Triumphrat

Research Rat

So a few months ago, my girlfriend and I took a roadtrip across Arizona. As we were renting a car, I figured it'd be just as costly to purchase a cheapo gps as to rent one along with the car. Plus I thought I'd be able to use when riding.

I ended up buying a Mio C220. It's fairly no frills and not high zoot like the new tom toms/garmings, but it does a good job of gps-ing.

I have 2 questions:

1. How can I mount the GPS to the bike? When I picked up the bike from the showroom, I attempted to store the device in the see through pouch on a tank bag, but it's way too out of the way to even look at when riding. OEM holder is out of the question as accessory support for this model is non existent. Anyone have any luck with a generic aftermarket gps holder?

2. Battery life on this device is short at 3 hours a charge. While this was a nonissue with a cigarette lighter adapter in the car, this presents a challenge for riding. Anyone have any advice on hardwiring into the battery? Do our bikes have special wiring to account for add in devices? Cycleworld had a funny cartoon this past year depicting a bike with about a thousand add on electrical devices and basically the bike melting. I'd like to avoid this

Thanks in advance.
-Scott

Research Rat

...bump...

DaytonaDave

I don't have a Mio C220 but I do use a Mio168 pocket PC. I made a bracket to go on the top yoke. It just hooks over and is held in place with a loop of inner tube. Its all lined with rubber to protect the top yoke and provide a bit of isolation.

I put a power socket in the headlight support. Power comes from the connector under the seat. To make sure it only comes on with the ignition I triggered a relay using the rear number plate light wiring. I use a USB thingy with a retractable cable (from ebay). Its light weight and is unobtrusive.

It all works well. Until it rains then I get lost. I made a similar arrangement for a Garmin etrex but I tend use that for ride logging rather than navigation.

Research Rat

Daytona Dave,

Thanks for posting these pics.

Your setup looks surprisingly simple. How'd you go about fabricating the bracket? Do you have to be mindful of the steering radius?

-Scott

DaytonaDave

The bracket is fabricated from two pieces of 2mm softish light alloy sheet. One that wraps around the top yoke and a flat one to mount the PDA bracket on that is bolted to it. Plus a few bits of rubber stuck on the inside to make sure it sits flat and covers the nuts. I make cardboard templates, then when I am happy make the real thing. They are cut out using a hacksaw, drill, file etc. and bent up using bits of wood.

The power plug in the bottom of the PDA does come close to the tank on full left lock so positioning is important. The light retractable lead helps here because it is compact. Using the coiled lead I got with the PDA would have been more problematical.

Research Rat

[quote=DaytonaDave;934425]I don't have a Mio C220 but I do use a Mio168 pocket PC. I made a bracket to go on the top yoke. It just hooks over and is held in place with a loop of inner tube. Its all lined with rubber to protect the top yoke and provide a bit of isolation.

I put a power socket in the headlight support. Power comes from the connector under the seat. To make sure it only comes on with the ignition I triggered a relay using the rear number plate light wiring. I use a USB thingy with a retractable cable (from ebay). Its light weight and is unobtrusive.

It all works well. Until it rains then I get lost. I made a similar arrangement for a Garmin etrex but I tend use that for ride logging rather than navigation.

Daytona Dave,

Can you walk me through the process of adding the power outlet? Does the outlet connect directly to the battery? IE similar to a battery tender connection? When I first saw your pics, I thought the outlet was already installed-no doubt due to professionally looking install. As it has been cold here, I haven't been wrenching on the bike too much. I made it a point last night to look for the outlet, which resulted in some confusion. "Where the heck is this thing...."

Now, the previous owner installed what I'll refer to as "bling" neon lights, which I'm sure will complicate the install. I'll just as soon remove these lights and return to standard electrical system, though I'll have to poke around a bit first to see what's been altered.

-Scott

DaytonaDave

You are right it is my own work.

I got the socket from ebay, there are plenty to choose from. The one I used is flange mounted and has that rubber cover to keep water out. I believe it was from a boat chandler.

You have to cut quite large hole in the fairing support. Just over an inch as I recall, but depends on the socket you buy. The fairing support is about 2mm thick and will take a thread for the attachment screws (saves messing about trying to get nuts up inside) There are sockets with a threaded ring type installation which might have been easier.

If you look under the front seat (on an 02+ not sure about previous years) on the wiring loom on the right hand side there is a socket intended for accessories. My Mk 1 installation just ran a wire from the + to the front socket and I earthed the -ve side. You only have to run one wire up to the front then and no cutting into looms.

Unfortunately this socket isn't switched so it is live all the time even with the ignition off. Not a good thing if you forget to swich the PDA off. I lived with it when I just had the PDA but when I decided to fit heated grips I decided to install a relay. So the power from the socket under the seat goes to the switched side of the relay and then to the socket at the front. To switch the relay I took power from the number plate light. I did this so that you could use the power socket on the "P" position on the ignition switch. In other words you could have power to the socket without having to have the ignition on.

My setup is a little elaborate but will be suitable for quite high currents. If you are just going to run a PDA, which have a low current draw, you could take juice straight from the lighting circuit . The front pilot lights would be ideal. Just splice into the wiring in the front fairing - instant switched power.

An alternative would be to hard wire the USB adaptor in and just plug into that. But I am not sure how or where you would mount it. But if you sit and stare at the bike long enough something might come to mind. Ecxpet its a bit cold at the moment to do that.

Good luck and don't hesitate to ask if you don't follow my description.

Keep asking the questions, I don't mind.

Research Rat

DaytonaDave,

Thanks for the info. Do you have any pics of the wiring into the existing loom you can share?

Since I only plan on running a gps unit off the power outlet, I think I can get away with just running straight to the battery. Though I wish I had heated grips during my January jaunt of riding the bike from the dealer back here.

Since I already have a battery tender yoke attached to the battery. Would it be possible/advisable to install the power socket as you outlined, connect the wires to a battery tender type connector and simple plug/unplug into the existing battery tender battery yoke?

Or, could I simply add another wiring yoke to the battery, so essentially 2 battery tender type yokes on top of one anther. Is there any drawback to this?

Thanks.
-Scott

DaytonaDave

There is no reason why you shouldn't plug into your battery tender lead. It makes good sense if you aren't going to use it much. You can unplug it when you don't need it. If you do connect straight to the battery make sure there is a fuse somehere in line. (The battery tender lead will have one.)

Anything you plug into a cigarette lighter type socket has usually got a fuse in it.

Here is a picture of my underseat wiring. I can't show you the splice into the light wiring because it is all inside the tail fairing and out of sight.


http://www.triumphrat.net/attachment...1&d=1203972792
tona_wiring.pdf

Good luck.

Attached Files

tona_wiring.pdf (121.4 KB, 13 views)

Research Rat

DD,

Do you happen to have a schematic of your wiring setup? Brake light attachment, relays, loom, etc.
Thanks!
-Scott