Best GPS, Mount & Wiring Set Up

[Doug]

What do you guys recommend for a GPS, mount and wiring set up on our handle bars?

 

[OZXJR]

Any GPS will do mate,car ones are cheaper,ram mount and cigarette type waterproof socket and your good to go :thumbup:

 

[texcollect]

I have a Tomtom one V2, a Ram mount and a powerlet socket and GPS lead. Works great ! Here are some pics

 

[04fizzer]

Any GPS will do mate,car ones are cheaper,ram mount and cigarette type waterproof socket and your good to go :thumbup:

That about covers it.

HOWEVER, I would avoid some Garmins, as they have a ball-and-socket attachment, which RAM does not recommend using their mounts with on a motorcycle. Hitting a big bump has lead to the GPS falling off on several occasions (for other people).

 

[D-Mac]

What do you guys recommend for a GPS, mount and wiring set up on our handle bars?

I love my Garmin Zumo (I have the lower end 450). It comes with the mounts/cradle and a plug with 2-wire leads. I soldered the leads to an SAE plug and ran this back under the seat. I already had another SAE plug connected to my battery (one that came with a battery tender), so now I can plug in my gps, battery tender, or a mini compressor just by lifting the seat and swapping plugs.

 

[Rob2222]

I have some pictures of a Garmin GPSMap60CSx and a Nuvi350T (not waterproof) at the FZ6 on my page.

Pictures

BR Rob

 

[cv_rider]

I have some pictures of a Garmin GPSMap60CSx and a Nuvi350T (not waterproof) at the FZ6 on my page.

Pictures

BR Rob

I've got this same GPS, and found that the vibrations through the bar have nearly destroyed the electronics of the unit. Nees to be mounted to the chassis somehow. This GPS is intended as a handheld, probably never tested on a 7k rpm vibration table.

 

[Rob2222]

Which you have? The GPSMap? Is it dead now or how do you think that the electronics are almost dead?

BR
Robert

 

[cv_rider]

Which you have? The GPSMap? Is it dead now or how do you think that the electronics are almost dead?

BR
Robert

I have the GPSMap60CSx. It's still functional, but does periodically fade-to-off when I hit 7k PRM. I've added more rubbery "insulation" between the handelbar and the mount that isolates from vibrations. It doesn't fade-to-off as much anymore, but still does it. Prior to doing that, it couldn't stay on for more than 15 minutes without dying.

 

[VEGASRIDER]

Any GPS will do mate,car ones are cheaper,ram mount and cigarette type waterproof socket and your good to go :thumbup:

I've got this same GPS, and found that the vibrations through the bar have nearly destroyed the electronics of the unit. Nees to be mounted to the chassis somehow. This GPS is intended as a handheld, probably never tested on a 7k rpm vibration table.

I'm in the process of purchasing a GPS for my upcoming trip up to Oregon in a couple of weeks and was wondering if any GPS works.

I don't want to spend $600 on a Zumo 550 GPS which is specifically made for a motorcycle Yes, it comes with all the bells and whistles, inlcluding a handebar mount. But again, a $100-$200 GPS designed for a car, may not last very long on a bike.

I was looking at the Garmin Nuvi 1200, about $110. But I'm worried because it's not motorcycle specific, but it is designed to be portable, meaning that you can take it with you if you want to use it for walking.

Maybe it will work. Any inputs?

 

[Knabel]

I have used a variety of GPS units. I will ramble a bit...maybe some of it will be useful...

Many seem to be 'multi functional'. However, all I have seen seem to be slanted very hard to one function. From my experience the function of a car GPS and motorcycle GPS are not much different. I will say my Nuvi 265T with the ball and socket mount drops forward (does NOT fall off) around 6k rpms. I am guessing it hits some resonant frequency.

Trail GPS's like the Legend or 60Cx, are GREAT for geocaching and hiking but the user interface for driving leaves alot to be desired when compared to the street specific ones.

Speaking of Geocaching...if you think you'll be doing that, you almost need a trail specific GPS. ...just a thought. street pilot and nuvi will not work.

As for battery life, my old street pilot lasted about 4 hours. Fantastic.
Nuvi 265WT, is about 1.5 hours with bluetooth on, 2-3 with bluetooth off.
Legend CX, about 3 hours.

I will say if you are not tech savy, avoid the legend and GPS60 or 72. It has LOTS of functions, and the user interface is somewhat complicated. I love it b/c of all the things I can turn on and off / change.
The street specific ones are very simple.

Another thing to think about is the trail type GPS's don't come with street maps. They may say they come with 'basic' street maps...that means about 10 streets in a city the size of Indianapolis. Completely useless.
I just bought lifetime maps last night for $120 for my Nuvi. ...just something to think about.

To summarize my ramblings, decide what you plan to use the GPS for the Most. buy that one. If you plan to go on lots of long Fazer rides, spring for a Zumo...you'll appreciate it more in the end.
If you are a mostly a hiker (like me) and a little tech savy you'll want a trail type. Recommend the legend, GPS60 or 72...depending on you budget.
If you will use it most in a car, the old streetpilot is my favorite. not the prettiest, but very easy to use and LONG battery life.

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

Still use my Street pilot III mounted on a Touratec lockable mount. On the FZ, I have it mounded on a custom cross member atop the handlebar risers. Mounted dead center (I'm able to see all the gauges). Its wired direct to the battery...

 

[Knabel]

As for the mount, I like this one...
http://www.600riders.com/forum/fz6-mods/18278-my-new-ingenious-sat-nav-mount.html

I plan to do that one this summer.


Ooh...and the ball type mount. I am going to drill a hole in mine and put a 1/2" screw through it as a set screw. Should not affect auto mount and will keep the motorcycle mount from moving...or the GPS from falling off as some have suggested. (That is for the Nuvi)


I am still trying to figure out the power issue. The 2009 does not have any accessory plug in the fuze box, so no matter what I do, it will be a little bit of a mess...ie hijack power from something. If I add the voltage regulator that came with my GPS mount, i'll probably hijack power from the pin on the beautiful wire BD43 made me for the dual headlight mod.

At this point, I do not think i am going to install power. I don't need my GPS much, and when I do, I don't need it for very long. I don't mind turning it on, seeing my next turn is at mile 125, then shut it off till mile 120.
If that fails, I have the trail GPS in the backpack. ...just a thought.


If anyone has a clean way to provide switched power to a voltage regulator, let me know. I may install it afterall.

 

[Toddzee37]

I have a Nuvi 205 I think? anyway i made my own mount and i put a 21 volt DC power jack on my bike to plug it in, no pics of the jack though. heres pics of the mount.

 

[chimneydoc]

I bought a used Garmin 2730 Street Pilot for $35.00, it came with everything except the expensive Gmx 30 antenna. It had a half of a ram mount so I bought the other half. I also downloaded the upgraded sotfware and it works great. The 2730 is motorcycle compatiable and comes with a mp3 player and XM radio. Right now I'm into it for about $75.00 and w/o out the expensive antenna I can't recieve sat radio, I feel pretty lucky. The gps is discontinued but you might be able to find one on Ebay pretty cheap. You can even download extra voices to make it a bit more fun at pigtones. Product support at Garmin answered any questions that I had. Good luck.


Doc

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

If anyone has a clean way to provide switched power to a voltage regulator, let me know. I may install it afterall.[/QUOTE]


You can tap into the front directional RUNNING lights....

 

[Erci]

I use this setup: http://www.600riders.com/forum/product-reviews/16479-givi-s850-satnav-barbag.html with Garmin 265W. I like the idea of not worrying about rain and it takes 1 minute to move it from bike to bike

 

[achtung6]

What do you guys recommend for a GPS, mount and wiring set up on our handle bars?

This setup has been serving me very well since 2008:

TomTom One 3rd Ed w/ RAM Brake Mount Installed! - Sportbikes.net

I power it with this:

http://www.600riders.com/forum/fz6-...tlet-before-during-after-pics.html#post199897

TomTom One 3rd ed cost me about $100 (refurbished from Office Depot) and the RAM stuff came out to be under $50. It's very effective although not weatherproof but this has not been a problem so far for me.

 

[cap'n]

I got a hand-held hiking style gps for my birthday from the in-laws, the Garmin Venture HC. So that decision's been made I guess. I've been using it on rental car trips and walking around town to try it out, and I think it could be useful on longer trips, if only to find specific places I've marked ahead of time (and for the trip stats). So far the nicest thing about it is the ability to integrate with Google Earth once I'm on a PC. I can go find roads, pit stops, points of interest, whatever, and then get the lat/long points and upload them to the Garmin as waypoints. I think the next motocamping trip this spring, I'll plan it out that way. No idea if I want to mount it yet, I'm guessing not, since it's so small and not really a car/moto kinda device. It has no turn-by-turn, and no expansion memory card slot. But the battery life kicks ass. I think I've used it for like 20 hours so far on the same set of AA's and it's doing great.

 

[04fizzer]

I got a hand-held hiking style gps for my birthday from the in-laws, the Garmin Venture HC. So that decision's been made I guess. I've been using it on rental car trips and walking around town to try it out, and I think it could be useful on longer trips, if only to find specific places I've marked ahead of time (and for the trip stats). So far the nicest thing about it is the ability to integrate with Google Earth once I'm on a PC. I can go find roads, pit stops, points of interest, whatever, and then get the lat/long points and upload them to the Garmin as waypoints. I think the next motocamping trip this spring, I'll plan it out that way. No idea if I want to mount it yet, I'm guessing not, since it's so small and not really a car/moto kinda device. It has no turn-by-turn, and no expansion memory card slot. But the battery life kicks ass. I think I've used it for like 20 hours so far on the same set of AA's and it's doing great.

I like to use my little eTrex when I'm out bombing around. I have home marked, and if I get lost/ready to head home, it at least keeps me pointed in the right direction.