Hickabilly
New member
I am writing this because I searched for a solution and couldn't find anything that was elegant for the R18. But in the process of building this solution I turned a very simple "off the shelf device" into a more complex project. You could easily eliminate all of the complexity of the relay if you just want the Garage Door Opener functionality.
Background:
We have 3 (R1200, R1250, and now a R18) bikes. Remembering to grab a remote for the garage door is just annoying. One option was to buy a bunch of remotes and stick one in every jacket. This worked for a while until I got caught in a rain storm and found out that the garage door remotes for Genie aren't meant to get wet and they cost $40 to replace. So, I went on a search for another solution and found a reference on a R1200 forum for a product from a company named Vizi-Tec (https://www.vizi-tec.com/) that is a hard wired remote that plugs into the tail light assembly to pick up power and to detect the brake signal for triggering the remote. It was the perfect solution for me. Just pull into my drive and tap the brake a couple of times to open the garage door. My Truck has Homelink... why don't bikes have Homelink? Yes... I am spoiled with tech. Like Homelink, the Vizi Tec solution works with many garage door types, but unlike the Homelink in my truck, the Vizi Tec does not "learn" or "mimic" by listening to a remote. Instead it acts just like an off-the-shelf remote that you tell it what type door you have and it does the rest. It took me an hour to program my Homelink in my truck. It took me less than a minute to get the Vizi Tec to work with my garage door once I got it installed.
Problem:
This past September 2025 I came across an amazing half price deal on a loaded 2023 R18 with zero miles at my local dealer. After riding it I quickly fell in love with it and bought it on the spot. It is a nice bike, I immediately wanted to make it as convenient as the mature GSA bikes. First up was to slap in the garage door opener. It took only about 10 minutes to install in the GSA bikes, so surely it would be trivial to buy another and set the R18 up. No dice. When I went to Vizi Tec's site, they didn't have a solution listed for the R18. I emailed them and was put in touch with Bernard. This guy is super nice and tried working with me to come up with a wiring harness that could work inline with the tail light. I took my bike apart to trace the tail light and found that it only has 3 wires going from the computer to the tail light assembly. So I don't have a discrete wire to pick up when the brake is applied. Bernard wanted to dig in to see if we could find a way to get a discrete brake signal from anywhere else on the bike but I couldn't find any source.
So the super easy inline Vizi Tec solution isn't available for this bike. I searched the r18forums and other motorcycle forums and the best solution that I could find was to open up a Genie remote and solder wires from the contacts on the remote and run them to a momentary switch. This is doable with my skills but it left me with a solution that has a remote with a battery in it that will need to be replaced and the remote is not water proof. I could deal with the waterproof issue by putting the remote in a bag or coating the electronics with Conformal Coating. But the OCD part of my brain wanted something slick that was powered by the bike like I have with the R1200 and R1250.
Solution:
So I went back to Vizi Tec and inquired as to what their remote needed to operate thinking I could wire it to a switch to fake out the brake signal. Bernard told me that they have a generic version that just needs +12v power and ground and a +12v signal. That solution feels elegant and permanent (pretty much Homelink for for a bike) so I bought the generic remote feeling like I could get it to work with a chrome switch on the handlebars.
(Side note here... I didn't just stumble on the concern for the surge. I have a F250 truck that has an LED lightbar built into the front grille. After just about a year the LEDs started failing. The manufacturer replaced them... but then a year later the replacement had the same problem. A little bit of troubleshooting identified that when my truck starts, a surge hits the batteries (it is the 6.3L diesel with 2 batteries) and then everything levels out. This surge was killing the LEDs. The solution was to add a relay with a 10 second delay to the LEDs and I haven't had a failure since.)
When I was preparing to install the Vizi Tec remote, I tested the power from the battery and found that when I start the engine, there is a surge that hits the battery. This concerned me because I was also looking at adding a USB-C to the bike to charge my phone on long rides. Like was done with the truck, I wanted to add a delay to anything connected to the battery so that the surge dissipates before any electronics start drawing power. So I killed two birds with one solution. The USB-C port that I bought came with a pigtail to connect it directly to the battery with a fuse. I bought an automotive SPDT relay with a 10 second delay on trigger and wired it into the pigtail (after the fuse). I then used the +12 to connect to the USB-C device and split off a wire to go to the Vizi Tec remote and ran ground to both. I then tapped into the two wires to the "REPAIR PLUG" (that is just under the OBD port on the left side) to provide the trigger for the relay. That plug provides +12 when the bike is on. I didn't want to drive the USB-C or the Vizi Tec directly off that "REPAIR PLUG" because I don't know how much power it is built to provide. But checking it with my Fluke indicated that it had more than enough power to driver the relay trigger. From what I have read, there is also an open connector under the tank that supplies +12 when the bike is on and might have been a better source as it is built to drive auxiliary lights. But I didn't want to lift the tank off when there was an easy source on the left side.
For the signal, I bought a chrome P-Clamp with an 8mm mounting hole, an 8mm SPST momentary contact pushbutton switch, and about 4 feet of 18 awg wire. I tapped one side of the switch to the +12 that is already running to the Vizi Tec from the relay and the other side of the switch to the signal wire.
The remote (and the USB) are only powered when the bike is on and as long as I start the motor within 10 seconds of hitting the power button on the bike, I don't send a surge to anything connected to the battery. Bernard at Vizi Tec assured me that the remote has protection for surge and even for protecting it from reverse wiring it. So if you wanted to build this solution without the USB-C device, you could wire it directly to the battery (with a fuse) and not worry about this surge or delay that I added. I don't know if the USB-C device has the same surge protection and so this relay with delay is safer to me.
I also didn't like that I was tapping into a wire like a vampire on the REPAIR PLUG, so I bought the correct connector to plug into the repair plug on the bike. This looks much cleaner and it makes it easy to remove everything if I decide it needs to go. But the connector cost $32 making it one of the more expensive parts of the harness.
After building a prototype to make sure everything would work as expected, I rebuilt the entire thing with clean solder joints, and heat shrink tubing with Conformal Coating added to the joints that are not single wire connections to make them water proof. I also added waterproof male/female connectors between the SPST switch and the Vizi Tec and between the Relay and the Vizi Tec so that I could easily remove the relay harness without needing to rip out the wires that I ran under the tank to the handlebars. In the picture, there are 3 waterproof connectors. One for the USB. One for the Vizi Tec, and a third one should I decide I want to add something else. The relay fits nicely under the seat just above the area where the alarm module would be mounted. I zip tied the Vizi Tec remote inside the plastic housing on the left that has the charging socket/power outlet. There is no metal between the Vizi Tec and the outside world. In this location I can trigger the garage door from about 200 feet away.
The end result completely satisfied my OCD brain. Wiring is super clean and the placement of the Vizi Tec and relay look nice and are invisible when the bike panels are on. The USB on the handlebar isn't gorgeous but it is the most compact I could find and symmetrical to the phone mount (which is also black). While I don't have the convenience of tapping the brake to open the garage door, I just need to reach over and tap the button to get the same result.
Here are the parts that I used... the most expensive was the Vizi Tec, but the second most expensive was the Chrome P-Clamp. Most can be bought on Amazon.
* Time Delay Relay 10 Seconds 5 pin 12V 30A 5 pin SPDT
* APIELE Metal Push Button Switch Momentary SPST 1NO 2A 36V AC/DC with 8mm/0.3 Inch Mounting Holes 5PCS Pre-Wired Brass Plated Colors IP65 (Silver, 8mm)
* Kuryakyn 4018 Motorcycle Lighting Hardware Component: P-Clamp with 5/16" Mounting Hole, Universal Fit for 7/8" or 1" Diameter Engine Guards/Tubing, Chrome, Pack of 1
* Cliff Top Waterproof Motorcycle USB Charger, 18W PD USB-C Fast Charging, SAE to USB-C Adapter, Motorcycle USB Port with 22–32mm Handlebar Mount for Motorcycle, Scooter, ATV, Phone Devices (Horizontal)
* Vizi Tec UNIVERSAL (Bare Wires) - Garage Door Opener
* BMW REPAIR PLUG, 3-PIN - NO. 611653, part # 83300413582
I have no relationship with Vizi Tec (or BMW). I fell in love with the Vizi Tec product when I stumbled on it back in 2017 when I bought the R1200.
Background:
We have 3 (R1200, R1250, and now a R18) bikes. Remembering to grab a remote for the garage door is just annoying. One option was to buy a bunch of remotes and stick one in every jacket. This worked for a while until I got caught in a rain storm and found out that the garage door remotes for Genie aren't meant to get wet and they cost $40 to replace. So, I went on a search for another solution and found a reference on a R1200 forum for a product from a company named Vizi-Tec (https://www.vizi-tec.com/) that is a hard wired remote that plugs into the tail light assembly to pick up power and to detect the brake signal for triggering the remote. It was the perfect solution for me. Just pull into my drive and tap the brake a couple of times to open the garage door. My Truck has Homelink... why don't bikes have Homelink? Yes... I am spoiled with tech. Like Homelink, the Vizi Tec solution works with many garage door types, but unlike the Homelink in my truck, the Vizi Tec does not "learn" or "mimic" by listening to a remote. Instead it acts just like an off-the-shelf remote that you tell it what type door you have and it does the rest. It took me an hour to program my Homelink in my truck. It took me less than a minute to get the Vizi Tec to work with my garage door once I got it installed.
Problem:
This past September 2025 I came across an amazing half price deal on a loaded 2023 R18 with zero miles at my local dealer. After riding it I quickly fell in love with it and bought it on the spot. It is a nice bike, I immediately wanted to make it as convenient as the mature GSA bikes. First up was to slap in the garage door opener. It took only about 10 minutes to install in the GSA bikes, so surely it would be trivial to buy another and set the R18 up. No dice. When I went to Vizi Tec's site, they didn't have a solution listed for the R18. I emailed them and was put in touch with Bernard. This guy is super nice and tried working with me to come up with a wiring harness that could work inline with the tail light. I took my bike apart to trace the tail light and found that it only has 3 wires going from the computer to the tail light assembly. So I don't have a discrete wire to pick up when the brake is applied. Bernard wanted to dig in to see if we could find a way to get a discrete brake signal from anywhere else on the bike but I couldn't find any source.
So the super easy inline Vizi Tec solution isn't available for this bike. I searched the r18forums and other motorcycle forums and the best solution that I could find was to open up a Genie remote and solder wires from the contacts on the remote and run them to a momentary switch. This is doable with my skills but it left me with a solution that has a remote with a battery in it that will need to be replaced and the remote is not water proof. I could deal with the waterproof issue by putting the remote in a bag or coating the electronics with Conformal Coating. But the OCD part of my brain wanted something slick that was powered by the bike like I have with the R1200 and R1250.
Solution:
So I went back to Vizi Tec and inquired as to what their remote needed to operate thinking I could wire it to a switch to fake out the brake signal. Bernard told me that they have a generic version that just needs +12v power and ground and a +12v signal. That solution feels elegant and permanent (pretty much Homelink for for a bike) so I bought the generic remote feeling like I could get it to work with a chrome switch on the handlebars.
(Side note here... I didn't just stumble on the concern for the surge. I have a F250 truck that has an LED lightbar built into the front grille. After just about a year the LEDs started failing. The manufacturer replaced them... but then a year later the replacement had the same problem. A little bit of troubleshooting identified that when my truck starts, a surge hits the batteries (it is the 6.3L diesel with 2 batteries) and then everything levels out. This surge was killing the LEDs. The solution was to add a relay with a 10 second delay to the LEDs and I haven't had a failure since.)
When I was preparing to install the Vizi Tec remote, I tested the power from the battery and found that when I start the engine, there is a surge that hits the battery. This concerned me because I was also looking at adding a USB-C to the bike to charge my phone on long rides. Like was done with the truck, I wanted to add a delay to anything connected to the battery so that the surge dissipates before any electronics start drawing power. So I killed two birds with one solution. The USB-C port that I bought came with a pigtail to connect it directly to the battery with a fuse. I bought an automotive SPDT relay with a 10 second delay on trigger and wired it into the pigtail (after the fuse). I then used the +12 to connect to the USB-C device and split off a wire to go to the Vizi Tec remote and ran ground to both. I then tapped into the two wires to the "REPAIR PLUG" (that is just under the OBD port on the left side) to provide the trigger for the relay. That plug provides +12 when the bike is on. I didn't want to drive the USB-C or the Vizi Tec directly off that "REPAIR PLUG" because I don't know how much power it is built to provide. But checking it with my Fluke indicated that it had more than enough power to driver the relay trigger. From what I have read, there is also an open connector under the tank that supplies +12 when the bike is on and might have been a better source as it is built to drive auxiliary lights. But I didn't want to lift the tank off when there was an easy source on the left side.
For the signal, I bought a chrome P-Clamp with an 8mm mounting hole, an 8mm SPST momentary contact pushbutton switch, and about 4 feet of 18 awg wire. I tapped one side of the switch to the +12 that is already running to the Vizi Tec from the relay and the other side of the switch to the signal wire.
The remote (and the USB) are only powered when the bike is on and as long as I start the motor within 10 seconds of hitting the power button on the bike, I don't send a surge to anything connected to the battery. Bernard at Vizi Tec assured me that the remote has protection for surge and even for protecting it from reverse wiring it. So if you wanted to build this solution without the USB-C device, you could wire it directly to the battery (with a fuse) and not worry about this surge or delay that I added. I don't know if the USB-C device has the same surge protection and so this relay with delay is safer to me.
I also didn't like that I was tapping into a wire like a vampire on the REPAIR PLUG, so I bought the correct connector to plug into the repair plug on the bike. This looks much cleaner and it makes it easy to remove everything if I decide it needs to go. But the connector cost $32 making it one of the more expensive parts of the harness.
After building a prototype to make sure everything would work as expected, I rebuilt the entire thing with clean solder joints, and heat shrink tubing with Conformal Coating added to the joints that are not single wire connections to make them water proof. I also added waterproof male/female connectors between the SPST switch and the Vizi Tec and between the Relay and the Vizi Tec so that I could easily remove the relay harness without needing to rip out the wires that I ran under the tank to the handlebars. In the picture, there are 3 waterproof connectors. One for the USB. One for the Vizi Tec, and a third one should I decide I want to add something else. The relay fits nicely under the seat just above the area where the alarm module would be mounted. I zip tied the Vizi Tec remote inside the plastic housing on the left that has the charging socket/power outlet. There is no metal between the Vizi Tec and the outside world. In this location I can trigger the garage door from about 200 feet away.
The end result completely satisfied my OCD brain. Wiring is super clean and the placement of the Vizi Tec and relay look nice and are invisible when the bike panels are on. The USB on the handlebar isn't gorgeous but it is the most compact I could find and symmetrical to the phone mount (which is also black). While I don't have the convenience of tapping the brake to open the garage door, I just need to reach over and tap the button to get the same result.
Here are the parts that I used... the most expensive was the Vizi Tec, but the second most expensive was the Chrome P-Clamp. Most can be bought on Amazon.
* Time Delay Relay 10 Seconds 5 pin 12V 30A 5 pin SPDT
* APIELE Metal Push Button Switch Momentary SPST 1NO 2A 36V AC/DC with 8mm/0.3 Inch Mounting Holes 5PCS Pre-Wired Brass Plated Colors IP65 (Silver, 8mm)
* Kuryakyn 4018 Motorcycle Lighting Hardware Component: P-Clamp with 5/16" Mounting Hole, Universal Fit for 7/8" or 1" Diameter Engine Guards/Tubing, Chrome, Pack of 1
* Cliff Top Waterproof Motorcycle USB Charger, 18W PD USB-C Fast Charging, SAE to USB-C Adapter, Motorcycle USB Port with 22–32mm Handlebar Mount for Motorcycle, Scooter, ATV, Phone Devices (Horizontal)
* Vizi Tec UNIVERSAL (Bare Wires) - Garage Door Opener
* BMW REPAIR PLUG, 3-PIN - NO. 611653, part # 83300413582
I have no relationship with Vizi Tec (or BMW). I fell in love with the Vizi Tec product when I stumbled on it back in 2017 when I bought the R1200.
tech but it does present challenges for electrical mods.
