I've just bought some spot lights for my Tiger Sport and I want to run them though the bike but I don't want to cut into the loom.
Under my seat I have a USB port which I have my sat/nav plugged into which will only power up when the ignition is switched on.
So I have had the idea of using a USB split cable with the sat/nav in one and the spot lights in the other which means wiring a USB male port onto the power lead of the spot lights.
So here's the question, is there anyone out there that's made up their own wiring for something using a USB and if so how easy was it to do?
I have an old fashioned power socket on my bike so I plug a short twin USB adapter in to run two separate leads and charge more than one item. What is the current draw of your new lights? Could you not connect the lights direct to the battery through an independent fuse and then through a switch?
I don't know what the draw is but they are LED's, there wasn't any paper work with them, they did come with a switch and inline fuse but I don't want to go direct to the battery because I don't want to come back to a dead bike if I forget to switch them off or if someone switches them on.
There's no spare fuses in the box, I have thought about piggybacking onto the heated grips fuse but that means finding a route going passed the usb port and the battery to the fuse box under the back seat.
And Steve with the cost of fuel these days it would cost a pound a mile to run them
Just thought, if making up your own lead be wary that most usb cables have 4 wires, 2 for power and two for data.. Not sure what happens if you use the wrong ones??
Of the four wires red and black are the power leads, Triumph heated grips are made with a usb and plug in under the tank and usb under my seat has a power socket (cigarette style) plugged into it which I run my I run sat/nav into. but thinking about it I could get a dual cigarette style lead a wire a male end onto the lights. Power: 30W(white colour only) Lumens: 7800LM (each light)
Hello Ragnar , can you have a look at the healtech thunderbox and let me know what you think ? but i found it to be the safest and easiest way to get power to all your accessories , it has different modes ie providing power with ignition only with engine off power or power only when engine is running its upto you how you would like it to perform , but its a great bit of kit , i gave up tapping into wires ect years ago and use the thunderbox instead , it leaves the original wiring untouched and is very easy to transfer bike to bike , ps also might want to check out fuse piggy back connectors , i had no idea they existed but if you do want to tap into the bikes circuit/fusebox then thats a nice clean safe way of doing it without having to splice into the original wiring , ps personally if i had spotlight at 15600 lumens at 30 amp combined then i would power them with a fuse piggy back connector on there own on a ignition switched circuit and then use a thunder box to run everything else , let me know what you think ? ps dont forget about water proof heatshrink connectors , electric tape is so 90,s lol , hope that helps
Thanks chaps for your input, I'm going to go with the Healtech Thunderbox I just wish I had read about it last week when I was on their website buying their Maintenance Mate but I just looked at the photos and assumed that if I wanted it to run only when the power is on I would have to cut or piggyback into the loom. And it's looks so easy to fit that even a idiot couldn't cock it up so I should be able to do it myself. The sat/nav and heated grips can stay where they are and two of the other three accessories I have on the bike I could plug into it leaving the last one permanent live being it's a usb/cigarette charging point.
hi strom hope your doing good and your ankle is much better , and your right 30w into 12v is only 5 amp so not that big a draw at all , this is why led is amazing how you can get a massive 7600 lumens with only 5 amp draw , and no problem ragnar a problem shared is a problem halfed , glad you have gone for the thunder box , its a excellent bit of kit a nicely made as well and it is a small unit so its very easy to stash , and your right its super easy to install takes no time at all , the white wire just goes to a ignition switched feed and your sorted , i will always have one on a bike from now on , Lindsay lol aww , trust me have popped more than one fuse in my lifetime figuring electrics out lol , if i turn up on our next meet on a piece of charcoal with wheels then you will know this young grasshopper has much to learn lol
Cheers Shaz, ankle much better thanks. Thanks again for spending so much time looking at my gear selector (with Steve and Pete) ... Now my ankle is healing gear changes are fine👍
ah its no problem strom if anything i was more annoyed at myself for not carrying tools to get even simple tasks done lol a lesson to myself for sure lol , but thats great news now you got a pain free summer ahead of you
Run a new fused live feed from the battery upto a relay that can be housed in the headlight..then a feed from the main beam feed to the switched circuit of the relay. That way the only point you will access the loom is the nain beam feed. Using the USB is a botch job..not recommended..
![USB power source - Forums [Biker Match]](/images/backgrounds/strips/8mobileLQ.jpg)
![USB power source - Forums [Biker Match]](/images/backgrounds/strips/8desktopLQ.jpg)
