So, Thursday after work, I started removing the fairings that prevented access the electrical wires on the bike, to properly connect both the GPS base and the 2 light kits…
The hardest part when you’re not use to just tear down your brand new bike is, trying to get organized and not lose any small parts, screws, clips and other tiny pieces… I had removed one side of the fairings once to install my GPS tracker in a hidden position – I use to carry it around in the frunk but that was not so convenient when I needed to store my helmet in it, so I had opted for a more permanent location under the fairing. I had already faced the issue of not remembering which screws was going where, and even lost one clip that disappeared somewhere dark down in the engine region that I could not reach. So this time, I tried to store every related part together… at least in the beginning…
Thing is, first evening spent doing that led to some issues trying to wire things properly without causing a possible constant leak on the battery. I realize now that it would have been one thousand times easier to just buy the accessory relay/kit from Honda and just wire things from the two “option A” and “option B” connectors, but hey I wanted to see it work and the dealership was already closed. Impatience is a bad advisor, I guess.
For some reason, I quickly realized when trying to test things that my battery was drained, and since my wiring made sense – I connected everything AFTER the ignition switch – nothing could drain the battery without the key switched to ON. So I ended suspecting the GPS tracker to have already drained the battery to the 12.4V limit when the USB connector would stop providing power to it. Then the switching on and off, the lights and GPS base draining more, trying to start the bike and failing, all helped just drain the battery down far too much and the display and symbols started to behave erratically by the end of the night, so little after midnight I called it a day.
Yesterday, after work again, I went back to it, but with a new information in hand: my luggage rack, side boxes and engine plate had arrived in the afternoon, so I would finish it all over the week-end – all the more that rain was announced so the trip to Mt. Baker was considered cancelled.
So the evening, yesterday, consisted mostly in finishing the wiring of the front lights (Photon Blasters), testing, wiring the back lights (P3), testing, and realizing that with a low battery I couldn’t test properly. So around 8pm I drove to Canadian Tire – I love it to have such kind of stores (and Best Buy’s) open until 9pm – and bought a Jump Starter, came back home, plugged it, and tested the light kits again. I noticed I had not properly wired the turning signals and brake detection cable, so I did the necessary modifications. All was now working fine. Next step was… going to bed.
Today, I will see what it takes to install the Engine Plate – I hope I can install it myself – and then put the fairings back (and play musical chairs with the screws, possibly), then install the sides and top racks, then the side boxes. And then, hope the rain will stop and I can ride a bit with my new lights and cases and take the opportunity to recharge the battery while at it.
And maybe get a well deserved grande latte at Starbucks and read more about my RTW trip. Oh, and post pictures here.
By the way, this is how it looked on Thursday night… at least the front lights were working then…
Asteria feeling pretty much naked…
Don’t look at the turn signal hanging out, the front lights are WORKING!
