Beginners questions. No. 1 - wiring

I'm wading my way through the information on here and getting close to overload but I guess it will become clear(er) soon.
Now I happen to have one car and 2 motorbikes so my thinking is that the car GPS will simply plug into the cigarette lighter and the bikes will need to be hard wired to the battery. I don't have any other connections on the bikes.
So, couple of questions please -
1. I assume I need to get extra leads as I guess the set will not come with multiple leads.
2. Can I leave the lead to the battery on the bike permanently attached and simply plug the GPS in as and when required.
3. I assume I'll also need 2 or even 3 mounting pads for the unit. ie one per vehicle.
Can someone confirm if my thinking is correct on this please ?
Thanks very much.

Hustler said:

I'm wading my way through the information on here and getting close to overload but I guess it will become clear(er) soon.
Now I happen to have one car and 2 motorbikes so my thinking is that the car GPS will simply plug into the cigarette lighter and the bikes will need to be hard wired to the battery. I don't have any other connections on the bikes.
So, couple of questions please -
1. I assume I need to get extra leads as I guess the set will not come with multiple leads.
2. Can I leave the lead to the battery on the bike permanently attached and simply plug the GPS in as and when required.
3. I assume I'll also need 2 or even 3 mounting pads for the unit. ie one per vehicle.
Can someone confirm if my thinking is correct on this please ?
Thanks very much.

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Only picked up my first bike gps yesterday myself (Zumo 550), so I'm no expert but...

'1. I assume I need to get extra leads as I guess the set will not come with multiple leads.' - The Zumo 550 comes with one lead and cradle for fitting to bike plus a seperate cradle and cig lighter cable for fitting to a car.

Rich

Hustler said:

I'm wading my way through the information on here and getting close to overload but I guess it will become clear(er) soon.
Now I happen to have one car and 2 motorbikes so my thinking is that the car GPS will simply plug into the cigarette lighter and the bikes will need to be hard wired to the battery. I don't have any other connections on the bikes.
So, couple of questions please -
1. I assume I need to get extra leads as I guess the set will not come with multiple leads.
2. Can I leave the lead to the battery on the bike permanently attached and simply plug the GPS in as and when required.
3. I assume I'll also need 2 or even 3 mounting pads for the unit. ie one per vehicle.
Can someone confirm if my thinking is correct on this please ?
Thanks very much.

Click to expand...

1 yes, there maybe 1 with the original kit.
2 yes
3 if its a garmin use the bean bag mount for the car use a touratech mount, try here http://www.gpsw.co.uk/ or do a members search for migsel

Borrowed a TomTom unit tonight to have a little practice and found the car cigarette lighter doesn't work.
Ho hum, proves I've given up smoking though.
Thanks for the replies people, most appreciated.

Borrowed a TomTom unit tonight to have a little practice and found the car cigarette lighter doesn't work.

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Another reason why most people on this site recommend Garmin?

andyclift said:

Another reason why most people on this site recommend Garmin?

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Apologies for the dumb question but does that mean a Garmin runs from something other than a cigarette lighter in the car and if so, what might that be please ?

Hustler said:

Apologies for the dumb question but does that mean a Garmin runs from something other than a cigarette lighter in the car and if so, what might that be please ?

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aa batteries, some have rechargable batteries or hard wired in

I used to run one GPS across two bikes and one car.

I used RAM mounts for the bike for which you buy the parts you need as they are a modular system.

So in the car I had a windscreen suction cup and used a 12v auxiliary plug (for cigarette lighter socket).

On each of the bikes I had handlebar mounts (RAM-149Bz)

And the GPS had a cradle and arm (the arm from the above listed part).

I also hard wired a power cable onto both bikes.

Then I simply moved the GPS (with holder and arm) to each vehicle as required.

Link to photos of a similar set-up to mine using a RAM-149Bz part.

A BMW has a different sized auxiliary socket from most cars but you can buy adaptors from all over, think my last one came from Maplins. But dealers of the BMW nature will sell them too.

As had been said elsewhere in the thread if you're buyingnew the Garmin Zumo comes with one complete bike mounting solution and one car solution in the box. Leaving you only to require one additional bike power kit and the RAM bits.

Apologies for the dumb question but does that mean a Garmin runs from something other than a cigarette lighter in the car and if so, what might that be please ?

Click to expand...

When used in car it uses the cigarette lighter socket. On the bike you plug it into a cable that you can permanently connect to a suitable power source or put a DIN plug on it and use the aux socket on the bike.