Fuze Block installation - advice for newbie

P248 said:

Thanks Jimbo. Does that mean that the various videos I’ve seen which advocate using the feed to the rear light are referring to earlier models of the GS? And the only suitable switched live on late GSs (1200 & 1250) is the feed to the 7.5 amp fuse in the fuse box under the front seat?
I’m surprised that I haven’t been able to find any advice anywhere on how to tap into a switched live on the GS without using posi-taps and the like, which damage the oe wiring, or expensive devices like the Ezcan. The only damage-free method seems to be the fuse-tap mentioned above. For my V-Strom (which has conventional non-CANBUS electrics) there’s a wealth of information in the various forums on methods of connecting into the bike's wiring without modifying it using a mini harness inserted between existing connectors in various locations around the bike.

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I find this a little curious, you bought a new 1250, which is hardly cheap, and are concerned with damaging the wiring but wont buy a ezcan because it's too expensive. The EZCan is far more than a simple fuze block and also waterproof.

fredaroony said:

I find this a little curious, you bought a new 1250, which is hardly cheap, and are concerned with damaging the wiring but wont buy a ezcan because it's too expensive. The EZCan is far more than a simple fuze block and also waterproof.

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Hello fredarooney. All I need is somewhere to connect a handful of accessories. I’m not sure why you find it curious that I have no wish to spend £200 on an item which gives me functions which I do not want. The Fuze Block will do all I need but requires a trigger wire connection.

I am an engineer; perhaps that’ s why I’m not comfortable using methods, eg posi-taps, to add accessories which cause damage, however minor, to the systems in which they are installed. Jimbo and Andi have offered one solution which will work, ie the fuse tap, and I’m looking to the experience of those in this forum to see if there are other solutions.

P248 said:

Hello fredarooney. All I need is somewhere to connect a handful of accessories. I’m not sure why you find it curious that I have no wish to spend £200 on an item which gives me functions which I do not want. The Fuze Block will do all I need but requires a trigger wire connection.

I am an engineer; perhaps that’ s why I’m not comfortable using methods, eg posi-taps, to add accessories which cause damage, however minor, to the systems in which they are installed. Jimbo and Andi have offered one solution which will work, ie the fuse tap, and I’m looking to the experience of those in this forum to see if there are other solutions.

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Jimbo's solution removes the waterproof cap off the bike's fuse block and leaves it exposed so not really a good solution. The Fuzeblock device you want to install is also not waterproof.

Yes, I find it curious why you would spend so much money on a new bike and put in a cheap device that is not waterproof. Quick Google shows the EZCan can be found for less than £200 in the UK.

In the end, it's your bike and your money. I still find it odd though but you wanted advice and I gave you mine.

fredaroony said:

Jimbo's solution removes the waterproof cap off the bike's fuse block and leaves it exposed so not really a good solution. The Fuzeblock device you want to install is also not waterproof.

Yes, I find it curious why you would spend so much money on a new bike and put in a cheap device that is not waterproof. Quick Google shows the EZCan can be found for less than £200 in the UK.

In the end, it's your bike and your money. I still find it odd though but you wanted advice and I gave you mine.

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It seems to me that in your first message you offered your opinion on how I choose to spend my money rather than giving me any useful technical advice on the topic in question. As you rightly say, it’s my bike and my money.

P248 said:

It seems to me that in your first message you offered your opinion on how I choose to spend my money rather than giving me any useful technical advice on the topic in question. As you rightly say, it’s my bike and my money.

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I'm sure you will come up with an amazing solution considering you're an "engineer" lol....... Amazing that an "engineer" would think a non waterproof electrical solution is a good idea on a motorcycle

Thanks for your input, fredaroony, it's been most helpful.
My apologies to everyone else who has contributed positively to this thread and tried to help me - I'll back off now so you don't have to put up with this any more of this foolishness.

P248 said:

Thanks for your input, fredaroony, it's been most helpful.
My apologies to everyone else who has contributed positively to this thread and tried to help me - I'll back off now so you don't have to put up with this any more of this foolishness.

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Not sure why you even asked for advice since you seem to know it all before you even asked.

P248 said:

Hello fredarooney. All I need is somewhere to connect a handful of accessories. I’m not sure why you find it curious that I have no wish to spend £200 on an item which gives me functions which I do not want. The Fuze Block will do all I need but requires a trigger wire connection.

I am an engineer; perhaps that’ s why I’m not comfortable using methods, eg posi-taps, to add accessories which cause damage, however minor, to the systems in which they are installed. Jimbo and Andi have offered one solution which will work, ie the fuse tap, and I’m looking to the experience of those in this forum to see if there are other solutions.

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I think you're worrying too much about tapping (one way or another) in to a switched live. As posted earlier, I cut the sheath and soldered the wire on my '67 plate bike, the same as the '63 I had before. Unless you're familiar with the GS you wouldn't see the join.

A dealer would have to show that the modification was the reason for any fault for there to be any warranty issues.

If you don't have an alarm a waterproof site can be found under the rear seat fitting, which is where I have mine.

You could remove the single wire connector from the fuse holder and install another with a short lead , these could then connect to whatever extra plug you get which they will fit and will act as your switch wire. To restore the bike to manufacturers spec just reinstall the the connection to the original position. Alternately run a new harness under the tank to the 12v outlet at the front of the bike and take a feed from there [post 16 on this thread https://advrider.com/f/threads/powerlet-canbus-question.295800/]



https://www.r1200gs.info/R1200GS_Wiring_Diagram.pdf

Mr Bean said:

I think you're worrying too much about tapping (one way or another) in to a switched live. As posted earlier, I cut the sheath and soldered the wire on my '67 plate bike, the same as the '63 I had before. Unless you're familiar with the GS you wouldn't see the join.

A dealer would have to show that the modification was the reason for any fault for there to be any warranty issues.

If you don't have an alarm a waterproof site can be found under the rear seat fitting, which is where I have mine.

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Thanks Mr Bean. I’m sure you’re right. I’ll consider it further.

Thanks A-a, I’ll look into both these options . Thanks for the link and the diagrams.

When I finally install the Fuze Block, I’ll report back on how I make the connection, just in case anyone is interested. Thanks to (almost) all who have contributed to the discussion.

P248 said:

Hello fredarooney. All I need is somewhere to connect a handful of accessories. I’m not sure why you find it curious that I have no wish to spend £200 on an item which gives me functions which I do not want. The Fuze Block will do all I need but requires a trigger wire connection.

I am an engineer; perhaps that’ s why I’m not comfortable using methods, eg posi-taps, to add accessories which cause damage, however minor, to the systems in which they are installed. Jimbo and Andi have offered one solution which will work, ie the fuse tap, and I’m looking to the experience of those in this forum to see if there are other solutions.

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Hi P248, I have to agree to a certain extent with Fred. The EZCAN allows you to plug in up to 4 accessories. The plugs you need to attach the accessories to the EZCAN are readily available on EBAY in various guises. I myself have many of these; both unassembled and assembled with wires, they come in 1 - 6 plug format (variety pack) or as many as you want in 2 pin format; male and female. They're waterproof, easy to make up a plug from scratch and it means that you don't have to cut or positap any of the bike's wiring.

I used to use a FUZEBLOCK on my Tiger and he is right, they are not waterproof even if, like I did, you put insulation tape around the bottom gap.

It's also far smaller and easier to locate.

I think that Fred has actually given you the best advice. The FB costs around 60 quid and is far more laborious to fit and ultimately less reliable and, let's face it, on a bike with CANBUS, a real step back.

Just my tuppence worth.

On my RS I took the trigger for the Fuzeblock ignition-fed side of things using a Tap into the power socket below the seat.

All works OK for my accessories, but I found that it confuses an old model canbus Charger, causingbit to cutbout after a short time.
This is not an issue for me as I use a non-Canbus type charger direct to battery (now via Fuzeblock).

Enginerelight said:

The FB costs around 60 quid and is far more laborious to fit and ultimately less reliable

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Start to finish it took less than an hour to fit, including the removal of the seat fitting to place the Fuzeblock - in a waterproof setting. Not exactly labourious.

Out of curiosity, where does the 'ultimately less reliable' statement come from?

Enginerelight said:

Hi P248, I have to agree to a certain extent with Fred. The EZCAN allows you to plug in up to 4 accessories. The plugs you need to attach the accessories to the EZCAN are readily available on EBAY in various guises. I myself have many of these; both unassembled and assembled with wires, they come in 1 - 6 plug format (variety pack) or as many as you want in 2 pin format; male and female. They're waterproof, easy to make up a plug from scratch and it means that you don't have to cut or positap any of the bike's wiring.

I used to use a FUZEBLOCK on my Tiger and he is right, they are not waterproof even if, like I did, you put insulation tape around the bottom gap.

It's also far smaller and easier to locate.

I think that Fred has actually given you the best advice. The FB costs around 60 quid and is far more laborious to fit and ultimately less reliable and, let's face it, on a bike with CANBUS, a real step back.

Just my tuppence worth.

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He wont listen mate, he is so determined to be right in his way of thinking that nothing else will sink in. He is so concerned with exposing wires yet very happy to expose fuses that were previously waterproof. One of the EZCan's biggest selling point solves his biggest concern but of course he won't even consider that, he is an "engineer" after all.

In his effort to save a £ to attach an inferior product to a very expensive bike.

Enginerelight said:

Hi P248, I have to agree to a certain extent with Fred. The EZCAN allows you to plug in up to 4 accessories. The plugs you need to attach the accessories to the EZCAN are readily available on EBAY in various guises. I myself have many of these; both unassembled and assembled with wires, they come in 1 - 6 plug format (variety pack) or as many as you want in 2 pin format; male and female. They're waterproof, easy to make up a plug from scratch and it means that you don't have to cut or positap any of the bike's wiring.

I used to use a FUZEBLOCK on my Tiger and he is right, they are not waterproof even if, like I did, you put insulation tape around the bottom gap.

It's also far smaller and easier to locate.

I think that Fred has actually given you the best advice. The FB costs around 60 quid and is far more laborious to fit and ultimately less reliable and, let's face it, on a bike with CANBUS, a real step back.

Just my tuppence worth.

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Thanks for the reasoned input, Enginerelight, and for your comparison with your previous experience with the Fuze block. I have been puzzled as to why there are a number of more traditional fuse box type options available for the GS (ie Fuze Block and the like) which require a trigger wire connection and yet there don’t seem to be any real “plug and play” solutions offered by the suppliers. The contributors to this thread have come up with some good suggestions (thanks again, all), but they, of necessity, are ones designed to overcome the design of the bike which seems intended prevent a simple installation of electrical accessories. Anyway, I won’t be doing anything until the bike arrives and I can have a proper look at how it’s put together.

P248 said:

Thanks for the reasoned input, Enginerelight, and for your comparison with your previous experience with the Fuze block. I have been puzzled as to why there are a number of more traditional fuse box type options available for the GS (ie Fuze Block and the like) which require a trigger wire connection and yet there don’t seem to be any real “plug and play” solutions offered by the suppliers. The contributors to this thread have come up with some good suggestions (thanks again, all), but they, of necessity, are ones designed to overcome the design of the bike which seems intended prevent a simple installation of electrical accessories. Anyway, I won’t be doing anything until the bike arrives and I can have a proper look at how it’s put together.

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There is but you are too stubborn, and cheap, to accept the solution.

Clearly an old school engineer

Your offered a solution which is tailormade for the job in question,

but wont spend the money to impliment??

Yet will spend hundreds of hours and pounds, trying to engineer a solution that will undoubtably give more problems.

You say your not comfortable with Canbus, clearly!

You also say you dont want a piece of equipment that gives you functions you dont want.

You need to return the GS now, because locked in its ZFE are loads of functions which you may not want! but youv'e ultimatly paid for


You need to change your way of thinking,

your comming from a bike that was all intents and purposes "Analogue" and you've moved to a bike that is now "Digital"

Yes, on your analogue bike you could tap in anywhere and achive results, thats old school engineering for you.


Unfortunatly things have moved on, and like sliderules, old school approaches are now obsolete.

All your doing is firefighting, trying to solve one problem without looking at the bigger picture

Yes the ezcan costs £200 - feck me, wait till you do a rear drive & ABS unit ,

that will make an ezcan look like an item from poundland in comparison!

The ezcan is designed to work with the canbus system, and offers future proofing, trust me you will use the features once you

give it time . The other benefit is that you can unplug it when your finished and transfer it to your next model.


I worked with an engineer once who stopped a project because it needed a 1/2 link connector in a drive chain as it was too short

in his opinion! and we didnt have one in stock.

It was pointed out that there was a way to overcome the problem without it costing any money, but he was adamant it had to

have this half connector link. So he made a great flourish of stopping the assembly and went to sourch the 1/2 link.

When he left the building to go and get the 1/2 link , we unbolted the engine from its mount, slipped the "short" chain over the

cog on the drive shaft, and repositioned the engine which meant the chain was now was the correct length.

When he came back without this fabled 1/2 link, the engine / drive unit was running and undergoing testing.

We never saw or heard of the fabled 1/2 link ever again

It is only the management systems that are digital, most* of the resulting power outputs are still very much analogue - tapping into one of these is not going to result in digital Armageddon, and wholesale failure of the bike's systems, so I don't understand the fear of tapping into an ignition switched 12V feed wire.

Personally I wouldn't use one of those tap devices, but instead just remove a little insulation from the target wire, then solder on my wire, wrap the modded portion with insulation tape and finally proper fabric loom tape, for an end result which will not compromise the integrity of the bike's systems or lead to long term damage.

Having said that, even the tap devices are unlikely to cause a problem to the bike, more likely to just come loose at a very inconvenient time and stop your Fuzeblock powered accessories from working.

* Where you do have to adjust your mindset on most modern bikes is to realise that with LED combined rear and brake lights, these are generally fed by a single wire with effectively different voltages for the two functions (actually still 12V but digitally switched rapidly on and off for the lower power rear light function), so this is no longer a good choice as a trigger signal.

I would like to comment, as well. My comment are in fat-font

P248 said:

Thanks for the reasoned input, Enginerelight, and for your comparison with your previous experience with the Fuze block. I have been puzzled as to why there are a number of more traditional fuse box type options available for the GS (ie Fuze Block and the like) which require a trigger wire connection and yet there don’t seem to be any real “plug and play” solutions offered by the suppliers.

Fuze Block is designed for conventional, non-CAN bus systems. As the GS is a high number selling bike, surely they want a piece of the cake and push their product. The CAN-bus system is not a new system as such, but the system has been gradually implemented on the bikes, thus, even if the 2005 GS also was equipped with CAN-bus, the lights and switches where not operated based on serial data. This means that the Fuze Block and similar products would work even if the bike was CAN-bus equipped. But the LC bikes and as well as other new designes after 2012, serial data is fully implemented, and this makes the Fuze Block type of units harder to use, offering half ass solutions in order to work. Frankly, fitting the Fuze Block to the LC boxers and their likes is a bit like insisting to put a set of wooden wheels from a horse wagon on a Porche.

And there are several plug and play solutions offered by suppliers. Yes they cost more, same way that a set of low profile tires to a Porche cost more than the wooden wheels. If you go to the Ritz restaurant, don't expect MC Donalds pricing

The contributors to this thread have come up with some good suggestions (thanks again, all), but they, of necessity, are ones designed to overcome the design of the bike which seems intended prevent a simple installation of electrical accessories.

There are indeed products out there that are designed to work picking up the signals from CAN-bus. And they are simple to use. CAN-Bus was not designed in order to give the owner a hard time. It was designed to make it possible to offer the rider far more sophisticated systems that would simply not be possible to be implemented with regular cabling without building a way more bulky bike. So, getting the proper equipment will indeed offer a simple solution.
And as an added bonus, these solutions will offer you new possibilities not available from conventional system. To name an example, with the new systems, you may put on driving lights on your bike that makes it possible to dim the lights by low beam (the new LEDs are BRIGHT), you may make them flash on one side in addition to the signal lights for better visibility. I could go on and on, but I will finish of by saying: CAN bus is not made to make your life hard. Learn to understand it, and you will have access to possibilities that exceeds your imagination.

Anyway, I won’t be doing anything until the bike arrives and I can have a proper look at how it’s put together.

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Good luck with your new bike