Electrical accessories

I'm looking seriously at purchasing my first VFR - a new 07 the dealer has in stock. I asked the dealer to give me a price on adding heated grips and a distribution block for future accessories (heated clothing, GPS, etc.). The dealer is telling me the heated grips may overtax the VFR's capacity. I'm sure many of you have added electrical accessories and I was wondering what your experiences were?

Thanks and hoping to join you as a fellow VFR owner soon.

 

Not sure what the dealer's getting at. Either trying to cover their butt if something goes wrong with it, or just ignorant. You'd be surprised how much equipment can be wired to the bike for use. My last bike (06 honda 599) had heater grips, cigarette plug for charging cell phone, and heated vest. Ran them on the bike for 6 months before selling it, many times running them all at the same time. Never had a problem or blew a fuse. Main thing is finding out how much output the stock system can give, and how much the accessories will require.

 

I looked through the shop manual to see if there were any sort of power consumption ratings for the F/I, ECM, and various bits other than lighting, but to no avail. The alternator output is rated at 497 watts (not 500; 497...), and the main fuse is 30 amps. At a wild guess I'd say 20 amps is the normal max draw, so that would mean about 200 -220 watts leftover for accessories. Most heated gear is about 40 - 50 watts per item, so a vest and gloves should be no problem. I personally use a heated vest with no issues to date.

Oh, yeah, I almost forgot; welcome! Get the bike, you'll like it. And maybe check around on prices. '07's are probably getting relatively inexpensive about now.

 

Thanks for the help guys. I've been doing a little research as well and found a source that says the bike would use 375 watts if everything was turned on. That would leave about 120 watts or so. The grips need 40 and I can get a Widder heated vest that uses 33 watts. Considering I won't be running them all out all the time, I should be fine and have enough for a GPS in the future.

Thanks again and I am going to get one!

 

If you're going to add all this spend the $30 to $100 bucks for a trickle charger. Since they'll be working on the battery anyway they shouldn't have a problem throwing this on for free. Then just plug the bike in inbetween rides to have that added insurance your battery is fully charged.

 

Did the source you found break it down by component, or was that just a worst case figure? Curious me has nothing better to do with my time...

 

Great idea on the trickle charger - I'm going to have that done as well. The source I found on the wattage was actually another thread on this site. It's here:

http://vfrworld.com/forums/gear-accessories/10324-using-electrical-accessories.html?highlight=watts

He does break down individual components from a service manual - headlights 4 @ 55w = 220w; brake light = 21w; tail light = 5w; front & rear turn signals = 21w each; tag light = 8w. That doesn't add up to 375 but he also mentions needing wattage for the fuel pump and ignition so I assume that's where the remainder goes.

Thanks again for the help and advice. I hope to riding my new VFR by the end of the weekend!

 

Sorry the address did not come through in its entirely

http://vfrworld.com/forums/gear-accessories/10324-using-electrical-accessories.html?highlight=watts

 

I did the same thing. It's there, but you can't see it. Thanks!

 

Last Saturday I took delivery of my new 2007 VFR 800A, and the following electronic items have been added to the bike (installed by the dealership) all of which draw electrical power directly from the motorcycle (click on my Image Gallery to see photos):

1) Garmin Zumo 550;
2) Autocom Super Pro AVi Duo kit;
3) Escort 8500X radar/lidar detector (using Escort's optional Direct Wire)
4) A Battery Tender plug, with a 10 amp fuse, which I use to power my Aerostich Kanetsu heated inner fleece jacket, which draws ~40 watts/3 amps.

So far I've rode the bike nearly 300 miles, using all of the above electronic items at the same time, for long periods, without any problems. (That said, it's worth noting that the technician wired the Zumo and the radar detector such that they both turn off when the key is switched to "off".)

I plan on adding heated grips in the near future. Hopefully the bike's electrical system will accomodate this added electrical load.

 

I prefer to plug in as many thing as possible until there is some sort of explosion...

I've had Autocom, Valentine One, Cell Phone, iPod and GPS running simultaneously without any problems... I don't, however, recommend sitting in traffic idling for long periods of time.

Talk to someone else over there.

 

Thanks to the information all you good people here at VFR World have provided, I'm convinced I can add the accessories I wanted to. I've calculated the watts my accessories will draw versus the output of the bike and I've got the power to handle it. Like SLOav8r says though, I'll still have to be careful about leaving all the stuff on at idle. I'm going to have the dealer put the heated grips on so I can use them immediately on picking up the bike - it can be pretty cool here in Ohio in spring and I've found the heated grips I put on my SV650 really made a big difference in overall comfort. I'll put the distribution block on myself after living with the bike for a while and figuring out the best location. By that time it'll be summer and I won't need the heated clothing until late in the fall.

I haven't looked at the power needed for GPS, radar detector, cell phone, etc. I wouldn't think they drain as much power as heated clothing?

Thanks again for the help. Hope to have the bike by the first part of next week!

 

Could anyone tell me if its a good idea or not to put a power commander on my 2006 vfr. what else do I have to do to the bike if its ok to fit one.......apart for hang on!
Cheers