Feed When Ignition Switched On / Seconday Fuse Box

I've started to look at wiring in the tacho I've bought & need to pick up a feed when the ignition is switched on - any suggestions?  Mine is an '01 model, so the lights are switched - and I'm not sure I fancy cutting into the ignition wiring!!  I'm guessing something like the indicators would have a feed only when the ignition is on.

Which kinda led onto another thought.  Has anyone fitted an auxiliary fuse box/power supply to their bike?  I've a few additions which are picking a feed up off the battery & it's becoming a little "ring connector" overloaded.  Had a look round & found my old mate at Eastern Beaver (steady on Sim) does an auxiliary fuse box which can take two unswitched/six switched circuits & eight grounding connectors.  Not the cheapest option, but saves a lot of aggro & everything's included.

Any thoughts ?

This type of thing Dave? 
https://www.suzuki800.com/t423-auxcillary-fuse-box-on-m50

Knew I'd seen it somewhere - cheers Sim

Hi the piece of copper wire connects all the fuse holders with one live, save on mess, less wires. You can then have the live connected to a switched live, or your positive on battery through a fuse. Go for a mini blade fuse holder if you are short on space.

Looking around, I came across this - Fuzeblock - which also looks like it does the same job (admittedly with only six, not eight fuses).  I'm all for a ready made solution !!!

Dave the write up alone on this item is worth a read, very well explained. I would not think you would need more than six accessories fitted, so should certainly fit most peoples requirements. Personally  the only downfall to me is the price, thanks for finding and posting.

Or why not buy a cheaper 6 way fuse block from Vehicle Wiring in Ilkeston for a few quid???

That was my original idea.  But I'd still have to add a ground block & either a relay if I wanted to use the same block for switched & un-switched items, or a second fuse block.  I'd then have to make a wiring loom & to be honest, my work would look like a complete pigs-ear compared to a decent off-the-shelf unit.  The Eastern Beaver unit comes in about £70 - £80 delivered - for what I'd save doing it myself, I'd rather spend a bit more & have a decent, ready to plug in kit.  Believe me, this guys work is top-notch

Just ordered the Eastern Beaver kit - speced it with the longer wiring on the POS side & decided to go for the 50 A kit.  Decided to mount it on the side of the battery box behind the right-hand side panel 

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- there's plenty of room behind there & judging by the lack of muck, pretty well protected.  should be an easy routing to the battery

Aaaaah so that's where the shock adjuster sits! Thanks Dave been meaning to look that one up

Glad the write-up's been useful for something !

Good placing    that's where the 05 onwards ECU lives, so it should be well protected in there.

Thanks for that bit of info Sim - that's made me feel better about my choice of locating it

katsd wrote:

I've started to look at wiring in the tacho I've bought & need to pick up a feed when the ignition is switched on - any suggestions?  Mine is an '01 model, so the lights are switched - and I'm not sure I fancy cutting into the ignition wiring!!  I'm guessing something like the indicators would have a feed only when the ignition is on.

Which kinda led onto another thought.  Has anyone fitted an auxiliary fuse box/power supply to their bike?  I've a few additions which are picking a feed up off the battery & it's becoming a little "ring connector" overloaded.  Had a look round & found my old mate at Eastern Beaver (steady on Sim) does an auxiliary fuse box which can take two unswitched/six switched circuits & eight grounding connectors.  Not the cheapest option, but saves a lot of aggro & everything's included.

Any thoughts ?

In case you need a switched feed Dave, there is a spare terminal block inside the headlight which gives you a switched live connection. That's where I got switched supply from for the dash panel.

Thanks for that Mick - should make things easier.  I'll have a poke round & try to find it.  Need to tidy up the iring inside the headlight shell

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Dave, I think it's the one diagonally below the headlight socket on the left of the picture. Just behind those red connectors mate.

Gotcha - cheers Mick

Finally got round to fitting the auxiliary fuse holder from Eastern Beaver

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Now, I'm going to own up that I didn't feel like tackling this one myself - I know my limitations & didn't feel 100% confident - & after having one bike go up in flames, I wasn't risking a second one.  So I called in the assistance of a friend of mine who has an automotive electrical company.  He had a look at the kit & said it was the best he'd seen.

Decided to locate it behind the right=hand side-panel, as it looked very clean under there & Sim tells me this is where the ECU is located now, so it's going to be fairly well protected.  Used some 3M Dual-Lock strips to fit it (brilliant stuff - like Velcro, but stronger) - plenty of space.  


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Top two are constant feed, bottom six are switched feed.  At the moment there's only the horn & headlight upgrade wiring fitted in.

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Picked up a switched feed from the horn relay, the Optimates been left on the battery

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Very pleased with the results - can get on with wiring the tacho in now - been out today & picked up some extra cable to run to the box.  I also had to pick up a new battery - the old one's past its prime - went for a Yuasa 14.  Fit it tomorrow & see if the bike starts !!

That looks a nice piece of kit Dave 

Very tidy!

Very good.

Nice one.

Very neat and tidy. Excellent job.

Brilliant. Just on here and already got good info. Cheers.
Now I know where a switched feed is.

If you are looking for a feed for bits like sat nav/phone etc etc then there is a ''T'' shaped empty feed in the headlamp shell Mick but you'll have to look for it as it's hidden quite well lol! Has 2 wires & is on only when the ignition is if that's any help mate?
Memory say's it has a black/white tracer & an orange wire. The orange is live & the other earth ok?