Help with wireing in GPS Husquvarna TE250

[Dan Lyman]

I am trying to wire in a GPS to the head light power so it will only be on when the motor is running and not left on to drain the battery. I can only find 12VAC I need 12VDC Is the head light power AC on a 2007 TE 250Husquvarna??

[R_Little]

I believe all the e-start bikes would have DC lighting systems.

It your headlight comes on when you turn the key on before the bike starts then it is DC. I'm sure DOT requires a DC taillight.

[DualsportWA]

I wired my 60csx directly to the battery on my TE250. I figure if two AA batteries last for 12 continuous hours, my motorcycle battery will last for several years at that rate

I like having the display at max brightness and having the GPS stay on so it doesn't loose signal and reset my current track if I stut off the bike for a few minutes...

Here's my mounting solution, a RAM mount, antenna armor, 12V power, has worked flawlessly for me in a range of crazy conditions!

http://gavingear.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!334AA2AFC5544E64!169.entry

[drzmike1]

I'm not sure, but it seems like my TE250 has both AC and DC. It obviously has DC for the starter, also for blinkers and horn. Sure seems like the headlight and maybe the tail light are AC.

However, I agree with DualsportWA - just wire the GPS to the battery. It would take a LONG time to drain the battery. I like to leave it on all the time while I'm on a ride, that way I don't have to wait for it to find itself at every stop.

[backtire]

Straight to the batt and I have never had a problem on multi day rides and forgetting to turn the gps off overnight.

[riderdnf]

I agree, straight to the battery, to remove the unit when needed I have found RC car connectors to be the best type as they have a clip to hold them together. Radio Shack has them.

[sheikyurbouti]

There is an AC lighting circuit and a DC charging circuit on the TEs. Head and tail lights are on the AC circuit, blinkers and instrument panel are on DC.

Go to the battery. What's the worst thing that can happen if you run the battery a little low while it sits with the GPS on (unlikely)? Kickstart it?

[coffee]

The archaic (old) gps I have will run for days on 2 AA batteries. Not sure how much power a newer gps takes.

[LeFrog]

You cannot do that, because if the light is on only when the engine is on, that means that the headlight is on the AC. You will need to connect it to the battery, straight, as everybody agrees you should.

Say, what GPS unit do you have? What holder?

Some units can turn themselves off if you're not moving for a while, it's called the "not drain the battery" feature

Otherwise, GPS units do not use too much electricity. I had my GPS V on by accident for a whole week on 4 Duracell AA batteries and I only realized it was on because it was beeping about the batteries dying.

[Joliet]

I agree with the "straight to the battery" method. It is a pain restarting the gps every time you stop the bike. It is much nicer to have one track to deal with than 10 short ones that you have to piece together when you want to save it. Ken

[thaigan]

I've found these guys to really know their stuff and very helpful in figuring out what you want to do.

http://cycoactive.com/

[Dan Lyman]

Stright to the Battery it is. Thank you for all the info. I have a Quest 2 by Garmin with a touratech mount, very trick.

[LeFrog]

Stright to the Battery it is. Thank you for all the info. I have a Quest 2 by Garmin with a touratech mount, very trick.

That's one nice GPS unit, I hope you will not break it in a fall.

I use a GPS V, because there are plenty of them laying around. Mine I bought from a guy coming back from Iraq. It came with the Baghdad map on it. I saved the last tracks, it showed the last patrols this guy did before heading back.

Each time I turn it on, it says "Baghdad map", it's interesting. Wonder how the riding is over there.

RAM Mount for mine, and the battery connector from some eBay store as well.

Same as this: http://cycoactive.com/ram/ram3.shtml

[drzmike1]

The archaic (old) gps I have will run for days on 2 AA batteries. Not sure how much power a newer gps takes.

Some units have problems shutting down when the batt's lose contact briefly in bumpy or high vibration conditions.

[LeFrog]

Some units have problems shutting down when the batt's lose contact briefly in bumpy or high vibration conditions.

That's one of the two reasons why you want to connect your GPS to the battery. The second being that doing so allows you to use the back light on the GPS screen, which would drain regular batteries.

[drzmike1]

That's one of the two reasons why you want to connect your GPS to the battery. The second being that doing so allows you to use the back light on the GPS screen, which would drain regular batteries.

Yep, that too:thumbsup:

[coffee]

That's one of the two reasons why you want to connect your GPS to the battery. The second being that doing so allows you to use the back light on the GPS screen, which would drain regular batteries.

I was hinting GPS units don't take a lot of power in case it was left on for some reason. Yes the AA batteries shake loose and hard wiring to the bikes battery is much better.

[hodaphile]

Another reason to wire directly to the battery is that it acts as a buffer to voltage variance. I burned up 3 units before we figured it out!