tapping into the "Side light " or "parking light" wiring to power GPS

[NoHeat]

Haynes calls it a "side light" in their wiring diagram. I didn't know that was British usage for what we call the "parking light".

 

Anyway, it's on a 4 amp fuse, which has as its sole load a light bulb that is only 5 Watts, i.e., about 1/2 amp. So it seems like there's a lot of unused capacity in that wiring.

 

The GPS draws less than 1 amp. It's a Garmin 2730, and it uses a motorcycle mount common to all 26xx and 27xx models that comes with a 1 amp fuse built in - that's why I'm sure the GPS draws less than 1 amp.

 

It looks like it's okay to just tap directly into that wiring to power the GPS, with no need for a relay. Am I missing anything?

[RFW]

Haynes calls it a "side light" in their wiring diagram. I didn't know that was British usage for what we call the "parking light".

 

Anyway, it's on a 4 amp fuse, which has as its sole load a light bulb that is only 5 Watts, i.e., about 1/2 amp. So it seems like there's a lot of unused capacity in that wiring.

 

The GPS draws less than 1 amp (it's a Garmin 2730, and it uses a motorcycle mount (common to all 26xx and 27xx models) that comes with a 1 amp fuse built in - that's why I'm sure the GPS draws less than 1 amp.

 

It looks like it's okay to just tap directly into that wiring to power the GPS, with no need for a relay. Am I missing anything?

Only that the GPS almost certainly draws FAR less than an Amp. Personally, I would look for a better place to power it, than just hacking into a parking light, but nonetheless, it will be just fine if you choose to use it.

[ShovelStrokeEd]

You may wish to choose another spot anyway. The circuit is adequate to power the GPS but, I found that I like to keep mine under power for short stops like lunch or a rest stop. I won't have my 2730 till next week but, unless I kept my GPS V powered on, the trip time would mess up as would the overall average speed. Not of great importance in the grand scheme but I do like to track that kinda stuff.

 

If you do choose to power the GPS from the parking lamp, you can get around that power off thing by turning your key one notch CCW from the locked position, this will leave the parking lamp and a dim tail lamp on. Don't worry, the battery is up to powering this for quite a few hours so long as it is healthy. This mode is used all over Europe when parking vehicles roadside at night.

[E30TECH]

Are you going to be connecting more electronic farkles later? Maybe it is worth connecting a mini fuse block that is switched with the ignition.

 

Some people like to keep the GPS on, even when they are off the bike so they get accurate 'total times' My quest will stay on after I turn the bike off since it has a built in battery.

 

I'm not sure if keeping it on like that is important to you....

[Stan Walker]

Anyway, it's on a 4 amp fuse, which has as its sole load a light bulb that is only 5 Watts, i.e., about 1/2 amp. So it seems like there's a lot of unused capacity in that wiring.

 

F2 also feeds power into the ABS electronics where it is used to power the tail light, another 10 watts (or more if the ABS uses this to power any internal circuitry).

 

Stan

[NoHeat]

Thanks, everyone, for the tips.

 

E30Tech's suggestion of adding a miniature fuse block would be more elegant than the splicing-and-soldering job I ended up doing. If I had planned ahead, that would have worked nicely, because I did spot a place inside the nosepiece where I could fit a miniature model. I just couldn't buy one the same day. NAPA had only a big fuse block (half as big as a pocket calculator), Autozone was out of stock of fuse blocks, and the Yamaha/Suzuki dealer didn't know what I was talking about. The beemer dealer was the only one who knew what I was talking about, and he suggested ordering a Centech fuse block online since he doesn't stock it. Too bad planning ahead didn't work for me.

 

Powering the GPS off of something that's always on does make sense - for one thing at start-up it takes a while for the Garmin to boot and it then presents touch-screen queries that I must answer before it does anything useful. I can imagine it will be a nuisance to wait for that, instead of riding off when I'm ready to ride. I was worried about running down my battery if I forgot and left the GPS on, but Ed had a good point that the battery should be able to withstand an overnight drain for that load.

 

The "Optional Extra Connector" looks like it would be a good place at the front of the bike to get unswitched 12V power. That is a blue connector on the left side just forward of the radio. That would avoid splicing. I don't know what's that connector was intended for, but its four terminals include 12V / GND, and there's no mating connector plugged into it. It's ready to use, if only I had a mating connector -- not sure what that kind of connector is called, or where to get it.

 

So I ended up tapping into the parking-brake light. Since Stan mentioned that it shares a 4A fuse with a bigger load (I didn't notice that myself), I swapped the 5W parking bulb for a 3.4 W version so that I'm less likely to blow that fuse.

 

One gotcha that I hope that I avoided was making it too hard to remove the nosepiece in the future. Since I soldered my wires, there's no quick disconnection that's possible, so I left lots of slack in the GPS power cable coiled up in the nosepiece. The slack will be enough that I can set the nosepiece on the floor when I need to take it off again.

[g_nuse]

I purchased a GM style weatherproof plug and tapped into the unused radio connector under the glove box of my R1150RT. I therefore always have power so I don't have to reset the GPS after startup.

[EricJRW]

Well I realize it's too late now, but on my '04 RT I found an unused/untapped (blue Molex) plug under the fairing (right side) up near the horn. Presumably for the radio, it gave me a perfect "always hot" place to "plug in" my GPS (my only extra device) with no splicing or soldering required.

 

FYI, the plug looked like this:

 

[NoHeat]

Well I realize it's too late now, but on my '04 RT I found an unused/untapped (blue Molex) plug under the fairing (right side) up near the horn.

 

Is that on the right (throttle) side or the left (clutch) side?

 

There's a blue connector on the left side that looks a lot like that. Just forward of the radio, maybe eight inches aft of the horn. Four pins, one of them is gnd and one is always-on 12V. I think it's called the 'optional extra' connector.

[EricJRW]

Sorry... It's is in fact the left (clutch) side...

 

I don't know what I was thinking and know better than to use "facing the bike" directions...

[Karp]

Okay, at the risk of sounding stupid (as if that ever happened before), which wires on the blue plug did you tap into? Did you splice into the wires or fit something into the plug? I am sure I could find out by using a multimeter, but I'd like to be sure. Did you remove the tupperware when you tapped into it? How did you run the wire down from the GPS?

Thanks

[awagnon]

Like others, I used the four pin accessory plug under the left side. I believe the red with white stipe (its been a while) is hot all the time and comes off a 15 Amp fuse. The brown is ground. If you don't have a radio, the violet and ?other color wire is hot all the time except when the key is in the "handlebar locked" position. It comes off a 4 amp fuse and it's the only thing on that fuse. Perfect for a gps. Stays on when you turn off the bike, but goes off if you lock the handlebar.