Heated gear on F650twin

Does the BMW outlet up by the key on a F650twin support a Gerbing Jacket or is it limited to 5 amps as on the early Canbus bikes?

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5 amps

JackSIZE="5"][/SIZE]

Capacity

Also, note that the F650GS / F800GS twins have a smaller alternator than some other BMW bikes. You only have ~100W of surplus capacity to play with for your electronic farkling...

Nice detailed analysis is here:

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showpost.php?p=10368118&postcount=60

I don't understand why BMW is making the accessory socket with a 5 amp capacity. In my opinion it makes it virtually useless.

On my bike I simply wired the socket directly to the battery with a fuse. That way I can run my warm & safe jacket, or charge the battery thru the accessory socket. And the alternator output is plenty for running both a heated jacket and the heated grips. I wouldn't try running both and extra running lights at the same time though.

When I run my electric jacket and grips when I get home and plug in my battery tender the light turns to green usually within 30 seconds. That tells me the alternator is not having any problem with the load. Just remember that if you do a lot of traffic riding that the alternator is not producing much power when your sitting around idling. It needs to be above 2K rpm ( just guessing the rpm I have never measured it) to start making enough power to overcome demand. If I have been in traffic I simply turn off the jacket and grips a couple of miles before I get home. That way there is time to recharge the battery for any deficit that the sitting in traffic caused.

I have a Gerbing Jacket Liner, G3 Gloves, Pants Liner, and Dual Controller. Each piece of heated gear from Gerbing comes with an in-line fused harness to connect directly to your battery. I have the wire come out just below the left side of the seat in a place where I can tuck the wire out of the way when not in use. It comes with an assortment of fuses. With my gear, I need the largest (15 amp) fuse.

The harness is the no cost way to go, and is probably the best way in any case. All it costs is the time it takes to wire it to the battery. I was going to buy the Gerbing adapter for the BMW accessory socket, but my BMW dealer talked me out of it (even though he lost the sale) saying the direct wired harness is definitely the way to go. I think he is right.

gblawler said:

I have a Gerbing Jacket Liner, G3 Gloves, Pants Liner, and Dual Controller. Each piece of heated gear from Gerbing comes with an in-line fused harness to connect directly to your battery. I have the wire come out just below the left side of the seat in a place where I can tuck the wire out of the way when not in use. It comes with an assortment of fuses. With my gear, I need the largest (15 amp) fuse.

The harness is the no cost way to go, and is probably the best way in any case. All it costs is the time it takes to wire it to the battery. I was going to buy the Gerbing adapter for the BMW accessory socket, but my BMW dealer talked me out of it (even though he lost the sale) saying the direct wired harness is definitely the way to go. I think he is right.

Click to expand...

The BMW plug used to come stock capable of running heated gear. Its only the new Canbus bikes that have the wimpy 5 amp connector. I use the same controller on several bikes. Its nice to just unplug the controller from one bike, and plug it into another bike. Maybe BMW will one day make the plug useful from the factory again. But knowing BMW I won't hold my breath.

Wire it to the battery !

I took off the wire and wired to the battery.

I only have heated gloves... I used them with the socket no problem... but one day I was bored and installed the direct harness to the battery that was supplied with the gloves... I was embarrassed that i bought the extra socket adapter after i experienced how easy the install was.

Pete in OKC, OK

Run a separate SAE line to the battery and hook your accessories to that line. Immediately upon returning home hook your Battery Tender (YUASA or Deltran) up as soon as you step off the bike.

I also run warm & safe jacket liner and gerbings g3 gloves on the F650 direct from the battery. I use the BMW plug to run the GPS.

Bullett said:

I also run warm & safe jacket liner and gerbings g3 gloves on the F650 direct from the battery. I use the BMW plug to run the GPS.

Click to expand...

Smart way to go.

At least the battery is topside on the Twins. Easier to get to except for removing all those screws.

On my F650GS Twin the dealer swapped out the stock power socket with a non-relayed PowerLet, you can use whatever fuse is enough for your heated gear (within reason, naturally).

However, the better solution is probably to use a separate wiring harness wired either to the battery or to a relay switched fuse block. I run a Tourmaster jacket off my Centech block along with heated grips, running lights, and a nav system; however, you do need to keep your revs up to run it all at the same time (above 2000rpm or so, I have an power meter installed). If you're idling, you will need to shut down extra lighting and maybe even run the jacket on a lower setting to avoid running down the battery.

F

Re 12V Gear

It might help for this question, Recent post in the gear section of the forum.