Wiring Rider 550
I had a Rider 2 wired to my new bike by the dealer and have just replaced it with the new 550.
As the leads are now different I will need the new connection point. Can I simply splice the red and black wires from the old lead to the new one?
As the leads are now different I will need the new connection point. Can I simply splice the red and black wires from the old lead to the new one?
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Comments
Superusers
Yes that should work make sure you insulate them properly after.
Superusers
@snakepliskin Good Idea, but make sure you connect to the battery/power side of the brake light switch or you will only charge the Rider 5xx when you apply the brakes
ATB YFM
Welcome to the forum community.
First thing to do is to take a look at the fuse block on your motorcycle, and see if it has a spare (unused) terminal on it. Most Japanese bikes bigger than about 500cc will have a fuse labelled "accessory" (or similar) in the fuseblock - this fuse is not used, it is put there by the manufacturer to allow owners to connect aftermarket electrical loads.
If you do find an accessory fuse, source your power from there. Just plug the red wire of the TomTom harness into the output side of the accessory fuse.
If you don't find an accessory fuse, you now have two choices: Connect the GPS power cable to the battery (unswitched power - the GPS cable will have power 24 hours a day), or connect the GPS power cable to a source of switched power, meaning, power is only available when the ignition key is turned on. I strongly recommend that you connect to a source of switched power.
The next decision is where to get the switched power from. The answer to that will vary depending on the complexity of your motorcycle, whether it is a little Vespa or a 1800 cc Gold Wing. In principle, you want to source your GPS power from a circuit that is not "safety-critical". In other words, it's not a good idea to source power from your brake light, horn, or low-beam headlight circuits, because those are safety-critical circuits - you would expose yourself to risk if a problem in the GPS wiring caused the fuse to blow for one of those circuits.
You might want to consider piggybacking the GPS power supply onto the high-beam circuit, or perhaps the starter motor circuit.
Unfortunately, TomTom does not supply an inline fuse on the wiring harness that they provide with the Rider 550. So, you'll need to go to an automotive supply store and pick up an inline fuse assembly, along with a 2 amp fuse. Attach one end of the inline fuse assembly to the end of the red wire on the TomTom wiring harness, and then use your Scotch-Lock connector to piggyback onto the power supply wire for the circuit you have selected (for example, the high beam circuit).
The fuse is extremely important. You're not installing the fuse to protect the TomTom, you are installing the fuse to protect the whole rest of the motorcycle electrical system from possible damage if there is ever a short circuit in the wiring harness for the GPS. This could happen, for example, if the GPS wiring harness gets pinched between two parts, or rubs up against a hot part, or if the rubber over the GPS wiring harness frets away due to friction from rubbing against a metal part of the motorcycle.
You can connect the black wire of the TomTom harness directly to any "known good" ground source on your motorcycle.
I've posted two pictures below. One shows an inline fuse. These come in various electrical capacities, obviously you don't need one as robust as the one in the picture (note that it shows a 30 amp fuse installed), but you do need to get one with a little rubber cover that fits over the fuse, as shown in the picture.
The other picture shows what is called an "inline connector". This is a connector that is designed to connect a new wire (the end of your inline fuse) onto an existing wire without having to cut the existing wire. You can buy an inline connector from the same automotive supply shop you get the inline fuse from.
There are other, more professional ways of hooking up the wiring harness, but I have written this response to describe the simplest possible way.
Michael
Inline Fuse Assembly (get a 16 or 18 gauge version, with a 2 amp fuse)
Inline Connectors (get the correct size to fit the wire on your moto that you will be piggybacking onto)