Fit accessory socket to dashboard
I don’t know why bike manufacturers always fit the external power socket down on the side of the bike rather than in the dashboard, but they do – so we have to fit our own.
I got a ‘marine’ cigarette lighter style socket from Maplins for about £5 IIRC. It feels quite well-made, is enclosed at the rear and has a rubber cap to help keep the weather out.
'Marine' accessory socket
The area next to the heated grips switch ( which I’m also going to move ) seems a likely spot, so I take the screen and cockpit off to see what’s behind there.
Fair bit of space there – looks good. So I take my drill to the dashboard.
The accessory socket slides straight in, and there’s no fouling of any wiring. I dump the ‘facia’ that came with the socket as it was too big and wouldn’t sit flat on the curved dash. Instead I fabricate a fairly thick rubber washer to make up for this curvature. Also, as there is only one retaining bolt ( plastic ) supplied with the marine socket, I use a dab of super-glue as a form of threadlock.
I spliced the wiring into the existing accessory socket on the left hand side of the bike. I managed to route the wiring under the tank fairly successfully without actually having to take the tank off, although I will cable-tie more securely into place next time the tank is off.
Et voila. Accessory socket in the dash. Excellent!
