It was a busy and fun last 3 months in South America. After finishing the Machu Picchu to Atacama tour in October, the bikes were transported to Santiago de Chile, where they got a thorough check-up from the BMW and Triumph mechanics, to get them in top condition for the upcoming Patagonia tours. These start in November, January and February. I will get some nice pictures and videos of the last 2 tours here soon.
In the meantime, I'm back home for the holidays. Of course I brought the C5 with me ! Let's see if it performs as well on a European power naked, as it does on our South American dual-purpose bikes.
New electrical connections: maximum flexibility As mentioned in a previous post, I change bikes very often in South America. To be able to do this fast, until now I connected the yellow switched power cable to a 12V motorcycle DIN plug. The red and black power source cables went to the battery. But with the relais that Innovv provides, it was easy to make the set-up even more flexible: I connected the red and yellow wire together and soldered this bundle, and the black negative wire, to a waterproof 2-pole connector (see below)
To this "power receiving" waterproof connector, you can now connect 3 possible power sources (see below): a trickle charger contact, a big automotive 12V contact and a small motorcycle DIN 12V plug. This way, the C5 can be interchanged effortlessly between motorcycles and even directly onto the dashboard of a car, e.g. our Compass Expeditions support vehicle. All without having to disconnect any batteries.
New bike set-up
In no time, the C5 can be installed on e.g. a BMW K1300R. Although there's minimal space available, the small DVR unit and relais fit easily under the seat. No need to get the fairing off the bike, just route the cable along the inside of the frame, attach the camera anywhere on the front and it's done !
For pictures, see below. For test videos, wait until next time ;-).
(Power connection to the trickle charger connector under the seat)
