My TomTom Rider 2 GPS mounting how to...

[JayBell]

so recently, i was lucky enough to find a TomTom Rider 2 MC GPS for a killer price

now, TomTom was smart, and had an quality industry maker design the mounts.. RAM mounts.
They went with Cardo to serve the bluetooth headset part... but the mounts are made by RAM.. which, near as I can tell, makes a mount to mount anything anyplace

after looking at my mounting options for handlebar, or brake reservoir, or steering stem, or whatnot, I decided to do a mount similar to the way I had set up my TomTom ONE XL I use in my pickup... right above the gauges under the windscreen

the problem with the car GPS is that it has no Bluetooth audio, and its not waterproof like the Rider model.

So, to accomplish this type of mount, I had to buy a couple new ball mounts.. so I hit up http://www.whitehorsegear.com for a 1/4"x20 ball mount, and a diamond ball mount.. I wasn't sure which would work.

that, combined with the RAM "short" arm, should be the right size setup for what I wanted.

after I received the ball mounts, I chose the single stud mount, and got to work pulling the bike fairings off, so I could access the gauge cluster and surround bezel... the top of the surround is where I wanted to mount the ball.

so, pulled the cluster and surround, measure to location, and drill a 1/4" hole in the plastic, and fabricate a small aluminumbracing bracket for underneath, so as not to overly stress the plastic of the surround with the weight of the GPS and mount.

I then mounted the ball, which ended up looking like this after I put everything back together:



then you add the TomTom powered dock and the short RAM arm. With ball joints at both end, this has massive adjustability.





now a view with the TomTom itself installed.






I haven't installed the dock power connector in the bike as yet, because I need to find a positive lead that's activated by the key switch.

However, I went for a several mile ride over some pretty rough roads, and no mount slippage was observed, the only movement was some vibration/wiggles caused by the more flexible plastic mounting point.

an added bonus to this mounting is you can just loosen the mount clamp, and pull the whole arm and dock to prevent theft.

so, come on spring, I wanna take a trip!

[ygolohcysp]

That looks pretty awesome. I've been wanting to get a motorcycle gps, but funding hasn't agreed yet. Let me know when you go to do the trip. I'll actually have vacation next season not used for snow days or weddings to go on trips with!

[steves]

You should be able to tap a relay off the leads for the cali fans which will give you key power, that's how the fuse bar on the bandit is triggered.

Having it inside the cockpit is great... less damage to your GPS in case of "oops"

[rexazz2]

I thought the cali fan was always hot , would run even if the bike was off ???
If your looking for switched how about the third eye?

If you could fit a oversized stainless steel washer both sides of the plastic dash bezel it would minimize vibration / bounce and reduce the chance of the bezel cracking on you at a later date

[steves]

It stays on after the key is off, but shouldn't be long enough to drain the battery with the GPS on it (unlike the fans).

[Nero]

Nice job. Seems like it's out of the way, too.

[JayBell]

You should be able to tap a relay off the leads for the cali fans which will give you key power, that's how the fuse bar on the bandit is triggered.

Having it inside the cockpit is great... less damage to your GPS in case of "oops"

hmm, I'll have to figure out where that fan lead is.

An added bonus is that "inside the cockpit" is where I dont have to take my eyes off the road to see it

If you could fit a oversized stainless steel washer both sides of the plastic dash bezel it would minimize vibration / bounce and reduce the chance of the bezel cracking on you at a later date

I fitted a aluminum bracket UNDER the surround to prevent breakage.

vibration/bounce is not an issue.

[Talltec]

Looks Good