I am about to head off to N.Africa, Egypt and the Middle East on my XR650L. Being a child of technology - and having appalling drawing and handwriting abilities - I decided I had to be able to run & charge gadgetry from the bike.

Phase 1 of my thinking involved the tried and tested DIN / mini cigarette lighter / car socket / BMW accessory plug route. To be honest, I was fairly disappointed by the quality available. So next stop was to evaluate requirements. Needs to be robust above all else, which also implies simplicity. Needs to be vibration and waterproof, to some degree. And needs to supply 12v via a fused supply from the battery, which little chance of becoming open-circuit and flattening the battery.



I give you the 2-Way Locking Audio Socket, available from Maplins in the UK for £1.39 each (the one in the pic has more connectors, but mine have just 2, in the shape of a :, or a pair of eyes (or even nipples)).

Two well-insulated poles, in a solder & screw secured die-cast casing. When connected the plugs screw together and have so far proved 100% vibration proof. They are extremely robust, and can only be connected in one polarity (there's a little tab inside the round plug hole).

In the name of science I stamped on one and it was fine - try doing that with a DIN! Just a thought. Let me know if you want me to post links to pics of the plugs fitted.

PS - I have so far adapted my tyre air compressor, a 12v lamp, a laptop "car charger", and my mobile phone charger. I am planning to make a "nice socket > DIN" adaptor cable should the need arise - using borrowed stuff, for example.



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=-=-= ON THE EDGE! =-=-=
My XR650L Pan-Med Expedition Site!

__________________
=-=-= ON THE EDGE! =-=-=
My XR650L Pan-Med Expedition Site!