A long motorcycle trip usually means a lot of electronics; a laptop or tablet for blogging and photo editing; the ubiquitous smart phone; a camera, possibly with a few power-demanding accessories such as a flash, or an external audio recorder for video; the helmet cam, of course; maybe an intercom; a head torch; an electronic tyre inflator. All this equipment needs charging, which usually results in a bag of power leads, chargers and spare batteries taking up valuable pannier space. The challenge for the space-conscious traveller is therefore how to reduce this clutter.
There is, of course, one other piece of equipment that needs power - the one that you are riding. Being able to re-charge cameras and the likes for your motorbike is a great advantage, but what’s the plan if and when the moto’s battery goes flat? It is essential to have a failsafe solution; a dead GoPro battery is an irritant, but a dead moto battery, when you’re in the wilderness without a companion to help with a jump-start, can become a dangerous situation.
I’ve been progressively working on the perfect power management solution for a few years now. Much can be achieved by bringing the 12V socket into the heart of the system - after-market camera battery chargers, for example, are available which run off the 12V socket. Furthermore, a USB adapter for the 12V socket can provide power sources for several devices. But relying on the 12V tethers you to the bike, and still requires a few extra leads.
Maybe, therefore, a system that uses only USB is the Holy Grail? That’s what I set out to explore.
Let’s start with the most important power requirement - the ability to jump-start a flat motorcycle battery, when on your own and without a hill to bump-start the bike. The obvious solution is a dedicated jump-start battery. Antigravity Batteries have established themselves as one of the leading manufacturers of portable jump-starters. They produce a selection of very compact jump-starters of various capacities under the name ‘Micro-Start PPS’, all of which are charged with a wall-charger for from a 12V socket; that is, except for the recently released Micro-Start Sport. Now we have a very small power pack capable of jump-starting engines up to 5 Litre V8s, which charges from a USB socket.