stryken
Vertically Challenged
First off I want to thank BD43 for his headlight mod. I almost talked myself out of doing it his way and going the easy route but I didn't. I am so glad I did it BD43's way, cannot not tell I was ever there when it was finished. Since I already had all my tools out and I already had my tank up I decided to add a power outlet as well. I have seen many different ideas but I wanted something a little different, I have seen them on the bars but I didn't really want it that visible. Also have seen them on top of the fairing, which looks OK but I didn't like the idea of pressing down on that plastic over and over. So I had an idea and it actually work out wonderfully. It is extremely sturdy and you can press down on it very hard without it moving. I took a few pictures and thought I would share...
I started with this... I got it from Walmart for about $8.00
Then I did a little prep work to it just to hide the cables in black tubing and used heat shrink to hold it all together. You will notice than in the picture I drilled a hole in the back of the outlet. The hole was drilled slightly smaller than the screw I used to go though then I just used the screw to tap the plastic. I thought I was going to have to use a nut on the inside but this plastic is tough and holds very well... and I did put some moderate pressure on while tightening it. If it loosens I can always add a nut.
So as you can see I just used an hex bolt (allen) and a large washer painted black, the large washer is needed, go look at your bike and you will see why.
For power I wanted an always on source so I went direct to the battery. Most of the work I did on the battery side was already done when I started snapping pictures and is hidden under the battery terminals. All I did was add a couple ring terminals on the ends of my wires going to the outlet and sandwiched them in between the bikes terminals and the battery when I reattached the battery. On the Positive side I added in a fuse holder and made it all look nice with heat shrink. In this picture you will see two extra fuses... they are just extras and fit nicely there so that's where I left them.
And here is the package from Walmart for the fuse holder.
And this is just a picture showing how much nicer it is having black conduit rather than multicolored wires running around everywhere.
I already had the heat shrink and connectors so this entire job only cost me $10.00 and a good part of a day, but it was quality time. Just get out all your tools, grab a beverage and turn up the radio! FUN
I started with this... I got it from Walmart for about $8.00
Then I did a little prep work to it just to hide the cables in black tubing and used heat shrink to hold it all together. You will notice than in the picture I drilled a hole in the back of the outlet. The hole was drilled slightly smaller than the screw I used to go though then I just used the screw to tap the plastic. I thought I was going to have to use a nut on the inside but this plastic is tough and holds very well... and I did put some moderate pressure on while tightening it. If it loosens I can always add a nut.
So as you can see I just used an hex bolt (allen) and a large washer painted black, the large washer is needed, go look at your bike and you will see why.
For power I wanted an always on source so I went direct to the battery. Most of the work I did on the battery side was already done when I started snapping pictures and is hidden under the battery terminals. All I did was add a couple ring terminals on the ends of my wires going to the outlet and sandwiched them in between the bikes terminals and the battery when I reattached the battery. On the Positive side I added in a fuse holder and made it all look nice with heat shrink. In this picture you will see two extra fuses... they are just extras and fit nicely there so that's where I left them.
And here is the package from Walmart for the fuse holder.
And this is just a picture showing how much nicer it is having black conduit rather than multicolored wires running around everywhere.
I already had the heat shrink and connectors so this entire job only cost me $10.00 and a good part of a day, but it was quality time. Just get out all your tools, grab a beverage and turn up the radio! FUN
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