March 14 @ 9:05 pmThe projects have been stacking up on the bike lately! I can tell that touring season is nearly here. During the winter, I squeeze in a day ride here and there, but any long distance multi-day stuff waits for better weather. In the mean time, upgrades to the bike pass the time…
The next project is installing a wiring harness to power the Garmin StreetPilot 2610 GPS I just picked up for the bike (and the car). The factory refurbed units were a deal I couldn’t pass up. I ordered a Garmin factory motorcycle kit with the GPS, which includes a mount for the GPS (which connects to a RAM base) and a fused wiring harness. The bike end of the factory wiring harness ends in bare wires, so my first decision was whether to direct wire it in somewhere or make it modular. I prefer modular connections where possible, so I decided to fabricate a coupling that would allow me to tie in to my bike’s power using a 2-conductor SAE style connector. My ZZR-1200 has a set of unswitched auxiliary power leads under the seat that are terminated with spade style connectors from the factory. Phase one of the project then, was putting together a small adapter that would plug into the bike with spade connectors and provide an SAE plug to connect the GPS wiring harness (or anything else) into.
Phase two was terminating the Garmin wiring harness with a matching SAE connector. I kept the factory inline fuse as insurance.
It was dark by the time I got done this evening, but I plugged everything into the bike just to see if the GPS would power up, and wonder of wonders it actually worked the first time!
The next step will be routing the harness from underneath the seat up to the dashboard where the GPS will mount on a stem stand, but that will have to wait until tomorrow when there is more light to work by!
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March 15 @ 7:22 am
The GPS will come in handy, no doubt!
M~
March 15 @ 2:09 pm
I think I speak for Marianna here too, when I say that we didn’t understand one word of that except for GPS. But I agree, the GPS seems like an awesome addition.
March 19 @ 6:50 am
Curious where you picked up the SAE connectors? I just picked up a refurb 2610 as well and am looking around at wiring options… the SAE connectors seem like a nice, flexible way to go.
March 19 @ 11:02 am
The SAE connectors were ordered from http://www.wiringproducts.com
You can find them by searching for “2-Contact Flat Molded Connector”
May 8 @ 10:42 pm
Good day Michael. I was just looking at doing the same thing to my Zumo 550 and found your blog. I noticed a wiring mistake that needs your attention.
You have mixed up the power versus load on your sae connectors.
The sae connector in your photos with the spade connectors is the load sae and not the power. The way it is wired now has the exposed metal prong being positive. Any incidental contact with the frame or any metal on the bike will cause a direct short and blow your aux fuse.
The correct way is to have the exposed prong be negative from the battery.
If you have corrected this, will never mind. I wired something similar wrong in the past and went through a few fuses before figuring it out.
Ride safe.
May 8 @ 11:57 pm
Thanks for the tip Chris. So far it hasn’t been an issue in my case, but that’s probably because it’s a semi-permanent install and the metal prong is never exposed. Still, good to know if I ever take time to rebuild it or someone else reads this and decides to do something similar.