Re: Basic wiring question

["James H. Nazarian, Ph. D." <microdoc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I don't recall if anyone else offered a similar reply to your question, but 
here goes regardless: I'd start by obtaining an electrical schematic or 
wiring diagram. Several third party oilhead service manuals include them, or 
you can buy a set of diagrams for your bike from your BMW dealer, (or ask 
your dealer's service manager to copy the page you need). Find a convenient 
point to tap into either switched power (turns off with the ignition... I 
find this inconvenient for use with my GPS) or unswitched power (GPS remains 
on when the bike is shut off). You can buy a "hard wire" kit from the GPS 
maker: On one end will be the connector peculiar to your GPS model, and on 
the other end will be a pair of bare wires with an in-line fuse ready to be 
wired into the bike. Garmin sells their "hard wire" kits for ~$30.

There may already be a suitable power tap installed in the wiring harness of 
your bike. Again, the service manager is a good person to ask about this. If 
there is, he can tell you the part number for the connector you'll need to 
fit to the aforementioned "hard wire" kit. This makes for a very neat 
installation. You didn't ask, but I'll also suggest you attach some kind of 
tether (a stainless steel fishing leader) between the bike and the GPS. I've 
hit a few bone jarring potholes that have almost sent my GPS to the wild 
blue yonder.

Jim
microdoc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
- ----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Dean Chowenhill" <dchowenhill@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <oilheads@xxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, November 14, 2004 9:52 PM
Subject: Basic wiring question


>I hope this is not too basic, but I have a simple question about adding a 
>fused 12V connection.  I want to wire my 12V GPS to the bike.  Up to now, I 
>have put cigarette lighter adaptor in the BMW connector and plugged my GPS 
>charger to it.  I am enjoying the GPS and would like a cleaner package. How 
>do I accomplish this?
> The bike is a 1997 GS. I would either like instructions or a reference 
> where I can read about the process.
> dean
> Check out the new Yahoo! Front Page. www.yahoo.com

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