New Product - motorcycle mounted garage door opener

Discussion in 'Gear & Accessories' started by tinkerinWstuff, May 23, 2012.

  1. chainedlightning

    chainedlightning New Member

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    Just finished my version of this...
    $12 Sears mini garage door opener, a $6 momentary switch similar to what you see above, and 4-5 feet of wire. Soldered the wire to the circuit board on the remote and velcroed it under the seat. Then I ran the wire along the left side of the frame, under the tank cover, out above the radiator, and up the center tube of the triple tree, and put the switch here:
    photo.jpg
    Total cost, $18. Total labor, maybe 30 minutes. Looks subtle, only drilled into a $3 part, and done inexpensively overall. Even if you paid someone to solder the remote for you, you're still looking at well under $50. Easy to remove/move to another bike without having to replace any expensive parts.
     
  2. Badbilly

    Badbilly Official VFRWorld Troll Of The Year!

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    Anybody hear about the guy who added the garage door opener to his centerstand.
     
  3. chainedlightning

    chainedlightning New Member

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    Seems... impractical?
     
  4. Badbilly

    Badbilly Official VFRWorld Troll Of The Year!

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    I hear it got his Harley up on the stand real easy.
     
  5. FrankoQ

    FrankoQ New Member

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    have a pic of this?
    if not, where do you solder the wires to on the circuit board?
     
  6. tinkerinWstuff

    tinkerinWstuff Administrator Staff Member

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    Some posts in this thread have class of walking through Target while wearing a Walmart sandwich board
     
  7. bitterpil

    bitterpil New Member

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    I use a key chain size fob. I either keep it on my pocket button side out or in my tank bag. It is nothing to hit the button with my gloves on while coming up the street. It has been working great for 6 years.

    It wasn't sold in stors but they had it on the website for the opener. They may be in stores now.
     
  8. chainedlightning

    chainedlightning New Member

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    I used to do that, but got tired of remembering which jacket I had the remote in, or keeping it in my pocket while I'm at work, etc. I just wanted it in the same place every time and easy to get to. Bonus - the wire I used seems to be acting like an antenna and now the opener has a much better range. :)
     
  9. chainedlightning

    chainedlightning New Member

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    It'll be a different place on different remotes... I just looked at where the button contacted the board and looked for the circuit that's being completed by that action, and just soldered the + and - accordingly. Pressed the new button, and the remote's light came on. Bingo.
     
  10. bitterpil

    bitterpil New Member

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    I liked your solution you posted.
     
  11. ridervfr

    ridervfr Member

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    Thats fucking hysterical, I might even plagorize it in the near future. Love hurts, me took the plunge too/look at this way, "its only money, treat it like Monopoly money and it frees your mind."

    I got a little remote on my key ring me gots from Aerostich which works on my bat-cave/got some other one for the gate out front from some other company.
     
  12. troutkiller

    troutkiller New Member

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    i really like the gadget but agree with the guys that say the price is high. thats a lot of beer money! great idea to mount it under the seat and wire in a switch and i will prob try that for days when i dont have my backpack. but i almost always do have my backpack on when i ride so i just attached my remote to the shoulder strap with some electrical tape. i just reach up and tap it near my chest. works for me but i would love it to be mounted on the bike. dont always bring the backpack and it way too hot down here for a jacket . good thread guys
     
  13. Orionhunter

    Orionhunter New Member

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    OK, I'm going to resurrect a dead post. I just completed hooking up my remote to the high beam bulb connector. So to open/close my garage door, I just hit the high beams. I jumpered the switch on the remote to always be on. Then ran to wires off the positive and negative battery terminals to the high beam leads. Luckily, my remote runs off a small 12 volt battery, So I didn't need to get fancy with stepping down the voltage. But the problem is if I need to ride with the high beams on, The remote will be constantly powered. I'm sure the current drain from the remote will be minimal but still.... So I'm thinking of hooking it up to the Hazard relay instead so I can use the hazard switch to operate the remote. Can someone tell me where the relay might be found on my 2007?
     
  14. Badbilly

    Badbilly Official VFRWorld Troll Of The Year!

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    So, somebody uses your driveway to turn around and has the high beams lit up and you are catching zzz's or on vacation or shopping at Walmart or watching Oprah and your garage door opens.

    The rest is too horrible to even imagine.

    Lighning, some dude flipping a U on your street, the neighborhood kid with light fingers and a LED flashlight, or some dude with a camera using flash, space aliens (the green kind) ect.. might all work to open sesame..
     
  15. Rainbow7

    Rainbow7 New Member

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    I don't think you understood what he was saying, Billy.
     
  16. ridervfr

    ridervfr Member

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    I have two key sized fobs for the gate and my garage, that share two motorcycle keys on my key-ring that are always with me. The one problem is: if I get caught in the rain, I have to take them off or they wont work until they dry out.
     
  17. ridervfr

    ridervfr Member

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    Seems like a big pain in der arse regarding the high-beam thing. I like my garage to be like Fort Knox - its also protected by a killer Boston Terrier
     
  18. Orionhunter

    Orionhunter New Member

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    Maybe I didn’t make myself clear. The light from the high beams don’t open the door. I don’t have a light sensor hooked up. The 12vdc to the high beam light bulb powers the garage door remote that I have zip tied up inside my front fairing. I hit my high beam switch, and electrons flow to the remote. Thusly the garage door elevates and allows me entry to the garage. My question was in regards to the hazard relay though as I don’t want to power the remote for long periods of time when riding with my high beams on.
     
  19. 34468 Randy

    34468 Randy Secret Insider

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    I got you Hunter. If you can draw the power from the high beam source, you should also be able to draw it from the low beam source. You can buy very small momentary contact buttons which can be mounted somewhere in either your instrument cluster or faring with the drilling off a very small diameter hole. Pick your spot wisely and no one would know it is there. These button switches even come with a rubber condom that make them resistant to the wet weather if you ride in that shit. Some of us do.....or did. My only issue with the store bought switches is that, like already mentioned here, if they get wet, they stop working until dry. Most likely, if they get wet, the battery in the remote will short out and go dead.

    I tried many ways to get around this with a key fob sized on when I rode bicycle a lot. The best I could come up with was to wrap it in a plastic bag and duct tape and zip tied it to the handlebars. I am not quite ready to do that to my bike.

    I used to have one of those switches attached to the wife but it stopped working. Couldn't figure out what the hell happened there but there was no warranty on it.
     
  20. Badbilly

    Badbilly Official VFRWorld Troll Of The Year!

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    Yes indeed. It was not clear. The next question is why do this at all. Someone likely makes waterproof sending units, voice activated garage door openers, cell phone aps and cheaper and more compliant wives who do not charge quite so much and make up in services what is accumulating.
     
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