bmwrover
Registered user
After reading literally all threads about Autocom and SatNav on the UKGSer and ADV forums, I would like to show you how I have done it in the end:
I want to use an easy to remove SatNav system and all the other electrically driven gizmos of the 21st century, while avoiding adding many cables and “things” into/onto the actual bike. The older I get the more I find it difficult to remember why and how I fitted things in the past under the seat, to the frame, etc. I want to avoid this from now on and the powered tank bag for the GS made by SW Motech suits my requirements of leaving the bike as unmolested as possible.
Only the electrified receiver ring (they call it power socket) is permanently mounted onto the GS/A tank filler neck. Ironically BMW keeps changing the filler neck design every year, so the 2007 model (with screws) is different from the 2008 model (without screws) and even the 2009 model has yet been changed again!
The gold plated +/- connection is wired via the provided relay and shrink wrapped cable loom straight into the bikes battery terminals. There is no interaction with the can bus wiring. If the tank bag is not fitted, there is no power on the power socket. The manufacturer recommends taking off the tank bag while the bike is parked up so that there is no drain on the battery.
The provided cable is quite sturdy and robust, but it looks much nicer if routed invisible underneath the tank cover. For doing so, a bit of the material of the tank cover has to be cut away.
The quick release counterpart of the power socket is on the underside of the tank bag. The tank bag slides easily into place and a spring loaded pin securely locks the bag on the tank.
If you want to fill up the tank or want to go away from the bike, just pull the pin lock and take the tank bag off. You can now carry it complete with the SatNav and other valuables to the pub. The tank bag does have a carrying handle as well as a (removable) shoulder strap.
The tank bag does not really rest on the tank but keeps “airborne” all the time, preventing scratches.
The tank bag does have an optional SatNav mounting plate as well as an optional SatNav bag (in case a car type SatNav is used).
For the time being I am using my old TomTom One and it works just fine. Some foam padding keeps it in place and helps not to hit the on/off button accidentally. If caught out in torrential rain I would use an additional plastic zip lock bag cover.
Inside the tank bag there are two electrical sockets; one is the BMW type, the other the cigarette lighter type. They can power the SatNav and/or your mobile phone. Job done.
________________
But I have had a bit of time on my hands during the non biking winter season, so I went a bit further. I looked into the options of fitting an Autocom system; pair it with my Blackberry phone as well as an mp3 player. All of this should fit into the tank bag, but in a clean way.
A good friend of mine designs fire and rescue trucks for a living and they have a laser cutter and loads of nice materials in the workshop, so I ended up with a custom build stainless steel crate.
With the weight reduction squares neatly lazered out of the 2 mm stainless sheet the whole crate is very sturdy yet lightweight and it provides many options to use cable ties. The power plug bar is all the way in the front (bike direction), where the crate does become narrow due to a reinforcement bracket in the tank bag. All the gizmos that I wanted to fit were already present and the Auto CAD drawing for the laser cutter had been made to measure. The Autocom and the mp3 player received their dedicated space.
The only design mistake I have noticed is the position of the Autocom BT dongle. It is currently tied in at an awkward angle because you need to access the two plus on the small side of it for pairing it to a mobile phone. Therefore I had been unable to mount it horizontal, and it’s too tall for vertical position. Oh well, I don’t want to become too geeky with it, but I guess since the dongle is paired to the phone by now, I could relocate it horizontally.
The before mentioned two power supply sockets coming from the tank bag found their permanent place on the outside of the crate. The cigarette lighter socket facing towards you powers the 3 connectors plus one usb power outlet. These are used for the SatNav, the Autocom and the Blackberry mini usb type charger. The mp3 player can play while being charged via the usb connector in the power outlet.
Once all gizmos were taped and cable tied in, the complete crate has been inserted into the tank bag and permanently bolted down with the bolts already present from the tank bag quick release bracket. The crate uses up half of the tank bag and there is still plenty of room for gloves, wallets, etc.
To have the usb connector is also quite nice because the low consumption LED lights for laptop computer are dead cheap and can be used to supply a light source into the tank bag or around the bike if needed.
The BMW type socket is the second socket that runs straight out of the SW Motech tank bag and I wonder if I could use that to trickle charge the battery with the Optimate as it would not shut off as the can bus socket. I will try it out, but at the moment the battery is still going strong and I don’t want to spoil it by pampering it too much.
Conclusion:
With the whole set up right at your finger tip, the Autocom installation was ever so straight forward and the end result is very satisfying.
Thanks to Rich from Autocom for being so patient with me and answering all my questions via email and phone
I want to use an easy to remove SatNav system and all the other electrically driven gizmos of the 21st century, while avoiding adding many cables and “things” into/onto the actual bike. The older I get the more I find it difficult to remember why and how I fitted things in the past under the seat, to the frame, etc. I want to avoid this from now on and the powered tank bag for the GS made by SW Motech suits my requirements of leaving the bike as unmolested as possible.
Only the electrified receiver ring (they call it power socket) is permanently mounted onto the GS/A tank filler neck. Ironically BMW keeps changing the filler neck design every year, so the 2007 model (with screws) is different from the 2008 model (without screws) and even the 2009 model has yet been changed again!
The gold plated +/- connection is wired via the provided relay and shrink wrapped cable loom straight into the bikes battery terminals. There is no interaction with the can bus wiring. If the tank bag is not fitted, there is no power on the power socket. The manufacturer recommends taking off the tank bag while the bike is parked up so that there is no drain on the battery.
The provided cable is quite sturdy and robust, but it looks much nicer if routed invisible underneath the tank cover. For doing so, a bit of the material of the tank cover has to be cut away.
The quick release counterpart of the power socket is on the underside of the tank bag. The tank bag slides easily into place and a spring loaded pin securely locks the bag on the tank.
If you want to fill up the tank or want to go away from the bike, just pull the pin lock and take the tank bag off. You can now carry it complete with the SatNav and other valuables to the pub. The tank bag does have a carrying handle as well as a (removable) shoulder strap.
The tank bag does not really rest on the tank but keeps “airborne” all the time, preventing scratches.
The tank bag does have an optional SatNav mounting plate as well as an optional SatNav bag (in case a car type SatNav is used).
For the time being I am using my old TomTom One and it works just fine. Some foam padding keeps it in place and helps not to hit the on/off button accidentally. If caught out in torrential rain I would use an additional plastic zip lock bag cover.
Inside the tank bag there are two electrical sockets; one is the BMW type, the other the cigarette lighter type. They can power the SatNav and/or your mobile phone. Job done.
________________
But I have had a bit of time on my hands during the non biking winter season, so I went a bit further. I looked into the options of fitting an Autocom system; pair it with my Blackberry phone as well as an mp3 player. All of this should fit into the tank bag, but in a clean way.
A good friend of mine designs fire and rescue trucks for a living and they have a laser cutter and loads of nice materials in the workshop, so I ended up with a custom build stainless steel crate.
With the weight reduction squares neatly lazered out of the 2 mm stainless sheet the whole crate is very sturdy yet lightweight and it provides many options to use cable ties. The power plug bar is all the way in the front (bike direction), where the crate does become narrow due to a reinforcement bracket in the tank bag. All the gizmos that I wanted to fit were already present and the Auto CAD drawing for the laser cutter had been made to measure. The Autocom and the mp3 player received their dedicated space.
The only design mistake I have noticed is the position of the Autocom BT dongle. It is currently tied in at an awkward angle because you need to access the two plus on the small side of it for pairing it to a mobile phone. Therefore I had been unable to mount it horizontal, and it’s too tall for vertical position. Oh well, I don’t want to become too geeky with it, but I guess since the dongle is paired to the phone by now, I could relocate it horizontally.
The before mentioned two power supply sockets coming from the tank bag found their permanent place on the outside of the crate. The cigarette lighter socket facing towards you powers the 3 connectors plus one usb power outlet. These are used for the SatNav, the Autocom and the Blackberry mini usb type charger. The mp3 player can play while being charged via the usb connector in the power outlet.
Once all gizmos were taped and cable tied in, the complete crate has been inserted into the tank bag and permanently bolted down with the bolts already present from the tank bag quick release bracket. The crate uses up half of the tank bag and there is still plenty of room for gloves, wallets, etc.
To have the usb connector is also quite nice because the low consumption LED lights for laptop computer are dead cheap and can be used to supply a light source into the tank bag or around the bike if needed.
The BMW type socket is the second socket that runs straight out of the SW Motech tank bag and I wonder if I could use that to trickle charge the battery with the Optimate as it would not shut off as the can bus socket. I will try it out, but at the moment the battery is still going strong and I don’t want to spoil it by pampering it too much.
Conclusion:
With the whole set up right at your finger tip, the Autocom installation was ever so straight forward and the end result is very satisfying.
Thanks to Rich from Autocom for being so patient with me and answering all my questions via email and phone
very neat, I like that, I did think of doing something similar using the BMW tank bag but the SW bag seems a better solution
