Airhead control switches

There are four generation of handlebar control switches used on Airheads

'70~'74

Typical '70-'74 switch, same both sides.

'75~'78

These switches were made up until the turn signal was standardized to be on the left side. They can both be replaced with the following generation switches if replacements are not available.

Right switch
Typical connectors

Length Part side Features
230 61 31 1 243 598 L  
61 31 1 243 247 L with headlight control
61 31 1 243 245 R  
380 61 31 1 243 597 L  
61 31 1 243 248 L with headlight control
61 31 1 243 246 R  

'79-on

Left switch with headlight control
Right switch

With spade connectors

Length Part side Features
230 61 31 1 243 804 L  
61 31 1 243 864 L with headlight control
61 31 1 243 808 R  
380 61 31 1 243 805 L  
61 31 1 243 865 L with headlight control
61 31 1 243 812 R  
520 61 31 1 243 806 L  
61 31 1 243 866 L with headlight control
61 31 1 243 810 R  

With connector blocks, all the same length

Length Part side Features
? 61 31 1 244 418 L  
61 31 1 244 410 L with headlight control
61 31 1 244 420 L G/S and GS*
61 31 1 244 417 R  
Left switch connectors
Right switch connector

Wiring

  '70~74 '75~78 '79-on Monolever
L
E
F
T
Horn black   green/black  
brown 1   brown/white  
Clutch brown 1    
blue/yellow yellow/brown
LIGHTS
Flash pwr red red 2 green  
HL pwr yellow/white  
high white  
low yellow  
L

or

R
TURN SIGNALS
in green/yellow  
left blue/red  
right blue/black  
R
I
G
H
T
brake green/black N/A 3
green/red
starter blue/yellow
brown/yellow 2x
green/blue
kill   green/blue
  green

1 common ground for horn and clutch?

2 red changed to green during production

3 Separate switch, not in main switch bundle

Euroswitches for Airheads

US models came with no way to turn the headlight off while riding. The ignition switch controls the headlight and has positions for Off, Park and On. In Park you get eyebrow lamps (RS/RT) or the park bulb in the headlight as well as taillignt, and On gives you full lights. As you can see there is no way to run the engine without lights so many people added the 'European' switch (really the Rest Of World switch) which adds a headlight on/off/park control to the left switch assembly.

Adding the switch for twinshock models

Keep in mind that the On/Off/Park component is entirely separate from the High/Low part.The new left switch assembly has the following connections (with the two greens tied together):

Horn:

Turn signal:

High/low

Headlight On/Off/Park

US models came with a wire running from the ignition switch to the headlight relay (the green/white wire if the bike has a remote switch, like on the RS and RT) which powers the relay any time the key is on, except on later models when the engine is cranking. This wire gets removed and the functionality is taken over by the new switch, so that the ignition feeds the solid green and the green/red goes to the headlight relay.

For RS/RT, the gray wire from the ignition switch runs directly to the eyebrow light, so this will not be controlled with the new headlight switch. For this reason the eyebrow light comes on with the ignition in Park, where the key can be removed. With the ignition in Run, power also goes to the headlight switch.

Here is a diagram of the correct switched headlight circuit. Note that the headlight relay coil is shown as grounded on 86 where typically it is grounded on 85. This only matters if you are using the relay with diode (in which case you must ground 85).

Relays

The headlight relay is wired on later models as a load shed relay, with the coil grounded by the starter relay. When the starter relay is triggered, the headlight relay loses its ground and shuts down. Early models were grounded to regular ground, so the starter relay didn't affect the headlight. If your headlight relay is grounded by a black wire, it's a load-shed. If brown, it probably goes straight to the terminal board and is a standard ground.

There are three similar headlight relays used from /6 onward:

Although the diode version was used with the US-style always-on headlight, and the non-diode was used with the headlight switch models, they aren't related by functionality. The diode relay will keep the park circuit energized whether you have an always-on headlight setup or a switch that is turned on. Likewise, the non-diode version will extinguish all lights during cranking, switch or not, as long as it is wired to load shed.

Switches for Monoshock models

The wires are the same as for the Twinshocks except they are terminated in two connector blocks with 3.5mm sockets. Installing a headlight switch on most models is plug and play. Keep in mind that the G/S, ST, and early GS and early R65 models use a special switch that has dual outputs for the turn signals and cannot accomodate a headlight on/off switch (that function is performed by the ignition switch for those models). With some creative wiring, the 410 switch can be used on any model bike such that the headlight switch controls an accessory.

  General
function
for 410 and 418

Pin
location
number

Continuous light
61 31 1 244 418
Switched light
61 31 1 244 410
G/S, GS and R65
61 31 1 244 420
General
function
for 420

R
E
D

High/low 1

Yellow
to HL low

<- same <- same high/low
2 Green x 2
power for FTP and horn
<- same Green
power for FTP
3 White
to HL high
<- same <- same
Headlight
on/off
4 Yellow
jumper to 6
Yellow/black
to HL relay
Yellow/white
power to hi/lo
5   Gray (park)
to HL relay
Blue/red
jumper to black 4
Turn
signals
6 Yellow
jumper to 4
Green/violet
power to HL switch

Blue/black
jumper to black 5

B
L
A
C
K
High/low 1 Yellow/white
power to hi/lo
<- same Brown
ground
Horn
Horn 2 Green/black
power out to horn
(from Red 2)
<- same Brown/white
switched ground for horn
Turn
signals
3 Green/yellow
power in for TS
<- same <- same Turn
signals
4

Blue/red
left signal

<- same <- same
5 Blue/black
right signal
<- same <- same
Unused 6

    Unused

Switches for Paralever models

The 1991 and later R100GS, R100R and Mystic used the K-style controls, which have the optional headlight switch on the right switch assembly. The big change is that the turn signals are momentary pushbuttons, with "left" on the left switch and separate buttons for "right" and "cancel" on the right switch. Although the switches are identical between the Airheads, 2V K bikes and 4V K bikes, the part numbers are different because the connectors differ. The early switches (for 2V K75/K100) used a 9-pin connector with 3.5mm pins, while the late (R100 and 4V K/R) switches used 8-pin and 12-pin connectors with 2.5mm sockets.

Left switch
Late left switch connector

  61 31 2 305 232 61 31 1 459 462
T
U
R
N
right 5 blu/yel 5 blue/yel
cancel 10 brown/wht separate
ground 8 brown 8 brown
L
I
G
H
T
power 3 green 3 green
park 7 gray/blue 7 gray/blue
lights 4 yel/wht 4 wht/yel
R
U
N
power 9 green 9 green
kill 2 green/red 2 green/yel
S
T
power 6 green/yel 6 black/green
start 1 black/wht 1 black/yel

These are the switches for this style:

The 177/178/179 switches are the same as the 231/232/233 switches but do not have the clear plastic shrouds over the connector. The 178 and 179 have been superseded by the shrouded versions. The 461/462/464 have shrouds.

The 058 switch (with windshield control for the R1100RT and K1100LT) can be used on any of these bikes to control whatever you want, but the main connector will have to be changed over to the 3.5mm pins for use on a K75 or K100.