GPS Hardwire ?
Thread Starter
|
Tourer
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 457
Likes: 0
From: West Virginia
GPS Hardwire ?
Can you cut the Cig plug off a Garmin Nuvi and hardwire it to a 12volt source on the bike or does the plug have some kind of voltage regulator built in it?
Thanks Tom
Thanks Tom
Road Captain
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 548
Likes: 0
From: LexVegas, KY...home of fast wimmen & beautiful horses
...just buy another cig socket and use the extra connectors near ur headlight bucket then run it thru ur fairing. It'll work with ur ignition or aux.
I wouldn't cut off anything. Im sure it has fuse of some sort in it.
I wouldn't cut off anything. Im sure it has fuse of some sort in it.
Road Captain
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 681
Likes: 1
From: Grand Rapids, mi.
I bought a female cig lighter adapter with inline fuse from napa, crimped two eyes on the black and red, wired it to battery, tucked it all under the seat and ran the wire under the tank and zip tied it to the trees. worked great 20 bucks
Cruiser
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 138
Likes: 1
From: Tigard, OR
Be careful here. Some cig plugs have a regulator in them to drop the voltage to something lower. Not a fuse, a regulator. If you cut it off you need some other form of regulation. The zumo expects 12v, so you are ok there, not sure about the nuvi.
I wired my Zumo buy running the cable down the handlebar inside the fairing and the over to the back of the cig lighter. I have a 2A fuse inline to protect the Zumo.
I wired my Zumo buy running the cable down the handlebar inside the fairing and the over to the back of the cig lighter. I have a 2A fuse inline to protect the Zumo.
Cruiser
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 228
Likes: 0
From: Raleighwood
"Cut the plug off" ... if you mean, cut the whole cigarette lighter assemble off, I'd be hesitant to do that. I have the nuvi 500 hard wired into my 09 Fatboy. What I found was this ... there's a circuit board inside the cig assembly with lots of electronic parts on it. I'm not an electrical engineer, but my guess is they didn't put all that stuff in there to baffel me. Initially, I was gonna take the circuit board and put some heat shrink around it but I couldn't find any heat shrink big enough. So, I just used the existing housing and cut the front part off and soldered some wires to the hot and return point on the circuit board. The wires were sticking out of the front of the assemble and I put some RTV in the front of it to keep the water out. I put a bead around the outside of the housing too prior to snapping it back together just for safety sake. So, there's still the "fuse" issue. The part of the housing that I cut off was where the fuse typically goes. So, dunno about the long term effectiveness of this, but I just hardwired the fuse into the hot lead with solder and heat shrank it. Guess if the fuse blows, its not gonna be a quick fix, but, I't won't be a big issue to cut it out and put another in. I had a spare hot 12 V nipple behind my front light hidden behind the lighting assembly and I just hardwired it into it. I used some of the stick on velcro stuff and hid it the cigerette assembly in there. You don't even know its there. So, the good and bad news is, every time I turn my bike on the GPS plug is hot irreguardless of the GPS being plugged in or not. Maybe I'll get really ambitious and wire an on/off switch ... nah ... if it blows, I'll just get another one 
. Its been going strong for 4 months now and I'm very happy with the short term result ... ask me 3 years from now and I'll let you know about the long term .
. Its been going strong for 4 months now and I'm very happy with the short term result ... ask me 3 years from now and I'll let you know about the long term .
Trending Topics
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 2,004
Likes: 12
From: Parkton, Maryland
NO! Do not cut the plug off. On the NUVIs there is a small circuit board inside the plug that drops the voltage to the unit. You need to keep this intact.
HD Forum Stories
The Best of Harley-Davidson for Lifelong Riders
8 Best Harley-Davidson Motorcycles Ever
Pouria Savadkouei
10 Worst Harley-Davidson Motorcycles Ever
Pouria Savadkouei
Killer Custom's Jail Break Is The Breakout That Refused to Blend In
Verdad Gallardo
Crazy Bunderbike Build Looks Amazing, But Is It Impossible to Ride?
Verdad Gallardo
Harley-Davidson Reveals Super Cool Cafe Racer Concept
Verdad Gallardo
Engraved Rebellion: Inside Bundnerbike's Glam Rock II
Verdad Gallardo
10 Motorcycles You Should Never Buy
Joe Kucinski
10 Things Harley-Davidson Needs to Fix in 2026
Verdad Gallardo
Southpaw Super Glide: A Left-Hand-Drive 1979 Harley FXE Built to Fit the Rider
Verdad Gallardo
Road Warrior
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 1,296
Likes: 3
From: Cheltenham, UK
Don't know your device, but almost certainly a "no-no".
MOST satnavs will have electronics in there to reduce the supply to 5V - why? Because they invariably need to be paired up with a PC at some stage in their life and the USB is 5V and very smooth.
I would never cut a cig lighter connection off
MOST satnavs will have electronics in there to reduce the supply to 5V - why? Because they invariably need to be paired up with a PC at some stage in their life and the USB is 5V and very smooth.
I would never cut a cig lighter connection off