How much power are you trying to get? To charge a phone or other more power hungry device like GPS?

 

Right now, the stock USB-A port on the bike can't keep up with my phone if I'm running two apps, like navigation and music streaming to my helmet.

It's specific to the Harley USB-A port on the bike. I use the same cord and various USB-A ports on other bikes (aftermarket) or via cigarette lighter chargers in the cars. They all can keep up with the phone. Only when I'm doing things like recording video while riding do I start to get ahead of the charging capabilities on some of them.

Do I need a zillion amps from a supercharger type USB-C port? No. But since USB-C is the proverbial wave of the future, I'd like to replace the stock USB-A port on the bike with a USB-C port and enjoy the increased power.

Surprisingly, to me, I don't find anyone making a drop in replacement for the stock USB-A port. Not the end of the world for me to have to wire one up myself. And if I do that, I'll likely use a more convenient and accessible location, likely the handlebars. Might even put the classic cigarette lighter up there too at that point. I rarely run the old Garmin GPS, but sometimes it's nice to have, and that's what it plugs into.

 

If the Garmin is 12V then something like this might work out. Might be a cleaner install somewhere near where the original is so not to clutter the handle bar areas.

[Upgraded] Cigarette Lighter Socket Outlet Splitter, Quick Charge 3.0 USB Charger Power Outlet with LED, 12V USB Outlet Marine Waterproof Power Panel Adapter DIY Kit for Car Boat Marine RV, etc

 

I had the same problem; H-D usb port could not keep iPhone 14 running GPS app charged. New, higher quality cable fixed it. Until I tried running a music app at the same time.

This fixed it:
Carpuride W702
Don't pay list price! Lots of discounts available from them.

Now I can run 2 apps with phone unplugged, it stays in my pocket. I expect that a long riding day, which hasn't happened yet, will require that the phone get plugged in at some point. Because the phone's display is off battery life is extended.

I have bluetooth speaker, but don't have a mic yet.

I wound up installing the H-D Electrical Connection Harness 69201599A to get multiple 12v power sources too.

 

The amount of current has nothing to do with the type of connection. There are 3+ amp regular usb outlets. My suggestion is to wire an SAE plug straight to your battery to use with a battery tender, and hook something to that which will give you a 3 amp USB outlet with whatever plug you want. Changing from the old USB type port to the newer one isn't going to create more current; it's just a plug. In the last 15 years, charging standards have gone from 1 amp to 2.1 to over 3 amps. if you want the fastest charging, you need the 3 amp port.

 

That just isn't true. A USB-C outlet can deliver up to 240 watts. A USB-A outlet maxxes out at about 12 watts; if it uses QuickCharge it can get up to about 18.


That would certainly work. You can get a QuickCharge or USB-C adapter, or both, that connects to SAE.

Another way to go would be the power cable extension that Harley makes for the Softails, which connects in the USB caddy and brings a 12V connector out for attaching things like heated grips or other accessories. It uses the same connector as the touring bikes have in their fairings, so you could probably find something that fits.

 

There will always be UsB-a cables with whatever end you need for as long as we live. Or at least adapters..I’d save my energy.

 

Regarding the conversion: it looks like it'd be pretty simple. You just need a port and a place to mount it. Revelator Alf shows how to install the 69201750 cable which provides an open 12V connection in this video:

That's the cable I installed to power my heated grips; it was really simple to do. You would probably be able to get the full 36 watts of a normal USB-C on a 12V supply. You could mount a USB-C port on the handlebars or wherever else you want.

Alternatively, if you want to stay self-contained within the box under the tank, this is a shot of what it looks like, taken from the above video:




Now, it's rather spacious in there as-is. But if you install the electrical cable, it takes up a lot of that space. So I'm thinking if you wanted to replace the existing USB-A with a USB-C, you could just unplug the existing one and then either snip off the connector end and use those bare wires to wire in a new USB-C port, or (perhaps better yet) get the right connector and make your own. Reason I say that is Harley charges $85 for that USB-A assembly! Might be able to ebay that for $30 or so and cover your costs that way. Then get a dash-mounted USB-C and wire it to that new connector, plug it in, and then you have to cut a hole in the box to mount the new USB-C, or maybe try to fit it through the same hole as the USB-A port was in. Might require using a 3D Printer to print up an adapter plate so it fits snugly and waterproof.

 

Except that won't give the increased power output that a USB-C port is capable of. If you plug any adapter or cable into that Harley port, the most you're going to get out of it is about 10 watts of power, no matter what you've got connected on the other side. That's about all that Harley port can deliver, is about 2.1 amps at 5V, for about 10.5 watts maximum.

If you go with a native USB-C port, you can get about 3.5x as much power out of it.

 

I'm not sure of the possible charge rate of your device or your claims. 3 amps at 5 volts is 15 watts, so my understanding of what is going on already is that 50% more current is going through my "USB-A" (as you call them) ports as you claim. That said, I also don't have an ammeter attached in series with the connection, so I can't claim that I've measured what is coming out of the wall and going into my phone. I also have a GPS hard wired to my handlebar so I am not relying on my phone to provide me with navigation, and with the screen off, any USB port will charge my phone faster than it can discharge. If it's really true that 24 times more current goes through a USB-C port, this thread would make a lot more sense. I'm curious as to what the source of that information is.