Harley CAN-BUS and Motorcycle Trailer Wiring

Oh boy. If water cooling weren't enough on new Harley models, now they've gone and added another BMW-like feature. CAN-BUS wiring. (Can an electrically adjustable windshield and integrated caviar cooler be far behind?)

In any case, the introduction of CAN-BUS wiring to the Harley touring bike line-up has created a lot of concern and questions.

Relax.

You can still wire up your Harley for a trailer. And it won't blow up your bike, it won't trigger fault codes, it won't transmit data behind your back to executives in Milwaukee who have an itchy finger on the "Delete Warranty" button.

The wiring kit we sell is a completely passive system. Using the plug-and-play connector to attach to your bike’s wiring, all it does is monitor the signals on the bike’s wiring. When it detects a turn signal, it triggers the isolating module to send that signal to the trailer. When it detects a brake signal, the same thing happens.

The exact configuration of the wiring kit depends on how the lights on your trailer are set up. If the trailer has one set of lights (like a boat trailer) and it has a flat four style plug, you just need the basic Harley trailer wiring setup.

If your trailer has a separate set of brake lights, you will want to use the same Harley trailer wiring kit. However, you want to choose the “5 wire” version. You just need to select that from the product options at the bottom of the page.

In summary, the addition of CAN-BUS to Harleys does not prevent you from wiring the bike or trike to tow a trailer or camper. The kit we sell makes the trailer completely invisible to the bike. And, it’s easy to remove if you want to do that before you take the bike in for service.

Trailer? What trailer?