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Santa brought me a GPS

bigtex

bigtex

Cruisin' Guzzisti
GT Contributor
Joined
Oct 27, 2008
Messages
223
Location
Northern Colorado, USA
Just wanted to add a happy, no-failures thread. :laugh:

Rather surprisingly, Santa brought me a Garmin nuvi 500 GPS. Not motorcycle dedicated but a good switch hitter for both car and bike. I used a RAM mount and a fabricated bracket at the bottom. Initial ride gives two thumbs up. 3 inches of snow this morning but lots of sunshine coming later this week...

View from riding position:

Nuvi004.jpg


Simple bracket with RAM mount:

Nuvi003.jpg
 
Looks like an excellent compromise, I bought a Zumo 500 which is a good unit, but a pain in the car as it has no built in speaker, can you hear your Nuvi whilst riding ? Weather permitting of course !
 
Big Mick wrote:
Can you hear your Nuvi whilst riding ? Weather permitting of course !
Click to expand...

No, not a chance. And it does not have an audio output port. That probably works against it for the heavy duty tourer.

On the other hand, I used it in the truck for a 1600 mile Christmas vacation, and ended up turning the audio off. Turns out I don't want an electronic mother-in-law talking all the time. I just look over when needed and it shows me where to go.

Your mileage may of course vary :)
 
Update:

I wanted to add a small amount of theft protection and prevent someone from just popping the Nuvi out. This is what I came up with. Obviously it can be still be nabbed by a thief with some big bolt cutters or screwdrivers and time, but it should be secure for lunch breaks and such.

RAM016.jpg


RAM020.jpg


I like it. No rattles and will still pop over to the truck with one key and 10 seconds. Plus just the visual of a lock and cable will hopefully help a would-be just keep moving (note - I don't commute and wouldn't leave it outside overnight).
 
Thanks for that Tex, know what you mean about the voice commands being annoying, I do find them helpfull if I'm somewhere unfamiliar. I secure my Zumo with the Garmin locking nut, which is not too subtle !
 
That baby is MINE in about 15 seconds still you know.

I generally rely on the fact that most people are clueless how a RAM mount works. So that adds enough time to help.

Also, I believe you can get a replacement for the RAM locking knob that has a key for it. You tighten it down, then turn the key, and the knob spins freely. Might be OK as that first level of security.
 
I finished installing the Zumo on the Stelvio last night. I found the plug for the Tomtom tied to the fairing support frame left side of the fairing recess. The end of the GPS plug is pale green, with a rubber boot. Two wires, blue and green. I used the waterproof Posilocks to mate the Guzzi pigtail with the Garmin. The green wire is positive, blue is ground. (Garmin, red is positive, black is ground. I pulled the boot over the Posilocks as far as it would go, then taped well. I left enough wire on the Garmin side to ziptie everything back where it came from.

I did the handlebar mount differently, and, I think, rather slick. The OEM tomtom bolts directly to a duplicate of the handlebar clamp with 4 holes added. I figured to duplicate their approach on my own using the clamp already on the bike, since the Tomtom holes would never match, and you can't get the modified clamp from Guzzi without buying the whole kit anyway.

I measured and compared the hole pattern for the Zumo and decided that there was JUST BARELY enough room for 4 threaded holes to accept the original screws as supplied by Garmin. The catch is that the holes have to be drilled and tapped from the underside of the bar clamp as they exit on a beveled surface (the outer edges of the handlebar clamp). Screws are 8-36's, I carefully measured, center punched, drilled pilot holes first, on a drill press with drill vise, then redrilled to final size. Drill slowly, use plenty of oil and clear your chips or the aluminum will load the bit. Then tap holes to 8-36. Again, use oil and back tap out several times to clear chips. When you're done, you'll have 4 neat holes exiting on the beveled surfaces of what will be the top of the bar clamp when you're finished, and they will be the ENTRANCE holes for your mounting bolts. One more important note. Your center punched pilot holes need to be somewhat off center in the rail edges that you're drilling, favoring the inside of the clamp slightly. As you tap the holes, the tap will break through the inner edge of the clamping surface slightly, and you'll wonder how the heck the bolts will clear the handlebars when mounted? Don't worry, the bolts are short enough that they won't protrude, so no problem. They are actually completely contained within the aluminum clamp when the job's done.

I applied locktite to all four bolts when mounting up. Looks like a factory job, and just rather minor machine skills and tools needed.


Sorry for lack of pics, I can shoot a couple of the finished job, or take things apart if anyone really needs assistance.
 
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