Bibios "Gizmo" mini review & Novice install.

[rictus01]

As this was built for the SV and installation is the same I'm placing it in the SV section.

Product review :- “the gizmo”

I was asked my opinion on this device by a few people and really didn’t know much about it but from conversation it sounded like a good idea, so I PM’d Lance (Bibio on the forum) about obtaining one to try.

He makes them up in his spare time for the guys on the SV board, although he offered to make one to plug into my specific bike, I asked for the standard SV model (as anyone else would get) so I’d know what others would face.

So what does it do?
The unit is designed to simplify electrical connections to the battery of your bike and via a relay switch off anything attached when the key is turned off, effectively a master kill switch if you like.




Installation:-
Here I though a novice approach would be more informative than me fitting it, fortunately I was helping a new member with limited electrical skills Rivaaj (rivsm on the fourm).

I had previously removed my relay spurs and made what I think might be found on others bikes; as it typical devices attached directly to the battery by longer bolts, so heated grips and a 12v socket in this case.



On opening the package he was confronted with the device itself and a small bag with the male crimp connectors inside, he did express some surprise no paperwork was with them, we spent a little time me explaining where the various wires were suppost to go and what they did.

I think a simple diagram would have been of help here, yes I know he could have looked it up, but out at the bike it would have made life easier.

He traced and found the connector for the trigger wire on his own bike and would have no difficulty in attaching that if it was going on an SV (although in this case I had to solder it as the bike we were fitting it to wasn’t an SV).

Next came attaching the device to the bike, under the seat are various positions it can be fitted, the device is robust enough to be simply cable tied to the subframe or behind the relay is a tab you could use to screw onto and existing bolt.

The battery terminal connections were next, simple and straight forwards.

Connecting up accessories:-

Rivaaj was presented with two pairs of wires here, one from the heated grips and one from the 12v socket, both had ring crimped connectors attached (as they may have come with), first off he cut off the original connectors and replaced them with the provided bullet ones, he’d never before tired to crimp on connectors and with the basic crimping tool made a few mistakes learning.




Fortunately I had a few spares, with a little practice soon he was able to make the connections in the proper way, both accessories were wired with the male bullet crimps and connected up.





Testing:-

The ignition was turned on and both the heated grips and 12v socket worked and without turning either off by any other means turned off with the key as expected.



Problems/limitations;-

As mentioned, the lack of a simple wiring diagram was a hindrance and perhaps a simple explanation on crimping would have been of assistance, but otherwise an easy and fuss free installation taking approximately an hour.

The device is supplied with three 5amp blade fuses, this limits what can be run through it, I found the heated grip (originally supplied with a 10amp fuse) blew the 5amp when turned to the higher setting, likewise my phone charger and satnav worked well in the socket, but when I tried my electric air pump that blew the fuse as well, my solution was to upgrade the wiring on two of the fuses and the “tails” and fit a 10 fuse to each, these have worked faultlessly for a few months now and I expect them to continue to do so.

Contact Lance (Bibio) for availability and current price.



Cheers Mark (Rictus)

[Bibio]

nice write up Mark.

yes i know i should make up fitting instructions but most people who buy the gizmo are members on the forum and the only way not to know is if you received one as a gift. i'll look into making up instructions.

about the wiring and rating. the relay is rated at a continuous 30amp which dictates the total amount of amperage that the unit can withstand. the main battery connections are rated at 33amp and each accessory tail pair is rated at 16.5amp.

so even changing the 3 supplied fuses to 10amp on each line takes it to the maximum continuous working amperage. all the wiring and indeed the relay are British made with the wiring being thin wall type specificity designed for vehicle wiring so more than likely can be pushed if need be.

a little more about the ratings, as long as the total amperage does not exceed 30 amp split by the three tails and no more than 15amp on any one tail all will be well. e.g. one line at 15amp then one line at 10amp then one line at 5amp totalling 30amp.

i was toying with the idea of changing the male connections to every day run of the mill insulated ones as you can use the easy to obtain pliers type crimper's pictured in your write up.

it has also recently come to light that the gizmo does not work with K3 bikes due to the rear brake light switch being different from all the rest. this is a simple fix in that the trigger wire just needs to be extended to fit the front side light connector and the MK3 will now be shipped with an extension.

i'm having a extended break from making things up so there will be no gizmos or indeed any products available for a few months. depending on how i feel at the time it might just be a closing down get them while you can.

[rictus01]

I wasn't sure about the wire rating so I changed to what I knew was good ( no one wants the one bar electric fire thing going on), but that would make it easier and others could simply uprate the fuse then.

I think the viewpoint of a novice was beneficial, as there was a proper crimping tool in the tool box, but he didn't know what it was so went for what he thought should be used and ended up with a pair of needle nose pliers, also interesting to see another point he made, all the tails are female, if the positives were female and the negatives were male, attached accessories couldn't be attached the wrong way round.

Cheers Mark.

My stupid.

That gizmo is really cool!