So is there a plug under the hood for a 12v outlet?

Is there an unused power plug in the harness in the US models for a 12v socket? I ordered an entire harness and plug from powerlet. But now I'm thinking if the plug is there but unused, I will get a Goldwing power port and plug right in. Could it be simple like that? I have never taken all the front tupperware off any of my Swing's.

I've had it all apart, as have several others on this forum. I don't remember anyone finding an unused hot plug there.

Jon

:flower:

Honda supplies the hole in the left glove box but no easy power plug (connector) to get power from.

That's my luck. Thanks folks. Anyone have any tips to routing a wiring harness from said pocket back to battery?

Nope. There is no secret, unused, 12V plug (or plug wiring) in the US wire harness. The Euro & Asian Silverwings do come equipped with 12V outlets in the left cubby. You'll have to install a Goldwing, or other aftermarket, outlet on your own. And while you can fish hot & ground wires up thru the body work (remove the left side floor skirt), it is a much more accessible task if you remove the front end first. Especially if you would also like to take that opportunity to run some additional wiring for aux lights and switches.

Here is a YouTube video that will show you how, relatively, easy it is to remove the front end: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwr2KRGv8ho

Re the video:- Please tell me I don't have to go through all that to change a bulb! It was bad enough having to remove the dash on my Burgman!


Besides, where would I find three men to stand around watching, with their hands in their pockets!!

Nope the lower bulb can be changed easily from underneath of the fairing and for the upper one you have just to take off the w shape plastic by the help of a (!) credit card
.....................


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSQHRuNCk58

That rubber dust seal is hard to remove when replacing the bulb.

micbusathens wrote:

Nope the lower bulb can be changed easily from underneath of the fairing and for the upper one you have just to take off the w shape plastic by the help of a (!) credit card
.....................


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSQHRuNCk58

I watched that, and I will definitely use a credit card when it comes time to change the bulb on mine...I'll hand it to my Honda dealer when they get the job done!

Gyro wrote:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSQHRuNCk58

I watched that, and I will definitely use a credit card when it comes time to change the bulb on mine...I'll hand it to my Honda dealer when they get the job done!

Good thinking.

Jon

:flower:

The Canadian model comes equipped with the power outlet as well!

No ray of sunshine for me in this thread. Thanks folks.

Hotwing,I don't no where you got that information.My 09 don't have power supply.I ran one from the battery to the left glove box ,Its quite a job to install one.

tinman wrote:

Hotwing,I don't no where you got that information.My 09 don't have power supply.I ran one from the battery to the left glove box ,Its quite a job to install one.

My 05 got one. I've had the headlight garnish off while searching for power for my gps and the power outlet appears like its a part of the factory wiring harness. If someone installed it before me they must have had the skills of a honda assembly line worker!

Could be you got a European/Brit version??

Jon

It looks like you might have a Uro version . All I have is a knockout plug inside the glove box.

Do all the Canadian Silverwings have the power outlet as OEM equipment?

Do the UK Silverwings have the OEM power outlet as well?

Tim

UK and European Silverwings have the power socket in the left-hand cubby as standard.
It is permanently live, handy for connecting a battery-tender or solar-charger.

The basics are we've got the FJS that has a 12v socket, you've got the FSC that hasn't , and neither of us have the latest SW-T version that doesn't have a 12v socket either.

Canadian FSC models if they do have a 12v socket are probably European spec FJS models imported to Canada as their speedometers are also in kph eh!

I've got the 12volt outlet on my 07 Silverwing. I've had the bike nearly three years and never found a use for it. I run my heated clothing fom a connecting wire direct to the Battery and run under the seat.

My outlet may not be oem, but if someone wired it- that dude got skills.

Meldrew wrote:

The basics are we've got the FJS that has a 12v socket, you've got the FSC that hasn't , and neither of us have the latest SW-T version that doesn't have a 12v socket either.

Canadian FSC models if they do have a 12v socket are probably European spec FJS models imported to Canada as their speedometers are also in kph eh!

That's exactly where I was going with my question about the 12V outlet and KPH speedometers.

Revisiting the thread from awhile back where the poster wanted to be able to convert his Canadian-purchased SW so that it would read in MPH and have the odo display miles.

If the Euro scoots have the 12V socket and display KPH, and the US & Euro meter panel both have the capability of displaying MPH & KPH, then possibly the only difference lies in the wire harness itself --or wire harness terminal connections at the rear of the meter panel. And perhaps the way to convert the speedo & odo to read differently is merely a matter of adding or subtracting a wire connection.

Now if only someone with a KPH meter panel were able to catalog the wire harness color codes with the 12P & 16P terminal numbers on the meter panel...

Tim

While I had the front end off to replace the signal lenses (they were cloudy and scratched up), I tossed in a 12v outlet as well. It was a $5 item at my local auto parts store. It was necessary to take the front end off because this outlet was a two-part deal. Unscrewed the housing, stuffed the socket into the hole, screwed the housing onto the back to hold the socket in the hole.

Regarding wiring, I used a multimeter to find keyed 12v and ground in the headlight harness, and used parasite connectors like the photo below to tap into the existing wiring.

Overall, it was pretty easy once the front end was off. Getting the front end off wasn't as bad as I was expecting, but not exactly my idea of fun.

I think I spent more time trying to figure out if I could do it without removing the front end than I spent actually removing the front end. Certainly, more frustration was spent trying to avoid removing it.

I wired in an outlet in the left hand box of both of the SWs I've had. Both outlets were press fit so all you have to do is run the wire and then push the outlet into the existing hole. Some auto parts shops have these kind of outlets, they have plastic wings that pop out after the outlet is pressed in. I got mine from Wingstuff an very good online vendor. They are sold with a connector on them to install in a GW. I wired mine the easy way, used zip cord (120V two conductor power cord) I used a piece of thin welding rod (A coathanger straightened out would work) to pull a piece of nylon cord down through the outlet and out the bottom of the bike. Then with the left rear cover off, ran the fish wire down and forward until I could pull another piece of nylon cord out of the bottom of the scooter. Once I had the two pieces coming out of the same slot in the bottom cover I tied them together and pulled the electrical wire through from the cubby to the rear and through beside the battery cable hole inside the trunk. I installed an in line fuse holder with a ten amp fuse in line with the new wire and to the battery. The other wire was attached to a frame ground under the left rear cover. It really isn't a difficult job and only takes a half hour or so including jiggling the new wire through. I like to have these kind of outlets direct wired and hot all the time so I can leave my cell phone in the lock box to charge when the bike is parked. It also makes it easy to use a battery tender like the Harbor Freight cheapo. Just replace the clip leads on the tender with a 12V plug and you have a quick and easy way to hook up a tender.

exavid wrote:

I like to have these kind of outlets direct wired and hot all the time so I can leave my cell phone in the lock box to charge when the bike is parked.

That's not a bad idea, actually. I may change mine up (ugh, that might mean taking the front off again to get to my wiring). My GPS barely charges if it's running, so sometimes when I turn off the ignition the GPS battery craps out after a couple of minutes. Being able to shut it off and leave it to charge on the bike would be helpful.

Every run down your bike's battery by charging your phone too long? In cars, it would take a ridiculously long time to do that, but what about scooters, with the smaller battery?

A friend of mine who bought a SWing about a week after I did is asking about the 12V outlet. So I hunted down the snap-in kind you mentioned. Here is one.

[quote="Scoundrel"]

exavid wrote:

My GPS barely charges if it's running, so sometimes when I turn off the ignition the GPS battery craps out after a couple of minutes.

Scoundrel,

Check out ebay for replacement battery as it sounds as if yours has passed it's sell by date.
A replacement battery for my TomTom Rider II was £8 (about $12) including postage - far cheaper than a new unit.

Cheers,

Thanks, but it's not the battery. I have two of these models a few production runs apart and they both have done it since new. They seem to have designed it more to "run on external power" more than to "run and charge on external power at the same time". If I do a wall charger overnight with the unit powered off, it will run for several hours on that charge. If I start the day with the battery low and use it on 12v most of the day, when done it will still be low, maybe a bit more charged than when I started.

I won't buy another of this brand, but I'll work around the quirks of this model until it's time to replace them.

In the meantime I just carry a couple of spare alkaline batteries for just in case.

Yes it sounds as if the mains charger puts out enough power to charge whilst the 12v just enough (+ a tiny bit more) to run it. Pain in the backside if away on a trip for a few days and can't do a lot of planning for the next day etc. Talking of planning have you seen TYRE, you can plan and download straight to TomTom or Garmin but can save in other formats as well.

What system is it? I didn't know of one that could utilise alkaline batteries as a power source.

Cheers,

It's a DeLorme Earthmate PN-40. I have it attached with a RAM mounting system, and can easily move it between my scooter, Polaris RZR, or Yamaha Grizzly. I chose this unit because it's waterproof even when the external power cord is attached. At the time of purchase, Garmin and TomTom did not have a unit that met my requirements as well as this one.

This system is designed for hiking/bicycling/off road vehicles. Most of the units in its class can either use the lithium/ion batteries and recharge them, or you can put alkaline AA size batteries in there.

I have been using Garmin's Mapsource (I also have a very old Garmin GPSMap 76c) to create routes and download them in GPX format to an SD card, which goes inside the PN-40. But this version of MapSource is pretty basic.

I'll give TYRE a try. Thanks for the tip!
Since the software is free (for the basic version), I have to ask the question: How accurate/up to date are the maps?
In my somewhat limited experience with GPS mapping programs, it seems that these folks feel that their maps are worth their weight in gold. So what kind of completeness/accuracy can I expect from this program?

But, we're drifting off topic...

Scratch that "accuracy" question. Looks like it uses Google Maps, which is great! I have often used Google Maps to plan my route, and wanted to save it as a GPX file. I thought that was a glaring omission on Google's part.

This fills the gap nicely and is much easier to work with than MapSource.

I may buy the full version.

One of the owners and creators is a Dutch priest. Two of his passions are motorcycling and gps so this combines the two.

Works great with my TomTom units.

I think I should have been a cartographer instead of a computer technician.
I just love reading and creating maps.

Cheers,

I created a couple of routes and saved them as GPX files, put them on the SD card and plugged that into the GPS. It can view the tracks, but gets an error message when attempting to "Follow" (navigate turn by turn) them.

Google Search indicates this is a common problem when trying to use Google Earth tracks on a Delorme GPS.

I just installed the Topo software (again) that came with the DeLorme, thinking I could import the GPX and then sync it to the GPS. I was hoping to avoid using that software if I could because it's not very good, but so be it.

Problem is, that didn't exactly work. it still wants to calculate its own route, and it fails to do so. It gets about 90% and then hangs there. Sometimes it reboots itself at that point, other times it just hangs there until I press the cancel button.

This GPS has never been good at actually navigating, despite several firmware updates. It's what I get for not buying a Garmin.

I can still load up the GPX tracks and view them on the screen while the GPS shows me where I am in relation to them, but I won't get the turn-by-turn or remaining mileage information.

Maybe I'll look into a TomTom RIDER.

Scoundrel,

I've just done some checking and the TomTom Rider isn't available anymore in the States. So it maybe that the Garmin Zumo is the best waterproof unit for motorcycle use. Have a search on this forum and see what users think of it. Never used a Garmin unit myself.

Cheers,

tarmacburner2 wrote:

Scoundrel,

I've just done some checking and the TomTom Rider isn't available anymore in the States. So it maybe that the Garmin Zumo is the best waterproof unit for motorcycle use. Have a search on this forum and see what users think of it. Never used a Garmin unit myself.

Cheers,

There was a used one on eBay with a bunch of accessories for $179.

But, what I decided to do instead is buy a RAM cradle and adapter for my TomTom XXL 550. It's not waterproof, but if I'm using it on the scooter and get caught in the rain, I can toss it in the glove box.

Good idea.

Cheers,

I actually took a Goldwing socket and installed it under the seat and used a fused line from the battery for the power. Since the seat is not water tight there is plenty of space to run cords out to wherever and whatever you need. But mostly my wife uses it for the phone and/or her Ipad.

Rob

Final configuration: