I plug my phone and radar detector into that socket all the time. The owners manual also say to NOT use it for that as it may damage it and the cigarette lighter may not heat up properly. I don't smoke so I don't care and HD is full of sh*t on that one.
They seem to be full of what you said on a lot of things. They remind me of the federal government and the news media.
My lighter plug must be wired backwards. The red light on the usb adapter lights up, but my phone would not charge. Take that same usb adapter and plug it into the car with the same cable and the phone charges. Going to test the polarity.