Frequently Asked Questions - Shift-Light GP

What is the preferred point to pick up the revision pulse signal?
The output of the Ignition Unit, which connects to the input of the revision counter. If you do not have an Ignition Unit, alternatively you can use the negative terminal (-) of the ignition coil. This last signal carries high voltage spikes and could cause disturbances. Do not use the negative terminal (-) of the ignition coil when you have a CDI-unit (Capacitive Discharge Ignition). A CDI-unit should have revision counter output.

My car/bike/kart is not listed
We are trying to make the list comprehensive. By studying the electrical wire diagram, it should be easy to find the right wires. If it seems impossible to find the right wires yourself, ask your dealer for help or you can mail us (support@bits-racing.com) the electrical diagram and we will look into it.
If you have additional information for our vehicle list, please share it with us. Photographs are also welcome.

I lost my instructions
You can download an Acrobat.pdf file with the installation and programming instructions in the Support/Download section. Also, all installation instructions can be found on this site.

What do you mean with a 'red/green' colored wire?
This means that the wire insulation itself is red with a small green stripe on the site.

I'm racing and change sprockets at different tracks
Changing sprockets does not change the torque curve of your engine. Basically you do not have to change the Shift-Light GP setting. Of course you can make personal adjustments, to make the LED activation fit your driving style.

Is it difficult to set up?
No. You need to connect three wires of the Shift-Light GP to the harness of your vehicle. The Shift-Light GP configuration is carried out using a user friendly software program; you do not have to push small buttons with difficult to remember 'Morse' codes.

If my battery is disconnected will I lose my programming?
No, all settings are stored in the Shift-Light GP's non-volatile memory.

How many times can I re-program the Shift-Light GP?
There is a guarantied limit of 100 000 times. It will probably be more.
(To add some perspective: If you reprogram the Shift-Light GP once every hour, 24 hours a day, every day of the year, after 11 years you will have a failure chance.)

I have no dynamo/alternator. Is that a problem?
No, using a 12V battery as power supply is perfectly ok. The power consumption of the Shift-Light is very low, and can be neglected compared to the power consumption of the ignition and fuel system.

Do you have a Linux or a Apple Mac version of the BITS Studio software?
No. We have no plans to port the application to Linux or to the Mac.

Why does not have the Shift-Light GP a row of LEDs?
The first design of de Shift-Light GP had 1 LED. In the next tryout, we then build a version with 8 LEDs, where all LEDs could be activated at a specific RPM. Shift-Light GP became more a less a replacement of the rev counter. A mayor problem with this design is the attention to be paid to the display: you have to look at the range of LEDs and think the supplied information over. It gave to much information. We then build a version with 2 levels: a pre-warning in green and a major shift signal in red (6 LEDS grouped together). This seems to be the golden formula: you do not have to look at the Shift-Light GP; it is visible from the corner of your eye. This way you can keep your eyes in de distance on the race track, just at the position where it should be.

Privious Shift-Light GP model (Serial programming connection)

I get the message 'Serial dongle not found' while the dongle is connected
You are probably using a USD-to-Serial adapter. There are a lot of problems with these adapters, in particular with the drivers. First, try to update de USB-to-Serial driver en test again. If this not helps, you can disable the dongle check by adding a entry in the Windows Registry.
First method:
Click 'Start' / 'Run' and enter 'regedit' in the edit box and click ok.
Open the 'HKEY_CURRENT_USER' hive (click the +)
Navigate to 'Software' / 'BITS' / 'RE' / 'SLC' / 'Settings'
Right click the 'Settings' folder, and select 'new' / 'Binary value'
Name the new key: 'SkipDongleCheck' and assign value: 1.
Second method:
Download the SkipDongeCheck.zip file (click the hyperlink), unzip it and store it for example on your desktop.
Double click this file (on your desktop). Regedit starts and the key will be created for you.
This does the trick. Now restart the SLC program. The dongle check will be skipped. To re-enable the dongle check, assign value 0.
SLC Update:
 In SLC version 1.10 build 21 the default is changed to skip the dongle check (assigning value 0 to key 'SkipDongleCheck' will enable the check).
For those who do not want to modify the registry, download and install the latest SLC release here: http://www.bits-racing.com/support/downloads.htm