Jastek (BMW) Powerlet Location

Well after spending about 8 hours today reading the forum and looking for a good place to put a powerlet outlet for my heated jacket I came up with what may be a new location. I originally wanted to mount it on the left side of the tank down by my knee with a heat-troller in order to keep it from flapping in the wind so much, similar to this install.

https://www.fjr1300.info/mods/roger.html

But, since I have a 2008 and the Gen II bikes have the adjustable vents there (whether they actually work or not) I didn't want to compromise them. So I decided to place it just above these vents, but below to surface with the accessory box. See my pics for some more details.

The left side before I took the drill to her...



Close up of left side



Holding the cap to the powerlet adapter to check for space.



Taped off so I dont' slip with the drill and scratch anything else.



Holding the aluminum washer that goes behind the plastic to check for size again.



Traced the inside of the washer (I slipped with the pen, that worried me about doing it with the drill!! :blink: )



The moment of truth... (I'm shaking so bad the picture is blurry! Well it's the first hole so cut me some slack!)



Not bad, just go slow!



Even with the 11/16th bit, it was still a tight fit (maybe because it was a spade bit) but the file helped.



Get someone with small hands to help you put the washer and nut on the back, I had to recruit some help.



A powerlet plug inserted.



Possible location for heat-troller to control the jacket that I'll be plugging into this.



Well that's it for now. I hope this helps someone else looking for a good place to put a powerlet for a jacket. I still need to make up the wiring harnes, but I already checked and there is enough room behind it for everything to fit easily.

Very nice write-up! :clapping: :clapping:

FJR1300A said:

... Even with the 11/16th bit, it was still a tight fit (maybe because it was a spade bit) but the file helped...

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Probably a metric size.
Nice write-up. How did you run the wiring?

mcatrophy said:

Nice write-up. How did you run the wiring?

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I haven't yet, but I'll post that as soon as I get a chance.

First, nice job and a thumbs up. I haven't had the guts to cut into my fairing, so props to you.

One question. If I remember correctly, the panel below the powerlet (the one that swings out if you have a mind to). Doesn't that panel come off straight up after removing the two screws? I haven't taken it off in a while, but if it does come straight up, does it clear the powerlet cover in that position?

ShinyPartsUp said:

First, nice job and a thumbs up. I haven't had the guts to cut into my fairing, so props to you.
One question. If I remember correctly, the panel below the powerlet (the one that swings out if you have a mind to). Doesn't that panel come off straight up after removing the two screws? I haven't taken it off in a while, but if it does come straight up, does it clear the powerlet cover in that position?

Click to expand...

I haven't actually tried to take it off, but if that's the way it comes off, I'll probably be able to squeeze it by with a little persuasion. I guess I'll find out the hard way.

Oh well, I still like the location for plugging in my aerostich. If there is enough room on the other side by the battery, I may put one in there too since there is no way I can put one in panel D due to the 10 pounds of crap that yamaha packed into that 5 pound sack!

ShinyPartsUp said:

One question. If I remember correctly, the panel below the powerlet (the one that swings out if you have a mind to). Doesn't that panel come off straight up after removing the two screws? I haven't taken it off in a while, but if it does come straight up, does it clear the powerlet cover in that position?

Click to expand...

If it's like the 06 (have to think it is) once you remove the screws, the panel will drop either left or right (depending on the side of course) and you can pop it off by removing it from the "snap in hinges".

QUOTE (Capt. Bob @ Tuesday, 19 February 2008) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

QUOTE (ShinyPartsUp @ Tuesday, 19 February 2008) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

One question. If I remember correctly, the panel below the powerlet (the one that swings out if you have a mind to). Doesn't that panel come off straight up after removing the two screws? I haven't taken it off in a while, but if it does come straight up, does it clear the powerlet cover in that position?

If it's like the 06 (have to think it is) once you remove the screws, the panel will drop either left or right (depending on the side of course) and you can pop it off by removing it from the "snap in hinges".

Confirm the 06, pictured below is how I used a screwdriver to ease open the retaining clip of one of the "hinges":



And this one shows the panel removed:

Well then it looks like I'll be OK. I should have checked first, but I actually thought that this was the way it works and never considered that it might be a problem. Anyway, thanks for setting my mind at ease.

Just a note for future drilling of plastic. Uni bits are great. Graduated steps in size with little or no vibration when drilling. The bit of choice when drilling plastic.

Feejer/Weejer man said:

Just a note for future drilling of plastic. Uni bits are great. Graduated steps in size with little or no vibration when drilling. The bit of choice when drilling plastic.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip. I'll have to pick one up for next time.

I'm glad I was wrong. Now where did I put my Aricept?

ShinyPartsUp said:

I'm glad I was wrong. Now where did I put my Aricept?

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No problem. It was a valid question. And I shouldn't have assumed anything about the way it worked. You know what they say about making assumptions...

I used the same location for my socket.

I would advise using something to protect the fairing below the socket.

The plugs are tough on the the easily scratched paint.

This is what I did. The thermostat is mounted on my tank bag with the "super Velcro" you can get from Radio Shack. If I add more farkles, I'm thinking about putting the power block in the tank bag and just running off one plug. BTW, this is a genuine BMW tank bag, the front clips just hook over the seam in the front of the tank. The rear clip was modified slightly from the stock BMW configuration.

Should be obvious, but don't forget to put a disconnect in the wiring to the socket. Those panels will have to come off some day, for something. . . .

That panel is where I put my Audovox CC control buttons on my 2003 (click image for full-size):

wfooshee said:

Should be obvious, but don't forget to put a disconnect in the wiring to the socket. Those panels will have to come off some day, for something. . . .
That panel is where I put my Audovox CC control buttons on my 2003 (click image for full-size):

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Yeah, I actually bought the connectors that Powerlet sells which plug directly onto the back of the socket. As much as I would like to think that I'll never have to remove the plastic in the future, I'm a realist and I know that I'm not that lucky!

BwanaDik said:

BTW, this is a genuine BMW tank bag, the front clips just hook over the seam in the front of the tank.

Click to expand...

Aren't you afraid this may cause your final drive to fail now?

[SIZE=14pt]And now for the right side...[/SIZE]

There is just enough room behind the plastic to add one in exactly the same place on the right side. However I had to remove the three screws that run horizontally down the side from this point to the headlight. That allowed me to lift up the plastic just enough for me to squeeze my fat hand in between the tank and the plastic so I could get the washer and nut on the back of the powerlet. Again, it's tight, but it does fit. I was a little worried about doing this considering how cold it is in my garage now. I didn't want the brittle plastic to break. I may have pushed my luck a little, but it held out and nothing cracked.

I plan to wire this one directly to the battery so that I can use it as an unswitched power source for my tank bag as well as a convenient plug for charging the battery during these seemingly endless winter months!

Here is a pic of the outlet installed. The procedure for drilling the hole was the same as on the left side: tape, mark, pray then drill!



Closeup (This also shows two of the three screws above the turn signal that I had to remove. Of course they've been put back in for this shot)



Here is a pic of both the powerlets from the seat. I'm leaning way back in this picture. It's the only way I could actually see them, which is nice because I want this to be as clean looking as possible when I'm done.



Well, I haven't wired any of this yet. I'm still waiting for a few things that I ordered to arrive. In the mean time I hope someone finds this useful.

To be continued...