Hardwired Garage Door Opener
Why I didn't do this years ago I'm not sure. A garage door opener is something I've always wanted on the bike, but never got around to getting. The motorcycle specific ones cost a fortune, and wouldn't work with my old garage door, but I didn't simply want an opener stashed away that I'd have to dig around in my bag to find, which could potentially get wet or stolen. So I took apart the opener in my family room, glanced at it's guts, and went and ordered a new one online. $11 got me a new remote for my old style opener. I was excited to see that the batteries in these openers are 12 volt! That meant I could run wires from the bikes 12 volt power straight to the opener, and never have to worry about changing it's batteries! One worry is that the bike actually runs closer to 14 volts whenever the motor's running. I'm hypothesizing that the minor difference in voltage will not make a difference. If it kills the thing, then I'm only out $11, and I'll just buy a new one and power it with the battery. If it catches it on fire.... Well.... I'm just going to hope/assume/wish it doesn't catch it on fire.
New Opener
With plenty of room
Get out all the electrical tools
Disassemble (1 screw)
Solder a wire to the base of each battery terminal
Solder two wires to the base of the switch (one on each side)
Spread hot glue over the solders for durability
Heat Shrink the wires together, drill a hole, and add a grommet
Circuit Board fits back into base
Cover screws back on
Install!
Power wires run to a fused positive line and a ground, and the two switch wires run to an auxiliary mounted switch. Hide the opener out of sight and away from the elements (mine went beneath the flyscreen, with some padding around it to keep it from vibrating and bouncing around). The required switch is a standard two wire momentary push button type that must be of the normally open (N.O.) variety. I bought mine from radio shack for $3.
Switch Installed
