I recently ordered a K2 from Amazon (US) and was looking for help with respect to the setup on a Ninja 300 which appears to lack a switched 12 volt power source (thus I need to create one with a relay). Mind you, I have virtually no wiring experience (plug-and-play is what I have historically aimed for due to simplicity and lack of expertise) and found this post from @innovv years ago regarding a Ninja 300 and K1. Questions: 1 - Will this work for the K2 install as well and are there any hazards with this approach? 2 - Do these Posi-Tap connector actually tap two wires simultaneously? I have found guides online on how to tap a single wire but it seems from images in both the red/gray (here) and yellow (here) Posi-Tap connectors are tapping two wires at the same time (red/white wires and black/yellow wires respectively) which is rather confusing with how I understand the Posi-Tap mechanism is suppose to work (precise needle into a single wire to tap). 3 - Any suggestions on specific reliable items to accomplish this wiring task? All I have is electric tape and scissors at the moment and would like to install this once and forget about it. Due to my lack of knowledge within this domain, looking up simple items like "30A 12v DC relays" on "30A fuse" on Amazon with all the different reviews has left me with analysis paralysis...so looking for recommendations to get the exact items needed for this wiring task! So far, I have this assortment of Posi-Tap connectors in my cart.
Honestly, I rarely ever post online asking for help but I figured I had nothing to lose and others in my situation may find this thread helpful in the future. Thanks for reading and looking forward to any help I can get!
Hi recru1t
The reason I was confused on this was a post I came across that gave the impression I needed to have a relay for this to work on my motorcycle and the license plate light cable would not work if I tried to tap into it.I've read the post, but I don't understand why anyone would suggest the usage of a relay here, as it would not solve the problem. At least if you don't use a timed relay.
To explain what happened to the C5 of the poster, which could also happen to you:
You connect the red and black wire directly to the battery and the yellow cable to switched 12V. The yellow cable is used to "tell" the power module that ignition is switched on and that it should start the K2 after 10 seconds.
Why the 10 seconds delay?
Because when you start your bike, the starter takes very much power from the battery, which drops the voltage. If the battery is not fully charged or old, the voltage may drop too low and the power module/K2 will switch off.
To avoid this, they built in this 10 sec delay, assuming that you will start your bike within this 10 sec after switching the ignition on.
That's what happend to the guy in the posting. He connected the yellow wire to the license plate light, which switched on when the ignition was switched on. Means the C5 started when Ignitions was switched on. But as the delay did not work on the C5 (according to the posting), the C5 was already running when he started the bike => Voltage droped and the C5 stopped.
On the K2, the delay does work. So you should not run into this issue, as long as you remember to start your bike within the 10 sec delay.
Or you could connect the yellow wire to something which only get 12V while the eninge in running (e.g. headlight).
Y-Cable Do you have any recommend videos or tutorials on how to do this for the yellow wire for a complete beginner?No. I don't know of any videos or tutorials. A Y-cable are simply two cables, which are connected to plugs/jacks and forms an Y.
Here is a simple example.
The idea behind this is, that you unplug the original cable and put this between the original plug and jack, which then gives you an extra cable where you can connect whatever you want. In your case, the yellow cable of the K2. What plugs to use depends on what is originally used.There may be the simple plugs seen in the picture above. But also special automotive plugs like this one are possible.
Using a Y-Cable is not a must, but the best way to get power of a existing connection. And it is reversible. But if this way is too inconvenient for you, you could still use the posi-tabs.
Over this past weekend, I was able to confirm this! I ended up tapping the license plate light power wire as shown below. Included are photos for component placements that are currently working for me (but will most likely change with further experimentation) so other Ninja 300 riders who find this thread get an idea. Disclaimer: I take no responsibility for any issues that may arise by following this setup so proceed at your own risk!
Yellow wire from converter tapped into red license plate power wire.
Converter placement under front seat.
DVR placement under back seat for easy retrieval of microSD card.
Rear camera location on aftermarket license plate holder.
Front camera location. Its ugly but the Gorilla Heavy Duty Double Sided Mounting Tape has held up so far. I will probably be changing this position in the future. The GPS component is not included since I am not using it. The footage is shaky and a little too bright at times due to the tilt of the cameras is what I speculate so I will be experimenting with that in the future if time allows. Also, I highly recommend trying @Frostie 's modified firmwares with higher bitrates since the latest version (v70 at the time of this writing) has worked without issues for me!
I am surprised and thankful for you both of you for replying so quickly! @Frostie, I think I will go with your approach of just connecting the red / black wires to the battery and the yellow wire to one of the switched 12 volt power sources that I apparently have as you pointed out in the examples 😅 The reason I was confused on this was a post I came across that gave the impression I needed to have a relay for this to work on my motorcycle and the license plate light cable would not work if I tried to tap into it.
Do you have any recommend videos or tutorials on how to do this for the yellow wire for a complete beginner? I have seen plenty of videos on how to use the Posi-Tap but I am having a hard time understanding how to do this (as a complete beginner). Got my eyelet terminal connectors for the battery connections (from a local hardware store), waiting on my crimping tool to arrive, and I will keep this thread updated as this installation process kicks off!
Hi @recru1t
...setup on a Ninja 300 which appears to lack a switched 12 volt power source ...found this post from @innovv years ago regarding a Ninja 300 and K1. Questions: 1 - Will this work for the K2 install as well and are there any hazards with this approach?This will not work as intended on the K2.
Why?
In the posting you linked, they power the power module of the K1 by a relay, which switches on/off by ignition. But this would mean that, as soon as you switch off ignition, you immediately cut off power to the K2, which will corrupt the current video.
And for me, all these looks needlessly complicated, as the relay requires a switched 12V line, too. So it needs the same as the K2 power module.
And your bike has numerous switched 12V lines. For example Front light, tail light, license plate light, etc.)
To connect the power module of the K2, simply....
...connect the red and black wires to the battery.
...connect the yellow cable to switched 12V. In the link you posted, this it the red wire in the first picture with subtitle "Relay pin 86 (white wire) tapped into a switched power wire (red wire) which supplies power to tail light / license plate light..."
And you are done.
3 - Any suggestions on specific reliable items to accomplish this wiring task?I would not use such kind of connectors. The posi taps seem to work rather well, but they still puncture the insulation of the cable. Means, if you remove the connector anytime, you have to handle with a puctured wire.
A better way would be using proper plugs and jacks to make a Y-cable to connect the yellow wire to switched power.
Hello,
K2 and K1 are connected in the same way, that is, three lines should be connected to the corresponding position.
You can see the picture below.
Here's a video on how to install K2, with very clear instructions.I think it's helpful for you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgd7viYji_4