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(Note: I had help
with this project – my thanks to Mark Frost who gave up a good portion of his
Saturday to assist in this installation.
His expertise cut the job in half and I learned a lot!)
Parts needed:
- Fuseblock
– available at most better “off road” supply houses.
- 16
gauge red wire – 25 feet
- 16
gauge black wire – 25 feet
- Various
loop connectors (Have a good assortment around)
- Lots
of zip ties
- 30AMP
“continuous use” relay (not needed if you want your fuseblock to be wire
directly to the battery and always hot)
- Patience
– especially when routing the wire bundles.
General Steps I used to Install:
- Create
the wire bundles – cut 6 lengths of wire about 4’ long and tape into
bundles with electrical tape – you’ll need two of these – one red (hot)
and one black (ground).
- Take
red bundle and attach appropriate size loop end connectors to all 6
wires at one end and then attach to fuseblock (see top-left photo above)
- Take
black bundle and attach appropriate loop end connectors in groups of 2
wires per each connector (see top-left photo above)
- Install
black bundle loop end connectors to ground source as shown in top-right
photo above and route the bundle carefully so that it terminates in the
area just forward of the battery and fuse boxes under the side panel.
- Install
the fuseblock (I used super Velcro) and route the bundle carefully so
that it terminates in the area just forward of the battery and fuse
boxes under the side panel.
- Install
the relay and wire according to instructions that are provided. I used the secret “accessory slot” in
the back of the main fuse panel to power the relay circuit (thus the
relay “powers on” only when the ignition key is on). The relay then completes a circuit
directly to the battery (Let me know if you don’t know how a relay works
and I’ll be happy to assist (since I am now an expert!).
Final Results and Notes:
- Why
I did this – I plan to install a lot of electrical accessories to this
bike (GPS, Radar Detector, Heated Grips, etc). I wanted a central fuse box for all these accessories as
well as an easy way to keep track of the wiring. I have that now. As I add accessories, I now only have
to route wiring to the battery area, select the next set of red/black
wires and hook them up. Fuses
are easily accessible and the whole set up is clean (less prone to
failure and much easier to troubleshoot in the event of failure).
- Cautions
– Make sure you use patience when routing the bundles. Look for routes that protect the
wires from pinching, rubbing and chafing. Use lots of zip ties along the way to keep the new bundles
secure.
I am not much of a writer – if you want to do this, please
feel free to email your phone number and I’ll be happy to talk you through
it. It is well worth it if you are
planning a lot of electrical accessories!
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