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[Erasmo]

Oh snap forgot that you guys still run on 110V, doubling the current.

[bikerscooby]

I've had two 10' cables (the original and a replacement) fall out of the tube... I gave up and carry it in the bag.

I lost my original cable yesterday on a ride from Hollywood Electrics (in pothole land) to Pasadena in rush hour, and I guess it fell out of the frame.  I just ordered some spares from cableleader.com, a nearby company that has the 14 AWG cables in stock in multiple lengths so hopefully the package will arrive in a day or two (already shipped).  Went on a futile attempt last night to find a cable from hardware and electronic stores last night but nobody had one thicker than 18 AWG.

Don't recommend frame storage any more. 

[Richard230]

I've had two 10' cables (the original and a replacement) fall out of the tube... I gave up and carry it in the bag.

I lost my original cable yesterday on a ride from Hollywood Electrics (in pothole land) to Pasadena in rush hour, and I guess it fell out of the frame.  I just ordered some spares from cableleader.com, a nearby company that has the 14 AWG cables in stock in multiple lengths so hopefully the package will arrive in a day or two (already shipped).  Went on a futile attempt last night to find a cable from hardware and electronic stores last night but nobody had one thicker than 18 AWG.

Don't recommend frame storage any more. 

I have a 6-foot long 14 gauge cord stuck in my bike and it will definitely not come out of the storage tube no matter what size pothole I hit. 

[Electric Terry]

just to clarify the difference here...

Richard you are putting yours in the center hole of the frame right?

Bikerscooby you are putting yours in the swingarm hole?

[Richard230]

just to clarify the difference here...

Richard you are putting yours in the center hole of the frame right?

Bikerscooby you are putting yours in the swingarm hole?

That is right.  I put my cable in the center hole of the frame.  I have always had an aversion to adding any weight to an unsprung part like a swing arm - even if Buell thought that was a good place to contain motor oil.   

[bikerscooby]

Yes, I was using the swingarm hole with the original 10 ft cable, which doesn't fit in the center hole.  I did order a couple of 6 foot cables as spares so maybe I'll try using the center hole with one of those and see if it's more secure.  I should get the new cables in today's mail.

[mrwilsn]

Yes, I was using the swingarm hole with the original 10 ft cable, which doesn't fit in the center hole.

Sure it does. I have even been able to get a 15ft cable in there when folded right. 15ft is pretty tight.  I only did that because most of my slow charging is done at home so I keep a cable at home so I don't have to take it in and out daily.  I can easily get my 10ft cord in and out of the frame tube above the charge port.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[Doug S]

I remember when I was a teenager, just starting to ride, I would often place something I needed to carry on top of the gas tank if it didn't fit under my jacket (this was on my dad's CB100 which didn't have a rack, cargo net or any other way to carry cargo). I got a very quick lesson that things would easily slip backward off the tank when accelerating, or forward when braking, but it was amazingly stable side-to-side. As I've thought about it in later years, as my understanding of Physics improved, it made sense -- a motorcycle, being a two-wheeled vehicle, has to balance the vector force of gravity with the need for centripetal vector force to make a turn, such that the vector sum of the two passes directly through the center of mass of the bike and the tire contact patch with the ground. If those forces don't balance, the bike will simply fall over on the high side or the low side. If you place an object on the gas tank, that force vector will pass directly through it as well, and it won't have any tendency to fall to either side. The leaning of the motorcycle balances the load exactly as well as it balances the bike.

So it mystifies me a bit how the cable could ever "fall out" of the storage spot, especially since there's a fair amount of friction to secure it. I don't use the storage spot because I don't like the idea of the metal edges chafing on the wire, but I can't really see how the cable could fall out -- if forces got that imbalanced, the bike should crash.

I also prefer to put the cable in the trunk of my bike because it's secured with a lock. I worry about anything not locked down succumbing to a "drive-by" theft...someone sees it and takes it just because he can. Are you sure that's not what happened?

[bikerscooby]

So you don't believe us that reported the cable fell out?  It did... just takes some bumpy roads that cause vibrations in different directions, I guess.  One time I went on a ride and when I got home the cable was half sticking out about 6 inches and I almost lost it that day.  Wednesday when I lost the cable I'm sure nobody stole it as I didn't make any stops on that ride.

[Doug S]

Sorry, I didn't mean to call anybody a liar, I'm just saying I wonder how it could happen. It does seem to me more likely that it got swiped than it fell out, but that's not at all saying it's not possible for it to fall out.

Maybe the spring tension in the cable provides some imbalance that causes the cable to work itself sideways, especially as vibration and bumps occur?

[Semper Why]

I'll just chime in and say I lost my cable from the swingarm hole on the way back from work a couple weeks ago. It definitely does happen. I could not for the life of me get it to fit in the hole in the body. The swingarm seemed like a nice stable place... until it wasn't.

[Electric Terry]

Yes Doug, I agree with your physics.  This is how my dog sits on my tank, through the most twisty roads and doesn't fall off.  Yet she is tethered to me so she can't go forward when emergency braking, or go backwards if I accelerate full throttle because she just pushes off me.

But many times I saw the cord half hanging out the swingarm hole after a ride, so decided not to carry it there anymore.  The bouncing vibration of the swingarm must do this. 

It is possible to get it into the center hole on new bikes, but very hard.  In 2014 and earlier bikes, it goes in real easy, but the bike got much stronger in 2015.  Another one of the 100+ reasons to get a 2015 or newer as you will time and time again hear me tell everyone over and over.  The upper shock mount got stronger with a thicker ring of aluminum right in the center of the center tube hole.  If it were designed with the thought of putting the charge cord in there perhaps the design could have had tapered edges, but somehow this didn't happen. 

You can force the stock charge cord in there, as long as you have a spare at home you leave plugged into the wall to charge.  Cause once you force it in, you want to leave it there just for emergency purposes, as frequent removal will perhaps chafe the cable itself as it pushes past this center ring over and over, and you have to squeeze the cord very tight on the end you insert, and bending the cable to this almost 180 degree point surely isn't good for longevity of the cable.

I carry a 25' charge cord from monoprice.com coiled up in the bottom of my top case.  Although when I am out I don't think I've used this charge cord but perhaps a few times in the last year.  I always use J1772 if I need to charge and am away from home.

[mrwilsn]

But many times I saw the cord half hanging out the swingarm hole after a ride, so decided not to carry it there anymore.  The bouncing vibration of the swingarm must do this. 

It is possible to get it into the center hole on new bikes, but very hard.  In 2014 and earlier bikes, it goes in real easy, but the bike got much stronger in 2015.  Another one of the 100+ reasons to get a 2015 or newer as you will time and time again hear me tell everyone over and over.  The upper shock mount got stronger with a thicker ring of aluminum right in the center of the center tube hole.  If it were designed with the thought of putting the charge cord in there perhaps the design could have had tapered edges, but somehow this didn't happen. 

You can force the stock charge cord in there, as long as you have a spare at home you leave plugged into the wall to charge.  Cause once you force it in, you want to leave it there just for emergency purposes, as frequent removal will perhaps chafe the cable itself as it pushes past this center ring over and over, and you have to squeeze the cord very tight on the end you insert, and bending the cable to this almost 180 degree point surely isn't good for longevity of the cable.

I carry a 25' charge cord from monoprice.com coiled up in the bottom of my top case.  Although when I am out I don't think I've used this charge cord but perhaps a few times in the last year.  I always use J1772 if I need to charge and am away from home.

Haha....I have been baffled as to why everyone seemed to be having such trouble getting the cord in the frame tube when I have no problem at all...seeing as I have a 2014 bike....this would explain it.

Is the swingarm tube a different size on 2015+ too?  The 15ft cord I bought fits in the frame tube on my 2014 but it fits better in the swingarm tube....it isn't so hard to get in and out.  On my 2014 the 15ft cord fits nice and snug in the swingarm tube and so far it hasn't come out at all.  Just like you I keep a cord at home for charging so I don't have to take it in and out all the time.  It's just for emergencies.  I tried to fit a 25ft cord but it was too big.  I have found 10ft to really only be useful at home since most of the time when I am out and about it always seems to be too short.  15ft gives me a little extra and I don't take up space in the top box.

Just curious if putting a 15ft charge cord in the swingarm tube would be a nice snug fit, but not too snug, for 2015+ bikes too.

[JaimeC]

Ordered a spare, 10 ft.14 AWG cable from Amazon.  Now that I have that, I folded up the original cable and shoved it into the swingarm tube.  Since the original cable already had the original "kinks" from the factory when they folded it up, it was easier to do that one rather than the new one.

I did notice that when rolling it up the way the factory did, it is a MIGHTY snug fit inside that tube.  Not sure how it could possibly fall out, but I'll double check it every time I park it.

Now I'll have the cord handy if I should happen upon an available outlet while traveling, and still have a cable waiting for me in my garage when I get home.  It'll probably prolong the life of the cable, too, if I'm not constantly rolling and unrolling it at the same "bend points" every time.

[MrDude_1]

I remember when I was a teenager, just starting to ride, I would often place something I needed to carry on top of the gas tank if it didn't fit under my jacket

When I was a teenager, I found that the old paper "supersized" mcdonalds cups fit exactly in that "aircraft filler" style tank ring that most sporty Honda bikes used for 15+ years...
So I would wedge a drink in there, put the bag of food under my jacket and ride over to the park to eat lunch.

It worked excellent until one day someone cut me off and I slammed on the brakes... the soda went flying foward, hit the clocks, and the wind made it go everywhere. 2 blocks down from where it happened was a car wash, so I ended up washing my suit and bike with a pressure wand. lol.

heres a pic of the bike I did that on.. you can see how the ring of the cap lets you wedge a soda in there.