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My lovely wife bestowed upon me a Garmin navigation device for Christmas, a techno-gadget I never had any interest in until we got serious about motorcycling. After playing with the thing for the last few days and experimenting with its battery life, I've decided it's going to be necessary to install a 12V accessory plug on PowerSlave if we intend to use it for trips for any length.

From what I've read, it looks fairly straightforward. I'll get a kit with an inline fuse and attach it directly to the positive battery terminal, then wire the negative to a frame point somewhere and voila', 12V power on tap for the Garmin. Before I get started on it, though, I wanted to see if anyone had any advice or tips for the process. I know that motorcycle charging systems are finicky, but I'm assuming something with as little draw as a nav unit isn't likely to cause a problem. PowerSlave is an '02 VN800, and as far as I know the only aftermarket electrical on him is the light bar. I also know a lot of people prefer to wire up a fuse box from the battery and stash it somewhere, then run accessories off that, but I don't see myself adding any other accessories besides the nav so that seems like more work than it's worth. One post I was reading, the guy was going to wire the accessory plug through his headlight, so it only had power 'key-on', but I'm more confident in my ability to remember to unplug the Garmin than I am in my ability to get in and out of the headlight without screwing something up. (-:

I think I'll attach the plug somewhere near the triple tree, down low behind the tank if I can manage it.

Any thoughts or advice out there on the installation? Also, anybody else cruise with a nav unit? I'm a little worried about sun glare, and there's no headphone jack on the Garmin so there isn't a chance in hell I'll get to use the voice prompts. I'll have to rely on the textual directions, and being able to see the screen clearly is a real concern.

That's all I've got for now. I'm not planning on doing any actual wrenching until the weather warms up, so really I could have saved this post for, oh, say, the last week of March. But it's been slow here -- thought I'd throw this out just to wake everyone up.

I carry a tom tom on the handlebars when just going for a ride, running the back roads. If its charged up when I leave I may turn it on to get me back to civilization if I'm unsure of my location. I've not taken any long rides yet requiring backup power. I have no problem with any glare since I can stop to look at the screen at any stop sign.

Here you go
This should be all you need. I rigged up my own but only because I wanted it to have a switch, a fuse, and 2 outlets. As far as drain, I wouldn't worry about it, especially seeing as you'll be using it with the revs up a bit.

Yep, that looks like the one. I was thinking about a switch too, but then I thought KISS, a 12V plug with nothing in it is an open circuit right? No chance of drain unless something's plugged in?

Yup exactly. And if you really want you can always add in a switch to a pre-made system.

I have similar thing to this, works really well and you can set it up so the power source is in the bag ready to just plug your "whatever" into it