Power outlet install on ST1300

[Shiney]

So I finally got around to doing the power outlet install on my 2004 ST1300 and thought I’d pass on how I did it

First thing was getting the parts:

The power outlet I used is an “Auto XS Car Socked Adaptor” I got from Aldi for $7



I then went to Jaycar and purchased a 10 amp blade fuse with power wire leading from it (awesome idea) and a box of connector plugs as I had run out. (Fuse $6.95, Box of plugs $3.50)



Ok now I had all the parts it was time to start…

Take off the seat



Undo the bolts at the top of the tank (completely remove the one on the right)
Remove the cap from the bolt located on the bottom right of the handlebars.



Remove the metal rod from the rear of the bike near the tool kit compartment.



Loosen the bolt running through the rear of the tank on both sides



Grab the metal rod, Lift the front of the tank and slide it back, then place the rod into the bolt hole of the tank and the top of the bolt on the handlebars as shown.

     

Remove the left fairing below where the seat sits exposing the fuse box.




OK Now we have a clear path we can start the actual install…

Empty the right fairing pocket.



Luckily there was an existing hole in the bottom of the pocket that fit the wires and saved me from having to drill a new hole



Run the wires out the bottom of the pocket.
(EDIT) cut the wires at around 20cm from the bottom of the pocket. Attach connectors to the cut ends. This way the wires can be disconnected from the side fairing allowing it to be completely removed from the bike as opposed to having a wire tethering the fairing to the bike.
*Shown below with a red and white cable*



Continue to run the wires under the frame next to the air filter box.

     

Then over the bar at the rear of the air filter box and out under the tank.



Down the other side and follow the existing wires under and along the side of the frame to the fuse box






Then replace the 10amp headlight fuse (there is one fuse for each bulb) with the fuse with power running from it.

   

(EDIT) Attach an inline fuse (10amp) to the end of the positive wire from the power outlet.
Attach connectors to the ends of the wires from the power outlet.
Bolt the negative to the frame and plug the positive (with inline fuse) to the power wire from the fuse



Then zip tie the wires periodically to hold them in place :)

Grab an old mp3 player or something to check that the unit is working
All worked well for me



Bike back together



Oh and I later put some Velcro strips on the back of the unit attaching it to the wall of the pocket and still allowing me to be able to move it around if needed.

All in all not bad for under $20. But I really need to clean my bike more


Cheers
Shiney

[Gavo]

Good job 

[West Aussie Glen]

Love the usb supply as well. I assume you have to be carefull to install the blade fuse the correct way or else you don't get any protection.

[Shiney]

Love the usb supply as well. I assume you have to be carefull to install the blade fuse the correct way or else you don't get any protection.

Yeah the usb is an nice bonus Very handy

But I don't follow the part about installing the fuse the right way

The power runs through the fuse making it in essence an inline fuse for the power outlet as well as a standard fuse for one headlight, so if there are any issues the fuse will blow and cut power to the power outlet and power to one of my headlights.
If this happens to get headlight back just replace with spare fuse.

Cheers
Shiney

[West Aussie Glen]

I have not seen these but from you picture think they are like this. The wire off the fuse will be connected to one blade. The fuse is between the two blades.
Where the fuse goes, one side is power and the other side is the wire going to the headlight.
You have to make sure when you plug in your fancy fuse in that the blade with the wire connected to it goes into the side that has the headlight wire connected to it and not the power side. 

[Brock]

Shiney,

One side of the fuse is connected to the battery and the other to the load. If your fuse with the wire is around the wrong way, if some thing causes the fuse to blow then the aux circuits will be still live, and will have no fuse protection.

just wot he said ^

[alans1100]

It should be wired so that the power outlet has it's own inline fuse unless it has one built in.

[Shiney]

I have not seen these but from you picture think they are like this. The wire off the fuse will be connected to one blade. The fuse is between the two blades.
Where the fuse goes, one side is power and the other side is the wire going to the headlight.
You have to make sure when you plug in your fancy fuse in that the blade with the wire connected to it goes into the side that has the headlight wire connected to it and not the power side. 

Shiney,

One side of the fuse is connected to the battery and the other to the load. If your fuse with the wire is around the wrong way, if some thing causes the fuse to blow then the aux circuits will be still live, and will have no fuse protection.

just wot he said ^

It should be wired so that the power outlet has it's own inline fuse unless it has one built in.

Thanks for the info guys
I was just going off what the guy at Jaycar said
He didn't mention anything about it needing to be one way or the other
and said it would act as an inline fuse... Is this correct (if around the right way)???

Anyway I'll have a look and make sure its around the right way
Thanks again for the heads up guys

Cheers
Shiney

[Whizz]

Shiney, This needs to be looked at from one of two directions.

Option (1):- If you insert the fuse with the wire going to the live (battery) side, then the accessories block that you are fitting is not fuse protected at all under any circumstances, although the headlight will still have a 10A fuse protecting it.

Option (2):- If you insert the fuse with the wire going to the headlight side, then both the headlight itself and the accessories block are both protected by the same 10A fuse. Now from the ST-1300 Manual it says that the standard headlight bulb is 60W on high beam (55W on low beam), and Ohms Law says that Power equals Voltage multiplied by current, or P=V x I. This transposes to I=P/V or 60/12, so the headlight draws 5A when on high beam (4.58A on low beam). This means that the maximum current you can draw from your new accessories block, with the headlight on is 5A, not as you might think 10A (from the size of the fuse).

So you need to be a little careful what you plug into these sockets because the  headlight is on all the time, day and night! Not forgetting that the current draw is cumulative, i.e. you add together all the currents required by all the accessories that you plug in at any one time to get the total current requirement. Under these circumstances it is really quite easy to pop a 10A fuse, especially as there is a significant surge current requirement when you first turn on your ignition. This means that when you turn the key the headlight appears as a dead short and draws a hefty spike of current to make the lamp glow. If you also have other stuff plugged in which also has surge currents then that is the moment when the fuse is most likely to blow. There is an old adage that says that a light bulb only blows when you turn it on and this is simply because of the surge current required to make an incandescent bulb glow white hot.

What I would suggest is;
Wire the 10A fuse with the wire to the live (battery) side.
Fit an inline fuse (10A maybe?) to the wire before it gets to the accessories block.
This gives you the best of both worlds. Your headlight protection remains unchanged and you accessories block is protected by its own fuse.

This sounds a clear as mud, but I hope it helps, if you want you can IM me and I'll explain it in more detail.

Cheers mate

Whizz
 

[West Aussie Glen]

Shiney,
If inserted the correct way it will be fine. Working on your headlight being about 55watts it will pull draw a over 4 amps so that will mean anything much over 5 amps on your new outlets with the headlight on (which they will have to be to get power at that fuse) will cause the fuse to blow. I don't see a need for another fuse unless you want to put a 5 amp fuse in the line the your new outlets which should ensure that this fuse would blow before the 10 amp fuse.

This is a short version of whizz post above. A lot depends on what sort of load you will be connectiing to the new outlets.
Re starting currents, this depends on if you will have things connected and switched on when you turn the ignition on.

[Brock]

Dont foget guys, thats 55W each healight, so thats about 9amps total.

A quick check of the wiring diagram, shows a 10Amp fuse for each headlight.

[West Aussie Glen]

A quick check of the wiring diagram, shows a 10Amp fuse for each headlight.
[/quote]

Hence 5 amps. 

[Shiney]

Awesome information guys
You all know what your talking about I've just been going off what info I can find & fumbling my way through & thought I'd nailed it
Thankfully there is OzSTOC and the wealth of information people are willing to share

What I would suggest is;
Wire the 10A fuse with the wire to the live (battery) side.
Fit an inline fuse (10A maybe?) to the wire before it gets to the accessories block.
This gives you the best of both worlds. Your headlight protection remains unchanged and you accessories block is protected by its own fuse.

This sounds a clear as mud, but I hope it helps, if you want you can IM me and I'll explain it in more detail.

Cheers mate

Whizz
 

Whizz, I'm I'll end up going for your idea of running it on the power side and putting an inline fuse on the line
But for now I'll just run it with the headlight as the only thing I have to plug into it at the moment is my iPhone, and the Bluetooth intercom if it needs to be charged.

What do you think guys, would that be alright or would they use to much power???
And thanks again for all the help (and saving me from broken fuses :) ) I bow to your wisdom
Keep it coming

Cheers
Shiney

[West Aussie Glen]

I doubt if either of those draw much power. Gut feeling is neither would draw more than 1 amp. But some one may have a more accurate figure.

[Shiney]

I doubt if either of those draw much power. Gut feeling is neither would draw more than 1 amp. But some one may have a more accurate figure.

Awesome
Thanks again Glen, your a legend

Cheers
Shiney

[Shiney]

Just an update for anyone that is going to install a power outlet on their bikes
The original post has been edited (in red) to cover adding an inline fuse (10 amp) and a little trick I found came in handy

Cheers
Shiney

[Sabie]

Shiney, Brilliant as usual. This will be a big help as I'm in the process of powering my Powerlet outlet in the new MCL Riser.

[Sabie]

Hi Shiney

I'm putting one of these in instead.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/NEW-4-PORT-SLIM-COMPACT-USB-MULTI-HUB-EXPANSION-SPLITTER-/300828787869?pt=AU_CablesConnectors&hash=item460acb049d

[Shaun]

Great write-up Shiney, thanks to everyone else for rockin the physics! 

I will generally only piggy back onto existing circuits when the current requirements are very low for the add-on (gear indicator, voltmeter, speedo etc). Anything that will in all likelihood draw bigger currents (and usb ports are surprisingly high, running at 5V and around 5A max per port for charge (up to 1A general (signal)), this is why there are USB coffee warmers), I will run a new line straight from the battery (appropriately fused). My charger bay is in this category.

Edit: mistyped current drawn

[Shiney]

Hi Shiney

I'm putting one of these in instead.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/NEW-4-PORT-SLIM-COMPACT-USB-MULTI-HUB-EXPANSION-SPLITTER-/300828787869?pt=AU_CablesConnectors&hash=item460acb049d

Hi Sabie

That looks like an awesome idea make sure to let us know how it performs

Great write-up Shiney, thanks to everyone else for rockin the physics! 

I will generally only piggy back onto existing circuits when the current requirements are very low for the add-on (gear indicator, voltmeter, speedo etc). Anything that will in all likelihood draw bigger currents (and usb ports are surprisingly high, running at 5V and around 5A max per port for charge (up to 1A general (signal)), this is why there are USB coffee warmers), I will run a new line straight from the battery (appropriately fused). My charger bay is in this category.

Edit: mistyped current drawn

Thanks Shaun
It’s a good point you make about current draw but as I’m not powering much for me this setup should work well

Cheers
Shiney

[Brock]

Thats not a bad idea Sabie, but just a point to consider. Some USB charged items go into mass storage mode when connected to a USB powersource, IE Garmin (and other) GPSs Drift cams and so on. So make sure that you can also use cig power plugs for those items

[Marcus]

Excellent write up, Thanks for sharing

[Gadget]

Great write up Shiney!   

I love the photos on the tank manipulation, that clears up a lot for me.  Next weekend I think I'll take another look at my wiring and do a bit of re-routing of the wiring to my accessory block in my left-hand pocket.    Should look invisible when I finish.

Whizz, you nailed it.  As an Electronics Technician myself, I don't think I could have said it better.

Shiney, I'm glad you took Whizz's advice about the separate fuse. Nothing worse then only having half your lights late at night on the way home after a days work. 

Again, well done!  I know you'll enjoy the benefits.  (Just remember to take the appropriate charging leads with you, not as I did and leave the lead at home in the Garage.) 

[Shiney]

Thanks Gadget and Marcus
Since people like the guides I’ll keep doing them (then updating them when I’m told I stuffed up something )

Cheers
Shiney

[Gadget]

Inspired by Shiney's most excellent write-up and how-to, I ventured into re-wiring my switched accessory socket in the left hand pocket on my ST1300.

** Note ** The sockets required for the bolts on the tank are 8 mm for the front two bolts and 10 mm for the rear bolt and nut.

I had already fitted this before but had not been 100% happy with the layout as the wires were running over the lip and into the pocket and were visible to the whole world and nothing had been cable-tied in place.

Mine is wired to an in-line fuse directly connected to the battery which runs my Stebel Horn and the accessory socket, so I had ensured it was switched for protection.  My accessory device also has an in-line 10 Amp fuse so it's well protected.  I chose this option because it allows me to charge my phone whilst the keys to the bike are in my pocket.  I can also charge the bluetooth in the helmet.

So the wiring I had done previously looked like this on the battery side.  Note that I've left a loop of cable so there is some to play with if things need to be changed later.



Now I know how to lift the tank (lucky I did as I discovered the rear bolt under the seat was loose  ) I was able to run the cable discreetly under the tank next to the air filter and loosely cable tie in place.



I chose to drill a hole in the side of the pocket near the top as an entry hole and to place the switch outside of the pocket just below the lid.  So this is the method I use to choose the correct sized drill bit to do the job. 



As I was drilling into plastic I used the good old hand-drill to ensure a good steady pace and least opportunity for catastrophe.    It can be seen on the floor in the next two photos (Doh!).

For the switch I used a 12 mm spade bit which gave a nice clean hole.

I fitted the switch (taking photo's of the back of it before hand so when it can time to connect the wires I would know what went where.  As I hadn't taken the fairing off and was confident there was enough room to get my fingers to the back of the switch, this was important. It was quite fiddly, and took almost all my patience, but in the end my perseverance (read stubbornness) paid off. 

So after the switch and socket are in place this is the almost finished look.



And this is just before putting the tank and all the plastic back in place.



Now I'm happy! I can have the charger in the pocket or remove it if needed.

Thanks for the inspiration and tips Shiney, it made it a whole lot easier.   

 
Cheers,
Gary