Honda CX500: Relocating the fuse box
Before using this site please read the site disclaimer. Also please note that any links provided may be part of an affiliate programme (viz. eBay, Amazon) which helps support the site as I will earn a commission when visitors make a qualifying purchase.
If you're looking to neaten up the front-end of the bike, change the bar clamps used or swap to a different style of fuse you may be considering moving the fusebox to another location (e.g. under the seat). Please note! Messing with your electrical systems without sufficient training or knowledge can do nasty things like setting fire to your motorbike so please proceed at your own risk - we are certainly not auto electricians! Those foolhardy enough to continue, first locate your fuse box - right over the middle of your handlebars:
There are a pair of screws on the top left and lower right sides of the top plate - on this bike they were plastic, others we have seen as panhead metal screws:
The plastic screws are quite easy to mar with a driver - as you can see from the above screw, someone previously has slipped... Those two removed and placed aside;
...we can now remove the top plate:
At the front, a diode:
...and below that, two glass tube fuses:
There are screws on the lower left;
...and top right:
Remove them, and place aside:
The panel that the fuses sit on can now be lifted out:
Turn it sideways and you can pull it through the hole it just lifted away from. The wires all lead to a 6-pin connector, here pictured to the right of the fuses:
Removed:
Note the diode at the top:
We removed the sheath to check the wiring underneath:
The diode lifts out:
Once the glass fuses are removed, the fuse holders lift out also:
To keep track of which two ends go together, take photos, make notes, stick them together with electrical tape or any combination you like:
Now you have an empty plastic fuse holder:
Now we turn our attention to the plug at the end. We're keeping it in this instance, so we have chosen to de-pin the connector and crimp new connectors onto the new wire rather than cutting and soldering the old wire.
Here's a de-pinning tool - though a small flat bladed screwdriver or similar would do just as well:
Looking into the connector, there is a small gap above each connector - this has a little metal tab that holds the connector into the plastic housing. We want to press that downward so we can pull the wire and slide the connector out the back, hence the strong little metal tool.
Tool goes into the gap (connector upside down relative to previous pic):
Once the tab is depressed, the wire pulls out the back. Here's a closeup of a new tab before it is crimped to a wire to give you an idea of what you're working with:
Don't de-pin more than one at once, or you'll have just have to keep track of more wires. Now, to replace these wires we need some new wire:
This stuff is inexpensive and available locally here - anything equivalent will do the job. Choose where you want the new fuses to be located and measure the distance between the wiring loom's connector and the new location - we like to add a little extra so that you have room to move without placing strain on any of your work, but that's up to you. Cut your length of wire, strip the ends of it:
...take your crimping tool and crimp on the new tab:
Now, the fuse holder we have chosen is a waterproof fuse at around $6ea:
Unclipped:
Strip the end of the fuse holder's wires:
Slip some heatshrink over the wire to use after we splice and solder it to the new wire we are using.
Post in progress.
