A couple of weeks ago I got a message out of the blue, from a guy named Davin at Powerlet Products. (http://www.powerlet.com/) He was looking for a Super Tènère to borrow for a day, so he could design bike-specific Powerlet kits for it, and he found me on this forum. If I would lend my bike to be kitted out, they would give me free stuff! I was thrilled! I am already their customer; I've been putting their stuff on my bikes for years and I have been very happy with it.
They're about an hour away from me, so the details of how to put my bike in their shop for a day, involved a lot of discussion of loaner vehicles and whatnot. But really, spending a whole day fiddling around with farkles, with a whole shop full of Powerlet stuff to draw on without having to decide in advance what to order, and an extra sets of hands belonging to someone who knows all about this because it's their job? There's no downside there.
So I asked if I could just spend the day there getting underfoot? Davin was amenable. Today was the day.
I was expecting them to be in some generic concrete warehouse somewhere, but their building is actually really attractive. Davin told me it was one of the original Chevy dealers back in the dawn of the auto age, and it has been lovingly restored with historic paint colors and everything. This was back when car dealers were hardly more than storefronts - it's probably only a couple thousand square feet inside, and the outside barely has enough parking for the people who work there - it's not like a modern car dealership that you could see from space. There's just one garage bay. We pulled my bike in there.
They make all the wiring harnesses there onsite, and as we worked on the bike Davin was able to just measure things, then go in the next room and describe what he wanted, and the ladies over there would make it on the spot; it would be ready in minutes. They do stellar work, and they're fast! The bracketry is also made locally, by fabricators and powder coaters in the area. I was glad to learn that it isn't all just ordered from China.
So we installed a half dozen powerlets on my bike. (I didn't let Davin give me that many, since I wouldn't have enough gadgets to use them, but he was test fitting all the options so people will have plenty of choices.) We put one on the left side of the bike, on a bracket below the seat - this one would be good for a battery tender, or for a heated jacket. With their vast collection of bracketry, Davin was able to just pull something off the shelf that fit that spot perfectly. It looked like it was made for the bike! We put another powerlet on a flat spot on the fairing - I already had the hole drilled and I was going to put one there anyway. We put one on that perfect flat spot just left of the instrument cluster. We installed a handlebar mount that has a powerlet and a ram ball, so you can mount a GPS and power it there. And two powerlets fit on the mounting bracket for the right side passenger peg.
I wore the Powerlet heated jacket I bought from them last year at the show. I have definite opinions on the design of heated jackets, and Davin and his colleagues listened patiently to them. If they make a women's version of this heated jacket, maybe they'll put the power plug on the outside so it will be easier to wear it tucked into my pants. I hope so.
Anyway, my bike will soon be gracing the Powerlet website. Buy lots of stuff from them, ok? That way maybe they'll let me come back there and do this again next time I get a new bike. Or let me bring in some of the other bikes already in my garage.
Thanks Davin!
They're about an hour away from me, so the details of how to put my bike in their shop for a day, involved a lot of discussion of loaner vehicles and whatnot. But really, spending a whole day fiddling around with farkles, with a whole shop full of Powerlet stuff to draw on without having to decide in advance what to order, and an extra sets of hands belonging to someone who knows all about this because it's their job? There's no downside there.
So I asked if I could just spend the day there getting underfoot? Davin was amenable. Today was the day.I was expecting them to be in some generic concrete warehouse somewhere, but their building is actually really attractive. Davin told me it was one of the original Chevy dealers back in the dawn of the auto age, and it has been lovingly restored with historic paint colors and everything. This was back when car dealers were hardly more than storefronts - it's probably only a couple thousand square feet inside, and the outside barely has enough parking for the people who work there - it's not like a modern car dealership that you could see from space. There's just one garage bay. We pulled my bike in there.
They make all the wiring harnesses there onsite, and as we worked on the bike Davin was able to just measure things, then go in the next room and describe what he wanted, and the ladies over there would make it on the spot; it would be ready in minutes. They do stellar work, and they're fast! The bracketry is also made locally, by fabricators and powder coaters in the area. I was glad to learn that it isn't all just ordered from China.
So we installed a half dozen powerlets on my bike. (I didn't let Davin give me that many, since I wouldn't have enough gadgets to use them, but he was test fitting all the options so people will have plenty of choices.) We put one on the left side of the bike, on a bracket below the seat - this one would be good for a battery tender, or for a heated jacket. With their vast collection of bracketry, Davin was able to just pull something off the shelf that fit that spot perfectly. It looked like it was made for the bike! We put another powerlet on a flat spot on the fairing - I already had the hole drilled and I was going to put one there anyway. We put one on that perfect flat spot just left of the instrument cluster. We installed a handlebar mount that has a powerlet and a ram ball, so you can mount a GPS and power it there. And two powerlets fit on the mounting bracket for the right side passenger peg.
I wore the Powerlet heated jacket I bought from them last year at the show. I have definite opinions on the design of heated jackets, and Davin and his colleagues listened patiently to them. If they make a women's version of this heated jacket, maybe they'll put the power plug on the outside so it will be easier to wear it tucked into my pants. I hope so.
Anyway, my bike will soon be gracing the Powerlet website. Buy lots of stuff from them, ok? That way maybe they'll let me come back there and do this again next time I get a new bike. Or let me bring in some of the other bikes already in my garage.
Thanks Davin!
