Cigarette Lighter, 12v Power Source, GPS on Buell/motorcycle, charge phone

Hey there guys, I started looking at this forum about 2 weeks before I bought my Buell xb12r a month ago (and 2400 miles ago ), and it has been extremely helpful; I figured I'd pass on what I did for a power source since I couldn't find a guide. It may not be the fanciest, but it works perfectly with my GPS and phone charger.

First, I had to go out and get some parts. I got some 12-10 gauge male quick disconnects, electric gel (used for spark plugs and stuff), I had an electric tester thingy, 12V power outlet (advanced auto parts for 7 bucks), an all weather trailer extension, extra wire (if needed), an in line fuse holder with a cover (for all weather), a solder gun, zip ties (I have small 4 inch ones), a little velcro, and electric tape.

/tmp/PreviewPasteboardItems/DSCN2963.JPG


Once I had all the stuff (all of it from my local advanced auto), I went to my bikes fuse box. It is located on the right side of the dash (as the left side is for relays). Here, I wanted to find something that is only hot when I turn the ignition on because I don't want this running all the time. If I wash my bike and some water gets in there than I would be afraid that it would short the system if it was always on (hot). Here you can see I found a fuse that is only hot when I turn the ignition on. I have a picture of where I found a good ground on my bike (right side screw) at the very bottom of this guide. This is with it off.

/tmp/PreviewPasteboardItems/DSCN2964.JPG


And this is with the ignition turned to the on position. You can see the LED that is in the tester is lit up.



/tmp/PreviewPasteboardItems/DSCN2968.JPG


Next, I had to find which side is the hot side when no fuse was in. When the bike is turned on, there is only one side that is hot. It's the fuses that connect the two prongs together to make it a full circuit. Here I found that it is the right side (for the whole right row of fuses I believe), that is hot when you turn the ignition with no fuse.


/tmp/PreviewPasteboardItems/DSCN2970.JPG


Now that I have all that figured out, I had to make a prong to go into it from the male quick disconnects. You will find that on these male disconnects, its a double ply of metal. BE SURE TO NOT CUT BOTH OUTER SIDES! I made this mistake and it confused me. Only cut from the middle going out, not from the out going to the middle. Heres a before picture



/tmp/PreviewPasteboardItems/DSCN2973.JPG


and here's the after (still took a little fine tuning after this)

/tmp/PreviewPasteboardItems/DSCN2975.JPG


It needs to be about the same width as the prongs on the fuses. Also, the bottom has a really long plastic end on it. I shimmed that down so that the top of the fuse box can fit.

/tmp/PreviewPasteboardItems/DSCN2979.JPG


Also, I ran into a problem with the location I found before... it wouldn't fit. I searched and found that the very bottom right side fuse has the same qualities as mentioned before, but it has a large gap between it and the fuse above. It also has a slight gap AFTER where the fuse goes in (I couldn't shove this AND the fuse into the same hole), so I put it in there. Look in the pic.

/tmp/PreviewPasteboardItems/DSCN2980.JPG


And this is how I stuck it in



/tmp/PreviewPasteboardItems/DSCN2982.JPG


Now that I have all of this figured out, I had to go back to create the wiring harness. I cut the trailer disconnect that I bought in half, put the male quick disconnects in the bottom of the provided female disconnects on the 12V adapter.


/tmp/PreviewPasteboardItems/DSCN2985.JPG



/tmp/PreviewPasteboardItems/DSCN2984.JPG



From here I put red with red and white with white from one half of the trailer disconnect to the 12V adapter by stripping and crimping the trailer disconnect into the butt end of the male quick disconnect.

/tmp/PreviewPasteboardItems/DSCN2986.JPG


Next I took my in line fuse and connected the prong of the male quick disconnect that we made before, to one side. On the other I attached the red side of the trailer disconnect via a strong solder and some electric tape. On the white side of the trailer disconnect, I put a little extra wire via solder and tape. When it is time, you take the circular connect that is in the picture and crimp it to the white/black/whatever color your wire extension is, wire.

/tmp/PreviewPasteboardItems/DSCN2987.JPG


Hook it all up (with the ignition off), and see how you want to zip tie all the wires for a clean look and how much of the extension wire you actually need. I probably only needed about 2 inches. Also, the reason I chose the right side of the fuse box to run this wire is because theres a big canal for the wire to run down. After it's all covered and the 12V adapter is attached, it makes it look clean. When you connect the trailer connections, put the gel on the prongs. This makes it MUCH easier to pull apart when needed. Here is where I connected my ground (white/ black) wire. It's located right underneath your aluminum piece (fairing stay) that connects to the frame of the bike underneath your ignition.

/tmp/PreviewPasteboardItems/DSCN2989.JPG


You can see I zip tied my wires to the existing wires on the bike.

/tmp/PreviewPasteboardItems/DSCN2991.JPG


After everything is zip tied and cleaned up, this is the install.


/tmp/PreviewPasteboardItems/DSCN2992.JPG


And with the outlet working (blue LED is on)

/tmp/PreviewPasteboardItems/DSCN2999.JPG


One thing to remember when putting everything onto the bike, keep checking to make sure that the prong you made out of the male quick disconnect is still giving juice. When you plug it all up, you may accidentally jiggle it out of place. Also, I attached the outlet to the side of the fuse box with some velcro I had laying around. The reason for the trailer disconnect and velcro is that if anything ever goes wrong than I can easily disconnect the whole system and swap out what I need to. In the in line fuse, you need to put whatever amperage fuse you need (look on your electronic box and see how many amps it says it draws). I am using my GPS and will probably also charge my phone on trips, so I put a 15-20 amp fuse. Here is the picture of the ground I used the whole time.

/tmp/PreviewPasteboardItems/DSCN2969.JPG


All in all it may cost about $15, but it's worth it if you use it regularly and don't want a dead phone in the event something bad happens. Hope this helps someone who needs a good power source!

I'm working on getting the pictures up [mad]
They It'll be done by tomorrow...

Here is everything with pictures.. I couldn't figure out how to edit my previous post.

Hey there guys, I started looking at this forum about 2 weeks before I bought my Buell xb12r a month ago (and 2400 miles ago ), and it has been extremely helpful; I figured I'd pass on what I did for a power source since I couldn't find a guide. It may not be the fanciest, but it works perfectly with my GPS and phone charger.

First, I had to go out and get some parts. I got some 12-10 gauge male quick disconnects, electric gel (used for spark plugs and stuff), I had an electric tester thingy, 12V power outlet (advanced auto parts for 7 bucks), an all weather trailer extension, extra wire (if needed), an in line fuse holder with a cover (for all weather), a solder gun, zip ties (I have small 4 inch ones), a little velcro, and electric tape.



Once I had all the stuff (all of it from my local advanced auto), I went to my bikes fuse box. It is located on the right side of the dash (as the left side is for relays). Here, I wanted to find something that is only hot when I turn the ignition on because I don't want this running all the time. If I wash my bike and some water gets in there than I would be afraid that it would short the system if it was always on (hot). Here you can see I found a fuse that is only hot when I turn the ignition on. I have a picture of where I found a good ground on my bike (right side screw) at the very bottom of this guide. This is with the bike off.



And this is with the ignition turned to the on position. You can see the LED that is in the tester is lit up.




Next, I had to find which side is the hot side when no fuse was in. When the bike is turned on, there is only one side that is hot. It's the fuses that connect the two prongs together to make it a full circuit. Here I found that it is the right side (for the whole right row of fuses I believe), that is hot when you turn the ignition with no fuse.




Now that I have all that figured out, I had to make a prong to go into it from the male quick disconnects. You will find that on these male disconnects, its a double ply of metal. BE SURE TO NOT CUT BOTH OUTER SIDES! I made this mistake and it confused me. Only cut from the middle going out, not from the out going to the middle. Heres a before picture



and here's the after (still took a little fine tuning after this)



It needs to be about the same width as the prongs on the fuses. Also, the bottom has a really long plastic end on it. I shimmed that down so that the top of the fuse box can fit.



Also, I ran into a problem with the location I found before... it wouldn't fit. I searched and found that the very bottom right side fuse has the same qualities as mentioned before, but it has a large gap between it and the fuse above. It also has a slight gap AFTER where the fuse goes in (I couldn't shove this AND the fuse into the same hole), so I put it in there. Look in the pic.



And this is how I stuck it in



Now that I have all of this figured out, I had to go back to create the wiring harness. I cut the trailer disconnect that I bought in half, put the male quick disconnects in the bottom of the provided female disconnects on the 12V adapter.





From here I put red with red and white with white from one half of the trailer disconnect to the 12V adapter by stripping and crimping the trailer disconnect into the butt end of the male quick disconnect.



Next I took my in line fuse and connected the prong of the male quick disconnect that we made before, to one side. On the other I attached the red side of the trailer disconnect via a strong solder and some electric tape. On the white side of the trailer disconnect, I put a little extra wire via solder and tape. When it is time, you take the circular connect that is in the picture and crimp it to the white/black/whatever color your wire extension is, wire.



Hook it all up (with the ignition off), and see how you want to zip tie all the wires for a clean look and how much of the extension wire you actually need. I probably only needed about 2 inches. Also, the reason I chose the right side of the fuse box to run this wire is because theres a big canal for the wire to run down. After it's all covered and the 12V adapter is attached, it makes it look clean. When you connect the trailer connections, put the gel on the prongs. This makes it MUCH easier to pull apart when needed. Here is where I connected my ground (white/ black) wire. It's located right underneath your aluminum piece (fairing stay) that connects to the frame of the bike underneath your ignition.



You can see I zip tied my wires to the existing wires on the bike.



After everything is zip tied and cleaned up, this is the install.



And with the outlet working (blue LED is on)



One thing to remember when putting everything onto the bike, keep checking to make sure that the prong you made out of the male quick disconnect is still giving juice. When you plug it all up, you may accidentally jiggle it out of place. Also, I attached the outlet to the side of the fuse box with some velcro I had laying around. The reason for the trailer disconnect and velcro is that if anything ever goes wrong than I can easily disconnect the whole system and swap out what I need to. In the in line fuse, you need to put whatever amperage fuse you need (look on your electronic box and see how many amps it says it draws). I am using my GPS and will probably also charge my phone on trips, so I put a 15-20 amp fuse. Here is the picture of the ground I used the whole time.



All in all it may cost about $15, but it's worth it if you use it regularly and don't want a dead phone in the event something bad happens. Hope this helps someone who needs a good power source!

[up] cant beat that for 15, looks clean. beat my setup by 5 bucks!

usb/gps

I love how you wrapped the end wires in electric tape. gives an even cleaner look. Wish I could figure out how to mount my GPS. Right now I am just suctioning the suction cup to my speed-o because there's one built into my GPS. It's a 5.1 inch screen so finding a mount that'll support it is difficult; only one I have found is the stock GPS mount for cars .

i did almost the same thing with my lightning. i already had the battery tender lead with fuse right on the battery. so i just soldered and shrink tubed a connector with a 12v socket that plugs into that existing tender. mine is under the seat not mounted or anything, just bring it with on longer trips in case i need to charge something.

I used a ram mount setup, Bolted it to handlebars. Powered gps by hard wiring a cut up cig adapter to horn relay. Have an extra cig power outlet installed under gps mount powered and fused directly to battery.(for ipod,phone, etc)Works just like I want. can even move the entire unit out of the way to put gas in tank!

Here's a pretty east solution if you have the gps holder thing!

I do like Millers, but I don't have any room on my bars as I have an R. I did read that your solution, iman, is the best for our bikes. I just need to get an extra 30 bones! I need to get some bar ends so I can make my own throttle lock (and I'll put a guide up for that too). Thanks for the solution here iman, I didn't know how it was supposed to work before, but now I do.

Greencupbay I got the little ball Online for like $3 it's threaded on the underside and I got some all thread for it and just ran I'd down and put some nuts on it, it works great!



But if I were to do it again I'd make sure my cig lighter/USB input is in a more convenient place like everybody else has that's already posted. Here is where mine is now