Garmin Zumo cradle modification and install

[UFO]

If any of you are familiar with the Garmin Nuvo 39X and 59X series you know that it comes with an over engineered, cumberson, and semi-useless wire and power harness for the cradle that 1) requires you to hardwire it to your electrical system for 12V power, thus literally locking the cradle to your bike, whether you want to use a GPS or not on any given day, 2) has hardwire line in/out jacks in the year 2018 where everything runs off Blutooth, and 3) has a USB port that is power only, and only works on iPhones (so in actuality it's not a universal USB port).

Anyway, here's my mod to convert this mass of mostly useless shit into something useful and specific for the H2SX. Note this specifically for the Garmin 595lm:

Stock wire harness for Garmin 595LM

Since I have no use for hardwire audio and the H2SX has a 12V socket up front (like many bikes and/or they are easy to install), I modified it down to this streamlined version which can easily be taken on and off the bike as needed. Basically I dead headed the internal connector for all hardwire audio and USB function, cut the harness to a needed length (removing all the connectors above), and soldering on a cheap fused (3amp) 12V cig adapter to power/ground, and checked continuity real quick. The small connector still there is power/ground only:

Remove connector for all audio and USB function.

Closed up, ready for mount.

Once that's done just add the Ram mounting hardware to the back and slap on the bike, plug it in. The added bonus is that the 12V socket is linked to your ignition, so you can't accidentally leave the GPS powered on for days on end as it drains your battery:

Power cradle on bike.

Done

Garmin does some dumb shit with their hardware. They should really offer various harness options that can be disconnected at the cradle side and not force you to lock the cradle and enormous wire harness to your bike/battery.

Oh well, nothing a little re-engineering can't fix.

[nightWatcher]

Nice, but I have my Zumo 595lm cradle wired up to the battery, whenever I buy a new bike, I make it part of the deal that thee service department install it for me. It took them 10 minutes. And it leaves my power supply upfront for something else.

[vcyclenut]

what advantage is there to using the garmin and not just the navigation on your phone?

[ninjatx]

I just did a similar install yesterday with my old Zumo, using the Ram steering head mount and cigarette lighter outlet in the fairing.
For my electric vest and emergency air pump I installed a fused pigtail directly to the battery and out the right side of the bike.
Don't have a need for any other electric hookups on this bike.
I don't use the phone at all while riding.

[KenshiBiker]

Any idea of the part number for the RAM head mount?

[UFO]

Any idea of the part number for the RAM head mount?

Hi KenshiBiker, welcome to the site.

Here's the RAM steering head mount information: https://www.rammount.com/part/RAM-B-342U

[stk0308]

Only the 59# series has the extra sound in/out wires, and USB power cord(which has worked with Android phones before). The 39# is power to the unit only, nothing extra.

I've hung two of their wiring harnesses. One on my '08 Sprint, the other on my '16 Street Triple R. I have decided not to hang my 390 on my H2 SX SE. Basecamp is far to frustrating. The unit interface wasn't too bad, and it was nice to not worry about how water, and vibration, resistant it was. I just can't deal with the "management" software anymore. And the Garmin stupid. I have always hated that, until the most recent 396, you couldn't get traffic avoidance on the 39# series. Unless you plugged it in with the CAR power line. Which is a Mini USB interface, under a waterproof flap on the 390, that requires one to cut up the solid mount to reach. It's a small thing to put the antenna in the existing motorcycle wiring harness. They never did it. You can, now, do like the 59# series. Link the 396 to Smartphone Link app on your phone, and consume your own data plan supporting traffic avoidance, and weather radar, on the Garmin unit. All this for the low purchase price of $400!

[stk0308]

what advantage is there to using the garmin and not just the navigation on your phone?

A dedicated GPS unit not consuming your phones battery, and possibly data. With a screen that is glove friendly, and much more water resistant than most phones were, up until now.

[Champ87]

what advantage is there to using the garmin and not just the navigation on your phone?

For me the advantage is being able to plan complex, multi-stop routes on my computer while researching the places I want to visit. I can save multiple routes, can save each day as a planned route and I can save alternative routes. When I've done my planning and research I load all that to the GPS.

During the trip it's easy to change route so I can include options for places to visit if I have time or skip if I don't. Also, I use the GPS to record where photos were taken - because I usually forget. When I get home I can tag the pictures to include location info. I can do that with an app on my phone too but it's much quicker with the GPS.

Then, when my road trip is finished I can download a record of exactly where I've been to view impromptu detours and sidetrips. I can also see exactly how much time I spent moving and how much time I used for gas stops, rest breaks, food, or just visiting places along the way. I use that info for future trip planning.

Oh, wait a minute! Scrub all the information - you only asked for one advantage.

[UFO]

Other things a dedicated GPS can do: connect to your phone and download live traffic information, weather, points of interest (nearest gas stations with prices, restaurants, motorcycle dealers, stores, ATMs, etc, etc), make phone calls, access your phone contacts to make calls, read your emails/texts to you while on the road, monitor tire pressure, play Pandora, play mp3s, or play any general blutooth audio, overlay gps directions on top of music/radio, connect to multiple bluetooth devices (phone, mp3 player, helmet headset/mic), etc

A lot of these things are made better if you have a helmet headset connected.

I used to use my phone, but it's hard to see in daylight on the bike, doesn't work with gloves, can connect to only one bluetooth device, sometimes uses data that I don't necessarily want it to use...