If you’re into modifying or upgrading your adventurous steed, you’ll already be very familiar with companies like Touratech, Twisted Throttle, Black Dog and AltRider. They’re the candy stores that provide the many and varied bolt-ons, accessories, gizmos and other gadgets for personalizing our rides. Upgrades usually fall into the categories of improved comfort, safety, reliability, durability and storage capacity. Some upgrades are ingenious fixes, designed to correct problems with the factory machines, while others are genuine head-scratchers—if not potentially dangerous, they make us wonder what, if any, issues are actually being resolved.

For those who own a BMW R1200GS or Adventure, looking to add a little functionality, take a look at Touratech’s Cockpit Cover upgrade. I’d been considering adding a couple of power outlets but hadn’t determined the best location on the bike until I happened across Touratech’s solution. Their Cockpit Cover fills the void around the R1200GS instrument panel and features both BMW socket (AKA Powerlet) and cigarette-style outlets—good for mobile phones, heated clothing, GPS units, and other devices that can be plugged directly into the Cockpit Cover without having to otherwise run annoying cables around the motorbike.

Because of the 15 amps fused direct battery connection, the outlets can be used for charging or powering other devices even when ignition is off. Or, charging the motorcycle battery without the special BMW battery charger. And, they can also be used for all electric tire pumps that require a minimum of 10 amps. The stock R1200GS factory accessory outlet is controlled by the CANbus (BMW’s onboard wireless network) system, which can shut off after one minute, also limiting the current to 5 amps. So the factory BMW outlet is not sufficient to operate a tire pump.

The Cockpit Cover is black and made from powder-coated aluminum with stainless steel mounting hardware. It fits perfectly, designed for the GS and Adventure with two versions available, one for ’05–’07, and another for ’08 to current models. You can also order the covers with or without the two outlet components. But, we recommend that you pay the extra for the outlets. Touratech supplies excellent quality components for a nominal charge, so unless you own a marine supply store, you’ll have a difficult time finding anything better. And they come with waterproof outlet port covers.

The Cockpit Cover is also an easy D.I.Y. project, not requiring any professional skills or tools. Our installation took about an hour, but could have been half of that if the instruction sheet had been better written (a common problem with many manufacturers). With web access being so readily available, manufacturers should take note and use this virtually free publishing medium to make liberal use of instruction manual photos, text and movies. They spend so much on R&D, it only makes sense to ease the consumer’s experience with detailed and more helpful installation instructions. Anyway, it wasn’t a major problem, by any means, and the finished result looked great, too.

The Cockpit Cover places two convenient outlets directly in front of the rider, easy-to-charge or power devices from the tank bag, RAM mounts, heated clothing or the ol’ standby—zip ties. And it integrates so well with the dash design, that it looks more like a factory component than an aftermarket upgrade. And the folks at Touratech priced it right, too.