Sunday, September 07, 2014

More power!

A while ago I electrified the tank bag I use on the V-Strom and had hoped that I'd be able to use the same setup on the Connie too.

Unfortunately, even with the proper top ring for the Connie's tank the built-in glove-box sits too high to allow the tank bag to sit over the top.  I even tried spacing the top ring out a bit, but then I couldn't get the fuel cap open...that might've caused a wee issue somewhere along the line...

So, instead I decided that I'd make use of the glove-box and install a USB charger inside it.  Yesterday I bought a unit that would have given me a 12v accessory socket and a double USB charger.  Unfortunately I couldn't make it all work and decided just to make use of the USB charger (there is a standard 12v accessory socket built-in to the fairing on the Connie anyway).  And today I ripped into it...

First up was where to get the power from?  The Connie comes with two sets of accessory plugs.  One set is under the left hand side fairing right up nice and close to where I needed it but my hot grips are wired into them so I decided to go for the second set which is away back under the seat.  First I had to find them...thankfully the interweb was my friend.

They're under here somewhere
Bingo (black = +ve, black/yellow = -ve)
The next mission was to do a nice cable run to get the wiring to the glove-box.  This involved lifting the tank a tad and removing some fairing screws to allow me to poke around.  It was a bit of a mission but you can't even see the wire unless you start taking the bike to bits.

I then made up a small plastic plate (out of some recycled plastic) to mount the charger in.  Boring the hole was the tricky bit as I don't own any hole saws (must fix that) but I got there in the end and even painted the plate up before fitting the charger.  Then it was time for the install.



But would it work?

Hopefully that blue led means all is good in the world.
I then put the bike back together and this is what it looks like with the glove-box lid refitted:


Only one more thing to do eh...check to see if it does indeed work:

Looks like it to me!
And I didn't even blow anything up!  One happy camper.

Now what other farkles do I need...

6 comments:

  1. Nicely done. I don't think I'd have the patience for wiring.

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    1. It was a piece of cake. Didn't even need to fire up the soldering iron.

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  2. I like the idea of a built in USB charger. The fewer dangling wires the better. Plus it has a 2.1 amp outlet! Perfect for quick charge those power hungry devices.

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    Replies
    1. You can never have too much power Richard. There's a lot more options out there now - easy to find something that will suit your needs.

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