Hack Your Motorcycle with This Motogadget Clone

While they’re certainly more complex than they used to be, motorcycle electrical systems are still much, much simpler than what you’ll find in any modern car. As such, it is pretty easy to wire-in aftermarket turn signals or power for an onboard camera. But nobody wants to cover their bike in a tangle of wires and relays, which is why Motogadget released the mo.unit blue as a kind of secondary electrical control unit for motorcycles. It is, however, pretty pricey at $399. So, Jakša Tomović designed his own open source clone of the Motogadget mo.unit blue.

The Motogadget website doesn’t do a great job of explaining why the mo.unit blue exists, but it is actually pretty compelling for a lot of enthusiasts. It is like an auxiliary central control unit for all kinds of accessories and modifications, which it can control either directly or through relays. It has 12 inputs, which can be handlebar-mounted switches, buttons, dials, or even sensors. And it has 10 outputs that can do things like control power to lights. A lot of a motorcycle’s existing electrical systems, like headlights, can be connected to the mo.unit blue, but it is also great for aftermarket additions. There is also a companion app that increases the functionality with datalogging, remote control, and more.

Tomović's Motogadget Clone is intended to do pretty much all of that, just at a lower cost and as an open source project. It is all built around an ESP32 microcontroller and is, in essence, like a development board tailored to motorcycles — though it would probably be useful for cars and other vehicles, too.

So far, the Motogadget Clone is just a board design and it doesn’t look like Tomović's has even built a prototype yet. The board will also likely go through several revisions, as Tomović plans to add more features, such as a CAN (Controller Area Network) bus interface and better isolation/protection.

But you can use the supplied PCB files and schematics to make your own Motogadget Clone right now. You just need to be aware that the hardware is experimental and untested, and that the firmware will require know-how to make the board useful in the real world.

Even at this early stage, it is great to see an open source project for a niche enthusiast application like this.