This is one of the easiest, cheapest and handiest mods you can do to your bike. Plus, it literally takes a couple of minutes. On big trips it allows you to charge your smart phone, tablet, GoPro or GPS when you otherwise wouldn’t have access to power. Who says you have to have an adventure bike to all the niceties!
First of all, get yourself one of these bad boys. I managed to get mine for about $6 off eBay and delivery was quick. The port works perfectly but lo and behold the USB component did not work so I purchased one at my nearby Autobarn. Don’t bother with brand specific chargers as they all do the same thing. It is important to make sure the USB charger supplies sufficient amperage to actually charge your devices. Look for minimum or 2.1A for a single port or 3.1A+ between two. Also, don’t waste your time with single usb chargers, get one with multiple ports.Gain access to your motorcycles battery. On my ZX10R this involves removing the rear seat cowl, a small panel then finally the seat. Find out where you want your port. In my case I want it under the pillion seat but I wouldn’t be adverse to having it near the dash, its up to you. Feed the positive cable through to your battery. For your negative you want it grounded on your frame so find an appropriate spotConnect the positive cable to your corresponding battery terminal. If you want to get fancy, splice the cable into a power cable that turns on with your key/accessories.Connect your negative cable to a grounding source. You can see here I have connected mine to a bolt on the sub frame.And voila! 12V port installed and ready to rock. If you connected straight to the battery, make sure you disconnect your device when the bike is not running or you will most likely end up with a flat battery.This is how I hooked up the power outlet to my KLR. I also added in an inline fuse.
Edit: You should also add an inline fuse directly to the wire that connects to your battery. You can pick these up for a few dollars from your local hardware/auto shop or grab one on ebay. You can also install a 12V switch to make sure you don’t run your battery flat.
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