So, i did my first ride with the gps last week.
Here are my findings:
Easy installement?
Well, my personal installation with all the powercables, interconnections and in-ear headphones takes some time before it's installed.
I put all My interconnections in my tank bag. The connections that come out are The powercable to the battery, and the power cable to the GPS.
The setup is like this: bike battery-Sigarette connection-TOMTOM sigarette adaptor(to Get +5V output)- tomtom battery
But first I had to put the GPS inside the GIVI bag, which is also a bit of a hassle.
When all connections have been made, I just click the bag onto it's mount, and put the safetyprotection strap around the mount. (In case the bag clicks out of it's mount)
Visibility of the screen?
I aimed the GPS at my torso for minimum reflection of the sky above me. But This turns out to be a problem when the sun is shining.
When there is no sun (cloudy or dark) the visibility is very good. No reflection at all.
When the sun is behind me, the visibility is not perfect, but it's readable. (ps. I use a dark smoke sunscreen on the helmet)
When the sun is in front of me, the sunlight reflects off my white/black leater vest, and I cannot see anything on the GPS.
So the use of headphones is a MUST!! To insure safety that is.
Shocks and vibration?
The mounting device works perfect. it's very solid and the gps does not vibrate or shock much.
Even on bad pieces of road, the Givi case dampers the vibration. I can tell you now, that the GPS will not get physically damaged.
Using the GPS with gloves?
It was cold, so I was wearing my thick winter gloves. The touchscreen performed very good, even if there was an extra plastic in front of it (the GIVI bag). I did not encounter any problem while using the GPS.
Headphone usage?
I use phillips in ear headphones without volume control. Big mistake, because once the headphone is connected to the GPS, the volume is NOT adjustable. And tomtom put it at maximum volume which will make you deafinitely deaf ;-)
Also , I was not able to walk away from the bike while wearing my hemet, because the heaphone was directely connected to the GPS.
This was not acceptable for me, so I made a custom headphone. I wanted a normal volume AND a connector to cut the wire in half if I want to walk away from the bike.
So I cut the wires, and put variable resistors in the L and R cable, and then adjusted it to a normal sound level.
Then I measured the resistance set with the variabel resistors, and put SMD resistors inside the cable. I took 37 ohm resistors. Meanwhile, i soldered the wires to a connector. Boom problem solved :thumbup: (see picture)
Useful tips?
The ON/OFF button is inside the GIVI case, so If you want to turn down the GPS without taking it out of the bag, it's not possible. However, there is a setting in the tomtom which allows the GPS to turn off automatically when the power is disconnected. So the only thing you have to do to shutdown the unit, is to pull out the cigarette charger.
When using in ear headphones, you can buy one with a set of different sizes of ear-rubbers. Mine came with 3 sized rubbers for maximum comfort. The rubber also works as sound isolation, Even at highway speeds, and without DB-killer exhausts you can hear the speech very clearly without raping your eardrums.
When connecting a headphone to the tomtom, the volume is set at a default level, which CANNOT be altered on the GPS. The volume is set to deafening loud! So be sure to buy a headphone with volume control.
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