly, bored out the bars. Went fine. The Motgadget signals have an annoying beveled area that widens out to even further than 14mm, so used a 3/4 inch countersink bit to allow for flush installation. And, best part, no bridges-burnt. The handlebar thread is still in there and the stock weights can still be used.
Step 4) Confirm fit & function
The lights arrived. I made sure that they fit in the bars and that they lit up without creating an electrical error message. Nice. I removed the stock lights and their perches and then was struck with a weird visual outcome: the oversized nuts holding the mirrors stick out like sore stainless steel thumbs. Slight modification: swap the washer to on top, get new regularly-sized M8 stainless acorn nuts, add a washer below and...there, much better.
Step 5) installation & electrification
With the bars modified so the Motogadget lights would fit, Kellermann showed me the way. I ordered some M8 to M12 threaded inserts from Grainger and, with a little tweaking to make sure that they tightened nicely at their correct orientation, and a foam washer positioned between bar and light, I screwed them into place. But how to wire? There's no way to use the MINI Cooper terminals as they were intended (i.e. unclip and remove light) because they'll never fit down the handlebar through the threaded part. I wanted, most of all, to keep everything intact should someone wish to go back to stock in the future. So I elected to attach the MINI terminal to it's R18 counterpart then wire the lights to wires from the MINI side with a pair of button connectors. The downside is that it's impossible to tuck everything into the bars, the connector is too large to fit through the hole. And, even if accomplished, you'd never get it back. The upside is that it's entirely reversible.
(The wago connectors pictured were used to confirm polarity)
Step 6) Tuck and reassemble
It turned out that not being able to tuck the connector fully into the bar wasn't an issue at all. I finagled the button connectors, the unsheathed wire, the sheathed wire, and about half of the MINI to R18 connector into the hole and what remains outside is hidden nicely behind the fluid reservoirs. I found that removing the brake and clutch levers provided just a few more precious millimeters of hole access and that tucking was easiest if you rolled the bars past vertical to see things without looking upside-down. Also I checked functionality repeatedly during installation.
And here's the result!
Clean. Reversible. Fun project.
/I'd post more photos but apparently 10 is the limit
Step 1) Connectors
For reasons that don't make a whole lotta sense, the turn signal connections on our R18's are dissimilar from other BMW applications. The female side of the connection is wired to the bike, while the male side resides within the signals themselves. Aftermarket "adapter" offerings ARE the part we already have and finding the corresponding male bit wasn't easy. I'll spare everyone the details and cut to the answer: the male bit is also found in the heated windshield washer loom for a 2009 (probably other years of the same generation) MINI Cooper. I bought two on eBay for $20 and confirmed applicability. They's the ones.
Step 2) Lights
There appear to be two high-quality bar end signal options: Motogadget and Kellermann. Maybe Rizoma is a third, not 100% sure. The Kellerman looked nice but small, hence Holan's modification. Both have ways to affix them to BMW threaded bars but the methods are disparate. Kellermann uses a M6 to M12 threaded insert and with Motogadget you can buy a piece which screws into the bar end to which you then attach the signal. This method obligates you to add bar end mirrors or fashion a ring to cover that space. To make matters more confusing, Kellermann makes an adapter FOR the Motogadget unit. Same idea, probably a bit cleaner. Anyhow, I had experience with the Motogadget and preferred their look but really didn't wish to add clutter (the adaptor is only black) or change my mirrors to bar end. The Kellermann method seemed better, but there's a problem: the Motogadget units are 14mm wide and our handlebars have just over 12mm of inner diameter.
(Take off the nut, washers, and rubber bit)
Step 3) Handlebar modification
My step drill bits weren't deep enough so I picked up a 9/16th inch bit, wrapped it with enough tape to stop me from plunging too deeply, and, carefully, slowly, bored out the bars. Went fine. The Motgadget signals have an annoying beveled area that widens out to even further than 14mm, so used a 3/4 inch countersink bit to allow for flush installation. And, best part, no bridges-burnt. The handlebar thread is still in there and the stock weights can still be used.
Step 4) Confirm fit & function
The lights arrived. I made sure that they fit in the bars and that they lit up without creating an electrical error message. Nice. I removed the stock lights and their perches and then was struck with a weird visual outcome: the oversized nuts holding the mirrors stick out like sore stainless steel thumbs. Slight modification: swap the washer to on top, get new regularly-sized M8 stainless acorn nuts, add a washer below and...there, much better.
Step 5) installation & electrification
With the bars modified so the Motogadget lights would fit, Kellermann showed me the way. I ordered some M8 to M12 threaded inserts from Grainger and, with a little tweaking to make sure that they tightened nicely at their correct orientation, and a foam washer positioned between bar and light, I screwed them into place. But how to wire? There's no way to use the MINI Cooper terminals as they were intended (i.e. unclip and remove light) because they'll never fit down the handlebar through the threaded part. I wanted, most of all, to keep everything intact should someone wish to go back to stock in the future. So I elected to attach the MINI terminal to it's R18 counterpart then wire the lights to wires from the MINI side with a pair of button connectors. The downside is that it's impossible to tuck everything into the bars, the connector is too large to fit through the hole. And, even if accomplished, you'd never get it back. The upside is that it's entirely reversible.
(The wago connectors pictured were used to confirm polarity)
Step 6) Tuck and reassemble
It turned out that not being able to tuck the connector fully into the bar wasn't an issue at all. I finagled the button connectors, the unsheathed wire, the sheathed wire, and about half of the MINI to R18 connector into the hole and what remains outside is hidden nicely behind the fluid reservoirs. I found that removing the brake and clutch levers provided just a few more precious millimeters of hole access and that tucking was easiest if you rolled the bars past vertical to see things without looking upside-down. Also I checked functionality repeatedly during installation.
And here's the result!
Clean. Reversible. Fun project.
/I'd post more photos but apparently 10 is the limit
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