Altering the Garmin Harness for a Cleaner Install

[Jubeeprince]

Hi all,

Back around the holidays I picked up a GPS one of the members here was selling. It's a Garmin Zumo 660.

It came with the Triumph-made GPS mount, an extra, brand-new harness and some RAM mount attachments. The Triumph power socket came on the old harness and there was a spare BRAND NEW harness included. After doing a mock-up install, I found that the 'one-size-fits all' harness that is used is kind of a PIA. The Triumph GPS mount instructions say to zip-tie the harness and stow it under the mirror cover. It's a tight fit to say the least and increases the chances of a wire(s) chafing and shorting.

As I own an older Triumph from the Meriden era ('77 T140VJ Silver Jubilee), I've become pretty adept at wiring (not out of any great talent..... but necessity: I want to ride!).

I'm not planning on using the GPS cradle/mount for anything else and I have a spare harness, so why not modify it and make it a custom install?

After studying the harness, there are four connectors coming off the GPS base:

1) power connection so the battery in the GPS doesn't run down (Red and Black wires with in-line fuse on the Red wire)

2) Headphone/audio out jack (3.5mm)

3) Microphone jack (2.5mm)

4) Mini-USB connector (traffic receivers)

As I will only be using connections 1 and 2, I cut the harness just before the 4-way splitter:



After clipping the wires downstream of the 4-way splitter, I determined the colors of the wires I need for my two connections:

1) Red and Black (power source)

2) Yellow, Orange, Brown and Purple (audio out)



Just to keep things interesting,  the power wires are multi-strand and the audio wires are solid copper. The power wires can be spiced with automotive in-line connectors but the audio wires cannot. They are similar to the cable found in ethernet Cat 5/6 wires so they need a special in-line connector:

These are 3M U1R in-line connectors for 19-24AWG wire. I will need two as each in-line connector can carry two wires:



The beauty of these connectors is there's no wire stripping involved.....just insert the cut wires on both ends and put a crimping tool on the red button and squeeze. They are fully insulated and gel-filled, so no weather or corrosion will enter.

I expect them in the mail in the next day or so and I'll post and take some photos of the harness modification and install. I have the original, used harness already installed, so I'll take some photos of the before and after shots of that space under the mirror cover....

I enjoy working on bikes almost as much as I like riding them.....almost!! 

Cheers,

Steve

[AZBob]

Perhaps this is a dumb question, but why not just cut off the wires you don't need AFTER the 4-way splitter, and slip some shrink tube over the exposed holes in the splitter? Or epoxy? I thought about doing that, but I eventually got everything squished in there.

[Jubeeprince]

Hi Bob -

No such thing as a dumb question....just dumb answers! 

I thought about doing that, but I figured if I was going to cut up the harness anyways, I may as well go all in. The stock loom is probably about 7' long, so I'm getting rid of somewhere between 3 - 4 feet of unused wire.

Cheers,

Steve

[Jubeeprince]

Hi all -

Been a bit lax getting back to this thread, but I'm pleased with the way the install turned out. I was able to remove about three feet in overall length and two three to four foot sections of unused wire and connectors (mic and mini-USB).

The stock loom before. About seven - eight feet in total length and includes the satellite antenna lead (shortest one):



Here it is installed. The wires are a *tight* fit in the space provided and I was worried that something would eventually chafe. That and it was a right PITA to get the stowage/glove box back in place:



I had a spare stock harness, so I could cut it up and still have an original as back up. After some splicing, wire-connecting and heat-shrinking, the new loom was much shorter and far less bulky. Power lead, sat. antenna lead and audio lead (audio lead not yet spliced in):



After it was installed, the 'rats nest' was much more manageable:



And the good news is, it works!  Always a bonus in my book. It really wasn't that difficult and well worth it IME to prevent wires chafing/rubbing and shorting.

Cheers,

Steve Prince

[Coconut]

Neat Job ! 

In the "After it was installed" Photo -
What is the connector with the 2 Grey "end caps" ?

Is that for the XM Satellite Radio Antenna ?

Cheers 

[Jubeeprince]

Originally Posted by Coconut

Neat Job ! 
Is that for the XM Satellite Radio Antenna ?

Thanks, Coconut -

Yes it is. It's a similar connector to what we use her in the states for cable TV. A "coaxial" connector. Solid copper wire encased in insulation and shielded. You depress the "button" on the side the connector and pull it off:



Cheers,

Steve

[Coconut]

Thanks for confirming that - ( it's what I thought ).

We don't have XM radio in the UK, so this explains why nothing
is connected up to that socket on my UK Spec Trophy 

Cheers