Givi Top Box Lighting Question

[sezme]

As I've written elsewhere in the forum, I just bought a new-to-me NC700 which came with a lot of extras which were put on by the first owner (I'm the third).

Anyway, today I noticed that there's a wire leading to the rear rack, and when I removed the Givi top box, I noticed that the wire leads to contacts on the rack, and there's a matching contact patch on the top box. So I assume these are for lighting. But the box doesn't have any lights that go on either running or braking.

For those who have installed brake lights in the top box, what can I look for to see what else I'd need to add to finish the job of whoever started it, and get an illuminated top box?

 

[melensdad]

It is probably an Admore product. My wife has Admore lights in her Givi side cases but she does not have a top box. Check the Admore website for connectors. I don’t believe Givi makes lights for their boxes.

 

[670cc]

Givi makes brake light kits for some of the top boxes. I added a Givi light to a Givi 35 liter top box, and it had a contact at the bottom that made contact with the mount plate. But, I’m pretty sure the top case half of the connector module came with the light kit, so it’s surprising you have the connector but no light.

Can you post post a photo of your situation, or a least provide the model number of the top case? Maybe then we could find a Givi accessory light kit that fits it.

Also, does the top case mount on Givi mounting hardware, or is the hardware some other brand like SW Motech.

And lastly, the light kit Givi supplied for my top case has some fitment issues, so I’d had trouble recommending the official Givi light accessory anyway.

 

[sezme]

Thanks for your replies. Since I posted the above, last night I looked through the various instruction manuals passed on to me from the original owner in a file folder. One of them was instructions for installing the Givi E135 lighting kit which goes with the V47 top box (and that's what I have). The instruction manual was terrible, and there weren't many YouTube videos about installing that particular kit, but there was one in Russian, that I was able to understand visually at least.

So this morning I had another look inside the case, and (why didn't I notice before?) all the wires seem to be in place.

So the main thing I don't know at this point is how (or even if really) the wires are connected to the harness. I'll test for current later with a multimeter and see if it's getting power.

 

[670cc]

Thanks for your replies. Since I posted the above, last night I looked through the various instruction manuals passed on to me from the original owner in a file folder. One of them was instructions for installing the Givi E135 lighting kit which goes with the V47 top box (and that's what I have). The instruction manual was terrible, and there weren't many YouTube videos about installing that particular kit, but there was one in Russian, that I was able to understand visually at least.

So this morning I had another look inside the case, and (why didn't I notice before?) all the wires seem to be in place.

So the main thing I don't know at this point is how (or even if really) the wires are connected to the harness. I'll test for current later with a multimeter and see if it's getting power.

Yes, as you pointed out, and I failed to mention, Givi’s installation instructions are horrible. And my case, the electrical contact blocks between the lower and the upper case halves do not mate correctly, so brake light works only intermittently.

 

[StratTuner]

flat LED and quick connect

wow. i just put up a long article with pictures and links and the forum software didn't post it.
Nice.
oh well, someone else will help you.

 

[76Hawke]

Strat, I've come to really appreciate some of the knowledge you've dispensed on this forum that I've barely dipped my toes into.
I'm assuming it didn't post because of a technical issue...? If so, and you can find the time, a write-up would be very much appreciated. I have a givi maxia 56l top box, and I've seen an admore kit that is specifically made to work with it, but I've seen a lot of mediocre reviews that make it difficult to justify $150 price tag. I've also tried watching a video a couple of times where a gentleman creates his own controller with an Arduino kit. I'm fascinated with the idea of, but have no knowledge and working with.
Any and all ways thanks.
But yeah... Know that all of your posting isn't in vain, for the knowledge that some of you have shared continues to be terribly helpful years later.

 

[76Hawke]

DIY Givi V56 Motorcycle Topbox Light Kit With Integrated Signals: 4 Steps (with Pictures)

 

[76Hawke]

Also, if anybody has any helpful tidbits surrounding a license plate bracket with lighting perhaps, I'm all ears. I just installed SW motech Evo racks last night, for my new givi 33l panniers. I was required to remove the license plate bracket in order to make everything line up correctly. I read through the forum and saw some people had good luck and some people didn't, I definitely did not. Fits perfect without the bracket, but I definitely had to remove it.
Right now I have the license plate zip tied on, but definitely will do something more permanent.
I like the idea of running lights, brake lights, and signal indicators. It looks like the images Strat loaded might be helpful...
Plus, if anybody has anything they want to share on the P3 photon blasters (?}, as well as how they might be integrated into any aftermarket license plate bracket.

 

[StratTuner]

OK... I'll give it another try. I know that to post here effectively, you have to start a post, save it, edit it, save it.... repeat, so lets start with this. I'll edit this post as I go, so ....keep watching....

Lights OFF


Lights ON


use red LED strip lights under box lens.
use the strip that has turn indicator lights as well as brake lights on the back edge of top box platform.
use same strip on top box itself just because it's extra bright.

 

[MZ5]

I like Buzz and Woody, Strat!

 

[StratTuner]

I give up.

I came back this morning hoping to make a 2nd try, take out the bad language... and got cut off again.

It's too hard to make posts anymore. The software will either tell you "it's too short" or give you a blank screen after "captcha" and then forget EVERYTHING I just did.... pictures, links, explanatory text.

I'm really sorry this forum is that hard to work with these days.
It didn't used to be like that.

 

[670cc]

I agree that the forum software has become difficult to use. I find I am unable to edit posts that contain certain links or attachments. The message returned is that my posted message it’s too short, when in fact it’s the same or nearly the same length as the original post I was trying to edit.

Perhaps its it’s time to send a PM to “admin”.

 

[spads25]

I agree that the forum software has become difficult to use. I find I am unable to edit posts that contain certain links or attachments. The message returned is that my posted message it’s too short, when in fact it’s the same or nearly the same length as the original post I was trying to edit.

Perhaps its it’s time to send a PM to “admin”.

Also the “search” feature within the app is not too good. I’ve had better luck going to google and searching for “nc700x forum” + whatever I’m looking for.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[MICTEX]

This would be my 3rd bike that i have the Givi E370 Monolock Topcase.
I also installed the Givi E108 Brakelight/Stoplight Kit.

 

[superdedooperman]

Looks good, Strat! I wanna do that with my top box. Can never be too visible.

 

[sezme]

OK, I figured things out. Sorta! I poked around with the wiring and the multimeter enough to figure out that whoever installed the lights tapped into the wrong wires. They were tapped into the negative and ground wires. No power! So I was able to tap into the correct wires.

Next, I saw that the lights did indeed come on, but only when I squeezed the case closed with my hand. Looking further, I noticed that the contacts inside the case at the top and bottom of the lid had been put in place with modelling clay instead of the clips build into the case. Since the clay was still rather soft, I was able to scrape it out of the way and locate the actual clips where the contacts should be attached. Having done that, the running lights came on even when I didn't squeeze the case closed. Huzzah!

Now the only weirdness remaining is that the lights work fine as running lights, but when the brake is squeezed, the lights turn off instead of getting brighter. That one is a mystery to me. Is it supposed to work like that? Doesn't make much sense. is the polarity reversed? Would that cause this? I could try swapping positive for negative.

I'd love to be able to wire it up like this guy:
YouTube

 

[sezme]

Er... or maybe I got the wiring stuff mixed up. Let me go back to the way it was wired in the first place. It just came to me that perhaps that way the light only goes on when I squeeze the brakes. That makes more sense. (Electricity is really not my strong suit.)

 

[sezme]

I’m just documenting my foolishness in hopes it will save someone else some time. Yes, it turned out it was wired right the first time. For some reason I expected that it would work like the brake/tail light on the bike itself: constant glow when running, and brighter when the brake is applied.

But in fact it’s meant to turn on only when the brake is applied and it’s off otherwise. That’s why I thought it wasn’t working before.

Anyway, it all seems to be working now and I learned some things.

 

[Ruedasteve]

I just installed the Givi E135 brake light kit to my Givi topcase. After reading many posts, I figured out the wires needed for the Givi lights from the Honda rear brake light are BLACK is Positive to LED and BLACK/GREEN is Ground. Now Givi is inconsistent as they use RED/BLACK wiring in the case and then BLACK/BLUE wiring on the Givi M5 mount. I used BLACK as Positive for the M5 power connection on the wires connected to the Honda, then made sure the BLACK and RED connections matched to the topcase. All worked fine.