Above, All the removed components. Right, The aux socket connector – theoretically waterproof but obviously not actually so.
After removing the
Centech, its relay and the spaghetti-like mess of wires running all over the place, I also removed some excess wiring from an old
set of auxiliary
lights and the auxiliary socket as well. The socket was broken and corroded, which was an indication that I hadn’t been taking very good care of it after riding in the rain. Any fuse panel that supplies switched power needs a “trigger
wire” – a connection to a wire that gets power when the ignition key gets turned to ON. A previous owner of my GS ran the trigger wire for the Centech to a wire on the diagnostic port. I’ve seen that done on other bikes, and it occasionally causes problems, so I wanted to remove that. I like to connect the trigger wire to the tail light; it’s more difficult, but I think it’s a more reliable connection in the long run. After incorporating the trigger wire into the tail light’s connec- tor, I was ready to get to wiring things up. With all the old wiring removed, all that was left was to find a
place for the Fuzeblock’s fuse. I bought a common automotive/ marine waterproof fuse holder and screwed it down where the plate that holds the owner’s manual used to be. This enabled me to keep the “hot” wire to the battery as short as possible, though I did have to lengthen one of the wires to get to the Fuzeblock. With the hot, ground and trigger wires measured, stripped and
connected, the Fuzeblock was wired in and ready to go. Once every- thing was located (measure twice, cut once!), the wires got some support with a zip tie. With the Fuzeblock screwed to the base of the tool kit compartment and the wires zip-tied through a conveniently located hole, the whole thing looked and felt secure. After getting all of that done, I hooked up the new aux socket and ran its wires to the right place on the bike; I snipped off the socket’s fuse holder because I was going to run it through the fuse panel.
August 2016 BMW OWNERS NEWS 53
Removing the entire tail light assembly isn’t necessary, but you do have to take out the mounting screws and drop it down to get access to the wires.
The trigger wire (red with yellow stripe) crimped together with the tail light wire into one spade connector – this makes for a strong, reliable connection.
The Fuzeblock’s fuse holder has a crimped-on connector for the battery…
…and a butt-spliced crimped connector to make the wire long enough to reach the Fuzeblock. Crimped connections are easier to do (provided you have the right tool and connectors) than soldered connections. They’re not necessarily better than soldered connections, but they are easier to repair on the side of the road if necessary.
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