Bolt Motorcycle Charger Review
Hearing some good reviews on the net and seeing the lack of any charging port on the Himalayan, I decided to order this 'Made in India' product which triples as a USB 2A Charger + Ride Tracker + Phone Tank Pouch and came to me @1699/- bucks. Reached in 1 day of ordering yesterday and I Installed it myself. Had to take off the tank to route the wiring properly to the battery, which as I had said previously is a 2 bolt job.
Very nice and multi layer packaging along with water resistant tank phone pouch and usb cable
This is all that which came in the package.
The main charger unit is removable to prevent theft.
Now I was not impressed that it came without any fuse protection for my bike's circuitry. It claims to have internal protection but that will only protect the charger unit. In the unfortunate event of the charger wire coming down to the battery getting pinched and causing a short-circuit it will damage my bike's circuitry. So I added a in-line fuse to the positive (red) wire and properly soldered and heat shrunk the connections.
So I had to remove the seat and tank to route the wire properly under it and clip-tied them to existing wiring. In the process got to know my bike better.
Here is the clamp unit attached to the handlebar. The attaching bolts should have been shorter.
and with the main unit attached. Note that the light starts glowing the moment you attach it and this will lead to battery drain if left unattended to the battery. The company claims this is not a design flaw and the unit needs to be removed immediately if you are not charging as it is a anti-theft design.
Here it is charging my Asus Zenfone 2 which comes with a 3000mAh battery. I found the charging much slower than the original 2A fast charger provided with the phone, which should NOT have been the case when I was spending 1700 bucks on this 2A charger. I found the charging slightly faster when the bike was off. Overall not very happy with the charging speed and I have conveyed the same to the company.
Overall - It is a OK product. I found the phone pouch to be cumbersome to attach to the tank and spoils the look. A magnetic phone pouch may have been better but maybe the company did not give that as it could interfere with the compass on the phone while using navigation software. Have not used their tracking app so cannot comment how useful it will be or is it just a marketing ploy.
My other grouses with the product -
* Lack of in-line fuse protection which I had to solder
* Lack of plastic dust cap on the USB port
* Always on design can drain battery though the company claims it needs to be taken off immediately after charging
* No added attachments to add another power source to power other devices like a emergency inflator, though I think the company is working on that as it can be easily added to the existing clamp design
I would still recommend the AliExpress charger I had posted a few posts back, for now.
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In related matter I found a slight bulge on the rider seat which I had failed to notice while taking delivery. Also there were some marks on one of the Himalayan marked side panel and also some scratches on one of the mirrors. So got all three replaced at the dealership which they were kind enough to do.
The new rider seat
The new side panel. Note that it's PLASTIC but looks metal and should not cost more than 100~200 bucks, so will be easy to replace in case of any damage or scratches.
This is the Clutch Cable of the Classic 350 in case anyone is interested in the part number. Few other people have started replacing them and have posted positive feedback as per my friend and fellow Himalayan owner TeamBhp'ian Sheldon
BTW had a 50km ride today on the bike and absolutely loved it. My Heritage is gonna see some days under wraps.
Cheers...