Best Powerlet Location

[williamemack]

I thought I would install a Powerlet socket to make it easier to charge up the battery. Now that I have the socket in my hand, I'm not sure where the best place to locate it is. I thought of mounting it on a short bracket I fabricated to be attached inside the left footpeg nut. Problem with this location is that the socket will be subject to rear wheel spray and I doubt the snap cover of the socket will keep water out. SO, is there a "standard" location for these auxiliary outlets? If you use one, where is it mounted and do you have a problem with water?

[Bob_Roller]

I've been thinking about adding an outlet as well, I've kinda been leaning towards mounting it in the shock absorber area .

If it's not too cold the in New England today, to take a look at your bike, look at the right side of the bike just behind the right shock absorber, there should be three holes in the metal plate .

I was thinking of opening up one of those holes to install the power outlet .

Where ever you do decide to mount the outlet, put a fuse in the hot wire, just as a precaution for damage to the outlet, or wiring .

There was an OEM kit available, and from the looks of the drawing, it mounted below the side covers between the frame tubes, just above the swing arm pivot bolt .

[Barry]

Hi Will

I've also been thinking about fitting a charging socket for some time. I could certainly make good use of one. The holes that Bob mentioned seem like a good spot to me and I was intending to do my own thing using standard 4mm banana sockets and plugs which I happen to have in stock. Fusing would be essential of course. Be interested to hear how yours turns out.

[williamemack]

Hey Bob, it's a balmy 34 degrees outside right now. We sent all the cold air down to our snowbird friends in Florida. Besides, I have a nice wood stove fired up in the family room. So after reading your post, I ran out to the barn and took a look at your suggestion. Looks like a good spot, but might be a little tight for the rubber boot that fits over the back side of the outlet. Powerlet may have a shallower socket. I will wait to see what others post before I take action.

Thank you!

Will

[Bob_Roller]

The only outlet that I've personally seen, is the OEM BMW part that I installed on my oilhead, there shouldn't be any clearance issues with that part in that location .

[bruce_launceston]

Mine has the outlet fitted as standard. The bracket bolts to the left top shock mount and the outlet sits in front of the shock.

[Dizerens5]

My R65 has a standard BMW socket fitted in the middle of the left hand side panel, wired direct to the battery with an inline fuse which also supplies the clock up front. It all works fine and there is plenty of space for it. But you do have to use one hand to grip the rather shaky side panel when plugging in or out.

[R65_Mark]

My R65 is my regular/daily ride so I budget time/money investments with this in mind, and they tend to be reliability focused.  Therefore, my solution is that I have the lead pack with eyelet terminals that came with the Deltran Battery Tender I use wired to the battery and tie-wrapped to one of the frame rails on the left side so the in-line plug just sticks out just under the side panel.  Makes hooking up a breeze, but I do need to be careful when running the battery tender leads to keep the wires away from a hot exhaust.  Works well.  Even did the same on my R100RT as a stop gap, but I’m not sure I’ll ever get around to doing anything fancier.

Mark

[williamemack]

Thanks, Mark. This connection is what I have been using which is fine in warm weather, but when it gets cold in New England, the plastic hardens up and the connectors are hard to use.

[not-so-fast-ed]

This is what the factory outlet looks like on my "Mono".  It came with an in-line fuse, wiring, and bracket for mounting up near the grab handle and seat lock on the left side.  Of course I also needed to buy a BMW adapter to use the "Battery Tender", as BMW has it's own size outlet.