Quest + Garmin Motorcycle Mount (and maybe Ram Mount)

samtheeagle · Apr 28, 2006

Guys,

Help out a poor Yank! You folks seem a lot more interested in chatting about Quests and Quest mounts than the folks on AdvRider, so I throw myself upon the mercy of you good souls across the pond.

I have just taken possession of a Quest 1 and a Garmin motorcycle mount and a Ram u-bolt + arm + circular thing-a-ma-bob.

In putting together all the pieces I think I've come to the stunning realization that once this stuff is all wired up to my GS and bolted down and properly mounted ... I can't take the _cradle_ off my bike (unless I undo the 3 screws holding the cradle to the mount plate.

So once this thing is attached to my bike, it's not coming off. And it'll be there for all ilk of street-urchins and dirty underworldly types to gewgaw at and paw over.

And if that's not bad enough, the cradle will be stuck on there through sun, rain, and snow.

Am I correct in my thoughts? :nenau

Does anyone else think this is as feeble-minded a solution as I do? :eek

Has anyone figured out an easier way to make the cradle easily removable???

Thanks for your insightfullness, you commentariness, and your verbalized mental verbalizations.

Sam

PS ... It looks like the Ram mount solution also leaves you with a unit that is bolted onto your bike and is not easily removable.

PPS ... Touratech looks too expensive.

PPPS ... I'm thinking about 2 ways to make the whole thing easily removable:
1. cut the power cable and add some sort of connectors that are easy to plug.

2. create a thin metal plate to sandwich between the ram ball and the plastic ram mount. This would allow me to shift the ram ball to the side and I could add a cutout to the metal plate that would allow the power cord to be unplugged without undoing all my screws.

adamski49 · Apr 28, 2006

If you put the RAM arm on the right way round (spring opposite end to cradle) you can just undo the wing nut and remove the RAM cradle, arm and Quest unit as one leaving only the RAM ball on the bike. As I'm not bothered about power or audio this works perfectly for me.

HTH

Adam

RAM-man · Apr 28, 2006

samtheeagle said:
Guys,

Help out a poor Yank! I throw myself upon the mercy of you good souls across the pond.
>> oh yes, don't we just love to hear that over here ...

I have just taken possession of a Quest 1 and a Garmin motorcycle mount and a Ram u-bolt + arm + circular thing-a-ma-bob.
>> It sounds as if you have a RAM-B-231Z + RAM-B-201 + RAM-B-202. The last bit is a round base that attaches to the garmin kit (010-10610-00) and is hard wired ito the bike and does not allow a de-install . You could wire inline a plug-n-socket to allow you to remove the arm and cradle kit. This set exists on the RAM GA15 cradle with the QPAC set up with power plug (QPAC02,03,04). QPAC is in the USA.

It looks like the Ram mount solution also leaves you with a unit that is bolted onto your bike and is not easily removable.
>> Check for the QPAC02,03 ,04 options as they are available as they have a plug fitted option as are offered to the US market though the trend in the US is towards QPAC01-35 which is hardwired (see prev comment) why I am unsure . The RAM GA15 with QPAC forms part of the mount and IMV holds better than the Garmin option as other threads in here mention.

RAM-man

nick · Apr 28, 2006

Yup. I have the same setup and have the same concerns.

I thread the power cable under the tank and seat to the aux socket.

Removing the cradle would require pulling the cable out, or undoing the screws on the back of the cradle to remove the plug. Neither are practicle.

I leave the cradle on the bike all the time. So far I have been lucky and nobody has tampered with it, but then I don't leave my bike parked up that often.

I intend to install a second aux power socket on/near the dash and then I will shorten the Quest power cable making it possible to remove the cradle quickly and easily.

samtheeagle · Apr 28, 2006

RAM-man said:
samtheeagle said:

Guys,

>> It sounds as if you have a RAM-B-231Z + RAM-B-201 + RAM-B-202. The last bit is a round base that attaches to the garmin kit (010-10610-00) and is hard wired ito the bike and does not allow a de-install . You could wire inline a plug-n-socket to allow you to remove the arm and cradle kit.

This set exists on the RAM GA15 cradle with the QPAC set up with power plug (QPAC02,03,04). QPAC is in the USA.

It looks like the Ram mount solution also leaves you with a unit that is bolted onto your bike and is not easily removable.

RAM-man

Click to expand...

Your name should not be "The Ram Man". It should be "The Ram King"!
You are correct about which parts I have. I think the inline plug-n-socket
solution sounds like the best way for me to go.

I wish'd I had seen those parts before hand.

Correct. DOH!
Thanks for your clarification and help.

Sam

samtheeagle · Apr 28, 2006

nick said:
Yup. I have the same setup and have the same concerns.

I thread the power cable under the tank and seat to the aux socket.

Removing the cradle would require pulling the cable out, or undoing the screws on the back of the cradle to remove the plug. Neither are practicle.

I leave the cradle on the bike all the time. So far I have been lucky and nobody has tampered with it, but then I don't leave my bike parked up that often.

I intend to install a second aux power socket on/near the dash and then I will shorten the Quest power cable making it possible to remove the cradle quickly and easily.

That sounds like a good solution too.

I happen to commute on my bike into the city every day, and plenty of shady characters walk past my bike and some have tampered with it in the past. Leaving an interesting toy on the bike is just out of the question in my case.

I think putting a plug/socket in my line near the mount will work out pretty well for me.

I still can't comprehend why nobody thought to make a mount that would allow you to easily unplug the cradle system from the power line.

Thanks all!

Sam

Twotter · Apr 30, 2006

Hi Sam,

I know what you're going through and I've been there. What I did was simply loosen the Ram Arm and turn it so the mount was facing down towards the forks. The mount was still on the bike and still connected but was out of sight of any would-be tamperers.

Or you could try using a bike cover ???

samtheeagle · May 1, 2006

Solved

Went down to the Friendly Local Auto Parts Store, bought a trailer/SAE connecters.

Snipped my garmin power cable in twain.

Soldered my SAE connecters on, used some shrink tubing and electrical tape, and now I have an easy quick disconnect so that the only think I need to leave on the bike is the ram ball/u-bolt.

- Sam

PS - using a bike cover every day would be more annoying than I could handle as I commute with the bike and would more crap and time to my commuting routine.

Quest + Garmin Motorcycle Mount (and maybe Ram Mount)

samtheeagle

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adamski49

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RAM-man

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nick

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Twotter

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