A quick guide to installing USB power to a Honda VFR 1200

A quick guide to installing USB power to a Honda VFR 1200

My first post here. Will improve the layout wjen i have worked out how to. Just thought I'd share this as it may be useful to soneone

So you want to go touring and need power for your GPS or you simply can’t do without having your phone connected at all times . Either way a USB (or other) power supply on the bike is always a good idea.
There are many posts on this subject and everyone has their own way of doing things – this is simply mine however I think it’s a better solution than simply a direct connection to the battery, although more work is involved.
The basic premise is that on your lovely VFR 1200 there is a fuse labelled ACC. This is for accessories and importantly switches with your ignition so that the usb device doesn’t slowly drain your battery .
From this there is a dedicated accessory socket which is hidden under the left panel for your convenience.
Therefore this guide will demonstrate how to attach and connect a usb device to your yoke utilising this accessory socket. It’s actually an easy job albeit a little time consuming
Kit:
• Any beer of your choosing
• 2m 18 awg cable (the flexible silicone insulator type are good) in three different colours. Green, orange and yellow for example. Green is quite important as it is the main earth colour on the bike. Don’t use thicker gauge wire as you will have trouble connecting to the plugs
• Yoshimura HX 040 plug (this attaches to your accessory socket).
• 2 more plugs and sockets. One for your usb power and another as a spare. You may as well stick with Yoshimura but get the MT 090 as they are slightly bigger and easier to assemble
• 1 roll of loom tape
• 3BR racing products usb power cable. Mine came with a Deutsch connector as I got it cheap from eBay so I simply used a male end on the loom to make the connection
• JB weld – to glue the usb socket to the yoke
• Variety of heat shrink tubes
• Cable ties

Tools required:
Basic garage tools – screw drivers, allen keys, pliers etc
Soldering iron and solder
Cable stripping tool ideally
multimeter

Process:
• Remove left hand panel and tank cover – a ham fisted approach simply breaks lugs so read the guides carefully. It’s actually quite easy once you’ve done it a few times
• Find the accessory socket, untape it and remove the plug.
o On this plug you will notice 4 wires.
 Green is earth
 White and Green always has power and is connected to the CLOCK fuse
 Black and Yellow is on with the ignition and is connected to the ACC fuse
 Pink and Green is the vehicle speed pulse and has no use whatsoever
o Check this is true with a multimeter
• Begin by creating your loom by routing one cable sensibly from the accessory socket to the rear of the bike by the brake light travelling past the fuse box on the left hand side. Removing the luggage rack helps with routing underneath
• Mark a point near the bank of relays under the left hand cowl where to splice into a junction for the usb power
• Remove this cable and mark the other three
• Remove some of the insulator at this mark on all three cables – a cable stripper does a good job or just use a blade
• Solder a short length of wire to each and insulate once more with heat shrink
• Wrap the bundle of three wires in loom tape and re-install into the bike. Secure with cable ties or more loom tape
• Connect the plugs to each of the three ends of your loom. I soldered the pins on as I think crimping is just asking for trouble later on
o Be careful which wire goes where and keep it uniform. Ensure the ACC wire marries up with positive on the usb otherwise it will be on always
o Top tip – with Yoshimura connectors always crimp the rubber seals before inserting the pin into the casing
• CAREFULLY glue the usb block to the yoke. I prefer this option as glue can be removed however drilled holes are harder to conceal if you change things round later. Cable ties are a poor solution as there are no good option for mounting as far as I could see
• IMPORTANT – ensure you are able to turn the forks fully both ways without snagging or pulling the usb lead
• Leave the spare socket in the void proximal to the rear head lamp should you ever want power for something there



Like I said this was only my way of doing things. I’m sure you will find your own and may well be a better solution. If I was to do this again I would have changed the loom tape for a plastic version but otherwise I’m happy with the results
Bubbles_ VFR world March 2018

Bike 1 by Bubbles_ posted Mar 9, 2018 at 9:36 AM

Bike 2 by Bubbles_ posted Mar 9, 2018 at 9:36 AM

Bike 3 by Bubbles_ posted Mar 9, 2018 at 9:36 AM

Bike 4 by Bubbles_ posted Mar 9, 2018 at 9:36 AM

Bike 5 by Bubbles_ posted Mar 9, 2018 at 9:36 AM