fjr1300 power strip installation | gen-ii...
TRANSCRIPT
By JT Pedersen ([email protected]), March 2012
FJR1300 Power Strip Installation | Gen-II Update By JT Pedersen ([email protected]), March 2012
Over the years I have used different wiring approaches when adding electrical upgrades to my machines. Typically, they were wired direct to the battery or to an auxiliary circuit in the bike’s fuse box if one was available. And, of course, there was always the obligatory Battery Tender pigtail tucked away somewhere for the charger as well.
This approach is fine if you only plan on adding one or two electrical accessories. As you add more than one or two, it becomes hard to avoid having wiring that starts looking messy. Plus, with multiple wires tapping your battery terminals, seasonal battery maintenance becomes a chore. Perhaps most important, roadside troubleshooting becomes more difficult.
One of the benefits of owning a Yamaha FJR1300 is that it has a strong following with many popular solutions having already been developed. One of the first sites I discovered doing research is Warchild’s FJRTech.com. Warchild (Dave Wilson) contributed significantly to the FJR community in its early years, particularly the 2003/2004 models.
Don’t Reinvent; Update Rather than reinvent the wheel, the general approach I decided to follow is Warchild’s 12V Power Strip installation. However, like many of the How-To FJR articles on the web, they were written when the FJR was new and are based on the FJR “Gen-I.”
If you’re new to the FJR community, what you need to know is that after its (US) introduction in 2003, some significant changes were made in 2006, command nly referred to as “Gen-II.” A sample of changes involve the electrical system (uprated alternator, relocated fuse boxes), revised air ducting, suspension changes (longer swing arm), and a different instrument panel. (Gen 1/2 Model Comparison Matrix).
The Gen-2 changes impact all FJR1300 models model years 2006 onward (as of this writing, 02/2012). Changes to dash design, airflow ducting, and fuse box relocation mandate an update to Warchild’s original piece. Consider this an update document for Gen-2 owners.
REQUIRED READING: INSTALLING A 12V POWER STRIP (HTTP://WWW.FJRTECH.COM/GETDBITEM.CFM?ITEM=25)
By JT Pedersen ([email protected]), March 2012
Required Supplies Dual-Row Barrier Terminal Strip
(6-position) Jumper Strip (for terminal strip) 30 Amp 12vdc Relay Inline Fuse Holder & 25/30A Fuse 12 gauge automotive wire (~6’)
18 gauge automotive wire (~5’) 18 gauge quick splice connectors Spade and Ring connectors (Mix of
12 & 18 gauge) 2’ Cabling Conduit Heat Shrink Tubing, various sizes
Relevant Gen 1 & 2 Differences At a Glance The need for an update is immediately apparent even before we start pulling covers.
Cockpit images: Left, FJRTech.com’s Gen-1 cockpit view. Right: Gen-2 cockpit view. The A and D cowling panels are different shapes and the Hazard light button has been moved to the handlebar in Gen-2. Note the Gen-2 now has an auxiliary (glove) box in the left panel.
Less clear in these images, when redesigning the instrument panel (IP), ducting was added underneath the speedometer, now prohibiting placement of the power strip in that region.
Gen-2 Relay Placement I chose to locate the relay in the left cowling, using one of the auxiliary box’s mounting bolts.
This is a very nice, clean, accessible location. A clip for carrying a wire bundle is attached to its bottom. Plenty of room in the clip for the few wires this project adds.
By JT Pedersen ([email protected]), March 2012
Auxiliary Box Power Outlet My focus is on keeping wiring neat, tight, and minimal. The auxiliary box has an automotive cigarette lighter-style power socket in it. The power socket is energized with the ignition making for a convenient relay trigger circuit.
My preference is to avoid directly splicing into a motorcycle’s own wiring harness whenever possible. If absolutely necessary, I prefer to do it in the least invasive manner possible.
Removed from the aux. box, this little piece of the wire harness is easy to work on.
Plus, should calamity occur, it’s a lot easier to
fix (or replace) this assembly than some other wire more integral to the bike’s harness.
Removing the auxiliary box from the bike is recommended.
I trimmed some of the sheathing away so there would be enough room for a Quick Splice connector. Note: The lead you want to tie into is the Brown-Yellow wire.
The yellow 18 gauge wire now spliced into the harness goes to terminal 86 on the relay. Make the yellow wire you splice in plenty long and trim to length as needed as you test-fit your work.
Relay Ground Ground the relay’s trigger circuit by running a short lead from terminal 85, to a good grounding point. Make a lead about a foot long (12”), spade at the relay end and ring terminal at the other, and mount to a cowling mount point as shown.
Note the coolant cap for reference.
By JT Pedersen ([email protected]), March 2012
Power Strip Positioning As noted in the next image, the duct bottom-center of the new IP prohibits placing the power strip there as on a Gen-1. For the Gen-2, I opted to use a shorter terminal strip (6 terminals vs. 8) with a 30A rating.
In the image, note the red wire enclosed in the wire conduit; green line drawn in for visibility.
This line is the hot lead coming over from the battery going to the relay’s terminal 30.
The exposed red wire is the return from the relay’s terminal 87, going to the terminal bar.
Side note: I color coded my wiring work with cable ties. Orange cable ties are finished work. The green/yellow ties are temporary; like holding things out of the way.
As you can see from the inset image, the power strip tucks into the space very nicely.
By JT Pedersen ([email protected]), March 2012
Power Strip In Place These next two photos show the power strip zip tied into place, and then the relay
(removed previously) put back into place as I start to button things up.
Battery Connection This last section is a quick look at how I chose to tie into the battery. The broader view helps provide a sense of perspective.
Looking more closely, the lead with the in-line fuse goes from the battery, via conduit (other end pictured previously), to the left-side cowling, connecting to the relay’s terminal 30. This is 12 gauge wire with a 25A or 30A fuse.
The fuse holder tucks away nicely just above the white connector plug viewed in the picture.