GPS Power

Yamaha FJR Motorcycle Forum

Help Support Yamaha FJR Motorcycle Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

BikerGeek99

Yeah, it's a concrete corn cob. So?
Joined
Apr 10, 2008
Messages
3,571
Reaction score
814
Location
Marysville, OH
Hi, all.

I just got myself a Zumo 550.

What are my options for getting power to it?

I'm tempted to go straight to the battery.

Would a switched source be preferable?

I'm curious to know how The Rest Of The World has done it.

Thanks,

BikerGeek99

 
When I first got my GPS I thought it would be better to power it via a switched source so I wouldn't kill the battery if I forgot it on. Well, I was playing with it one day, with the key on of course so it would have power, and I walked away for a while, came back to find the battery nearly dead. :glare: When the key is on the marker lights are on and they draw a lot more power than the GPS. Now it's wired directly to the battery.

Anyway, wire it directly to the battery. That way you can shut the bike down at a rest stop and leave the GPS powered up. Just remember to shut it down if you are going to park for a long time. It will probably take several days for the GPS to kill your battery.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Hi, all.
I just got myself a Zumo 550.

What are my options for getting power to it?

I'm tempted to go straight to the battery.

Would a switched source be preferable?

I'm curious to know how The Rest Of The World has done it.

Thanks,

BikerGeek99
I have a Bagster tank cover and a small Bagster tank bag that I have electrified. Actually what I have done is put one of those 3 port cigarette lighter adapters in it, which I have adapted to plug into the powerlet port installed in my "D" panel. The powerlet port is wired direct to the battery (fused of course) so that I can conveniently charge the bike's battery through it. From the 3 port adapter I can power and/or charge my GPS, Cell Phone, iPod, GMRS radio or pretty much anything else. It does mean that I need to remember to unplug the powerlet at the end of the day.

Next week I will be receiving my Starcom (replacing the Motocom I have now) which will also be going into the electrified tank bag, but I will be hard wiring the starcom power cable directly from the 3 port adapter.

The reason I opted for an eBag (vs a more permanent install) is I have 2 other bikes and wanted to be able to move the bag from bike to bike. It also makes it very convenient to remove all of the electronics when stopping. The tank bag is small enough to be carried along or popped into one of the sidebags or trunk.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Thanks, guys. Looks like I'll be wiring it to the battery.

Fred - nice solution! I have a StarCom Advance that I'll wire to the Zumo as soon as I get a long enough cable.

Then I'll wire up my Sirius Stiletto2 as well.

Have a great weekend!

BikerGeek99

 
When I first got my GPS I thought it would be better to power it via a switched source so I wouldn't kill the battery if I forgot it on. Well, I was playing with it one day, with the key on of course so it would have power, and I walked away for a while, came back to find the battery nearly dead...
I thought that the Zumo has its own rechargeable battery good for some hours. Does it need to be constantly powered by the bike to function?

 
I have the StarCom hardwired under my seat and the Zumo hardwired to a switched source on a Techmount. I personally prefer a switched source. I can't really articulate why other than, when I'm in my garage, and I'm getting the bike ready, I turn the key on and everything lights up and gets ready for my ride all at once.

 
I have the StarCom hardwired under my seat and the Zumo hardwired to a switched source on a Techmount. I personally prefer a switched source. I can't really articulate why other than, when I'm in my garage, and I'm getting the bike ready, I turn the key on and everything lights up and gets ready for my ride all at once.
Furthermore, even if you are powering the Zumo off the bike power, when you stop briefly it will run for quite a while off the internal battery so you won't have to "cold start" it and wait to acquire satellites. Well, at least that is how my C550 behaves and it is similar in function to a Zumo. I just wish it was waterproof...

 
I have the StarCom hardwired under my seat and the Zumo hardwired to a switched source on a Techmount. I personally prefer a switched source. I can't really articulate why other than, when I'm in my garage, and I'm getting the bike ready, I turn the key on and everything lights up and gets ready for my ride all at once.
Furthermore, even if you are powering the Zumo off the bike power, when you stop briefly it will run for quite a while off the internal battery so you won't have to "cold start" it and wait to acquire satellites. Well, at least that is how my C550 behaves and it is similar in function to a Zumo. I just wish it was waterproof...
That's right. When I shut the key off, the Zumo asks me if I want to continue on battery power. If I don't answer or if I touch "no", it will shut off. If I touch "yes" then it will continue to run until the bike is on again.

 
Here are a few pictures of my eBag set-up in case anyone is considering a similar set-up. This is still a works in progress...

In this first pic you can see the overall layout.

2228880490098858932S500x500Q85.jpg


The Garmin Streetpilot C550 GPS has blue tooth to the phone and a 2GB SD card for mp3s. The cell phone pairs with the GPS so I can see incoming calls and accept or reject them from the GPS screen. No wiring needed to the phone either so I could keep it in my pocket or inside the bag when raining and I can run a charger cord to it for really long trips. The iPod, which is cabled, is my 2nd music option. It holds 10x more music (20GB) and the sound quality is a tad better than the GPS.

You can see the helmet headset cables coming out of the bag between the zippers. The curly one goes to me, the short straight one hooks up to a curly extension to my pillion. The lighter color cable is a 3.5mm sound connection that I added to the Motocom as an option for when using ear speakers.

Side view shows the cabling and power connection.

2432363160098858932S500x500Q85.jpg


3 cables to the GPS (stereo audio, mike and power), the power cable, and the audio cable to the iPod when in use. I also have a Motorola FRS radio that goes up on the right brake fluid reservoir that isn't shown (you can see the clip it pops onto) and a PTT switch for it that you can see mounted on the left side. Once I get everything settled I'll put some spi-wrap around the cables to keep them tidy.

I like using this small Bagster bag because it stays far enough back from the bars that they never touch, even though I have HeliBar risers on them. It also unclips from the tank cover in about 2 seconds for refueling or removal.

And here's the inside of the bag:

2174022990098858932S500x500Q85.jpg


The new starcom unit will fit in place of the Motocom on the back of the lid. The 3 port DC power unit and excess power cords I just have laying in the bottom of the bag for now. May try to find something neater later. Maybe not. There is plenty of extra room in the bag for other stuff.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Wired to the battery, for the above mentioned reasons, works great.

One thing I will mention, which has been mentioned on the forum a couple of times, is that the cradle for the 550 can have issues with regard to the GPS to cradle connection. I tried out my mp3 player last week for the first time, and found out that it affected me, as the sound to my right earbud had static. Not meaning to hijack the thread here, but you are a new owner, so thought I would pass on the info. Plenty of fixes for the issue, the Zumo forum covers it more extensively, naturally.

 
Thanks to all y'all for your inputs and suggestions. I appreciate it!

Have a great weekend!

BikerGeek99

 
Wired my 2610 to the battery, turn it off with its own switch. The 2610 has no internal power, must be powered by the vehicle.

Some electronic devices are sensitive to input power being yanked. In other words, turning off the power going into it is not the same as turning the device off at its own switch, button, key, menu selection, whatever.

 
My 276 and my Zumo wired to switched power.

I don't leave the ignition on by mistake. If I want the navigatyor to stay on I answer 'yes' to the powerdown question.

Forgetting to switch off you battery-connected navigator will drain the battery, as will leaving on your ignition.

The MP3 player in Zumo is a pain - 700 songs take almost 20 minutes to index - I use the iPod for music and have the Autocom 1296 (Bluetooth adapter) for the navigator.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
The MP3 player in Zumo is a pain - 700 songs take almost 20 minutes to index - I use the iPod for music and have the Autocom 1296 (Bluetooth adapter) for the navigator.
Wow... really? That's strange because, as I mentioned, I have a Garmin Streetpilot C550 (I guess you could call it a car version of a Zumo) and it indexes 2GB plus whatever I have loaded in internal memory (about another 750Mb) in 10 -15 seconds.

Do you have them arranged in some funky directory configuration by chance?

 
Top