• Welcome, Guest! We hope you enjoy the excellent technical knowledge, event information and discussions that the BMW MOA forum provides. Some forum content will be hidden from you if you remain logged out. If you want to view all content, please click the 'Log in' button above and enter your BMW MOA username and password.

    If you are not an MOA member, why not take the time to join the club, so you can enjoy posting on the forum, the BMW Owners News magazine, and all of the discounts and benefits the BMW MOA offers?

Switched power for GPS? (R1150R)

R65_Steve

Member
I got a Garmin GPS for Christmas. I decided to not work today and install it. Got the tank off and went to wire it up and forgot that I should probably NOT wire this directly to the battery in case I forget to shut it off when riding or remove from the cradle in the garage. Seems like it'd be better to run it off the switch somehow. For testing and R&D purposes I DID hook it directly to the battery and reassembled the bike.

BUT, how best to do this? I wired photon blaster lights to the lighting circuits but it seems a GPS should have something a little more substantial. There's a million wires under the tank and none seem terrible accessible for such a project.

Thoughts?
 
The draw of modern GPS devices is fairly low. I guess if you left it running for days it might affect the battery but really, I wouldn't change it. If you must, you can tap into one of the switched fuses, or tap the parking lamp circuit.
 
The current draw on a GPS is low enough that you could power it by tapping into the parking light circuit, which would provide switched power. But before you do that, since this is a 2004 model first have another look at the wiring under the front of the tank and up underneath the instrument pod. Look for a white connector that would probably still have a black cap fitted to it, or a black connector with a white cap fitted. If you find it, that would be the dedicated GPS connector and you can tap into it using BMW part# 83 30 0 413 585.

Item# 6 on diagram 61_2485 at the MaxBMW site

REPAIR PLUG, 3-PIN - NO. 611656 0.03 1 $16.58ADD TO CART

Function: 3-pin for LED of anti-theft alarm, optional-accessories plug (device end). Can-bus plug that allows you to splice to a GPS power cord and connect to switched power on your Can-bus model. Middle not used, RH wire is power, LH wire is ground.

Best,

DeVern
 
If you go with switched power the GPS may shut off every time you stop for gas or for most other reasons. If you remember you can tell it to "stay on" when it loses power and asks you.

I prefer it to be straight to the battery and it stays on until I turn it off. Since overnight or when parked I remove the unit from the cradle and put it away that kills the power draw. On other models you need I need to turn it off. In 21 years and many thousands of miles I confess I have run the battery down a couple of times when I forgot. But this is much easier for me than losing my day-long trip data with the unit shutting itself off every time I stop.
 
The current draw on a GPS is low enough that you could power it by tapping into the parking light circuit, which would provide switched power. But before you do that, since this is a 2004 model first have another look at the wiring under the front of the tank and up underneath the instrument pod. Look for a white connector that would probably still have a black cap fitted to it, or a black connector with a white cap fitted. If you find it, that would be the dedicated GPS connector and you can tap into it using BMW part# 83 30 0 413 585.



DeVern



Thanks, I didn't see this, but I'd have to take it apart again to do so. Now I know why the local shop wants you to bring the bike in with an empty tank!


Then, there's this....


If you go with switched power the GPS may shut off every time you stop for gas or for most other reasons. If you remember you can tell it to "stay on" when it loses power and asks you.

I prefer it to be straight to the battery and it stays on until I turn it off. Since overnight or when parked I remove the unit from the cradle and put it away that kills the power draw. On other models you need I need to turn it off. In 21 years and many thousands of miles I confess I have run the battery down a couple of times when I forgot. But this is much easier for me than losing my day-long trip data with the unit shutting itself off every time I stop.

Good point.....I'm new to GPS, and shut the bike off for all sorts of reasons, like you said gas, need my other gloves from the locked bag, etc. I don't have a GPS in the car, but my wife's car does and I was thinking along those lines. Didn't consider losing my data, etc. I'll probably leave it alone for now.
 
Be aware there are two different “off” modes in Garmin GPS units. When the GPS is powered by a switched circuit and the bike is turned off, a prompt will appear—either immediately or after a brief delay, depending upon model—pointing out that power has been lost and the unit will be shutting down after a delay. If you ignore the warning the unit goes dark and enters a “hibernation” mode where it is NOT completely powered off, and the battery will eventually go dead. If you elect the “Off” option when presented with the lost power dialogue the GPS powers off completely and does not drain its battery. Lastly, know that many Garmin units when wired direct to battery will continue to try to charge the battery. But two batteries connected to each other will try to equalize over time, resulting eventually in both batteries being depleted. DAMHIKT. So if you direct-wire the GPS a good habit to acquire is to remove the GPS from its cradle if the bike will be parked for a long period of time. That issue is avoided if the GPS is connected to a switched circuit.

I no longer ride competitive rally events so the only statistics I care about are how many sights, sounds, smells, etc. I have encountered on the ride. When I power off the bike for short intervals, like a gas stop or an entrance gate to a park, I watch for the prompt and tell the gps to stay on, running on its battery until the bike is powered up again. Others prefer to have the GPS constantly powered and not have to mess with prompts and power-off selections. You’ll need to decide how you plan to manage GPS usage and wire the mount accordingly.

Best,
DeVern
 
. You’ll need to decide how you plan to manage GPS usage and wire the mount accordingly.

Best,
DeVern


I don't know yet, but right now to stop from taking my phone out of my pocket everytime I get myself lost! I seem to be able to run my podcasts from the phone through the GPS so that's helpful too.
 
GPS is easily mounted on the handlebars.
Fusebox of some sort under the seat, and Pos-tap the GPS into a tail light wire for switched power.
I use eastern beaver for supplies.
YMMV.
 
I don't follow the link you posted. Well, I *followed* it but don't understand it. Guy asked the same question and there was a link to a product. What am I missing?
It looks like when TT reorganized their site the link did not transition well. Try this-

https://twistedthrottle.com/shop/el...s-some-bmw-ducati-triumph-canbus-motorcycles/

If your bike has the 194 parking light bulb, this couples on to it to give you a switched feed without cutting any wires.

HTH
OM
 
Back
Top