MCL Fuse block Mount location

[beeker]

HOHOHO It's below freezing and snowing. Not only that but when I pick up the breadwinner at 4:30 it's already dark (almost)!

I have a box of stuff to install on my NTM '04 and am slowly stripping it down to the nitty gritty now that it's in hibernating mode. As much as I enjoy researching old posts on the forum I have found that a search on the 'MCL Fuse Block Mount' seems to hit every post that has been made by someone who has 'MCL Fuse Block Mount' listed as a farkle on their profile.

So .... since I am going to order Eastern Beaver's block I'd like to have the MCL plate in place (so I can order the appropriate leads at the same time).

I know that if I keep looking through posts I'll find some advice on the MCL plate position but it's Dec 2 and Christmas is approaching. Can someone help me out with a tip? This mounting plate is designed and pre-drilled to take about every option out there. Is there a spot under the rear seat where I can simply screw it in (like above the tool kit) with the supplied hardware?

The MCL site says
"The 2 main mounting nuts are 8mm to fit either the stock rear cover or a top box mounting application". Did those of you who have installed the MCL find a good spot and did you have to drill? I have an aversion to drills ever since I saw Marathon Man and hope to source a 1300P right switch for the other end of the winters farkles to keep the switching neat (and the plastics intact).

I have found one thread that implies the 36" Eastern Beaver lead is the right one for an under (rear) seat rear location and may simply go with that so I have what I need to begin mucking.

Thanks guys for any help you can give. If you installed the Eastern Beaver block on the MCL plate and are happy with your location choice ... or if you did it and wish you would have done something a little different I would appreciate your response.

Happy Holiday Shopping. In a perfect world we would all be able to do it on our ST's.

 

[MileHigh]

MCL's bracket bolts in perfectly with the stock rack. Think I had to get slightly longer bolts since I have the Honda top box mount.

Throw a rag underneath, on top the ECU/rear fender. Helps if you drop a nut so it doesn't fall down into never, never land.

Love mine, got Curt's FZ1 years ago to mount to MCL's bracket. I got the Eastern Beaver power supply for my FZ1.

 

[beeker]

Wow, perfect. Exactly what I was hoping for right down to the photo. Thanks for the tip re: the rag. I am
looking forward to the chance to be able to ride down your way someday.
Dennis

 

[CYYJ]

Here's another couple of photos - I just finished installing this fuse block holder earlier today.

The holder itself (the plate that the fuse block mounts on) is well made, it holds the fuse block perfectly. But, I think that the overall design should have been more carefully thought out. At present, the mounting plate extends much further forward than it needs to, the result being that you will lose the ability to store your toolkit (provided with all non-USA ST 1300 bikes) in the toolkit slot once you install the mounting plate and fusebox. I wish the design didn't waste so much space behind the mounting plate once it is installed.

Michael

MCL Fuse Box Mounting Plate


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[beeker]

Very nice photos Micheal. Thank you. Which fuse block will you install and will you fab the wiring connectors yourself, or perhaps buy an eastern beaver (and if so have you confirmed the length)?
Dennis

 

[CYYJ]

Hi Beeker:

I purchased a 'Fuzeblock' from Fuzeblocks.com. I won't need to fabricate any connectors at the fuse box end, because that particular fuse box is designed to accept bare metal wires.

I only have a few loads to put there - Widder Heated Clothing, a Powerlet, and power to a Corbin heated seat. I have wired my Honda heated grips and Garmin GPS directly into the Quartet Harness. Honda specifies that type of connection in their install guide for the grips, so I see no point in running wires all the way back to the tail end of the bike. The GPS draws virtually no power at all and has a 1 amp inline fuse, hence I'm not concerned about plugging that into another one of the Quartet Harness outlets.

I did a Blue Sea fuse box install on my ST 1100 about 12 years ago, and ran all the wires from all the loads back to the tail of the bike. Doing that resulted in a more complex wiring harness (front to back) than I really wanted. It looked elegant at the fuse box, but the technicians at my Honda dealer in Z?rich sometimes give me dirty looks when they have to do heavy dis-assembly of my now 13 year old, 166,000+ km motorcycle. So, I'm going to be more 'minimalist' with the ST 1300, which is my North American ride.

Michael

ST 1100 Fuse Box Installation (from way back in 2002)






Note: Forward-most caution label (left side of photo) is not Honda OEM...

 

[beeker]

Thanks Michael, much appreciated. I am installing grip heaters, a riser bar powerlet, rewiring the gps, rewiring the fork mounted driving lights, rewiring an underseat powerlet for heated gear. I had thought the EB fuse block would handle everything but am beginning to consider the wisdom of a quartet harness install since, as you say, it is designed to service the front of the bike already. I could run the grips and the mcl riser powerlet off the quartet, use the EB fuse block to clean up the existing underseat wiring. Such a long winter, so much time to consider upgrades. Switching is the other consideration esp for the heated 2 stage grips. would like to source a right hand police switch to keep things clean.

 

[CYYJ]

I think it makes sense to take full advantage of the quartet harness. After all, it's designed to support multiple loads, and as long as you are judicious about what amperage you pile onto the quartet harness, there should be no problems. The grip heaters are relatively high amperage, but the quartet harness is specifically designed to power them. The GPS is nothing, load-wise. So far as the Powerlet on the riser is concerned, it all depends on what you are using it for. If it is there to power electronics, then sure, power it from the quartet harness. But, if you plan to run any kind of 'heavy' load from that Powerlet, maybe you ought to power it from the aux bus fusebox.

Right now, I am using all 4 connectors on the quartet harness, but 3 of the 4 have negligible loads on them. The breakdown is as follows:

Natural colour 3-pin: Honda OEM grip heaters.
Red colour 3-pin: GPS
Black colour 3-pin: Voltage Monitor
9-pin: Fork mounted turn signals (these are replacement amber reflectors with embedded LEDs that flash when the appropriate turn signal is active)

I bought all the Hitachi connectors to tap into the quartet harness, the illuminated amber reflectors, and the voltage monitor from Electrical Connection. That company is a great source of specialized electrical bits and pieces for motorcycles. The voltage monitor is described here. Hitachi connectors and pins are shown here and here. I do recommend you buy the special Hitachi crimping tool, which is shown here. Normal generic crimpers don't work properly on the Hitachi terminals.

I can't find the illuminated amber reflectors on their website, but they do have them. They are visually identical to the round amber reflectors on the front forks of the ST 1300, except that they have a whole wad of LEDs embedded in them. If you phone and ask for them, I am sure they will be able to dig up a couple for you.

Below is a picture of my quartet harness with the above-mentioned connectors on it. If you will be by Toronto in the next week, let me know - my moto is currently dis-assembled in the garage, you can see how I have wired it all and look at the fusebox, etc.

Michael

Quartet Harness