Introduction: Installing a Garage Door Opener on Your Motorcycle
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.
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
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.
20 Comments
6 years ago
Hey man im a little confused as to the lead placement, i get that you have one on a screw, but where is the one with the tin foil, its a little confusing and i want to get sure before i open stuff up.
Reply 6 years ago
The wire lead on the foil is also going back to the garage door remote and soldered to the other side of the switch.
6 years ago
I know this is probably a dumb question but, before I dive into this endeavor, will the turn signal kill switch still work after I solder these wires on it? Also, could I do the same thing to the pass switch for flashing the high and low beams?
Reply 6 years ago
Not a dumb question at all. Yes the turn signal kill switch will still work if you solder it and using the pass switch will work too. I probably would have chosen the pass over the kill switch if my bike had one. Cheers
9 years ago on Introduction
I install garage doors and motors for a living and ive had over ten dirtbikes quads scooters and motorcycles, and the easiest way is to just buy the special mini motorcycle remotes that are the size of a quarter. all the new wallbuttons have a lockout feature since like 1995 so if you are worried about someone trying to get in just push the lockbutton on the wall it locks out keypads remotes everything. I can even mail you one you just have to go by the color of your antenae or smartbutton to fugure out what frequency your opener is. the older ones like crafstman are 390 and then in 2000 something they started changing the frequency every damn 2 years the last units made recently by chamberlain/liftmaster which also makes craftsman just with a diferent cover on it had a yellow wire, and 6 months ago all the motors are 100%digital with a rolling code so everytime you open the door it changes the code. when I was younger there where quite a few times when I was riding my kx500 home and when I crossed the highway I got chased and if I didn't have the remote I would have had to pay a nice fine or worse. or you could just buy a goldwing they probably have the homelink system where you can turn on the a.c. and preheat your oven.
11 years ago on Introduction
Glad to see someone else thought of this. Those Flash to Open kits are way too expensive, but got me thinking about which circuits on the bike I could use to tie into an opener. I plan on doing mine with the cancel button and an aftermarket HomeLink box. These are great because you can program them AND they are powered by the vehicle, so you don't have to worry about the issue mastelios was concerned with.
11 years ago on Introduction
I've tried running wires from the GDO to a momentary push-button switch located on my new fairings(I had to drill a hole into the fairings)... every time the connectors on the button switch would bend under stress so I gave up on having a GDO attached to my bike.
I like your idea and will be trying it out... hopefully it works on my 06 ZX10R
11 years ago on Introduction
Nice and clever idea!have done this with a separate switch.Problem is that it works even when i park my bike outside my house with no keys on.So if someone knows the button,the garage door gets opened easily.I am thinking of removing the 12v battery an connecting power from the bike's circuit so that it is powered up only then the key in turned.My concern is it on charge,the bike produces about 14volts and don't know if the remote can handle it.looking for a way to stabilize the voltage.any Ideas?
thumbs up for the execution!
11 years ago on Introduction
I've done this for years. Helps me get in touch with my inner "James Bond". I use a 3-dollar button from Radio Shack & mount it in my fairing within easy reach. Knobs will ask me if it's a nitrous button; I tell 'em it's a rocket launcher.
Reply 11 years ago on Introduction
HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
11 years ago on Introduction
I thought about doing this - then I decided to keep it simple and mount the transmitter under my fairing above the engine with heavy duty velcro (right side of the machine). This is on a Victory Vision. Works like a charm, its in easy reach, out of the rain and out of the way. Gets a little warm there sometimes but I'm always wearing gloves & the velcro hasn't budged in over 12k miles so I'm not worried about it going anywhere-
Reply 11 years ago on Introduction
Yeah it should last for a bit. I found I had to replace my Velcro when I took the photos for this post but that was only 40k miles from when I originally installed it. I'm just glad it had something to fall on to. :)
11 years ago on Introduction
Great Instructable... thanks for sharing. I will have to get a third opener and try to do this with my Sabre...
11 years ago on Introduction
I did something similar on my KTM. I physically mounted it behind the headlight ( no room anywhere else on the bike), but wired it into the high beams, isolating the opener from the headlight circuit with a relay. Since I ride mostly during the day, it hasn't proven a problem in over three years.
Your idea to wire it into the cancel button is excellent in that the opener is never powered up for any length of time. Nice!
11 years ago on Introduction
When I first saw this I was thinking, "Great, 'Stick it to such and such part of your bike' this is gonna be awesome..." But it really was, that's some ingenious thinking to integrate it with the signal switch, I like it. Now I just need a garage...
11 years ago on Introduction
Okay, you did the hard work finding the right wires. I have a yamaha too, so which wires do I use? Thanks!
Reply 11 years ago on Introduction
I guess I forgot to mention that part. I ran my own wire from the switch down through the frame to where I placed the door opener. Running the wire is fairly simple and you don't need to shrink wrap the whole length of the wire just from the switch to where the wire tucks behind the frame or under the faring.
11 years ago on Introduction
And the best place to get them tiny little connectors is at an R/C hobby shop.
11 years ago on Introduction
great idea!
11 years ago on Introduction
I like it!
An option would be to attach the transmitter to the inside of your fairing ... the fiberglass or plastic would not block the transmitter signal.
My bike has a fork mounted windshield (also plastic.) I'll mount the transmitter inside; that is: on the rider's side. Because it turns with the handlebars, I can make a tighter, neater wire connection to the turn-signal cancel switch.