Navi, radar, GPS and Music

Chandler

Chandler

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I am about to purchase a 2007 FZ1.

Ideally I want to mount a GPS on the handle bars along with a radar detector. If I could have the GPS have a mount with built in power that would be awesome. I do not necessarily need a Garmin G62 or a bike GPS, I would rather have a larger screen. I want it to be hard wired though.

The other thing I want is a helmet with bluetooth for my music from my phone or some other wireless transmitter from my ipod. If I could link the phone and helmet to my GPS (So incoming calls show on the GPS) that would be awesome.

Has anyone seen anything like this before? I am having a hard time finding a set up exactly like I want it.

I am hesitant to buy a new helmet because of this - I do not know what I will require in the helmet. My buddy bought a O Neal helmet with the Bluetooth built into it but the speaker quality is not awesome for music. Also the helmet is uncomfortable. I am considering putting in my own speakers and mics.

I don't want to use earphones or anything that will completely impair me - I don't desire to talk on the phone while on my bike, but it is a nice feature to have if I have a call from someone important and my phone is in my bag. Most of the driving I do will be in a straight line down a two lone highway for two hours.

I saw some cool GPS mounting options but none that quite meet my requirement.

Any suggestions on wiring the bike up? I want to add a fuse box or have inline fuses for sure, but having a radar, gps, and possibly a 12v outlet around the cluster, will that not be to much for the stator on the bike?
 
Almost any bluetooth helmet speaker system will work for what you want. With wind noise you cannot expect high fidelity for music - any system will sound like AM radio but you at least get to listen to music. I am running Sena SMH5 in my helmet and my phone automatically launches Pandora whenever it connects to the helmet. Makes riding distances much nicer.

The alternator output on this bike is not low - the things you mentioned will not even begin to tax it. I run my phone hardwired, have heated grips and run a heated liner in the winter and I have zero problems.

If you don't want to make up a junction box yourself for the wiring you can get a fused hub from twistedthrottle.com.

Chandler said:
I am about to purchase a 2007 FZ1.

Ideally I want to mount a GPS on the handle bars along with a radar detector. If I could have the GPS have a mount with built in power that would be awesome. I do not necessarily need a Garmin G62 or a bike GPS, I would rather have a larger screen. I want it to be hard wired though.

The other thing I want is a helmet with bluetooth for my music from my phone or some other wireless transmitter from my ipod. If I could link the phone and helmet to my GPS (So incoming calls show on the GPS) that would be awesome.

Has anyone seen anything like this before? I am having a hard time finding a set up exactly like I want it.

I am hesitant to buy a new helmet because of this - I do not know what I will require in the helmet. My buddy bought a O Neal helmet with the Bluetooth built into it but the speaker quality is not awesome for music. Also the helmet is uncomfortable. I am considering putting in my own speakers and mics.

I don't want to use earphones or anything that will completely impair me - I don't desire to talk on the phone while on my bike, but it is a nice feature to have if I have a call from someone important and my phone is in my bag. Most of the driving I do will be in a straight line down a two lone highway for two hours.

I saw some cool GPS mounting options but none that quite meet my requirement.

Any suggestions on wiring the bike up? I want to add a fuse box or have inline fuses for sure, but having a radar, gps, and possibly a 12v outlet around the cluster, will that not be to much for the stator on the bike?
Click to expand...
 
As well as your traditional RAM mounts on the bars, there are also tank bags that have GPS mounts - Bag Connection Evo is one. Pricey though, over $200 with all necessary accessories.
 
Thanks for the input guys!

I looked into Sena BT - but how well will something like that fit into a traditional helmet versus one that was made with it? I would like to depth to the music I play but I understand that is a bit much to ask. Though everything is louder inside the helmet with a visor closed so I figured it may be possible...

The actual fuse hub on twisted throttle (PowerHub2 fuse block, master ground block and wiring harness for motorcycles by Denali - F800GS '08-'12 - BMW - Shop by Bike - TwistedThrottle.com) is $100+ - that is way out of my price range for some simple wiring - I will probably con-caught something myself - it may not look as neat but there will be still the same amount of splicing but I will put a plastic box around it just to keep everything together. I suppose I could just label the inline cables or something as well. I would like to now have a million wires right off the battery though. I will make a junction box of some sort.

For mounting the GPS - I love the ram mount idea, very popular and easy. I saw on someone else's post that they took a tube and crushed both ends of it and bolted it to the wind screen bolt on the inside - I just saw this today. If I can pinch the tubes right I will more then likely do that for positioning. It would be out of the way of the instrument clustar and I could put the radar detector on there as well.

Any suggestions on a radar detector that I will be able to hear while in my helmet? The last one I had made the sound at the 12V outlet, not the radar itself - then it had a mute button on the outlet piece too. i plan on cutting that off.

Is there place to splice into instead of the battery terminal directly to make sure I do not have power to my accessories unless my bike is on?
 
Chandler said:
Thanks for the input guys!

I looked into Sena BT - but how well will something like that fit into a traditional helmet versus one that was made with it? I would like to depth to the music I play but I understand that is a bit much to ask. Though everything is louder inside the helmet with a visor closed so I figured it may be possible...

The actual fuse hub on twisted throttle (PowerHub2 fuse block, master ground block and wiring harness for motorcycles by Denali - F800GS '08-'12 - BMW - Shop by Bike - TwistedThrottle.com) is $100+ - that is way out of my price range for some simple wiring - I will probably con-caught something myself - it may not look as neat but there will be still the same amount of splicing but I will put a plastic box around it just to keep everything together. I suppose I could just label the inline cables or something as well. I would like to now have a million wires right off the battery though. I will make a junction box of some sort.

For mounting the GPS - I love the ram mount idea, very popular and easy. I saw on someone else's post that they took a tube and crushed both ends of it and bolted it to the wind screen bolt on the inside - I just saw this today. If I can pinch the tubes right I will more then likely do that for positioning. It would be out of the way of the instrument clustar and I could put the radar detector on there as well.

Any suggestions on a radar detector that I will be able to hear while in my helmet? The last one I had made the sound at the 12V outlet, not the radar itself - then it had a mute button on the outlet piece too. i plan on cutting that off.

Is there place to splice into instead of the battery terminal directly to make sure I do not have power to my accessories unless my bike is on?
Click to expand...



Most helmets will accomidate most all of the bluetooth helmet communicators. There are few helmets that come with integrated Bluetooth. So, unless you have unusually large ears, you should be fine with any BT helmet system. In fact, many of the newer helmets have more room for the speakers. (Shoei RF1100). Plus, if you need a new helmet or want to use more than one, you simply transfer the baseplate or purchase another baseplate (about $20-30).
 
I have a Tomtom rider2 and scala G4, when the gps says something it cuts the music from my android phone off, auto restart doesn't work .. so I never pair the gps just take a look at it once in awhile

Music quality is quite good below 100km/h .. and can hear something music like at 170-180

you do want a dedicated bike gps, car gps's are not waterproof and can't easily mount on a bike , also you can't operate with gloves on

tomtom has this very nice feature called winding roads, it will route you in some very nice scenery you can't find otherwise, garmin has "scenic routes " I think

I would buy a bike gps again just for the "winding roads" option
 
I do want this to be a bike dedicated GPS - I have a tomtom in my car now.

I want a larger screen though, not the cell phone style with buttons so I though just getting a regular GPS would not be an issue - I will look into the tomtom windy road feature for sure - A lot of where I ride will be commuting to a college a few hours away to hang out with friends the rest local. My friend who rides bikes is in Italy for three more years due to the Navy. - So there will not be any touring for now.

As far as the radar, I also want to leave it on the bike - I will probably make these detachable and put them in a top case (givi) when I am off the bike.
 
Personally, I prefer Garmins Zumo.

Not cheap though.

I use cheapo ebay bluetooth headphones, £30 including post from China, they work perfectly.
 
Autocomm, Starcomm, Baer

Check out these guys as well. They have been around for ages and are well made. I have been using their Logic system for since it came out and it has worked flawlessly. I run one of the Autocom Logic systems hardwired to my helmet with no issues. I have had issues with some of the bluetooth products out there so I just went wired.
 
donoharm said:
you do want a dedicated bike gps, car gps's are not waterproof and can't easily mount on a bike , also you can't operate with gloves on
Click to expand...

I have two Garmin Nuvis, 765T and 2597LMT and both operate with my gloves on. True they are not waterproof but a zip-lock bag fixes that for the occasional rain. Riding in rain isn't an issue since it's mounted behind the windscreen on a RAM handlebar mount. I paid less than $100 for the 2597 refurbished and can burn up five of these for the cost of one Zuma. Also I could use my phone's gps too but that isn't operatable with gloves on.
 
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My Set Up

Now granted it's a very different bike, but tube style handle bars anyway. I use a Garmin "Montana" nice easy to read screen, touch screen and has a excellent power connection that is vibration and water proof.













It can be mounted either way, up and down or sideways.
 
I use a Sena SMH10 installed in my Shoei helmet. This particular helmet had recesses for speakers, as many newer helmets feature. Installation was easy, and the addition of the main unit on the side of the helmet hasn't been an issue yet. Sound quality is adequate for my needs. I often wear earplugs and I can hear the music at all but "high" speeds (over 80mph) and occasional phone calls are possible at speeds under about 65mph.

The intercom works well overall. I have several friends who have the SMH10 as well, and we fire up the intercom for much of our riding together. Sound quality varies depending on the person I'm talking to -- Full face helmets are best, followed by modular, and (unsurprisingly) half-helmets suffer from wind noise the most.

I connect to an Android phone (Samsung Galaxy S3) for music, GPS, and telephone calls. The disadvantage of using the phone for GPS is that it requires an internet connection to download maps (or I have to cache them ahead of time). I use the "old" Google Maps for Android, since their upgrade broke several features that I rely on. I don't often use turn-by-turn navigation and instead rely on a combination of My Maps on maps.google.com for the desktop and the ability to display those same pre-planned routes on my Android phone. For me, being able to create the route in the comfort of my office using a full-size computer, then transferring it to my phone is the killer app for Android. This feature could only be better if it created turn-by-turn audio directions from my planned route. As it stands, I have to occasionally look at the phone screen to monitor my location and prepare for turns.

Other features are well-integrated with the SMH10 - I can control music (local or Pandora) and phone calls without touching the phone.

The setup is mounted to my handlebars using a RAM "six finger" mount. I supply power through a wireless charger that is connected to my battery through a "Fuze Block" (same unit as TwistedThrottle rebrands and sells). The Fuze Block is somewhat expensive, but I really like the flexibility and clean install. In the Summer, when I'm riding all the time, I leave the power to my tank bag "always on" and late in the season, I move one fuse and it's switched with the ignition. I also have my heated liner and heated grips connected this way (switched). Because I was concerned about power consumption, I installed a single-LED voltage monitor that indicates when I'm pushing power consumption (happens at idle with both my grips and liner turned to "high"). If you don't want to shell out the money for a Fuze Block (or similar aftermarket accessory), consider putting a relay on your "junction box" so that it only gets power when the bike is on. You can tie into the running lights or the license-plate light.

Here's a post about the original setup.
You can see details of the wireless charger in another thread on this forum.

Sorry I can't help with the radar detector... never even considered installing one on my bike!
 
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