Do i have to hard wire my Zumo 550?

[Montrose Sun]

I dont, i can get away with it, want to hard wire my zumo 550 into my new bike -

1) cant be arsed doing a proper job of it (as gauranteed i wont )

2) Im sure i can work away with it from battery.

But that is my question really. Can i just take it off, charge it up and put it back on cradle?

How long should i expect the battery to last? (i'll be using it quite a bit and changing the destination often during a day and using the phone function quite a bit too)

I noticed that when i take off the power lead secured with the 2 mini screws, the power connectors seem quite open - obviously down that hole but i imagine that water might get down there to corrode when it wouldn't if the hard wire power cable was screwed in.

Is this do-able? Is it a good idea? Does anybody else work with it this way?

Thanks

 

[original_concept]

Do-able: yes.

Good idea: nah.

You know the battery will go/be flat when you need it the most.

Just wire it into the CanBus socket at the front of the bike and sleep easy.

 

[freeloader]

I've just done it the cheapskate way. Used the Garmin power lead which had the bare wire ends already soldered, found the socket under the false tank (F800GS), applied multimeter to find which of the 3 connections on the bike's socket I needed, shoved appropriate Garmin power lead wires into appropriate socket holes, and set off on a 500 mile trip the next day.

Now done about 1100 miles since fitting, and no problems yet encountered with it. Since you already have the bike and the connecting cable, all it costs is your time.

 

[ianboydsnr]

I dont, i can get away with it, want to hard wire my zumo 550 into my new bike -

1) cant be arsed doing a proper job of it (as gauranteed i wont )

2) Im sure i can work away with it from battery.

But that is my question really. Can i just take it off, charge it up and put it back on cradle?

How long should i expect the battery to last? (i'll be using it quite a bit and changing the destination often during a day and using the phone function quite a bit too)

I noticed that when i take off the power lead secured with the 2 mini screws, the power connectors seem quite open - obviously down that hole but i imagine that water might get down there to corrode when it wouldn't if the hard wire power cable was screwed in.

Is this do-able? Is it a good idea? Does anybody else work with it this way?

Thanks

the battery at best will only work for a couple of hours, unless the mount is powered then as far as i am aware the phone function wont work

 

[freeloader]

the battery at best will only work for a couple of hours, unless the mount is powered then as far as i am aware the phone function wont work

And neither will the mp3 playback facility, IIRC.

 

[MrTScot]

I use my Zumo on my GS and Sprint ST, what I did was wire in one of the auxilliary socket bits (cigarette lighter ends for bikes) to the end of the cable and job done.

I have mounts from Telferizer on both bikes so can easily swap between. All I am left with is a resonable long cable going down to the auxilliary socket on either bike and what I do is coil the slack up and fasten it into a tank bag. Neat and tidy and I've done trips of 400+ miles like this on both bikes, works perfectly.

 

[John Armstrong]

Could always buy the lead from NN / TT etc to connect into the canbus socket.

 

[wilbjr21]

If a job is worth doing it's worth doing properly.

 

[Twotter]

On my Varadero I've connected the power lead directly to the battery - easy

 

[Montrose Sun]

Sorry, my fault. To save you all talking about canbus etc, i should have told you that its going onto my new Guzzi.

I cant remember if the guzzi has an aux socket and if so, i could always just run it to there.

My (99% irrational) fear is that if i tap into the wiring that it'll turn out to be an italien wiring 'mare!

 

[Monsieur]

On my Varadero I've connected the power lead directly to the battery - easy

Went a few inches further on my varadero - wired to the rear light