Using an aftermarket Tricon Switch

 Grants Excellent document can be found here. I am not the author of the article below. 

 https://granttiller.com/using-an-aftermarket-tricon-switch

The Pre-1971 Norton Commando was fitted (like many bikes of the era) with a Wipac handlebar switch.

This was called the Wipac Triconsul switch.

It had three functions:

  • a button for the horn
  • a toggle to switch between dip beam and main beam
  • a button to flash the headlight main beam

The horn button made the earth connection via the metal of the handlebars

The dip beam/main beam toggle switch took the U (blue) wire from pin 8 of the three position light switch and flipped between UR (blue/red) of the Dip Beam and UW (blue/white of the main beam)

The green flasher button took a W (white) wire from the Ammeter and used it as a ‘hot’ wire to a link inside the switch to the main beam wire.

 

tricon2

 

 

These switches are actually no longer available.

But there is an alternative – the aftermarket Wipac Tricon (which was from magneto bikes originally) – it is different, but it’s all that is available these days.

It is well worth noting that this switch is very different from the original:

Both the buttons on this switch are push to ground – that is to say, they are earthed out to the metal of the handlebars when the buttons are depressed.

What it means is that if you buy this aftermarket switch, you are no longer able to wire the third button as the headlight flasher – in fact attempting to do so would resulting in you blowing your fuse when you press the button, as you would be effectively crossing the positive and negative sides of the battery!

The colors of the wiring inside is also different.

 

I have seen people modify these switches inside to work differently.

tricon1

I have also seen people paint the red button green to maintain the original look, or there was someone 3D printing the green buttons at one point.

A popular idea is to wire the other button into the horn, so it behaves the same as the top one – at least the switch is doing something.

The other alternative is to use the aftermarket Ducon switch instead – this has only one button, and the wires are actually the correct color!

Here is an overview that walks you through the differences in the switch and how to successfully splice it in to the original wiring, if you want to use it.

ORIGINAL (triconsul) switchAFTERMARKET (tricon) switchComments
NB (brown/black) B (black) this goes to the horn – when pushed, the horn is earthed to positive via the handlebars
UR (blue/red) R (red) the dip beam – this goes to the headlamp bulb holder
U (blue) P (pink) this is the headlamp switched negative feed – it comes from pin 8 of the three position toggle switch
UW (blue/white) R (red) this goes to the connector that splits to the main beam warning lamp and the main beam terminal of the headlamp bulb holder
W (white) N (brown) this is unused in the new world – connecting it to the headlamp flash will blow the fuse!
     
 

These switches are available from our friends at Andover Norton

AN tricon 

I made a wiring diagram that shows the new Tricon switch on the original Pre-1971 wiring diagram. Note the unused red button (brown wire) is not connected to anything.

Hopefully this will be helpful.