Guest sigsauer33 Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 i took a look a the Zumo form and saw the post for wiring the GPS to the bike with using a fuse box. I am getting ready to go on a 4 hour trip next weekend and my Garmin GPS only last for 2 hours on battery power. I am not that savy to install a fuse box and a relay, is there any other way that I could wire the GPS, I do have a BMW power plug on the bike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Rice Posted March 4, 2009 Member Contributer Share Posted March 4, 2009 Fuse box and relay are nice to have but not really necessary. You can just splice into the BMW connector after the fuse (assuming that it is fused). If not fused, add your own - it must have come with your Garmin. If not installing a relay, remember to unplug the GPS when engine is off or face consequences. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer BonusVFR Posted March 4, 2009 Member Contributer Share Posted March 4, 2009 Wire it direct to the battery using the supplied Zumo power lead. It has a fuse. Works fine. Till I get a aux fusebox on my KLR that is what I am doing. Bike power is mandatory if you want sound ...Nav or MP4. Lots of pictures on this site about aux fuseboxes including in "Tales of Zumo". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 Wire it direct to the battery using the supplied Zumo power lead. It has a fuse. Works fine. Till I get a aux fusebox on my KLR that is what I am doing. Bike power is mandatory if you want sound ...Nav or MP4. Lots of pictures on this site about aux fuseboxes including in "Tales of Zumo". I do not have a Zumo I have a Garmin. In the past I tried buying a car 12v plug and wiring that to the bike via a fuse and plugging in the car charger for the GPS to that but every time i did it killed the car charger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer sportrider Posted March 4, 2009 Member Contributer Share Posted March 4, 2009 I went with this, http://www.powerletproducts.com/shop-by-ve...ng-head-kit/121, but they sell other options. Good luck. :fing02: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Rice Posted March 4, 2009 Member Contributer Share Posted March 4, 2009 I do not have a Zumo I have a Garmin.In the past I tried buying a car 12v plug and wiring that to the bike via a fuse and plugging in the car charger for the GPS to that but every time i did it killed the car charger. You mean you have a Nuvi or some other Garmin? I have a Nuvi, which uses 5V - USB voltage. I used a USB car adapter to convert the voltage from 12 to 5 and ran it directly to the GPS. That's the setup I have now. Later, I made it prettier by adding a Powerlet plug, but it is still supplied by the hacked car adapter. This worked for me, b/c GPS is the only power accesory that I have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 I'll be wiring in my Garmin 2720 soon. I am ordering a VFRness, with the switched aux. power block. I figure I'll kill 2 birds with 1 stone. If you haven't installed a VFRness maybe now is the time to consider it, $80 with the aux fuse block isn't bad at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer BonusVFR Posted March 4, 2009 Member Contributer Share Posted March 4, 2009 Wire it direct to the battery using the supplied Zumo power lead. It has a fuse. Works fine. Till I get a aux fusebox on my KLR that is what I am doing. Bike power is mandatory if you want sound ...Nav or MP4. Lots of pictures on this site about aux fuseboxes including in "Tales of Zumo". I do not have a Zumo I have a Garmin. In the past I tried buying a car 12v plug and wiring that to the bike via a fuse and plugging in the car charger for the GPS to that but every time i did it killed the car charger. I initially went with battery direct on my VFR then went to a switched aux box setup. My Wing uses a switched circuit off the main fuse box. I have never had a problem with a direct or switched setup. Switched works best for me as sometimes I have CRS..............syndrome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer alwaysaware Posted March 5, 2009 Member Contributer Share Posted March 5, 2009 I have a Garmin Nuvi and use the included cigarette lighter power cord. I hard wired my own 12V fused cigarette lighter type outlet to the handlebars and mounted a Rhino mount to the neck. Works great. If I knew how to post the pics I would. Good luck. IMG_4429.JPG IMG_4434.JPG IMG_4433.JPG IMG_4430.JPG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tightwad Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 I'll be wiring in my Garmin 2720 soon. I am ordering a VFRness, with the switched aux. power block. I figure I'll kill 2 birds with 1 stone. If you haven't installed a VFRness maybe now is the time to consider it, $80 with the aux fuse block isn't bad at all. I can also sell you the Garmin plug, for the Powerlet socket, if you need it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer ReadingVFR Posted March 5, 2009 Member Contributer Share Posted March 5, 2009 I just wired the Zumo into the tail light on my 99. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer FJ12Ryder Posted March 5, 2009 Member Contributer Share Posted March 5, 2009 I have a Garmin Nuvi that will use a USB to recharge, so I bought a cigarette lighter to USB charger and took it apart and soldered on terminals that attach to my Blue Sea fuse block. You could do the same and attach directly to the battery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Muff Posted March 5, 2009 Member Contributer Share Posted March 5, 2009 I have a Tom Tom that I use and got everything I needed from Tightwad. Sent him a message and he told me what I needed, quick and easy. Muff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 I have a Garmin Nuvi and use the included cigarette lighter power cord. I hard wired my own 12V fused cigarette lighter type outlet to the handlebars and mounted a Rhino mount to the neck. Works great. If I knew how to post the pics I would. Good luck. This is what I did and every time i pluged in the charger it would blow it and I would have to buy a new one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer filterfool Posted March 17, 2009 Member Contributer Share Posted March 17, 2009 I use a Garmin Nuvi 350 in a RAM mount kit. To power it, I installed a Powerlet socket in the steering head tube. I purchased the low profile Powerlet male plug and wired in a female cigarette lighter socket I hacked from a previous project. I plug the supplied Garmin cigarette cord into the female socket, tuck the excess wire under the fairing and I am good to go. I can swap the Nuvi easily between the VFR and the car. In addition, I use a 2 gig SD card in the Garmin and helmet speakers for tunes while I am riding. Much better than singing to myself. :goofy: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer filterfool Posted March 19, 2009 Member Contributer Share Posted March 19, 2009 Here are a few pictures of my install; This is the low profile Powlet plug wired to a female cigarette socket; IMG_0200.jpg This is the Powerlet socket inthe steering head; IMG_0199.jpg Here is the power plug and the wiring in the front of the fairing; IMG_0198.jpg This is the complete installation on the RAM mount; IMG_0197.jpg The circuit is powered through one of Tightwad's fuse blocks which gets power through a 30 amp relay triggered by the taillight wire. That way, the GPS comes on w/ the ignition and shuts off when the key is removed. Hope this helps you out. :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer elizilla Posted March 19, 2009 Member Contributer Share Posted March 19, 2009 Sig, you said that you keep blowing power cords, but it's not clear to me what you are doing. Are you cutting off the cig lighter plug and just attaching the wires to your bike? If so this could cause a problem, since oftentimes there is circuitry in the cig light plug piece, that steps the power down to something less than 12 volts. If I were wiring challenged, I'd probably just follow the link to powerlet, that was posted earlier, and buy the adaptor that goes from the BMW plug to the cig lighter. Then it would be plug and play and no need to do any wiring of your own. If that's what you've been doing, I'd contact Garmin because it sounds like something is wrong with your GPS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Flip998 Posted March 19, 2009 Member Contributer Share Posted March 19, 2009 I just wired the Zumo into the tail light on my 99. :laugh:+1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Peto Posted March 19, 2009 Member Contributer Share Posted March 19, 2009 I hard wired my garmin to the battery with the supplied fused line. A relay isn't needed due to the relatively small amp draw from the GPS. Also, its nice to be able to leave it on at a gas station, and turn it on with the bike off. This way works for me. I have a Garmin Nuvi and use the included cigarette lighter power cord. I hard wired my own 12V fused cigarette lighter type outlet to the handlebars and mounted a Rhino mount to the neck. Works great. If I knew how to post the pics I would. Good luck.IMG_4429.JPG IMG_4434.JPG IMG_4433.JPG IMG_4430.JPG Nice setup you got there aa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer crazybrother Posted March 20, 2009 Member Contributer Share Posted March 20, 2009 Give these guy's a call! https://www.casporttouring.com/store/mercha...;Store_Code=CST Tell them what you are trying to do & they'll hook you up! Just get a "Battery Tender Jr." & they will set you up with all the "powerlet" plugs you need. Do a search from their home page for " battery tender" and you'll see all the plugs. What you want to do is Hook up the plug that comes with the Battery tender Jr. directly to the battery (it is fused) and use that to connect your GPS. Then buy the plug that adapts to your GPS. If there isn't one, they are easy to make. Just strip the wiring & solder the connections to a Battery Tender cable. Very easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 Alwaysaware- I sent you a PM figured I'd post it here as well. I really like the setup you have for your 12v outlet. Can you tell me where you got the outlet and the rhino mount. I haven't been able to find one like it. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Flip998 Posted March 25, 2009 Member Contributer Share Posted March 25, 2009 Here is my set up that I use on my 97. I used an audio cable (just left of the ball mount) and shouldn't be a problem because of the low current draw of the Nuvi. Male side of plug goes to the GPS. This allows me to have a much cleaner looking install. I use a vacuum cap to cover the plug when not in use to keep out the elements. The step down transformer is mounted inside of the aqua box. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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