Fairing pocket lid modifications

[Arellcat]

I'm sure someone must have posted about this in days gone by, but if so, I can't find it.

I have a pair of USB sockets in each of the fairing pockets on my 1300. My phone and Garmin* are on RAM mounts on the clutch lever, so I trail the wires out of the left-hand pocket and leave the lid unlatched. It's OK, but it rattles a bit, and I'm always worried the rain will get in**. And of course I don't want to bang the lid shut in a moment of madness and damage the wires. Has anyone cut a notch into the underside of the lid to accommodate a wire or two? The foam strip would accommodate the gap when not running wires, but I would rather modify the lid than cut into the flanges on the pocket, insofar as spares are still reasonably easy to find.

Leaving the lid ajar isn't an entirely daft idea, though. You could make toast in those pockets. Is there any way to improve the ventilation of them?

* No, not a Zumo thing, it's my old 60CSx that I use for following tracks and for recording where I went.
** I try not to use my phone for navigation when it's raining, though it is allegedly rainproof, but I prefer to tour in the spring/summer. The Garmin will do road navigation if I need it, but Google is better.

 

[Uncle Phil]

You could make toast in those pockets.

They work really well to warm up a Melton Mowbray Pork Pie!

 

[SMSW]

I installed a powerlet on the flat just below (and aft) of the pocket on each side of the bike. The right powerlet got the powerlet USB adapter (yes, a big wallet bite at $50) and the left powerlet was controlled by my Warm n Safe heat troller. Were I to do it again, I'd install a USB port in one of those two locations. I would not cut the lid or the box for a cord, but that's my preference. i later made an aluminum cover to replace the plastic between the handlebars. Powerlet #3 went over the steering stem axis and the wire came up from below.

 

[Arellcat]

I have a Powerlet on the right-hand side, in the usual position, for heated clothing potential, but I put the USBs in the pockets to keep the rain off them. On my Africa Twin the lighty-up USB sockets are on the dashboard and only half protected behind the screen, and they've seen a fair bit of rain in their time and are going a bit rusty. So it seemed to me, m'lud, that running a Powerlet-USB adaptor would possibly not solve the problem of water ingress, in the USB sockets at least, while in use. Eastern Beaver has some rinky dink USBs but the rubber cover is only when you're not using them.

I like the look of the Heat Troller and, wow, their heated layer shirt could solve so many problem for me.

 

[Andrew Shadow]

Someone on this forum found waterproof USB ports and reported no water problems even when a USB was plugged in. They would allow you to install them outside of the pocket.