GPS Wiring

I am planning a trip to the NC mountains late this summer or early fall. I would like to take my GPS with me, sliding it into the map pocket of my tank bag. I was hoping to wire it to the Accessory power plug that is near the right side cover (IF I can find the plug in the house) My question is can I use that plug being that I have a POS ground/earth, to power my GPS?

Battery tender connection may be an option too

That low down mid bike plug would seem to me a hazard with wind and rider to route to bars. I like the battery tender plug Idea and also thought I'd wire mine in with audio plug tapped off power wires under the stem.

How are you planing to mount the GPS?

hobot said:

That low down mid bike plug would seem to me a hazard with wind and rider to route to bars. I like the battery tender plug Idea and also thought I'd wire mine in with audio plug tapped off power wires under the stem.

How are you planing to mount the GPS?

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If using the existing plug, I was going to run it up under the seat, out from under the seat at rear of tank, then into the tank bag where the GPS will be tucked into the clear map pocket. Short run, tucked away and out of harm's way. Not planning on routing to the bars. Only planning on using the GPS for occasional reference, not for turn-by turn instructions to a specific address. Hell, I may even use a regular road map. Old Man, Old Bike, Old Method of Navigation........That and a compass will never fail me!

I don't see any reason why you couldn't use the accessory plug. I've run a Garmin Zumo on all my bikes for several years using battery tender connectors to the battery. I run a length of wire with an SAE connector on each end from the battery tender connection at the battery to the handlebars. On the Nortons with positive ground, the SAE connector at the bars has an exposed hot plug if the GPS isn't hooked up to it, but I always put a vacuum plug over it and have never had a problem. I switch the Ram Mount and a short pigtail with SAE connector between bikes. When you want to hook up the battery tender, all you have to do is disconnect the wire from it to the bars and plug it in.

Steve are you referring to the OEM plug/socket #19 in the diagram? Those plugs are pretty rare from what I believe if you have one

speirmoor said:

Steve are you referring to the OEM plug/socket #19 in the diagram? Those plugs are pretty rare from what I believe if you have one

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Yes, that is exactly what I am referring to. I have mine, SOMEWHERE! (key word somewhere) When restoring her, I made sure that that recepticle was wired and put back in place. Now all I have to do is find that durned plug.

Steve,

The problem is not at the power take-off end, but rather at the GPS end. The GPS willl require a standard miniplug. While the chassis of most GPSs are isolated from ground (you might want to confirm this), the miniplug is shielded by an exposed hard metal shield. On your positive-ground Norton, this shield must be hot (-12v) for the GPS to function. As long as you are plugged in to the GPS, you'll be ok. If the miniplug shield touches the frame, say while you're mounting or dismounting the GPS from the bike, or even simply disconnecting it, you'll pop the fuse. It's really a question of how much anxiety you want to handle. As a low-anxiety kind of guy, it was exactly this problem that led me to convert my Commando to negative ground.

Rick