Yamaha 1300 Tourer - The Yamaha 1300 Tourer Fansite

Hey Magoo304!

Now that's a pretty cool install location. Nice thinking!

Boomer Sooner
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Hi Drag79stang!

You have chrome pieces there? Sounds interesting. Happen to have a photo posted?

Boomer Sooner
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Hi Magoo,

Looking back, what it took wasn't so bad, but at the time, trying to figure out how to get it to work was an exercise in patience.

If you look at where I placed the outlet, run your hand up under and behind. You'll find that there is a "dead spot" right there - no frame, no wires, no bolts, etc. That's the space you're going to aim for to install the outlet. If you take the "barrel" that threads onto the outlet and place it into that space, you'll see just how tight a fit it is. I didn't think of this at the time, but if you're talented, while that barrel is stuck in there, you could run a pen or something around the inside of it to make a circle onto the plastic cover. That way you could then remove the cover and see pretty much where the hole needs to go. Definitely double-check your hole placement and eyeball how close it is to the tank.

Like Subnuke said, there's not much room for error here, so take your time to figure out where the center of that spot is. You'll also notice that my outlet cap opens away from the tank. It won't open up fully the other way, and if it faces down, the hinge will hit the plastic cover where it bends out. And I didn't want it facing up in case the weather could get into it.

BTW, that plastic cover does come off the bike fairly easily. It just clamshells over the frame there, held together by a couple of tabs up top and the bolts in the corners. I didn't take it off for this install though. I'm a fairly small guy and have always hated my "girl sized" hands, but in times like this they're useful for getting into small spaces.

Anyway, it takes a 1-1/8" sized hole for the outlet, of which I used a hole saw to make. I actually didn't run it on the drill - I turned it by hand to make sure I didn't go through and do damage.

If you look closely at the pictures, you'll notice a spacer between the aux outlet and the plastic cover. I didn't use the whole "barrel" to secure my outlet. What I did to make that spacer was cut one end off of it, about 3/16" or so I would guess - enough for 2 or 3 thread turns, then I turned the "rough cut" side of this piece towards the outlet and threaded it up to make the spacer, using a bit of gasket sealant at the end to secure and seal it there. Now I had the factory smooth side against the plastic cover to make a nice flat surface. I had to to this because my hole was actually off, a little too high, and the outlet would not set flat against the cover by itself. This was my solution. Now, once I had the outlet through the hole, since my hole was a little too high, I couldn't get the barrel to thread straight, so I did the same trick to the other uncut side of the barrel. I cut the end off, thicker this time to give it about 4 or 5 threads, then just spun it on like a bolt, again with the factory smooth side going against the cover, and again with some silicon sealant. If you have a plumbing supply shop nearby, you might get lucky and find something that matches the thread pattern that you could use in its place. I didn't think of that either at the time. :(

After all that, it's just a matter of running the power and ground wires. You could run the ground up into the headlight bucket and splice it into a ground there. I ran mine down to the bolt that secures the horn and attached it there. For power I ran the line directly back to the battery. Make sure and use an in-line fuse with your wire! You don't have to remove the tank, but if you undo the bolts that hold it in place (under the seat) and disconnect the wire on the right side, then you can pick the tank up enough to run your power wire down the frame and secure it to the frame with some zip ties. Feel free to run your ground back to the battery as well, if you like. Unfortunately, the ground wire that comes with the outlet really isn't long enough to reach any place useful for a ground - at least, not that I could find. You might have better luck. :)

And that's how I did it.

Boomer Sooner
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