Total Motorcycle Community Forums

There is an article over on whybike.com that states how to add a cigarette lighter to your bike so you can make use of your battery. I'm thinking of getting into the whole helmet cam bit and I'd like to just tap off the battery.

http://www.whybike.com/blog/index.php?m=20060429

That is the article. Now, I have a question that wasn't cleared up in that article and he has his comments blocked so I'm hoping there are some electrical gurus here.

This is what I want to accomplish and forgive me if I sound like a novice when it comes to electrical material, because I am.

1) Buy a generic cigarette lighter socket.
2) Get the neccessary wire for it to run it along the length of my bike.
3) Have a fuse attached so I don't fry whatever I have plugged into it.
4) Attach it directly to the battery as I doubt I have an accessory line like other bikes do.

I can gather how to wire the wires up. However, how do you regulate how much the battery outputs or does the device that is connected draw out the power instead of being "force fed" more than it can handle by the battery? I know that if the voltage goes higher than the amp rating on a fuse, it'll blow the fuse. I'm needing this for something that would take about 5volts from the battery to keep a device charged while the bike is in motion. I know there is 5a and 10a fuses, do they make a 6? How does a generic fuse connect to the wiring?

This will be my electronics 101 course. .
To whomever responds, thanks very much.

The device will draw however much power it needs directly from the battery, and it will do this whether or not the bike is running if you hook up directly - this is the easiest type of wiring to do though.

You will need the following items to hook up your cigarrette lighter

1. wire
2. terminals to connect to the battery and the item in question
3. inline fuse holder
4. butt connectors to splice your wire to the fuse holder.

As for the fuse, if it is a small accessory like an ipod or the like, a 1 or 2 amp fuse will be lots; if it's going to be something like a 55W auxiliary light, then you will need at least a 5 - 10 amp fuse.

I can help you out with more precise info if I know what you are planning to run off the aux plug.

in-line fuse holders


an automotive cigar lighter

You want to wire from the frame side of the battery to the frame side of the cigar lighter, then the hot side of the cigar lighter to one side of the in-line fuse, then the other side of the in-line fuse to the hot side of the battery.

One side of your battery is connected to your bikes frame. Most likely it will be the negative side.
The cigar lighter should have a place to connect a wire to the frame and another connection to the center piece.

It would not hurt at all to put a simple waterproof switch in there too. Allows you to determine if it'll run off the battery and when. Plus it gives you the ability to safely deactivate teh cigarette lighter when you need to work on it.