F850GS & A Power Outlet

snotty54 said:

Keeping this short, but my first BMW was a '12 RT, the front and rear power outlet powered my heated gear and my tire pump. My new 2018 RT would power my heated gear (single rider girbing jacket and gloves) but would not power my tire pump, had to go direct to battery, very inconvenient. Taking my new F850GSA to the Orange Beach Getaway last month it was cool and rainy both travel days (Tallahassee to Orange Beach, and return on final day) and I discovered that the one power outlet on the F850GSA (left front dash) would not power my heated gear. Have to tell ya, that was disappointing. I was at my dealer on the 11th March and told the Service Manager how disappointed I was, and apparently the damn thing was only good to power a phone. He had his back up a bit (I guess I wasn't the first one) and explained BMW limited it to the max amperage the wire they used would allow. In other words, he had no idea why they engineered the thing to only supply enough power for a phone. When I got back to my storage, I tried my tire pump, and voila, it runs fine on the power outlet when it isn't hooked up to anything, but hook the pump to the tire and dead.

Such an industry leading well designed machine and yet so not functional on the power outlet mystifies me. Motorcyclists purchasing a GS or GSA type of bike can be expected to ride in inclement weather and heated gear is essential if you're riding in the back country. Even in summer it can get cold at altitude, etc. etc. I ordered the direct to battery connector for the Girbing gear, and now I'll have some ugly wire dangling from somewhere around the front of my seat. Totally unnecessary, the power outlet would have been ideal for that.

Miffed, Scotty

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Omega Man said:

The majority of bike owners realize that the best way for heated gear connection is direct to the battery. This can be accomplished with the included pigtail supplied with the heated gear. The same goes for a maintenance charger. I myself use both with great success on two bikes and an ATV. My Slime pump “pops” the fuse in the lighter circuit of my diesel pickup. No problem direct to the battery.
If that’s the only thing that irks you about the bike- you are a winner.
OM

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PGlaves said:

There are at least three options for this hookup. One you have mentioned. You can run a two-pole or coaxial connector directly to the battery which will, as you said, "have some ugly wire dangling from somewhere around the front of my seat." I must confess I have two such wires - one with a two-pole connector and one with a coaxial connector on every bike we own, or have owned for the past ten or more years.

Or you can disconnect the wires leading to the existing outlet and run new FUSED wiring from the outlet to the battery. This has the disadvantage that it is "hot" all of the time, which is also the advantage that your brain can control it's use instead of the bike's brain controlling it.

The third option is to add an additional accessory socket to the motorcycle. Leave the factory one as it is but add one connected directly to the battery. This will then work fine for heated clothing or an air pump or anything else drawing more than the permitted amps on the factory socket: 5A for some bikes; 10A for others, I am told. This avoids the dangling wire which offends you.

Either of the latter two solutions means you need the matching male connectors to go into the factory style accessory socket on any accessory (clothing, pump, charger, etc) you intend to connect to the socket.

A suitable added accessory socket is probably available from BMW through your dealer, and is certainly available from Powerlet through any number of vendors who sell Powerlet products. There are other possible suppliers too since that socket has been available from Hella and has been a European standard since at least the 1960s. The first one I ever saw was for the power wires to a sidecar on a /2.

See for example: https://www.amazon.com/Powerlet-PSO-001-Socket-Only/dp/B00LB4ACSO

See also: https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=hella+din+socket

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snotty54 said:

Thanks Paul, very good suggestion, should have thought of that myself. I think I'll buy the parts. I'm looking for a hella din female with a short harness, haven't found one yet, still looking

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