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08 Ultra accessory connection issue

sgdiesel

Member
I am keen to power my GPS and Ipod through the accessory connection. All appeared straight forward, I bought the origianal HD cigarrete lighter connection with plug for accessory connection, located the connector under the left hand side cover and should have been just about job done.

Problem is that the accessory plug is permanently live and does not change state when I activate / deactivate the accessory rocker switch. I have run a multimeter across the 3 pins in the plug and this confirms my finding, either 12V or 0V, but state is NOT changing with the rocker switch. This bike is BRAND new. Any suggestions?

I am now thinking about hooking up inside the batwing fairing instead of back at the battery, any comments on that?
 
SG, your accessory plug is not under the left side cover. It is under your seat in front of the battery. Remove your seat and fish around, you will find the plug. It is tight in there so be patient. I went throught this last month while wiring up fog lights..like you, I bought a plug from my dealer and, like you, wired it to that plug under the left panel and, like you, discovered it was hot all the time. Didn't want that, I wanted to be able to turn lights on/off with the rocker switch. I then found the "real" accessory switch in the above location. Good luck.
Just reread your post and noticed you buoght the cigarette lighter adapter...Harley makes a two into one accessory plug adaptor..that is the one I used, plugged into the bike harness and then cut one of the adaptor plugs (that way I was not splicing into the actual bike harness) and direct wired to the lights..works like a charm. good luck
 
There is also another, more elegant way to do this. Go to cyclegadgets.com where they have several harnesses that allow you to connect the GPS etc through the Ultra's own sound system.

I purchased a Garmin Zumo 550 for myself this Christmas and at the suggestion of my HD sales person ordered the cyclegadgets.com kit that lets me hook into the AUX on my sound system.

The kit had all the wiring to run from the RAM mounting under the fairing. The power adapter is a "piggyback" affair where you simply unplug the two wires on the cigarette lighter, plug in the new piggyback plug and then plug the two wires back on this. then the small module that allows the system to play sits on the top of the radio and another harness runs from it up the other side of the bike to the AUX input. Now I have GPS, MP3 and XM radio all in one unit and all controlled through the rides sound system.

I believe you can see the finished product using this link.

Took me about 1 hour to do the whole installation and most of the concern was that this was my first time removing the upper faring...didn't want to screw it up!!

bj

DSCF0536.jpg
 
Thanks Mavagrand, I will brave the cold and go out there and look again - but frustrating as the connector I found is exactly where the manual says it is.

I am heading in very much the same direction as you, bjryman, except I have a TomTom 720 and also need to power my Ipod (if required). I have also used the ram mount (excellent!). Benefit of the TomTom is I can manage the Ipod through the satnav screen, which is great when you have gloves on.

The standard cig lighter position on the Ultra is an embarrasing design hook up by HD, that is all I can say about that, so i will also be doing as much as possible in the fairing.

I have attached a photo of what I believe the acc connector should be if the owner manual is correct, I am going to try and check it out now,
 

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I believe on the 08 bikes with ABS they relocated a few things and the acces. plug is now under the side cover.

Check the colors of the wires to the plug and compare to this pic. There's also a data link connector there too but the colors will be different.

accplug6.jpg
 
I can now confirm that Mavagrand is 100% correct. I also thought that maybe the 08 madel was slightly different, but....

The Owners manual is WRONG, the connector is not where they show it, although there is a connector there which looks identical and terminates in the same plug.

The correct connector is, indeed, buried just in front of the battery. You will need to remove the battery cover to get to it.

I am interested in making this connection inside the batwing fairing rather, so I will be exploring that, although I remain convinced that switching through Acc rocker switch is the correct route!
 
I found that the GPS took all the pleasure out of riding....great if you need to commute in a big city...bummer if you want to relax and enjoy the open road...IMHO
 
Like you I have a Garmin 550 and XM satelite that I had mounted on my Road King Classic. Bought a new Ultra and want to install them on it. Went to Daytona Bike Week and while there spoke to HD rep at convention center. They stated they have a new fairing mount for the Garmin and the XM could be placed under the fairing out of sight. Full use of Garmin features could be had by plugging into MP3 player jack and using VOX.

How do you take off the fairing if you don't mind me asking. Never had a fairing before. Do you think I will still need the cables you mentioned to hook everything up? I had wired the Garmin directly to my battery on the Road King.
 
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