Adventure Bike Rider Forum

So quick update! I bought these from Halfords as they were cheap and I was in there for some oil anyway and decided to join the wires from the rugged mount via the connectors to the cigar plug, which even with my lack of knowhow I managed to do!!!! plugged it into the 12v socket on the bike plopped the montana into the mount and hey presto it all lit up as it should and went the navigation screen!! nothing was smoking or melting so I assume ive done a great (if not a bit of a bodge) job on it and it saves me having to take off all the Africa Twin fairings to be able to run the wires to the battery, and I could also swap the mount to be used on other bikes as well!! happy days...

The plug connection is quite snug so hopefully wont vibrate loose, but I will try the hack already offered about putting electrical tape around the plug to make it even more of a tight fit!

This is how the set up looks now! in pic 2 you can see the wire from the mount rolled up and cable tied, I left this so that if I do make the setup permanent I can use all of the wire to reach the battery

Good result
I would just not use those connections.
Get some.of these
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/184123212457
Easy to use and be more waterproof. And a lot neater

Wow they look good Tim, will get some of them and seem easy to use too!

Greetings,

May I suggest that rather than use 'electrical insulating tape' which gets grubby and sticky over time use self amalgamating tape.

Self-amalgamating tape is a non-tacky silicone-rubber tape which when stretched and wrapped around electrical joints self combines itself into a strong, seamless, flexible, waterproof, and electrically insulating layer. You should be able to buy a roll from Halfords, Screwfix or similar shops.

TTFN

Hugh.

If you want to wire the garmin mount to the battery or relay, but swap it between bikes then these waterproof superseal connectors may come in handy.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WATERPROOF-2 ... SwPMZeTGtj

I put the larger 'female' end onto the wires from the Garmin and then the 'male' end onto a cable running from a relay on the bike (inc. inline fuse). The cable from the relay is routed to pop up near the handle bar and cable tied. I put the same type 'male' connector onto my other bike from it's relay also. This means I can swap the garmin mount between bikes easily. It does mean you need to buy 2 connectors - but for a couple of quid each, that's not a bad outlay. I also use the spare 'female' connector with a squirt of silicon blocking up the wire holes to connect to the unused 'male' socket on my bike if not using the garmin mount to keep any water or moisture out. Works a treat and dead easy to swap between bikes.

Well a quick update. I was bored during lockdown so decided to bite the bullet and take off the side fairing and relocate the GPS holder wires to the battery, and it did go very smoothly and I now know how to remove the fairing for when the next air filter change is required! So ive connected the positive and earth wires direct to the battery now and the whole installation looks a lot tidier! but the question I have is will the GPS holder draw any current from the battery even if the Garmin unit is NOT mounted? as I don't want any drain on the battery while its sitting in the garage!

Acas I've read it, unless you have a inline switch, the mount will be constantly live, and I do believe that the mounts do draw a very small amount of current when not in use. Put a meter across the mount terminals and check

I know you have wired it up already but next time you have the bike in bits consider fitting one of these:

https://www.nippynormans.com/f650st-f65 ... fuse-panel

It has a built in relay and the fuse position determines whether each item is permanently powered or powered only when the ignition is on.

There is something similar but electronic controlled and substantially dearer, PDM60:

https://www.adventurebikeshop.co.uk/ele ... lacement-/

Of course you could just wire it via a relay.

I like the Fuzeblock and have the DIN lighter socket (permanently on), Garmin (switched), spots (switched) and running light leds (switched) wired up to it.

tom

chunky butt wrote: ↑Mon Apr 13, 2020 11:43 am Acas I've read it, unless you have a inline switch, the mount will be constantly live, and I do believe that the mounts do draw a very small amount of current when not in use. Put a meter across the mount terminals and check

Well i put the unit into the cradle today (bike was switched off!) And it turned on straight away, so im still none the wiser if the cradle is drawing any current without the unit in, and i must confess i dont know how to use a multimeter!!!!! I have one but no clue how to use it