5-Way Flat on Motorcycle Towing a Trailer with a 4-Way Flat Connector

Question:

I have a 5 pin flat harness coming out of my motorcycle and have a 4 pin flat trailer connector. The manufacturer of the harness told me I could buy a 5 pin to 4 pin flat adapter do you have a part number for this and what is the extra wire for? Thanks

asked by: George V

Expert Reply:

A 4-Way flat trailer connector will plug into a 5-Way flat vehicle connector. But on a motorcycle, you likely have 5 functions because motorcycles have turn signals on different circuits/bulbs than the brake lights. Use a circuit tester such as # PTW2993 to test the 5-Way to determine the functions.

Trailers with a 4-Way flat connector will have the brake lights and turn signals on the same circuit/bulb. So, if you were to plug the trailer into the connector on your bike you would not have brake lights on the trailer.

What you can do in this scenario is put a 5-Way flat connector on the trailer, # HM47910, then attach the wires on it to the input wires on converter # RM-732. White, yellow, and green will be color for color. The red wire on the converter will go to the blue wire on the new 5-Way.

On the output side of the converter, the yellow wire will go to the left turn signal/brake light wire, green will go to the right turn signal/brake light wire. The Running light wire will bypass the converter completely.

expert reply by: Michael H