Poll of people that have WP Installed, how is it performing

[Fibersnake]

In fairness I put a poll up for the PDM user to see how they have faired. That said it is only fair to do the same for the user of WP. So with that in mind if you have one installed, please respond to the poll and if you have any problems, please give a brief of the type of problems, miles and was it self installed or done by others.

Thanks

 

[oldmutt]

I did a self install 4000 miles ago and have not had any problems. The best part is starting the bike without the lights on which gives the starter more power. I did it in the first place because I got stranded when my low beam went out. If it happens again I will ride with the high beam.

 

[Fibersnake]

oldmutt, Thanks for the info and good to hear you are happy and getting many miles on it. But do I understand you right, you changed it out to the WP due to the low beam went. Was that due to a EHC issue or just bulb going out and if so, what made you change due to a bulb issue.

Just curious but good to hear it is working out. Safe riding

 

[Bobby Schulz]

I have installed one on my own bike as well as a few customers bikes. They have all been great without any problems at all.

 

[Th3InfamousI]

Fiber,

I like the thread! People have said nothing but good things, however already there are a few votes for "Piece of Crap", I wish those individuals would speak up as there is virtually zero negative information I have heard on this forum in regards to the WP.

I just purchased a WP from Jake, and will be installing as soon as it gets here! After I was left stranded a few months back due to the pins lossening up in the harness and not keeping a solid contact to the EHC. Also, BDPP does not offer a PDM for the 2004's so this was my only option.

 

[oldmutt]

Fibersnake:
I went to start my bike and I got the 4 ways. I pulled the seat and looked at the ehc lights and it said that my low beam was out. Sure enough it was. I took the bulb out and tested it. It was fine so I put it back and the light worked and the bike started. So now I am thinking if this happened to me in the middle of nowhere at 1 AM I would not be a happy camper. The next day I ordered the wireplus from Jake and now if any of my lights are out the bike should still start and get me home. Since then I have also added a starter push button. After selling my ignition switch and ehc on ebay my out of pocket cost for the wireplus was $30. I consider that a very inexpensive insurance policy.

 

[awg]

My Wire Plus Install

After having issues with my low beam going on and off (and it wasn't the bulb) and having the Dog shut off at times in traffic, I decided to take the leap and install a wire plus. So far I have not had any issues other than a wire that pulled out of the harness. But I have only put on a few miles with it since it is winter time. But I will say this, when I was done with the last wire to hook up, it started right up and everything has worked so far. Lights, turn signals, brake lights, all worked on the first try. Only time will tell if I have any of the problems I have had before. And that, my fellow Big Doggers is my comment.

 

[Thors]

I voted "no issues"...but...a couple thoughts.

The WP unit itself seems well made and simple enough. Functions all work and it gets the job done. One thing it does not have - and I see no mention in the install guide - is protection for any of it's solid state components. My VR went about 2 weeks after the WP install and fried the ignition and headlight relays. Ignition stuck off; headlight stuck on high. Ignition is easy to get around but not having high/low is a bit of an issue. For now I'm going to use a simple latching relay circuit to handle the headlight so not too bad.

Part of this winters work is to get either a fuse or breaker box wedged in there and get all the circuits protected. I'm not going to test my theory, but I'm guessing a dead short on any of the controlled circuits (lights, horn, blinkers, etc...) would toast the related relay. In fact it SHOULD toast the relay...if fuses aren't used.

 

[Little-Boo]

I voted "no issues"...but...a couple thoughts.

The WP unit itself seems well made and simple enough. Functions all work and it gets the job done. One thing it does not have - and I see no mention in the install guide - is protection for any of it's solid state components. My VR went about 2 weeks after the WP install and fried the ignition and headlight relays. Ignition stuck off; headlight stuck on high. Ignition is easy to get around but not having high/low is a bit of an issue. For now I'm going to use a simple latching relay circuit to handle the headlight so not too bad.

Part of this winters work is to get either a fuse or breaker box wedged in there and get all the circuits protected. I'm not going to test my theory, but I'm guessing a dead short on any of the controlled circuits (lights, horn, blinkers, etc...) would toast the related relay. In fact it SHOULD toast the relay...if fuses aren't used.

There was a recall by BDM some 4 or 5 years ago regarding the CB (Circuit Breaker). Many on here toasted their VR and BDM replace the CB with a 40 amp fuse. I replaced my CB with a single terminal post to which the VR is connected and on to the Battery with the 40 amp fuse lead. All other circuits on my bike have a fuse or relay, which wires also go to a single terminal post and on the battery. That way I only have three hot wires attached to the Battery, the VR 40 amp lead, the lead with the rest of the Power circuits and the BDM Multi Purpose Battery Charger.

Carlos

 

[bdmridgeback]

I voted "no issues"...but...a couple thoughts.

The WP unit itself seems well made and simple enough. Functions all work and it gets the job done. One thing it does not have - and I see no mention in the install guide - is protection for any of it's solid state components. My VR went about 2 weeks after the WP install and fried the ignition and headlight relays. Ignition stuck off; headlight stuck on high. Ignition is easy to get around but not having high/low is a bit of an issue. For now I'm going to use a simple latching relay circuit to handle the headlight so not too bad.

Part of this winters work is to get either a fuse or breaker box wedged in there and get all the circuits protected. I'm not going to test my theory, but I'm guessing a dead short on any of the controlled circuits (lights, horn, blinkers, etc...) would toast the related relay. In fact it SHOULD toast the relay...if fuses aren't used.

On the wire-plus unit, there are wafer style auto-resetting breakers on the board to protect the solid state components. You can see them standing up on the unit with the relay plugged into it, the breakers are right along side it.

BUT... In my How-To instructions, I highly recommend installing a fuse holder on each and all power feeds to the wire-plus for double protection. I have ALWAYS hated breakers, they do not react fast enough to save small components.

I have had the Wire-Plus in my bike for right about 8000 miles and not a single issue at all.

 

[mastiffdave]

My luck is usually if it can go wrong it will on mine. But the fact is I did have some issues on my WP .
While I was installing I wound up with some wires and pig tails of a color code not mentioned in Jakes instructions . I called Don at wire plus to reference the wires and I was told that sometimes extra unused stuff gets put in the kits by the packer . I also asked him about the wire plus instruction not matching Jakes exactly and again was told the packer copied the wrong papers and put in my kit.
Now I come the switch install and again the two diferent instruction differ. My insructions showed that the switch hole needed to be reamed out to fit. I was told that I had ruined the cover and had went over board to make the switch install. I didnt ruin it but was following the instructions in my kit. I will fix this like member (Pknowels) did his install later this winter. Its the cleanest switch install I have ever seen.
After I got back from PCB rally in May my Brake lights quit working.Made a call and again was told it had to be something that I had done wrong on the install, or wire had come loose. Well after taking apart every electical part on the bike and following the wires to find the prob, it went all the way back to the WP unit. OK so called Don at WP and relayed my findings and what i had done . He knew right off what it was and told me the unit had went back to default setting. They build WP for all kinds of bikes and the default is for bikes with seperate brakes lights . It only required 5 minuets of resetting the WP unit and the week long of tracing wires was completly unneeded. Again these programing instructions was not in my kit so Don faxed them right then so i could get up and running. After all this the bike has ran with out any issues at all for over 5000 miles and i wouldnt hesitate to put one on another bike but I would do a different switch install.

 

[Thors]

On the wire-plus unit, there are wafer style auto-resetting breakers on the board to protect the solid state components. You can see them standing up on the unit with the relay plugged into it, the breakers are right along side it.

Very good to know, thanks! It did seem really strange that there wouldn't be some sort of protection.

Also wanted to add that I will likely buy another complete WP unit and swap out the busted one. In other words, I feel the product is solid and what happened with mine doesn't reflect on the WP unit itself.

 

[Oscar Maldonado]

Wire plus in the bike is about a year old and haven't had any issues with the unit itself. Only real issue was when the rear brake is applied the front signals start blinking. I haven't got around to messing with that issue as of yet.

 

[RRRUFF]

Had mine in all last year, no problems.:2thumbs:

 

[Chopper Dave]

had mine in last April...no problems :2thumbs:

 

[BadBrad]

Self installed my wife's '03 Mastiff (basically plug and play) and self installed my '05 Pitbull even though it was running fine. Did it for peace of mind and no regrets or issues from either.

 

[Jwooky]

Mine is on the way back now. I called over 50 times and two weeks to be able to reach them.

 

[bdmridgeback]

Wire plus was shut down for a three week period, but are all back up and running now.

They lost Don but are getting back to their old selves again slowly, give them time.

 

[Black Rider]

I installed mine last year in June... been running great every since. No problems after going to the car wash anymore!!!!

 

[08ridgid]

I have the WP on my '08 Ridgeback, I installed it myself, I had a problem a couple of years ago with the brake lights as well (they wouldn't work with the foot lever). I called WP and the system had to be reset, the bike was at a repair shop by then and they reset it so I don't know what was done. That is the only issue I ever had, my bike always ran good and started fine with the WP.

I changed to the WP unit because my bike kept shutting down after I put in a HID headlight.

I also purchased my kit from Jake and had zero problems following the instructions.