Sato Racing Hooks + Powerlet install

[lightcycle]

Thought I'd document my first mod. With the cold weather not disappearing fast enough up here in Canada, and the wife being chronically cold-blooded (at least she is on the track), I hooked up a Powerlet plug on her bike to power her heated clothing, and while I was at it, replaced the passenger pegs with Sato Racing Hooks. The hooks are great way to tie the rear of the bike down to the trailer after the passenger-peg-delete.

There are a couple of other Powerlet installs in this section. The Powerlet on the passenger peg location is convenient because you can reach the plug when you're sitting on the bike, and the cord from your heated clothing doesn't have a long ways to go to plug in and it doesn't interfere with your riding at all.

Sorry for the quality of the pictures, it's dark in my garage. When I get the chance, I'll update with some pictures in the sunlight.



These are the Sato Racing Hooks ordered from Kyle Racing. Very sleek and stylish, no?



This the the Powerlet kit, ordered directly from Powerlet. Get the Rearset Type-2 Kit, it fits the S1KRR beautifully!



First step is to remove the seat. This is the hardest part of the install. The torx bolts are accessed by pulling the back of the seat cover up a bit. The bolts are quite long, so make sure you don't scratch the paint on the tail as you're removing the seat. Pull the bolts up to the seat to give yourself some clearance.



This is the battery bay, you'll need to disconnect the negative (black) lead first and then the positve (red) to minimize the risk of a short-circuit. Here's a tip: although there is a Phillips head on the battery bolts, do yourself a favour and use a 10mm socket wrench instead. You'll save yourself a stripped screw head.



Now we'll connect the two leads of the Powerlet battery cable to the battery. Positive (red) lead first, then the negative (black last). BMW batteries are nice because the nut is held in place by a plastic tab, instead of falling to the bottom of the bolt cavity where you need to fish it up with a screwdriver. Now is a good time to fit your fuse in the Powerlet fuseholder. When the seat is already bolted on is not a good time to remember that you forgot to fit the fuse in the Powerlet fuseholder...



There is quite a bit of room under the seat so you don't have to be as tidy as I am here, but what I've done is tucked the Powerlet fuseholder to the right side of the bay and I've fished the white plastic Powerlet connector under the seat, like so:



This is way more slack than is needed, as I found out later. You can feed the excess wiring back up into the battery bay.



A couple of torx screws later and the passenger pegs are off! UG-LEE!

[lightcycle]

Now's a good time to attach the Powerlet plug to the white connector. I rotated the plug around for a rear-facing mount. I wanted it on the rear-end of the Racing Hook because the front-end would be too close to your heel when riding.



The Powerlet kit comes with a washer that'll ensure the Racing Hook sits evenly on both the mount and the identically-sized washer. Here is a picture of the rear of the Racing Hook with the Powerlet washer on one side.



You'll have to use the bolts that came with the Sato kit because the torx bolts that held the passenger pegs will not fit. I've hidden the wire between the subframe and the battery bay. Here is the Powerlet plug in the rear-most position. The Powerlet website has a picture of the outlet in the front-most position.



Another shot of the wiring leading up under the seat. If you were fastidious, you could zip-tie the wire to the subframe, but I thought it might look a bit ugly, and the wire seems to be pretty snug between the subframe and battery bay.



It's a tight squeeze for the plug but it just fits against the battery bay cover. If you were thinking about ever removing this plug, you might want to shim a thin piece of rubber between the plug plate and the subframe to prevent scratching. But since this is a permanent install, I went without it.



Now is a good time to test the Powerlet outlet to make sure the connections are good, the fuse works, etc. Did I mention that when the seat is bolted on is not a good time to check if the Powerlet outlet works...?

[bobafeets]

How are you liking them Sato Hooks?
Looks good. Very clean congrats on the mods!

[lightcycle]

They work great! Here is a better shot in the light.

Sorry for the dirt, just trailered down to the Gap.

[Crankshaft]

Nice install, very clean.

The Gap? as in Deal's Gap?
53 miles from my house...

[SPETSNAZ]

Originally Posted by lightcycle

They work great! Here is a better shot in the light.

Sorry for the dirt, just trailered down to the Gap.

Nice. I took my rear pegs of and have racing plates block offs.Going to Gap in two weeks don't wanna put on pegs.This is great where did you get them?

[Pappy]

I got mine from Kyle Racing, great service, received them in two days. http://www.shop.kyleusa.com/product....categoryId=131

[lightcycle]

I got them from Kyle Racing as well.

A better pic of the Powerlet powering an iPod:

[SPETSNAZ]

looks good, good job on install

[torquerat]

That looks awesome!! it the socket (female end) standard lighter plug style / type??

A better question is can you use it in reverse as a battery charger??

would be cool for dule purpose