Electric Option Installation

Cautions

Do Not apply excess tension to the bonded-pair of wires coming from the actuator. It is possible to break the wires or destroy the actuator.

Calculate the load on your Accessory Circuit. Our actuators draw less than one amp, but calculate the load on your circuit to make sure you won’t overload it. If one amp will overload the circuit, install the optional power harness with fuse directly to the battery or other power source.

Installation Instructions

If you bought your Electric Option kit pre-installed you’ll find assembly easier if you remove the actuator before you start. Skip to step 2.

1. Prepare the base shield for actuator mounting. Make a mark on the base shield centered between the rails and 1-18” up from the top of the center mounting keyhole in the base shield. You may want to cover the area with masking tape and use a straight edge across the rail bottoms to find center. The lower mounting position should be as close to center as possible, but the vertical position of the hole is not critical. Simply make sure the lower actuator mounting hardware clears the fairing flange. Using the supplied spade bit, drill a 5/16” hole in the base shield on your mark. Completing the installation will be easier if you do not mount the actuator to the shield at this time.
2. Remove your windshield.
3. Remove the remaining screws holding the outer fairing and separate the fairing halves.
4. Remove the shims from the clamp on the switch housing and mount the switch housing to the left handlebar. Rotate the housing to a comfortable location and tighten the clamp. If you purchased your kit without a switch housing; mount your switch in a convenient location.
5. From the switch housing, route the wire harness along the handlebar past the inner fairing at the left fork tube to somewhere near the instruments.
6. Locate wires from the bike’s switched accessory circuit. Here we use the yellow positive and a black ground at a main connector in the stock harness on the right side of the fairing. Remove the wire screws from both ends of the two blue Posi-Tap connectors. Slip the forks of the large wire screw over the positive wire and tightly screw the Posi-Tap body to it. Repeat on a ground wire.
7. Slip a small Posi-Tap wire screw over the Red wire on the short power extension harness. Push the bare wire into the open end of the Posi-Tap on the yellow wire. Tighten the wire screw into the barrel. Repeat with the black ground wire.
8. Plug the power extension harness into the switch harness. At this point you an plug the actuator into the switch harness, turn on the bike and test the kit.
9. Tie the switch harness cable to the handlebars, fork leg and somewhere inside the fairing near the harness connections. Collect and tie any slack in the harness to prevent damage.
10. With the actuator plugged into the harness and hanging over the inner fairing, assemble the fairing.
11. Move the actuator to the front of the fairing and install the Windbender Base Unit. Do not tighten the windshield screws.
12. Fasten the actuator to the Base Unit: put the black shoulder washer in the shield followed by the actuator lower mounting blot. On the back side, put the large nylon washer and lock nut on the bolt. Hold the bolt with the Hex wrench and snug down the lock nut. Do not over tighten the lower mounting hardware. It only needs to be tight enough to push the top of the actuator towards the top shield to help the spring detent balls in the clevis pin. the actuator should move sideways with light pressure. Tuck the actuator leads into the fairing and tighten the windshield screws.
13. Slide the Top Shield on and down to its lowest position. Release the spring pins to lock the shield in place. Make sure the actuator is in its lowest position. Mark the spot on the Top Shield, horizontally centered, where the top clevis of the actuator meets. This is easily done from the front while looking through the shield at the hole in the top clevis. Rotate the actuator out of the way and drill a 5/16” hole at your mark with the spade bit.
14. Slide the 8 mm hollow-bolt though the hole in the top-shield, without a washer. Put the black nylon washer on the bolt followed by the nut. Hold the bolt with a 6 mm hex wrench and tighten the nut.
15. Push the clevis pin through the hollow bolt and actuator clevis so the firsts detent ball is fully through the actuator clevis. You may order additional hollow bolts if you have additional top shields.
16. Remove the retaining pin sets and cap the holes with the supplied plugs. You can grip the hollow bolt and remove each assembly in whole or you can remove the knurled nut, remove the pin and spring out the front, then use an 8 mm hex wrench to remove the hollow bolt. Store the pin sets on your bike in case of malfunction.

Adjustments and Normal Operation

If the actuator strains while moving the shield you will need to loosen the top shield mounting rails (and sometimes the lower rails too) and re-center the rails per the instructions provided with your windshield. The actuator may chatter slightly during downward movement when the motorcycle is at rest even when the rails are adjusted properly, but when you are riding air pressure on the top shield will stop the chatter. If you are using a CB radio, you may hear actuator operation as static though your headset. You can adjust your squelch to completely eliminate the noise.

Your Windbender actuator is waterproof to spray from all angles (rain and gentle washing), but DO NOT POWER-WASH THE ACTUATOR (or ride underwater :-)

Enjoy your new switch!

Please contact us if you experience any difficulty with installation or experience any problems with your kit.