DIY Cheap Mods
Stellar HDF Member
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 3,386
Likes: 254
From: Southern California
For those trying to see if they are using all of thier tire. An old race car driving trick for adjusting tire pressures, corner weights, springs, and/or the alignment is to use a bit of white shoe polish. Use the liquid type that comes in a squeeze bottle with the little square foam applicator. Put a dab at about 3 or 4 equally spaced points on each side of your tire from the edge of the tread to an inch or so towards the center of the tire. After you've ridden your favorite road take a look at how much of the white shoe polish is left . . . raise and lower your tire pressures 1 PSI at a time . . . you'll be amazed at how much difference a little bit of pressure can make . . . 
2nd Gear
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 6
Likes: 0
From: Houston
[quote=Radimus;6876555]I saw this at amazon and see it as a 'more efficient' version of a cigarette plug as most everything runs off USB now...
Thanks for the pics & install info. I'll be doing this mod.
Reading thru the 7 pages on the CBR forum, I was surprised that no one thought of using 2 or more of the regulator chips in parallel to get more power at the plug.
I think I'll use a single pole on off switch with the LED indicator.
Wire the port to be hot when the bike is running. If ever needed, turn the switch on to power the plug when the bike is off.
Great idea. Thanks for posting it.
Thanks for the pics & install info. I'll be doing this mod.
Reading thru the 7 pages on the CBR forum, I was surprised that no one thought of using 2 or more of the regulator chips in parallel to get more power at the plug.
I think I'll use a single pole on off switch with the LED indicator.
Wire the port to be hot when the bike is running. If ever needed, turn the switch on to power the plug when the bike is off.
Great idea. Thanks for posting it.
Thread Starter
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May our Moderator Rest in Peace
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 11,386
Likes: 35
From: Rochester, NY
I know that doesn't sound like much, but you need to consider that a USB plug can't take much more than that without seriously overheating, or even burning out.
Using one chip per connector is about the best you can get away with before you have to worry about cooking the connectors or cables.
One tip that I didn't see in any of the write ups is that on that type of regulator chip.
The metal tag on top does double duty as a heat sink and second ground connection.
When they are used on electronic logic boards they are normally mounted vertically with some kind of heat radiator bolted to it.
This keeps the heat it generates away from the logic board and other electronic parts.
So if you want to make it last longer and prevent it from cooking anything else near it, a good idea would be to put it away from any wires or plastic with one of those heat radiators or better yet route the wires so it will allow you to solidly mount it to a bare (scrape or sand off the powder coating) flat part of the bike's frame with a little heat transfer grease (available at any Radio Shack).
This will also eliminate the need to drag a ground wire from the battery, or another part of the wiring.
That will allow it to transfer any generated heat to the bike's metal frame as well as electrically ground the chip.
Last edited by In Memoriam Citoriplus; Jul 18, 2010 at 10:56 PM.
Stock Levers
I took off the stock levers and polished them on the wheel with rouge. Far better than stock, but I'm not too happy about the level attained with my Harbor Freight polish sticks. I need better rouge.
Tourer
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 347
Likes: 0
From: Tampa
You might want to rethink that idea. Each chip can handle about 1 amp at 5V.
I know that doesn't sound like much, but you need to consider that a USB plug can't take much more than that without seriously overheating, or even burning out.
Using one chip per connector is about the best you can get away with before you have to worry about cooking the connectors or cables.
One tip that I didn't see in any of the write ups is that on that type of regulator chip.
The metal tag on top does double duty as a heat sink and second ground connection.
When they are used on electronic logic boards they are normally mounted vertically with some kind of heat radiator bolted to it.
This keeps the heat it generates away from the logic board and other electronic parts.
So if you want to make it last longer and prevent it from cooking anything else near it, a good idea would be to put it away from any wires or plastic with one of those heat radiators or better yet route the wires so it will allow you to solidly mount it to a bare (scrape or sand off the powder coating) flat part of the bike's frame with a little heat transfer grease (available at any Radio Shack).
This will also eliminate the need to drag a ground wire from the battery, or another part of the wiring.
That will allow it to transfer any generated heat to the bike's metal frame as well as electrically ground the chip.
I know that doesn't sound like much, but you need to consider that a USB plug can't take much more than that without seriously overheating, or even burning out.
Using one chip per connector is about the best you can get away with before you have to worry about cooking the connectors or cables.
One tip that I didn't see in any of the write ups is that on that type of regulator chip.
The metal tag on top does double duty as a heat sink and second ground connection.
When they are used on electronic logic boards they are normally mounted vertically with some kind of heat radiator bolted to it.
This keeps the heat it generates away from the logic board and other electronic parts.
So if you want to make it last longer and prevent it from cooking anything else near it, a good idea would be to put it away from any wires or plastic with one of those heat radiators or better yet route the wires so it will allow you to solidly mount it to a bare (scrape or sand off the powder coating) flat part of the bike's frame with a little heat transfer grease (available at any Radio Shack).
This will also eliminate the need to drag a ground wire from the battery, or another part of the wiring.
That will allow it to transfer any generated heat to the bike's metal frame as well as electrically ground the chip.
I get about 480 mA out of 1 USB port, which is adequate for most devices, but I was really thinking about putting 2 in parallel for the devices like iPhones and the Dell Streak (and others likely) that can draw up to 1A with custom cigarette adapters.
Some devices also will not charge using standard USB unless pins 2 & 3 are shorted or have a 200ohm resistor, depends on the device and how annoying it wants to be... Still looking into it.
On my install, I mounted the regulator to the inside of the speedo console with a drop of ceramic heat compound and clipped it right to the console.
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Thread Starter
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May our Moderator Rest in Peace
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 11,386
Likes: 35
From: Rochester, NY
Radimus,
I gather from your post that you have a more than a passing acquaintance with electronics.
I was making that observation more for the benefit of others around here who may not be as well versed in the use of regulators and USB posts as you seem to be.
I just don't want someone to accidentally try putting more power through a USB port than it can take and have it or the cable do a melt down on them.
Otherwise I love the whole concept and have been looking at my bike to see where I can put a setup like that on my bike.
I personally resist the idea of putting the ports in the console like you did. Call me strange, but I just don't like the idea of cutting holes in it.
I'm thinking of putting the ports in a box (maybe waterproof) I can mount under the front of the tank.
I gather from your post that you have a more than a passing acquaintance with electronics.
I was making that observation more for the benefit of others around here who may not be as well versed in the use of regulators and USB posts as you seem to be.
I just don't want someone to accidentally try putting more power through a USB port than it can take and have it or the cable do a melt down on them.
Otherwise I love the whole concept and have been looking at my bike to see where I can put a setup like that on my bike.
I personally resist the idea of putting the ports in the console like you did. Call me strange, but I just don't like the idea of cutting holes in it.
I'm thinking of putting the ports in a box (maybe waterproof) I can mount under the front of the tank.
Good call. FWIW, I put a switch under the seat for my Garmin, and I burn my fingers trying to turn it off - so I end up unplugging it at the bars instead. On the softails, I think the stainless steel nacelle where the passing lamp switch is would be an interesting place to put some ports or switches. That could be really clean.