Auxillary Lights

General discussion of the BMW R1200RT/R1250RT
Post Reply
StuW
Posts: 6
Joined: Tue Jul 29, 2025 3:57 pm
Bike Model and Year: R1200rt 2016
Great Britain

Auxillary Lights

Post by StuW »

Ok guys i have bought an R1200 RT on a 66 plate it has crash bars , Looking at fitting auxilliary lights . Dinalli stuff seems exorbitant . I can buy Cree spots for £99 each. How do I wire these into CAN Bus system? have any of you guys fitted auxu=illaries that aen't Dinali?
User avatar
exportman
Posts: 363
Joined: Tue Sep 27, 2016 7:57 pm
Location: Manchester
Bike Model and Year: R1250RT 2023
Has liked: 16 times
Been liked: 75 times
Great Britain

Re: Auxillary Lights

Post by exportman »

Hi

Easiest way is add an HEX ezCAN https://www.hexinnovate.com/ Not cheap but easy

Alternative is wire in a relay, fuse and switch simple if you know how
Capt Sisko
Posts: 362
Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2022 9:25 pm
Location: Shropshire
Bike Model and Year: R1250RT LE - '18
Has liked: 35 times
Been liked: 183 times
Great Britain

Re: Auxillary Lights

Post by Capt Sisko »

Bottom line is you don't wire them into the canbus system unless it's via Hex EzCan. The canbus system is very sensitive to current draw and will throw its toys out of the pram if doesn't like what its sensors are telling it. As exportman said, you can always go via the relay route, but even then if canbus suddenly sees the overall electrical power demand suddenly go up without it knowing why, it may not like it.

Denali lights and the controller are expensive, but they are very good. Mine are over five years old, been swapped between old & new bikes and have never missed a beat. Personally I'd rather buy a second hand set of Denali's off fleabay rather new kit of dubious origin.
Last edited by Capt Sisko on Fri Aug 15, 2025 12:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
bruce2000ltc
Posts: 14
Joined: Tue Jun 30, 2020 7:16 pm
Location: Kansas City,MO
Bike Model and Year: R1200RT 2013
Has liked: 6 times
Been liked: 7 times
United States of America

Re: Auxillary Lights

Post by bruce2000ltc »

The easiest and cheapest way to go is a with a relay. Control the relay with an on/off switch or by tapping into the low beam's 12V power. Feed the aux lights directly from the battery via the relay. The canbus does not even notice the very small mA draw of the relays coil. Just so you know, if you go the on/off switch route and power it from the bikes switched power the aux lights will stay on for about 30 seconds after you turn off the bike.
Here's what I did on my '13RT:
IMG_1376.jpeg
IMG_1376.jpeg (164.28 KiB) Viewed 524 times
IMG_1511.jpeg
IMG_1511.jpeg (245.22 KiB) Viewed 524 times
Greefy67
Posts: 27
Joined: Tue Oct 01, 2024 9:59 pm
Bike Model and Year: R1200RT 2006
Has liked: 4 times
Been liked: 4 times
Great Britain

Re: Auxillary Lights

Post by Greefy67 »

Where did you get the brackets?
Post Reply