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Hi all, So I've decided to upgrade the bike for long hauls by adding a GPS mount and power outlet to my 2009 ABS. I didn't have any room to mount the power outlet on the inner fairing plastics because the ABS module takes up so much room. I'm working on creating a new mounting bracket to hold either a power outlet or USB, or combination of the two. I'll hopefully be working on the prototype this weekend depending on the weather and other commitments, but here is the solution I have come up with so far. As I progress I'll update you all with pics of the completed project

I noticed that location data isn't available in a photo's EXIF info. I know that it needs to be encoded to the file before uploading, and I do so for all my images. Then when uploading there was an option to display it or not. What am I missing? signed, Blind in Toledo

Or, My New 2007 VFR800A! Of course I wanted a 25th R/W/B but this red (what color is it called?) was so clean with low miles I didn’t want to pass it up. All the 25th’s were thousands of miles away, however my new ride was less than a hundred miles to go pick up. Purchased from Omni Powersports in Palm, PA, nice people and easy to transact with. The title showed first titled in 2009, first owner logged about 400mi, then 2011 second owner 3000mi, then 2016 the last owner just about 1100mi. Now mine with 4500mi, all stock except a fender eliminator (Competition Werkes?) and new tires (Battlax BT023R). In just a few days I’ve put a few hundred miles on and basically left wondering Why didn’t I get one of these before!? I may be new to VFR’s, but not new to motorcycling and not new to sport riding, roadracing, mx, woods riding, et cetera. My last MC was (still have it, hey now it’s for sale!) a 2006 Suzuki SV650 cafe/street fighter/backroad twisty tool that I loved building and tweaking on but somehow lost interest in because it couldn’t do the long miles and left me sore from the clip ons and seating position. So here’s to a new start and a new forum, and maybe some touring, and definitely some tweaking. On to the pictures! A new Shoei RF1200 has replaced my old Suomy Spec1R in the pictures, and some new relaxed riding gear is on order to replace my two piece AStars leathers. I won’t bore you with the suspension set up (that was first), but I already have some things on order and plan to update here as I go. RAM mount, power supply, cruise control, are first things first.

I'm interested to know what people have to say about the current offerings for loading GPS navigation onto an i-pad and slip that into my tank bag. I'm after route planning and turn by turn navigation through the headphones for when I'm in Urban areas trying to find my way around. I don't really think I need to keep it in view. I'd like all the maps and data to be loaded on the device so I can have full use of it without a network connection. So far it seems Magellan has what I need but I'd like to avoid buyers remorse. Many thanks in advance.

Amazon has the TomTom 4.3" Motorcycle Rider GPS for only $150 right now. This is at least $60 less than I've seen it anywhere else. You may want to act fast as I suspect it may be a Black Friday special. (Target has the same model on eBay for $209.) Although it's an older model, it still seems like a very good deal.

Been reading on alternatives to the motorcycle specific Zumo GPS and TomTom GPS units. I was less than pleased with the reliability, ability to make routes, load routes and the routing capability of my old Zumo (I think I had a 350). I liked that it played mp3's and the touch screen worked with gloves, but it left my wife and I lost at times, and would spontaneously reset or re-rout itself at various times. Also I couln't easily load a new track and get a rout to come up reliably--much less re-rout on the fly et cetera... It wasn't a horrible GPS--there are others that REALLY suck, but for the price tag I was non plussed. I certainly won't spend the 50% MORE for a new Zumo--I think the $600-$700 for a motorcycle specific GPS is outrageous...so I've been using my iphone and android phone with some success. However, these are not a panacea and it isn't easy to add new routes et cetera either. Also, it wants to chuck through data and it is a general headache... So, I 've been digging around. A couple folks on the ST1300 US forum have an opinion on this unit: http://www.st-owners.com/forums/showthread.php?134842-Setting-Up-A-Chinavasion-Rage-GPS/page1 S'here's the deal. I got this Chinese made GPS (LINK) from AliExpress for $85. That's just bonkers. To me it is worth a try. I have read and the dealers will honor the 1 year warranty --- people, if they have gotten bad units, have been sent a new one with minimal issues. Reports on reliability are at least as good at Zumo et al. THIS is NOT a turnkey solution...buy it and now you have at least an hour's worth of work to do...to load the right maps and software to get from point a to point B... Here are the Spec's: 4.3" Touchscreen waterproof Motorcycle GPS Navigation NAV Bluetooth Connect Internal 8GB Product Description All Terrain means no pain, no gain as this GPS is made to embrace most elements that it may encounter, this is the motorcycle GPS navigation system. This Motorcycle GPS navigation system (that can be used with cars as well) consists of a 4.3 inch touch screen which provides a user friendly interface as well as two power cables to be connected either to a car cigarette lighter port or a motorcycle battery. Also in the gps nav package is a suction mount to place this GPS on your windscreen or a mounting bracket to connect to the handles of your motorcycle for better viewing when hitting the highway. This GPS has a waterproof rating of IPX7 meaning that it can be immersed for up to 30 minutes at a depth of up to 1 meter. Which means it should handle any rain or snow, and should survive falling into a creek or shallow river making it ideal in them all terrain conditions if out on your motorcycle and you are exposed to the elements of Mother Nature. You can store data directly onto this motorcycle navigation unit as it has 8GB of internal memoryas well as the ability to have an additional storage of up to 16GB via the built-in micro SD card port. This well rounded GPS navigator also has Bluetooth connectivity that allows hands-free also with echo-cancellation therefore making it safer to use as you can concentrate on the road ahead. Available in our warehouse now, order yours now and start making your life just a little bit easier. Direct from the best source in electronic rear view mirrors and parking accessories, Specification: OS Version: Win CE 6.0 CPU: MSTAR 2531 RAM: 128MB Bluetooth Waterproof Rating: IPX7 Speaker Power Source: Rechargeable Li-Polymer Battery or Car Cigarette Charger or Car/Motorcycle Battery Power Battery Size: 1500mAh Usage Time: 2 to 3 Hours Languages: English,French,German,Italian,Spanish,Russian,Romana,Finnish,Polish Hungarian,Portuguese GPS: Frequency: 800MHz Signal Channels: 22 Hot Startup Time: 2s Warm Startup Time: 32s Cold Startup Time: 35s Voice: 120decibel (MAX) GPS Module: High Sensitivity Receiver Built-in Antenn Display: Display Size: 4.3 Inch Display Resolution: 480x272 Aspect Ratio: 16:9 Resistive Touch Display Memory: Internal: 8GB Micro SD Card up to 16GB Port: 3.5mm Audio Out Port Micro SD Card Slot Mini USB Port DC IN Package include: 1x Motorcycle GPS Navigator 1x Mounting Bracket 1x Suction Mount 1x Cradle 1x USB Cable 1x Car Adapter 1x Power Cable 1x User Manual English Note: This model is compatible with most brands of GPS software - however hardware specific software such as Garmin may not run on this unit. As the wholesaler, we provide the GPS-enabled hardware only, not the software. we provides no warranty or customer support regarding GPS software. we cannot provide downloads / links / advice regarding GPS software. Any software installation you undertake should be performed or supervised by a professional. Some of the folks in the UK and on the Dutch forum websites use this freeware to do routing: http://www.tyretotravel.com And the Dutch folks have created some custom skins that make the every day use of the GPS box much easier to use for motorcyclists called IGO Primo "Our forum is unfortunately in Dutch so it might be hard to understand, but you should get the main idea if you use Google translate on the following link: http://www.motor-forum.nl/forum/list...Edition-1.html" This GPS is the kind that you have to either buy or load maps you already own (or source free maps) onto it and it will start using them. There's a bunch of info on how to do this on the ST1300 website link above. I'm going to try it. You CAN find the Rage or Peaklife version of this GPS with software and maps already installed, but it will cost abour 50% to 100% more... I'll post when it comes in and how the process goes. Wish me luck. Matt

I've admitted it several times before, I am ignorant about many things, Electricity being at the top of the list. In the past, I had multiple things running straight to the battery for power. This time I told myself that I would do it right. So I started looking into fuse blocks. This is where the problem begins. It's not that I am having trouble finding them online, I am finding too much and I am going into information overload. I don't get what a relay is and why it is necessary or why it isn't part of the fuse block. It's like explaining hard disk partitioning to someone who doesn't understand bit sizes much less file allocation tables. So my question to you people that are far more experienced than I is this; What should I get? I do not need much. I know my requirements. I will have minimal accessories in the beginning, but I want room to grow a little bit. Here is what I plan on using: I only want power to accessories when the bike is running. Cell phone - I will only be using it for music and GPS. I want to have it on a ball mount on the steering stem. 12 volt power outlet - just for versatility. In the future, I would like to add the following: Heated grips or maybe heated jacket/gear. Dedicated GPS So it appears at the minimum I will need 4 powered lines. For a fuse block, I am wanting the simplest installation and usage. Try to image Lennie from Of Mice & Men hooking this thing up. Wire(s) to the battery, secure under the seat, then wire to the accessories. The ones that I have looked at but seem to be either overkill or overly complicated. PDM60 for example. My friend (scguy) bought the PDM60 and appears to have had nothing but trouble with it. Even if it was a perfect solution, it is pretty expensive and requires Windows to program it. I know I will not need that level of control over it. Then there is the "roll your own" Eastern Beaver setups. This looks like the route that mello dude would go. But the installation makes me uncomfortable. So what do you guys recommend?

Hi All, On my last bike trip I experienced a failure of my stator, one of the coils burnt out. It was great fun being stranded , but I was lucky enough to find the only part available in Britain to have it delivered the next day to where I was (as opposed to a 5 day wait from Belgium). Before the bike cut out completely I noticed my heated grips wouldn't come on. I've had issues with them in the past, and I've posted about it on-line here. The general census was that my controller box for the grips were corroded from water leakage, and after pulling it apart it looked to be true. The grips would still intermittently work, the light would flash every now and then, but sometimes not actually work. Fast forward back to my bike trip before the stator issue, the heated grips wouldn't even light up to say they were getting power for a whole day before the stator died. The day it actually died, I noticed that it took a while to turn the engine over due to a near-dead battery, the grips still wouldn't turn on, and my Garmin GPS wasn't detecting the iPod connected to it. The GPS connects off the Sub harness, from there the iPod connects via USB to the GPS. Of course, also, my heated grips connect to the Sub harness. After replacing the stator and battery I was up and running again, but on the way home (final day) I noticed issues on a few occasions (3 or 4 times) that they were cutting out like before, but thankfully never fully did. I have since checked the battery is still being charged by using a multimeter, but I would like to know how I go about checking the Sub harness is OK. I have a feeling that maybe the controller for the heated grips is doing something dodgy, but without replacing the controller I don't know for sure (I'm more than likely going to replace it soon anyway, just a bit of spending I don't want to do yet). Any ideas on what parts of the harness to check, and what voltage should be coming thru them? I'm fairly new to the electrical testing side, so please be idiot-descriptive if possible.

So I just ordered a Nuvi 765T (used, like new condition) on Amazon for about $125 and ordered a matching Ram cradle/mount. This is to replace my now defunct zumo 450. I ordered this older version since it's one of the only non-zumo versions that I can get the gps navigation instructions piped over a bluetooth connection. It also has an mp3 player which is a bonus that I don't have to run my phone for that. We'll see how this works out...I really loved my zumo. I'm giving up motorcycle friendly controls, waterproofness, and possibly longevity due to lack of vibration and rough duty resistance. https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/on-the-road/discontinued/nuvi-765t/prod14926.html http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001ELJER4/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i02?ie=UTF8&psc=1 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001W3Y5PA/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002KO5XVU/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Anyone have any experience (good or bad) with this unit? I'll give an update after I get to use it some.

Still trying to find a solution to my crapped out zumo 450. What I want: 1. Garmin 2. Lifetime map updates included 3. Bluetooth functionality 4. Ability to listen to mp3 either thru device itself or by pairing with smartphone 5. Waterproof/resistant either by design or by adding a box 6. Securely locking on bike The Zumo 660LM fits the bill, but it is $650. The other zumo's are either in that price range with less functions or slightly less (the 220) with significant shortcomings (no mp3, no lifetime maps, and still $400). The automotive Nuvi models I have questions about durability in the outdoor environment (moisture, UV, vibration). I can take care of the moisture and UV with a RAM mount Aquabox, but still question whether vibration would kill the device within a year or two. Also I give up the ability to use the screen effectively with gloves on most likely. Has anyone used the Nuvi 2495? It seems to be the closest thing to checking all the boxes at a $180 price point (plus $50 for the Aquabox). What it is missing is possible susceptibility to vibration, no ability to lock securely, and not glove friendly...a reasonable trade off for the price perhaps. https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=401&pID=97243

Talk to me about mounting a car GPS on a bike. Specifically, if I go with an inexpensive GPS, and waterproof it with a box like the Ram Aquabox, what is involved with mounting/removing it on a daily basis? I had a Garmin 660 for a few years that is no longer with me. (If you ask, I'll tell you over a couple drinks) So instead of spending ~$650 on another 660, I was pondering just picking something up from Best Buy/Radio Shack. Things I'd give up: -automatic waterproofing (not a big deal in TX, but hopefully I find myself in rain enough times for this to matter) -easy on-off (connector built into cradle, no additional USB cable to connect or flop around) -positive clamp, where there is no chance of it coming off unless you push the specific button, unlike the generic car Zumo mount. -possibility of linking a blue-tooth phone into GPS, and a use of a blue-tooth headset (I don't have any plans for a bluetooth phone, and haven't had the motivation to set up a headset) Pros: -1/5th of the cost I'm not fond of how slow the 660 was at re-drawing things while zooming and panning. I mostly used it for finding unknown addresses, friends/businesses, and as an accurate speedometer. Hence I mounted/dismounted it usually 4 times a day. To and from work, to and from whatever I do after work. Hence ease of on/off is important.