Trailer wiring harness
Thread Starter
|
Road Warrior
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 1,314
Likes: 5
Trailer wiring harness
Spent a little time last weekend working on the trailer wiring harness for the Ultra….trying to make this one relatively easy to unplug and remove from the bike when not needed, so I soldered and shrink-wrapped all the trailer harness and isolator relay wires keeping "removeability" in mind.
Sunday I decided to try hook up the wiring harness and test the trailer lights…..damn there is a lot of crap under the seat on an Ultra!! Had to go through layers of stuff just to get down to the battery, put a pig-tail on the battery with a battery-tender type plug on the other end….there is a mate for it soldered onto the wiring harness, so I can unplug power real easy. Then trying to find the wiring harness that goes to the rear end….finally ended up having to take off the mounting hardware for my adjustable backrest and found the plugs connecting the rear lights under it. Also found out the reason they put it under the mounting bracket was because there wasn’t enough slack in the wiring to go around and in front of the bracket, but with the little 4-inch insert I had picked up from J&P Cycle (with additional wires tailing off for the trailer harness) it is long enough. The only problem is that every time I want to remove the trailer harness I also have to remove the backrest hardware to hook the tail lights back up…..so I ended up ordering another extension from J&P so everything can stay easily accessible. Once the new piece comes in I can quickly and easily unplug everything from under the seat and take the trailer harness off. The nice thing is that I didn’t actually have to splice into any of the original wiring on the bike….just unplug one 5-wire connector and plug a different one in. Think I’m gonna like this setup as the Bushtec receiver hitch is totally out of sight when the hitch pin is removed from the receiver….now with being able to remove the wiring harness I won’t have any ugly trailer stuff hanging on the bike when I’m not using the trailer. Finally hooked everything up to the trailer to make sure all the lights work as they should.
I'm ready for some bike trips
Now if the weather would just come around.[:@]
Sunday I decided to try hook up the wiring harness and test the trailer lights…..damn there is a lot of crap under the seat on an Ultra!! Had to go through layers of stuff just to get down to the battery, put a pig-tail on the battery with a battery-tender type plug on the other end….there is a mate for it soldered onto the wiring harness, so I can unplug power real easy. Then trying to find the wiring harness that goes to the rear end….finally ended up having to take off the mounting hardware for my adjustable backrest and found the plugs connecting the rear lights under it. Also found out the reason they put it under the mounting bracket was because there wasn’t enough slack in the wiring to go around and in front of the bracket, but with the little 4-inch insert I had picked up from J&P Cycle (with additional wires tailing off for the trailer harness) it is long enough. The only problem is that every time I want to remove the trailer harness I also have to remove the backrest hardware to hook the tail lights back up…..so I ended up ordering another extension from J&P so everything can stay easily accessible. Once the new piece comes in I can quickly and easily unplug everything from under the seat and take the trailer harness off. The nice thing is that I didn’t actually have to splice into any of the original wiring on the bike….just unplug one 5-wire connector and plug a different one in. Think I’m gonna like this setup as the Bushtec receiver hitch is totally out of sight when the hitch pin is removed from the receiver….now with being able to remove the wiring harness I won’t have any ugly trailer stuff hanging on the bike when I’m not using the trailer. Finally hooked everything up to the trailer to make sure all the lights work as they should.
I'm ready for some bike trips
Now if the weather would just come around.[:@]
Cruiser
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 205
Likes: 0
RE: Trailer wiring harness
Very interesting story. I also built a trailer and then had to install a trailer hitch. When it came down to the wiring , I figured out through trial and error that Harley has a 5 wire system and the trailer had a four wire system. I had to go to the Dealership and buy a 5 wire to four wire adapter. I had to remove the seat and plug this adapter between a Harness. It was easy enough, but then I had to route the 4 wire to trailer through and down beside rear fender. The trailer hitch has a safety chain loop underneath that holds the end of the 4 wire connection in place without being able to see it when I am not pulling a trailer. Bldr
Elite HDF Member
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 3,927
Likes: 5
From: Midwest
RE: Trailer wiring harness
On my Hoppy unit (mounted under the left side cover) the harness that runs to the trailer unplugs from the isolator and I just throw it in the trailer when I'm not pulling it.
Road Master
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 1,034
Likes: 3
From: Open Road, USA
RE: Trailer wiring harness
I just used some bullet connectors and ran the wiring on the bike in some white wire loom(hard as hell to find) and when the trailer isn't being used the wiring stays with the trailer, and you can't see any wire hanging down or sticking out...Works really well.
Joe
Joe
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
