Add USB Charger to Motorcycle (turnable Off)

Our devices need power. Bring a power-bank is an option but use the machine's power is much more convenient!

In this instructable I will explain you how I plug an usb charger to the main power circuit. With a trick the charger will start only at the moto ignition. No big skill needed here, only a few knowledge of your motorcycle and some curiosity ;)

First you need to find where put the charger. All kit are provided with a handlebar mount. Personally I think it's ugly and not safe.

I place the device under the dashboard, between forks. It's easy to plug it to the headlight (see step 3), discreet and weatherproof. On the other side I have placed the fuse for an easy maintenance. I use a custom mount for this.

= This is an optional step =

To avoid ruining my phone I chose to replace the original charger by a trusted brand. Aukey follows USB-C specifications and had a fast charing way. So I bought 2 chargers: the Aukey is dedicated to car and the no-name in dedicated to moto with waterproof case, fuse and wire ring terminals. I disassembled both to put the Aukey system inside the waterproof case.

As they both work on a car/motorcycle circuit they both accept 12-24V. Then no worries about input power.

I needed to cut the cables at the right length before I sold cables to the charging system. That's why chose the place before prepare the device is important.

Seller recommands connect the charger directly to the moto battery (that's why cable are so long). Sure it's quick to install but it's a bad practice: cables will roam all along the moto, the charger will be continuously powered and it obstructs battery access.

To feed the charger we will "steal" power to the headlight, in this way the usb charger will be not powered when the main circuit is down. It also provides a shorter cable that is stored with dashboard/headlight cables.

No worries about overvoltage, the usb charger has a dedicated fuse.

For this trick we will use a plier tap connector "Scotch-Lock" (don't confuse with T-tap or Wago connector). This connector allow you to plug a cable with an other very quickly without cut the cable.

How-to: cut the red wire ring terminal of the charger cable. Put the charger's red cable and the headlight's red cable in the plier tap. Connect them by closing the plier tap (the metal bridge will chop each cable without cut them).

For the circuit ground, check next step.

Now it's time to place your charger on your moto. For this I use the dashboard screws to maintain the mount and on the other side I screwed the circuit ground.

The custom mount previously built fit perfectly. To avoid vibration I stuck it on the fork with a little rubber piece.

It's totally invisible but easy to reach!

Hope this instructable helped you.