Mr 2610 confused and bewildered

Smalesy · Oct 29, 2005

Have just bought my 2610.

Now I thought that the best place for me would be to mount it on the left handlebar of my 1200.

So I ordered a Garmin motorcycle mounting kit with cables and a RAM with U bolt mounting kit. To my surprise the RAM kit arrived with a plastic cradle that actually holds the unit quite well. So by buying the Garmin kit, have I effectively bought a surplus plastic cradle for the 2610 and the required cable? The Garmin stuff's not landed yet but would like to have an idea how things will pan out.

Steve

PanEuropean · Oct 30, 2005

It sounds to me like you have bought the same thing (a mounting bracket for a SP 2610) twice. The Garmin kit is the OEM product, and the Ram-Mount kit is an aftermarket product.

I use the Garmin kit and Garmin bracket, have used it now for over 40,000 miles, and I like it a lot. It is smaller than the RAM kit, less 'in your face', and doesn't advertise that you have a GPSR in your pannier when you remove the GPSR from the mount. But, that's just a personal opinion, and it could be biased, because I was involved with the original design testing for the Garmin bracket.

Here's photos of the Garmin mount in use:

John Armstrong · Oct 30, 2005

The Garmin braket also has a nice little holder for the power cable so if you're running the bike without the GPS

the live connector won't try and short out.

Smalesy · Oct 31, 2005

The RAM bit's arrived and contains everything to hold the unit on the bike, there's just no wire. The photo's I've seen of the Garmin thing just look like a baseplate and wire to attach the 2610 to but no actual U bolt/ball and socket assembly.

It's a shame people don't put really good photos on thier websites.

PanEuropean · Nov 1, 2005

You are correct in your observations - the Garmin kit contains the mounting bracket (what you call a baseplate) and a special motorcycle cable. It is special in the sense that it is designed for outdoor use, and designed to be resistant to petroleum products and a (reasonable) amount of heat.

Garmin themselves don't sell the various bits and pieces that are used from the mounting plate on back, to attach the whole mess to the motorcycle. Garmin's mounting plate has 4 holes in it that are compatible with a Ram-Mount backing plate, and Ram-Mount themselves sell literally hundreds of different methods of attaching their backing plate to whatever you want to attach it to.

Hope this helps make things clear.

Michael

Tim Cullis · Nov 1, 2005

It's worth pointing out that the Garmin mount is also "semi-secure".

If you look at Pan's photos you can see there's a screw at the top to hold the unit in place. This is operated by a tiny T8 driver that you attach to your key ring (same torxdriver as is needed for BMW's helmets).

The security screw is enough to stop casual walk-by thefts such as might happen at a petrol station, but probably not secure enough to leave the unit on the bike overnight.

Also... I've replaced the wing-nuts on the Ram mount with locking nuts to prevent someone walking off with the GPS attached to the Ram mount.

Tim

Smalesy · Nov 1, 2005

Thanks very much for the wisdom. Still waiting on the Garmin kit but sounds like I'll be using the Ram mount but with the Garmin plate which certainly looks much smarter, semi secure and has the holder of the cable.

Just whilst I'm on, perhaps Mr Pan European (or someone else) could help me re grid references. I have altered my preference on the computer to OS grid ref, from longitude and latitude however I'd hoped that my 2610 after upload would show grid references on the satelite display screen. The long and short of it is I'd like to be easily able to input a grid ref into the unit and/or software to locate a campsite easily.

Any pointers?

Steve

Mr 2610 confused and bewildered

Smalesy

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PanEuropean

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John Armstrong

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PanEuropean

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Tim Cullis

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