Triumphrat

Orpheus · 04-27-2007

I have succeeded at mounting every part of my Garmin zumo 550 GPS... except... where do these wires go? The power runs through a cable that hooks up to the mount on one end and bare wires at the other (one red, one black). It's the first illustration on these installation instructions:

www8.garmin.com/manuals/1372_InstallationGuide.pdf

Though I did a bit of wire splicing on my Ducati (hooray!), I have no idea where these suckers should go. I'm a bit of a wiring idiot. Any help would be appreciated.

Big_Rick · 04-27-2007

Since it has an in-line fuse already, you can hook it up right to the battery. Just crimp a couple of ring terminals onto the ends of the wires and hook up the red to the positive terminal and black to the negative. This is how I wired my Garmin mount onto the Bonnie. I did however add a two conductor automotive plug to the cable near the mount end so that I could leave the bulk of the wiring in place but unplug the mount and remove it when I don't need it. Worked out pretty well.
Another option would be to get a plug that matches the accessory plug under the tank and use that to hook it up.

Orpheus · 04-27-2007

Got it, thanks!

merlin · 04-27-2007

There is an accessory plug available under the tank, on the spine of the frame. There is another plug used on california models in the same location that may be available. Both are switched on by the ignition, a nice feature.

Big_Rick · 04-28-2007

Actually, only the California EVAP plug is switched. The accessory plug is un-switched but you then need to find a matching connector to be able to use them. I found it easier to just hard wire the tail to the battery and add my own $3 connector inline to make it removable. Much less headache that way.

larryshep · 04-28-2007

I used a couple of slide on connectors that are shaped like a "V" and put them onto the Accesory socket and plug the wiring harness plug on top ot the two connectors then attach the leads from the Garmin wiring harness to the ends of the "v" part of the connectors. It stays hot all the time so you do not have to reboot the garmin after cutting off to get gas, etc.

ntr1972 · 04-28-2007

Orpheus - love to see a photo of your GPS on your bike. The Nav Woman must have to shout to get you instructions...turn left in 200 metres.....please U turn at the next available legal option....lol

Orpheus · 04-28-2007

Well, it has Bluetooth capability, so if I get a helmet-friendly Bluetooth headset, I can receive the instructions (as well as music and phone calls!) through the GPS. For now I just glance at it every once in a while and pay attention to the number that indicates how long before the next turn.

I took it on a ~150 mile group ride today and it worked very well.

I'm still thinking I will mount this on a crossbar, as it's pretty ugly right there. Quite visible, though.

[ This message was edited by: Orpheus on 2007-04-28 21:30 ]