What Gauge Wire Is Needed

[Tango]

OK gang. Just discovered the tech forgot to hook up the USB's in my new top case. I can see the prongs hanging down. I found the accessory plug under the seat. I have no idea what gauge(size) wire to use. I know speaker wire is out. Probably need maybe 10' tops. My luck I will have to buy a whole roll of it. LOL Tom

[Easy Rider]

Why not take it back and insist that they finish the job ??

If you do it yourself, you really should use ready-made USB cable with connectors just to be sure you don't cross up the pins.
It isn't very heavy wire; max of about 25 watts.

[armyspydervet]

you shouldn't need any speaker wire. The harness is plug and play. Did you buy the amp as well, it's a seperate item. If you bought the amp, no need for any other wires.

[Tango]

Why not take it back and insist that they finish the job ??

If you do it yourself, you really should use ready-made USB cable with connectors just to be sure you don't cross up the pins.
It isn't very heavy wire; max of about 25 watts.

Dealer is 2 hours away. Trying not to go back just for this. Tom

[Tango]

you shouldn't need any speaker wire. The harness is plug and play. Did you buy the amp as well, it's a seperate item. If you bought the amp, no need for any other wires.

Yes I bought the amp. Didn't see any unused plugs. What do they look like? Tom

[Pat Clark]

Yes I bought the amp. Didn't see any unused plugs. What do they look like? Tom

Mine was wrapped down and toward the front, almost back under the front seat. Has a boot covering the two female wire connectors. Need to unhook, un tie wrap the cable to make it stretch out long enough to connect to the USB plug. Hard to see which is + and which is - on the USB. I went ahead and ran new wire with connectors. Need to start the bike to determine which is the + wire on the bike.
A PITA but doable.
Pat

[Haze]

I use 16 gage for high power lights & heated gear.
18 gage for items like USB, Phone & GPS.

To choose an adequate wire gauge, determine the amp draw (amperage) that the wire circuit will carry. Then measure the distance that the wire will travel (length) including the length of the return to ground (the ground wire running to the chassis or back to a ground block or battery. Using these two numbers, Amps and length, locate the nearest gauge value in chart below. For 6 volt automotive systems typically a wire gauge 2 sizes larger than what is shown should be used.

Amps @ 12 Volts	LENGTH OF WIRE American Wire Gauge (AWG)
	3'	5'	7'	10'	15'	20'
1	18	18	18	18	18	18
1.5	18	18	18	18	18	18
2	18	18	18	18	18	18
3	18	18	18	18	18	18
4	18	18	18	18	18	18
5	18	18	18	18	18	16
6	18	18	18	18	18	16
7	18	18	18	18	18	16
8	18	18	18	18	18	16
10	18	18	18	18	16	16

[Tango]

Mine was wrapped down and toward the front, almost back under the front seat. Has a boot covering the two female wire connectors. Need to unhook, un tie wrap the cable to make it stretch out long enough to connect to the USB plug. Hard to see which is + and which is - on the USB. I went ahead and ran new wire with connectors. Need to start the bike to determine which is the + wire on the bike.
A PITA but doable.
Pat

I have found all that. Don't know if that will stretch far enough. Probably a lot easier to run 2 wires. Only need a couple of feet. Tom

[Tango]

SUCCESS! Thanks to all we got it working. Had to cut some of the tape to lengthen the cable. Rolled the cover back. Wife got her small hand under the top case and pushed the male connectors on. Used a needle nose plier to push the cover on. Fired up the bike. The outlet lite up blue. Phone charges, all set. This site comes to the rescue once again! Thanks guys. Tom