Baxtah Posted March 22, 2010 Looking to hard wire a Garmin GPS... I have an Etrex, and a 60CSx. Looking to have power all the time with the engine on, or off. What cord should I cut to start with? Cig lighter type ? Should I just buy the Prefab one they sell with the spring fuse? I kind like to go with a spade type fuse. And any wire schematic would be helpfull. I thought I would run new wires off battery, will the prefab cords be long enough? The less splices the better. Or is there a good place to tap into? There might be a thread started on this, but I've never seen it detailed in the KLX Forum... If so please redirect me if there is one. Thanks guys/gals Sam Storer Road For Kawasaki back in the day, now he nutz. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Baxtah Posted March 24, 2010 So far no takers... well so far i've purchased a wire harness through FIS4HER from e-bay. Its a 6 foor harness with a transformer unit in the center. I hope I can tuck the transformer on top of the air box somewhere. its a two wire harness, so thats a no brainer. Wondering if i should get a proper mount or use my bar clamp mount. should this be switched? its uses no power until its on, so should not pose a drain. I thing mabe an inline fuse would make sense. amperage suggestions? Any help would be appreciated, pictures a big plus. this is my baby and I want it right. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
payloan My Rides (3) Posted March 24, 2010 I would think you have more room to mount the transformer behind the headlight. Then just run the 2 wire (pos and neg) to the battery. Try to fallow the orig. wiring loom. I would definitely fuse it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wascaly Posted March 25, 2010 check your garmin input voltage, some are less than 12 volts, my 500 topo nuvi was 6.8 volt input, i went with the orginal power cord and a cig lighter adaptor to plug it into. not sure with the 60, good luck. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
payloan My Rides (3) Posted March 25, 2010 check your garmin input voltage, some are less than 12 volts, my 500 topo nuvi was 6.8 volt input, i went with the orginal power cord and a cig lighter adaptor to plug it into. not sure with the 60, good luck. I thought that is what the transformer did. Changed the voltage. Our bikes are 12 volt. 👍 Am I wrong here?? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Baxtah Posted March 25, 2010 wascaly.. you installed a power port to plug your cars power cable into like an ATV set up? I thought the vibrations/bumps etc would shake the connection apart? payloan... I like the behind the Frt plate idea... I didn't think of that. I hope I have enough cord. The harness I bought has its transformer in the center (at three feet) So I have 3 feet from the frt plate to the battery. I'll ad my waterproff micro 3 amp fuse (unit runs on 2.45V / amp draw?) to the battery, So Ill gain 6 in. I want as few spliced connections as possible. I hope I'll Have the room the run it along the bikes main harness. Thanks for your input, its a simply task, but dong something stupid could ruin a day of riding... there can be no mistakes! By the way... My previous Sam Storer reference was in hopes of finding any past fans of his. He was Factory Kawasaki (MX) 125, maybe around the late 70, early 80 in Southern Calif. If anyone is interested. He's unreachable for communication due to his situation. I miss my ole riding buddy. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Baxtah Posted March 27, 2010 Okay... Got all my parts, Im going to install the Etrex Vista Hcx. I have a Ram mount, 2.5 Micro fuse, with a waterproff holder. A 6 " wire harness (12v bare wires with a treansformer in the middle.) Im A little unhappy with the fuse holders large wire size... Its atleast twice the dia. of the harness. So i thought soilder, and srink wrap might be the way to go. Also, the harness equipped transformer has a little green light. Im wondering if this will cause a parasitic battery drain. I leave the bike on a tender 24/7 unless it being ridden, but on an overnight camping trip I might get a surprise the next morning knowing the history of this bikes battery issues. Im thinking about a bar mounted switch, but what a pain in the ass to get 2.45 V to a little GPS. Mayne I'll just pull the fuse. Any more input before I spend any more money would be appriciated. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cse2c Posted March 28, 2010 Keep the posts coming baxtah. I have no input. However, I have an older garmin rino 120 and have been wondering about the hard wire option. Great stuff. 👍 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Baxtah Posted March 28, 2010 (edited) wired it up yesturday... 3 feet from the transformer was fine. I ran the wire with the main harness down the right side of the bike. I used little eyelet connectors to attache it to the battery. it got a little busy at the battery due to the battery tender wires being stack up also. The battery bolt is short, so as not to wind it in to far by design. The bolt would not reach the nut with this large connector stack. So it installed the battery bolt slightly... pull it upward, and slid the tip of a zip tie under the batery nut inside the battery post to raise the nut up enough to catch a thread. I did not want to increase the bolt size due to not having the correct replacement. The battery bolt looked to be very finely threaded, and a trip to the hardare store sucks in the middle of a repair job. In the end it worked great. I got 4 full turns on the bolt, and that should be fine to secure the wire eyelett connectors (x2) and battery terminal to the post. I secured the transformer on the inside of the front plate. This was the hardest part to find the right way to secure it. its about 2.5 inch oval with wires coming out opposing sides. I thought.. due I drill, and screw it with make shift brackets? due I used rtv (silicone) glue? In the end I used some super velcro tape. Our Maine Turn Pike Authority has this velcro thats The cats ass... It locks together like nothing I've ever used before. Its harder, and its grip only separates with a straight upward pull away from its mounting surface... its just locks in. The problems was its only 40 degrees right now in my garage, So I worried about the glue achieving a good bond. So I cleaned up the parts real good, used a heat gun and heated the parts up, and attached... in the end I could not pick up a corner up with my finger nail... its on there, and is not going any where. I think also the tape will acts as a cushin for the transformer. And the plate is rubber mounted... I think it will be fine. also I can remove it is needed. I didn't cut the remaining 3 feet of wire harness (from transformer to GPS) I stuffed it into the seem of the bar pad 3 times, then out of the pad in the center, allowing 5 inches to the GPS unit. I wanted the wires to move with the steering and not pull on the wires, and transformer mount. If I had connected to the main harness connector bracket mounted to the frames steering tube, it would constanly pull on the harness, and transformer mount every time I moved the handlebars. I might end up cutting a splicing it to the correct lenth, but thought this should work fine, and you can barely see the cord at all. Cut/spliced wires worry me, water intrusion, cracked soilder, its just one more place for bad things to happen. I mounted the GPS Ram mount on the center of the handle bars between the bar clamps. This looked to be the cleanest location for me right now. One I get a steering stabilizer, I'll have to move it to one side or the other. I also removed the heat shrink lable Gpscity used on the GPS end of the wire harness, it looked shitty.. why do they do that? To have a nice black wire tured in to a white label for advertisement is lame. I warmed it up the label with a heat gun, and ran a needle under it to separate it from the wire... now it looks nice and all black stem to stern or battery if you like. Wish I had done that prior to the install. So I guess pictures are in order to justify All the typing I've done. Pictures worth a 1000 words... 500 words later I see that now. This was an easy job. Im glad I did it. Pictures to follow later today. Edited March 28, 2010 by Baxtah my speeling, and grammer need work Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Baxtah Posted March 28, 2010 (edited) Edited March 28, 2010 by Baxtah adding pictures Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Baxtah Posted March 28, 2010 (edited) O'h .... With this Ram mount location, I guess I have to buy a new fuel cap vent. Any input would be appreciated. Edited March 28, 2010 by Baxtah adding more text Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
