Autocom Location, Location, Location

[JohnNorCal]

I have had my Pro7 for a few years now. I have the factory radio tapped from the speakers, an IWay 500 and the PTT with the Kenwood Radio.

 

Until now I have had everything in a Big Mak tank bag. I run a SAE plug for the power, the two audios and the PTT wire in through a hole in the side of the bag.

 

This is my problem...when I am around the house no problem just leave everything installed. When I travel I don't like to leave the tank bag on the bike. I don't like the hastle of having to unplug everything and then pushing all of the plugs in and out of the hole every morning.

 

I don't mind everything being in the tank bag but I am seriously considering mounting in the tail section or on the air filter. I don't know if the unit will fit on the air filter because my seat is on the lowest position.

 

Everybody seems to migrate from the under the seat to the tank bag. Am I missing something? Do the tank bag people have custom cables made so that all of the disconnects are on the outside of the bag?

 

Thanks in advance,

[EffBee]

John, if you'll look here, you'll find the story of my tankbag installation and electrification. The surface-mounted power input plug I used is from Powerlet. The part number is PTB-001, although the PTB-006 also contains the lead that connects to the plug.

 

Inside, I stripped the plug down to a couple of wires, then connected these to a fused power buss on the positive side, and a grounding block on the negative side. The buss and the block I connected the power leads to my Autocom, my V-1 and my Roady XM.

 

When I pull into a restaurant parking lot, I do one of two things. If one of the saddlebags is empty, I remove the tankbag and store it in there. If they're both full, I take the tankbag into the restaurant (or motel, or whatever) with me. I can remove the bag, plug and all, in 5-8 seconds.

 

I've had my Autocom in about 4 different locations in the past 6 years. Some were better than others. But nothing, and I mean NOTHING, works better than having everything in the tankbag. At least that's my experience. Don't abandon what you've done. Redesign it.

[JohnNorCal]

I've got the power connection down. It's just the audio and radio connections. Maybe if I run the kenwood radio plug on the outside of the bag so that I don't have to keep fishing it through the side of the bag.

[UberXY]

John: I have the Autocom in the little glove box on the left side. I also have a cell phone mount in there, plus a cigarette lighter socket to accomodate the car type cell phone charger, plus the Valentine audio unit. Everything is velcroed to the walls of the glove box, and I have tried to keep the wiring short and neat. Despite all this junk, I still have room for a wallet, registration, etc.

[Ken H.]

Everybody seems to migrate from the under the seat to the tank bag. Am I missing something?

I have scratched my head about, and asked once about this very thing. I think what it boils down to in the, in tank bag vs. installed on the bike options is the portability thing. Either because one routinely changes between bikes, or occasionally upgrades to a different bike and doesn't want to go through all the installation on the bike rigmarole again.