TigreST

Took a day out of the life and mounted my Garmin 260W unit to the XX. Photo's show the finished product. The hood..how ever functional or not it may be,..was made from some plastic sign material. I simply cut it to shape then used the home renovation type heat gun to soften it up enough to bend it to the what I desired. Although I say "simple" this is the fourth generation hood. Again...I don't now how much shade it will provide..but it does give a Radar hood look to the install. The actual stem mount is made from 3/4 inch diameter Delrin (acetyl acetate) that I sourced from my model aircraft building supplies (originally intended to make motor intake venturi's). The top end is tapped to fit the RAM Mount ball threads,.and is also hexagon shaped to fit into the factory stem cover's 12mm socket head hole. This "socket head fit" provides for a "no-spin" fix for the device and also helps to hold the hole works into the stem by degree, if it should ever come loose at the lower end. The lower end is simply a angle cut device as you might find on your peddle bikes handle bar mounting neck. When the bolt is tightened, the wedge offsets and is forced against the inside of the steering stem tube....there is nothing hanging bellow the stem at all above the front fender, or anything that might impact the stock horn mount location near the stem.
Power is supplied via a purpose made cable as noted above in my previous post on the topic. I wired it to my existing relay which powers my Oxford heated grips. In like fashion as the grips,..the Garmin can only get power when the key is on...the power supply is "switched" due to the install of the relay.
Now I'll know just how lost I am!

Tony "I've never been lost...cause people are always telling me where to go" Bagley

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"Stemmata quid faciunt."

DeathWish01

looks really nice, i just used a hole that the previous owner drilled to put a cut off switch in on the left side, either way the garmins look nice in these spots

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Take Two X's For A Spin And Call Me In The Morning!

Mike Voeller

addman

Sorry guys, might be being thick, but where on the bike did you wire your power feeds into? On the Bandit, I wired it into the power feed for the horn as it's right there ;-) but on the blackbird, it looks like the wires for the handlebar switch clusters are all neat and bundled together into the instrument panel?

I see some people mention the tail light feed - could anyone point out where this is (under the seat somewhere, I'm guessing)? I assume you then just run the power feed forward under the fuel tank?

TigreST

The link that follows will take you to a off topic post on the wiring of Oxford heated grips into the Blackbird harness. This is but one way to do the power install for a GPS system. Note: The Garmin unit used above requires the 12volt power supply to be reduced to 5.5 volts for GPS service. The power supply cord I sourced provides for this power reduction. To provide a "power when key is on" switched supply source I wired the GPS power into the aux. relay I installed for my Oxford heated grips install. The connections for GPS power supply include a 1) connection to the battery (-) post, and 2) a connection to a hot (+) terminal on the aux. power relay I installed for the heated grips. Should you like you need to only replace the "Hot Grips wiring tags with "GPS" power and you will have the same set up as mine. This ensures the power is off to the GPS supply lead when the key is off. Besure to double check your GPS power requirements,..you may find the spec's on the stock power cord cig adapter tag...it's in very fine print. You could also use the same wiring scheme to attach a cig power port to the bike and then plug the stock GPS cord into this aux. port. I found that the Gilsson cord made for a smaller cleaner install. The cord includes the let down circuit, a fused connection and a power LED to let you know that the cord is powered up. All of this is hiden under the seat.

Here's the link:

Wiring up GPS and heated grips


HTH

Tony

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"Stemmata quid faciunt."

addman

Tony, that's great, thanks for this.

I'm using the TomTom rider power cable which, like the Gilsson cable, just has two stripped wires at the end. Like you say, neater than having a cig power port.

I think the relay is probably not needed with just a GPS, I can see the sense for something much higher ampage like the grips, but I think the TomTom should be okay (it certainly was on the Bandit).

Need an inline fuse holder then, plus those crimp style connectors.

Thanks again,

Adam.

TigreST

I agree with your comment about "higher amperage like grips" comment. The relay is perhaps overkill for a simple GPS install. In my case I already had the relay available with an empty hot (+) power connection that was not in use. This coupled to my "gang connector" at the battery neg. (-) post made for a simple crimped-on blade connector install of the power cord for the GPS.

If you wish to have a "switched" supply but want to fore go the relay install,..then you need only connect the hot (+) side of you power cable to the tail light power (always on) lead. This is the one that is supplying the hot (+) side of the relay circuit in my diagram in the link above.


Tony

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"Stemmata quid faciunt."

addman

Yep, that was exactly my plan. Got the connectors and stuff tonight at a local auto store, so all ready to go now on Saturday when I get the bike!

Scrappy

Does anyone do kits for the ram mount ball on the triple tree? .. I've got the ram kit but need the bottom ball kit for the bird ?

TigreST

I do not believe there is a "complete kit" persay. What I did was went to the RAM Mount Inc site.... RAM Mounting Systems, Inc. ......and had a good look around at the available hardware...then sort of built/pieced together my own system. I did not order anything on-line. Back in March or April my Beemer buddy and I hit the bike show in Toronto,..and as luck would have it a Canadian distributor for RAM Inc was there. They were selling bike packages sorta ready to go. I told them what I wanted and they pieced together a RAM GPS holder for my Garmin 260W,..and then all the connective balls and extensions I wanted. They never had to lift a brain cell as I already knew what I required. The steering stem mount "slip fit wedge device" was a bit of bike crafting I came up with somewhat on my own,..but I again already knew how I was going to assemble the bits to the RAM ball mount system. I got everthing I required (in RAM hardware) from the show vendor for a "show sale package price"...or just slightly over it.

There is only one thing I might change and that's the Delrin steering stem insert/wedge device make up...I may re do it and go with an alum wedge lock unit. The Delrin works well but I somewhat conserned about putting to much torque on the stem mount ball for fear of tearing the threads out of the Delrin insert unit. The down side (if any) is the use of Alum. (which is what the up grade one might be) material which I might use. I don't want to worry about dis-similiar metal corrosion issues and have to battle to get the stem insert out of the steering stem post. A bit of molly slip or other grease/lube may be enough to take care of this issue I guess.

Currently the Delrin unit is working fine..but I don't put a full locking load on the Delrin threads.

Maybe there's a market for the steering stem inserts for 1100xx operators?

Tony

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Scrappy

Cheers TigreST,

Was hoping for some kind of kit .....

There is a guy in the UK doing garmin ball mounts for the XX and other bikes (on Epray) .. I could see if he has something I can use.

Scraps.

paul7911

Was hoping for some kind of kit .....

There is a guy in the UK doing garmin ball mounts for the XX and other bikes (on Epray) .. I could see if he has something I can use.

Scraps.[/quote]
is it me luap7911 and other bird bits all made from stainless steelDSCF4377.JPG

Scrappy

is it me luap7911 and other bird bits all made from stainless steelAttachment 13116[/quote]

Hi Paul,

And

I think I've got mine sorted for now by clamping the ball mount onto the left slipon, seems to work ok although looks pants .. lol. I'm sure that some folks on here would more than appreciate your skills with SS ball mounts for the sat-navs

paul7911

Hi Paul,

And

I think I've got mine sorted for now by clamping the ball mount onto the left slipon, seems to work ok although looks pants .. lol. I'm sure that some folks on here would more than appreciate your skills with SS ball mounts for the sat-navs [/quote]
i hope they will ,thanks m8

biggxx

This was my short-term solution... which I'm still using over a year later. I bought a Magellan 2200t, which can run on its internal battery for up to eight hours. So I just slip that into the clear map pocket on top of the tank bag.

Two problems - the screen faces straight up toward the sky so the combined glare on the screen and the map pocket means I have to shade it with my hand to see it. Second, as a friend said, "do you really want to leave your GPS in that little E-Z-Bake Oven on a hot day?" It has actually shut itself down twice on very hot sunny days.

So, my plan, whenever I get around to it, is to use the RAM mount from the clip-on. To clear the tank bag, it will have to obscure the dash somewhat. But I have the newer digital dash so it will only block the tachometer. Not a problem... the rev-limiter will tell me if I really need to shift.

waehrik

I just mounted my gps this past weekend using the steering stem method (with the 12mm allen socket).
I have an extremely old Garmin i2 with a black and white non-touch screen. I picked it up at a yard sale for free because the power port was broken. Ten minutes with a soldering iron fixed that. The great thing about it is that it runs on AA batteries and the screen is immune from glare and the backlight is only needed at night. It looks like the face of a digital watch.
This gps uses the standard ball mount and I had a handlebar bracket that I used on my Bandit ($5 on ebay) but the Blackbird has clip on bars instead of the regular type so I couldn't attach it easily.
I bought a 6mm flange nut from the hardware store and epoxied it underneath the steering stem bolt. The allen socket is not disturbed at all, so it can be easily removed and reinstalled. I then cut off the top of the mount so that only the ball, stem, and flat base remained. I used a dremel to eat out the center of the piece and inserted a rectangular nut from an old battery. A short length of threaded rod goes between the stem and the steering nut. It can be removed and reinstalled in a matter of seconds and only took about an hour to make. And it didn't require putting a long rod inside the steer stem, which made me nervous. I can take pictures when I get home if anyone is interested.

onoff

I've used the same Garmin StreetPilot unit on dozens of different motos in the last few years. All it needs is the RAM ball mounted somewhere near the handlebars.

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Beaverbreath

Hi have been reading and learning lots as I want to buy a GPS and mount it on my BB. I have a question that I want to ask. Please keep in mind that I know nothing about the GPS units. Here goes... If you hook the power cord up so there is only power to the GPS when the key is on. What happens when you pull in for a rest on a trip and turn the bike off? Does the battery in the GPS take over and one has to turn it off from there, or does the GPS have an auto shutdown after a few minutes and the info is not lost? Thank you

TigreST

The Garmin 260W unit I'm using at the moment (an auto unit pressed into motorcycle service) Has a "un-known to me at time of install" neat feature. When plugged into the "switched" on bike power supply cord. It comes on when the key is turned to the on/run position on the ignition. This auto on feature does not require that I cycle the units built in on/off/lock button at all. It simply senses the power supply coming on as the ignition is turned on and auto starts the GPS.

In a similar fashion, the unit powers down on bike ignition shutdown,..but with one cavet..the GPS menu prompts you "Extrenal power lost" ,.."Unit will shutdown in 30 seconds",..at which point the timer starts to count down as you watch. There are also two select buttons that appear (this unit has a touch screen btw),..one stating "Keep unit running with battery power",...the other stating "Shut unit down now",..or words to that effect. So if you wish to play with the unit with the motorcycle engine shutdown/ignition off you can do so while on the units internal battery power. You can also do nothing at the above prompts and the unit will auto shut-down after the counter times out.

The above plays to advantage for my particular mode of install because I have the anti-glare hood installed. This hood fits extremely close to the upper/top edge of the GPS unit. Also located in the upper/top edge area of the unit is the units manual start-up/shut-down/lock button. When clamped into my RAM mount GPS holder with anti-glare hood install, the fit is so tight (by my own design) that I can not access the start-up/shut-down/lock button with my finger...there is simply no room for a finger to access the button. This is not an issue with the power management logic built into the unit as noted above. I can only speak to the Garin 260W in this regard,..but it's most likely that other Garmin products function in a similar way. Also note,..most car units are not water proof or resistant, and many may not be optimized for direct sunlight operation as on a motorcycle. Even with these down sides the auto units are much cheaper and still pull good duty on the bike. The 260W also talks to you,..but you'd never hear it at speed with a helmet on. There may be a way to intergrate the unit to a Blue Tooth head set of some sort..but I'm not concerned with that at the moment.

FWIW,

Tony

p.s.: Ensure your on-board power cord supply is of the correct voltage for your GPS unit,..the Garmin is 5.25 volts DC operting I believe (see your car adapter for power requirements...it's in the fine print) If you opt for a non-cig lighter power cord install you may need a voltage reducer built into your cord as I did.

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Beaverbreath

Thank you Tony. I understand what you are saying and with the on/off/lock button blocked the setup you have would be best. I want to get one to use in the car/bike. I see hard wire power supply cables on Ebay for the receivers and think I will go that way of hooking up power (only if the units are the right voltage drop for the receiver) also I want to mount mine on the steering stem, so I have my work cut out for me. No rush as the season is all but gone. The ram ball and socket mount that is for windshield mounting is not strong enough for bike use is it? I see you have a type of clamp mount that can be tighten on the mount ram balls. Wish the bike GPS receivers were not so expensive. A car unit will have to do. Thanks