AutoSwitch was an invention born from necessity in 1997 when my first BMW bike (R1100GS) needed auxiliary driving lights. After having to make my own light mounting bar (none were on the market yet!) I could find no place on the bike I was willing to drill a hole for or place a switch bracket on. I also knew, from previous years on dual sport bikes, that any switch was not going to last very long due to water and dust effects.
I was fortunate to have access to my antenna company's electrical circuit man and plenty of in house CAD and established PCB experience. With them we came up with the solution by using existing dormant switches on the bike handlebars to control a relay for high-power-draw lights. The first AS-1s were totally hand assembled in Miami and placed inside a 3" long section of PVC water pipe plus end caps. It was a negative pulse model to work from the turn signal cancel button (TSC) on the R1100GS.
After a lot of interest was noted from the local riders then at the BMW rallies, I decided to make 100 of them to keep my promises to all those who wanted one for themselves. Later realizing the cost was higher than the sale price, I had to redesign the circuit into an automated type factory circuit. We had to build several hundred of them now called AS-2 to get the costs down. This time we fitted the circuit into a surplus plastic housing of an old glass mount cellular antenna coupler. Later some improvements let to the AS-4, which also introduced the positive pulse version (for high beam trigger).
By around 2002, we changed the circuit again and this time super miniature components on the board and molded a very small and thin plastic housing. The AS-5 versions now would also include models for garage door remote control, controller.
In 2007 we needed to make a version for BMW CAN-BUS bikes and this was the AS-6 model. This design was doing well however susceptible to external electromagnetic noise such as from the low cost aftermarket HID light ballast kits. At the time we estimated HID aftermarket kits to be a very small percentage of the kits and advised customers about the HID restriction. In 2008 there were CAN-BUS bikes now causing AutoSwitch resets caused by electronic pulses or emissions from the bikes themselves, and being unable to pinpoint the cause or even duplicate it on local test bikes we stopped AS-6 production by early 2009.
In early 2010 the whole new generation AS-7 started the design process using a new family of the latest microchips. The new AS-7 version is far more advanced than AS-6 and finally enjoys all the wants and desires we have heard from friends, buyers, users for the last 13 years!
Thank you to all who have used our little invention for 22 years, and to those who have been patient waiting for improvements or had a AS-6 reset by the BMW bike! And thanks to our long term tech and sales supporters such as Sean from CycleGadgets, Riderwarehouse, A&S and many others.
Update to year 2021...Looking for an interested party to take the Autoswitch into the future. The product line is for sale. Included with the roughly 800 AS-7 and AS-7G on hand there are the 22 years of organic web search results and the knowhow to make more and make future designs.
As I near retirement age, the antenna business is more demanding than ever for my time and knowledge. The past 10-15 years I have done no sales or promotional efforts for this product so the sales numbers have been on a steady decline. A small effort in marketing can make this a viable add-on product to an existing portfolio of motorcycle accessories sellers.
A more moderate sales effort could result in unit sales of hundreds per month via light kit makers and resellers, and stand-alone products in the thousands of motorcycle dealers across the world.
This is a simple yet useful item with a low retail price. Much more expensive and sophisticated digital types are now on the market. Autoswitch with a new future digital version can easily be part of that market, as well as offering a lower price point
Please contact me at info@autoswitch.com if interested in continuing the conversation.