Geezer with a Grudge: PRODUCT REVIEW: Aerostich 92 Piece Molex Connector Kit

Dec 7, 2013

PRODUCT REVIEW: Aerostich 92 Piece Molex Connector Kit

All Rights Reserved © 2007 Thomas W. Day

Most of us who go places on our motorcycles want to take a little of home along with us. You got your GPS, your radar detector, your satellite radio, your MP3 player, your camera battery and cell phone chargers, your electric razor, curling irons, and so on. That means we need electricity to power that home-bound stuff. The Aerostich Molex Connector Kit was made for you. 92 pieces of three different sized connectors, accepting wire as small as 24ga up to 14-20ga and tolerating currents from 3A max for the smallest terminal to 10A on the largest. Of course, the wire you choose to use may limit the current more than the connectors.

Photo courtesy of the 2007 RiderWearhouse Catalog.

Molex connectors are as ubiquitous as Kleenex, Vice-Grips, and Tampons; all trademarks are assumed. If you own a computer, chances are you already possess a few of these connectors, probably made by one of Molex's many Asian competitors. If you're electrically inclined, you could, of course, find and purchase these connectors from an electronics supplier. Aerostich isn't marking up the kit much, though, and you'll spend a lot more than $25 in time and shipping (and minimum purchase costs) putting together your own kit.

The Aerostich Molex Connector Kit comes with male and female connectors and pins for all three connector sizes. There are a total of thirteen (13) connector sets with a generous allocation of extra pins of every size and both sexes. I've used all of the small connectors and about half of the medium connectors on my V-Strom, wiring the bike for accessory 12V lighter connections, GPS, radar detection, camera chargers and battery substitutes, and a laptop computer charger.

I haven't yet found a need or place for the larger, higher-current connectors (my "illuminated arm jester" is busted). After an afternoon spent wiring, my bike is bristling with places to connect stuff. If I sell my house, I'll still be able to use most of the appliances I care about on my motorcycle. Molex, of course, recommends you use their special crimping tool for connecting wires to the pins. If you're careful and moderately nimble-fingered, you can get by with a small pair of pliers to do that job. If you're somewhat paranoid ("Murphy hates me."), you can solder the pins for extra security. Aerostich's

Mr. Subjective also recommends capping the connectors with a little sealant, to keep moisture out of the connector. The Molex connectors are not even a little watertight, so I followed that advice, using SeamSeal which also provided a little strain relief for the wires and connectors. When I'm not using a connector, I cover it with a pencil eraser to keep water and dirt from getting into the pin-end of the connector. $25 at the RiderWearhouse (http://www.Aerostich.com/catalog/US/Aerostich-92-Piece-Molex-Connector-Kit-p-16290.html)

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The Geezer Story

I stumbled upon this column name (Geezer with a Grudge) almost 20 years ago, in 1999. The first Minnesota Motorcycle Monthly editor I worked with, in late 1999, complained that the magazine was getting no mail and the editors wanted to know if any readers were still out there. I fired off a sarcastic note, as a joke, intended to provide a little humor and some feedback. He published it as an article and later called me to say he'd received more mail on that letter than he'd received in the past year! I followed that with an offer to write a monthly column attempting to piss off a particular section of the magazine's readership to see if that tactic would generate some mail.

It did, probably more regularly than the magazine wanted at times, and I wrote a monthly column for MMM until the magazine died in 2018.

I plan to post an occasional old Geezer article into the blog, followed by short comments about the current status of my perspective on our activity/sport/vehicle of choice.