How do I connect my GPS to my GS?
 

Ok be gentle with me. When I say I don't understand electronics I really mean it. I've bought a Garmin Zumo and I have a BMW 1200 GS. I've connected it to the battery but am worried that it will run the battery dry. Will it drain the battery even when the zumo isn't connected? How should I connect it if it isn't as simple as wiring it up to the battery? I don't have Bluetooth so I don't need the other leads that come with it - they are just tied up together under the seat. The zumo comes on as soon as I plug it into the cradle mount thing. Shouldn't I have it set up so it only comes on when I turn the key on?

gps
 

I am going to take a guess that the Zumo you got is the 660 and is the same as the BMW branded unit. You can plug these units straight into the GS wiring harness and all is finished.

On the GS, in front of the tank, below the head stock, on the left, below the wire bracket that holds the throttle cable (does all that make sense?) there is a plug that has been blanked off and tied into the wiring harness. This is the "Optional Accessory Socket". It has 3 wires going into it, one red with white trace, one blue with green trace and one brown. The Zumo will plug into this and work when the ignition is turned on and turn off 30 seconds after the ignition is turned off.

If you cant plug into this plug then it is best not to cut the wires as the 3rd wire (blue/green) is a sense wire that goes to the Central Electronics Unit and it should be connected. If your Zumo doesn't have the plug on it I can tell you what wires on the Zumo go to what colour on the bike.

If you do need to wire direct to the battery then when you unplug the Zumo from the craddle there should be no current draw and therfore no drain on your battery unless you have a short on the cable going to the craddle.

Hope this helps
Marty

Quandary

Thanks so much for your useful answer. I'd never noticed that "socket before! However I think I'll keep things simple.

It is, indeed, a Zumo 660 and I've got it wired up to the battery with the lead neatly tucked away under the panelling on the left hand side of the bike. The cradle is mounted on the handle bars near the clutch and when I clip the Zumo into the mount it comes on.

My only to concerns were:
1. It would drain power from the battery when it wasn't clipped in. But as you say, there is no circuit so no draw on power.

2. It will drain power when the Zumo is connected but turned off. But actually it won't be in that state for long anyway. I don't have a lockable cradle so whenever the Zumo is on the bike it will turned on and when I turn it off I'll unclip it.

I've had it a few days now and the battery seems fine.

As the Optional Accessory Socket is so close to the Zumo cradle presumably if I wanted to do it this way (which I don't but just out of interest) I'd have to cut the lead that comes connected to the Zumo as it is to long. Is there a socket on the Optional Accessory Socket to plug into or is it a matter of connecting wires.

please don't worry about answering thse questions - I'm just talking outloud.

Thanks for your help - I'm fairly confident that I've got is set up OK.

gps
 

I noticed on some of the Zumo craddles that they have a different wiring harness coming from them. Some have the same as the BMW branded unit and have 3 wires for the power supply, others have the cable coming from the right side of the craddle and only have two wires for the power supply (plus other wires for sound etc). So this can make a difference in the way they get connected.

When it is in this state then yes it will drain power but only if the internal battery of the Zumo is down on charge. Now assuming that you would have just stopped after doing some riding then the battery will not be down on charge as it has been charging while you were riding. So then again it wont drain the battery. Now saying that, even if the internal battery is down on charge it wont draw enough power from the bike battery to be noticable (unless you have a shit bike batter). So I wouldnt bother too much about it.

You could neatly tie up the excess cable under the tank or in the front fairing. The optional accessory socket is a plug type set up so as long as the zuomo has the same type of plug then it could be plugged staright in. If it doesnt have the plug then you could (if suitably tooled up and skilled) cut the plug off and connect and solder the wires. Or purchase the plug from your local friendly BMW dealer and attach it to the zumo cable.

I didnt bother answering the questions..... I was just thinking out loud!

Cheers
Marty