I received a PM from bikerskier asking how I had mounted my Garmin C550 for use on the FJR. I figured that what I came up with fairly simple and elegant enough that others may want to take the same approach.
For those not familiar with it, the C550 is a poor man's Zumo 550. It is designed for use in cars, so it is NOT waterproof. But it has bluetooth to the phone (not headset) and MP3 playback from SD card slot. Factory refurbs with full warranty can be bought for about $150 clams these days, making it very attractive. I paid $350 for mine several ago and have had zero issues with it.
I had purchased a second dash mount at Best Buy as a clearance item, primarily for the adhesive dashboard disk, since the original disk was stuck to the dash of my prior company car. BTW - those dash disks stick VERY WELL and there was no way that it was coming off without destroying the dash.
(looks like this)
To fabricate my mount I cut the ball end off the extra plastic mount, drilled a hole through it and filed one end flat. I ran a pan head screw through the ball and bolted the ball directly to my Techmount stem stand. I'm sure there would be a way to get or make the ball without sacrificing the plastic mount but I already had an extra one. I then put a few self adhesive foam pads on the flat surface of the Techmount to help stabilize the GPS, but they really aren't needed. Here's how it looks:
Initially I had fashioned some velcro straps that wrapped around the back of the techmount and attached to the top and bottom of the GPS (you can see them in the picture below), but I found those were not really required. I have never had the GPS pop off the ball, either in my car or on the bike, and there are three cables attached to the GPS, so should that ever happen it isn't going far.
Here's a look at the GPS on the mount:
And here's the GPS with the added "IPX7 Baggie" for use in foul weather.
A sandwich sized zip-lock bag fits snuggly over the unit and I use one of those re-useable zip-lock ties to wrap the open end around the cable bundle at the bottom. A couple of pieces of scotch tape can secure the flaps at the top corners if desired. I just threw the baggie on for a quick picture here.
For those not familiar with it, the C550 is a poor man's Zumo 550. It is designed for use in cars, so it is NOT waterproof. But it has bluetooth to the phone (not headset) and MP3 playback from SD card slot. Factory refurbs with full warranty can be bought for about $150 clams these days, making it very attractive. I paid $350 for mine several ago and have had zero issues with it.
I had purchased a second dash mount at Best Buy as a clearance item, primarily for the adhesive dashboard disk, since the original disk was stuck to the dash of my prior company car. BTW - those dash disks stick VERY WELL and there was no way that it was coming off without destroying the dash.
(looks like this)
To fabricate my mount I cut the ball end off the extra plastic mount, drilled a hole through it and filed one end flat. I ran a pan head screw through the ball and bolted the ball directly to my Techmount stem stand. I'm sure there would be a way to get or make the ball without sacrificing the plastic mount but I already had an extra one. I then put a few self adhesive foam pads on the flat surface of the Techmount to help stabilize the GPS, but they really aren't needed. Here's how it looks:
Initially I had fashioned some velcro straps that wrapped around the back of the techmount and attached to the top and bottom of the GPS (you can see them in the picture below), but I found those were not really required. I have never had the GPS pop off the ball, either in my car or on the bike, and there are three cables attached to the GPS, so should that ever happen it isn't going far.
Here's a look at the GPS on the mount:
And here's the GPS with the added "IPX7 Baggie" for use in foul weather.
A sandwich sized zip-lock bag fits snuggly over the unit and I use one of those re-useable zip-lock ties to wrap the open end around the cable bundle at the bottom. A couple of pieces of scotch tape can secure the flaps at the top corners if desired. I just threw the baggie on for a quick picture here.
