Zumo 660 bike mount

  • Thread starter Thread starter JasonC
  • Start date Start date
Well I'm a very rare breed - my bikes are an R1150GS and a Vespa PX 125.

Good look with yer quest, but why do need a GPS on a Vespa? Are you taking it to an unfamiliar city?

Mine is for buzzing around Cardiff and the daily commute, dual carriageways are a no-no:moped:
 
Sorry, been away on business for a few days.

I haven't had chance to try the mirror stem option yet as I've been a bit busy, but I plan to try the GPS where it is currently mounted, on a trip to Stratford on Sunday. Its about 4 hours worth of riding in total so we'll see if it stands up to the abuse.

Thanks for the feedback gasman, its worth knowing that someone else has had a GPS mounted with it vibrating all over the shop, but to be honest, its only when the revs drop to near idle speed that there is a problem, most of the time it is quite steady and easy to read while going along.

I am slightly concerned about the looks but if I can get the mount sorted so it can be taken on/off easy enough then when I go to scooter rallies I can just take it off and hide it away.

As I mentioned in a previous post retroman, when I go out and about I wonder off for miles and sometimes struggle remembering my way back! Its quite rural by me so signage is limited, plus I'm fairly new to the area and not 100% familiar with the place yet. Also, when I go to rallies I sometimes have to meet in places I've never been before and reading a map is a bit awkward while driving along, plus sometimes I follow lots of other scooters to rallies and have to make my own way home, which I have no clue where I am going! and obviously I have to take side roads etc as I cannot go on motorways.

Thanks again for all your help, I will let you know if the 660 is still working after Sunday!
 
You might find that by moving it up/down the stem that you find a sweet spot where the vibration is reduced but this might make the mirror head vibrate more. With screw in mirrors the weight of the GPS could mean that it unscrews itself. Worth a try though.

Good point, I will try different positions on the stem to see if it makes a difference. The bolt holding the mirror on should be fine as its quite hefty and is a lock nut.
 
Went to Stratford on Sunday along with another few hundred scooterists and other bikers. I didn't use the GPS to get there as I had enough people to follow! but I used it on the way home and had no problems whatsoever. Because of this I think I might just keep it mounted where it is as its fairly hidden and in a convenient place to see. The next big test will be a trip to the Isle of Wight at the end of August which is going to take me about 10 hours.

My next step is to sort the wires from the Garmin bracket, at the moment they are just tucked into the tray underneath the speedo cowling. I may keep the wires on there for now as I might fit a battery to my scooter in the future as I have other electronics to install soon!
 
Vibration issues

:rob New to this forum and just reading this thread, handbags at 30 paces or what?
I ride a bandit 1200, well noted for vibration through the bars, coincidentally where I've mounted my 660. Any who, whilst Googlin' last month i spotted an article about the early 550's wearing holes in the contact points between unit and supplied mount, Garmin not suprisingly wouldn't admit liability for any replacements but did eventually change the supplied mounting bracket. Unfortunately I dont have the url but it's there on Google somewhere if you look it up.
On that basis i got a Touratech mount and fitted my Zumo to that, my arms still go numb at the waist and I can't see anything in the mirrors but the Zumo is happy and no signs of vibration wear on the contact points.
Hope this is of help JasonC as I know your little oil burner will vibrate a fair bit, hope this helps and that one day when you grow up you'll get a proper motorbike with a real engine:thumb Just kidding, best of luck with the final outcome and that petrol to oil ratio thing:blagblah.
PS, the Touratech thing, money WELL spent with excellent support!

P.PS. Electrics on oil lantern, wire in a secondary charging circuit with an auxillary charging relay for caravan battery charging, it'll protect your bike wiring and charge your second battery only when the engine is running so no flat batteries! I have an auxillary charge cuircuit on the 12 for the phone & GPS with an additional fag lighter socket for other stuff. Don't overload your magneto tho', i've got over 140 horses on tap :drool for my alternator as apposed to your two butch mice :aidan
 
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Thanks for the reply stormin. I'm actually at the Isle of Wight at the moment with another 5000 scooters and I used my 660 to get here from Derby. It took me about 6 vibrating hours in total to get here and my 660 hasn't missed a beat yet, so far I'm impressed. The contact points are showing no signs of wear and all the vibrating doesn't seemed to affected anything at all so it looks like Garmin have built a nice solid unit.

I'm glad the touratech mount is worth considering and if my Garmin doesn't get me home then next time I will try that mount!

Thank's for the tips on the electrics, I will be looking into that over the winter while I retire the scooter to the shed! I doubt I'll ever grow up and buy a proper bike but then I am nearly 40 so I'll be too old for one soon anyway!

Jason
 
Just really to reiterate - the Touratech item is a very good bit of kit, but it's designed to dampen only the high frequency vibes - ie the tingling you can feel if you touch a bike's handlebars etc as noted - NOT the low frequency 'shaking' effect Jason is/was experiencing.
 
I managed to get back from IOW ok without any issues with the 660 so I'm pretty happy and confident with the build quality. It was vibrating a lot and was subject to torrential rain for at least 7 hours (3 hours in Sun) and I doubt there are many electrical items that could put up with that for a long period.

The Ram mount hasn't budged so I'm happy with that too, all in all a good bit of kit. Oh and 2 batteries lasted the 10 hour journey just about, although I had a third one ready just incase.
 


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