Garmin Zumo XT2 wiring question

[JT3NSB]

I’ll start this by saying I’m a complete idiot when it comes to anything electrical. I’m getting ready to order a new garmin Zumo XT2 for my 23 S10.

When I look at the wiring information in the instructions, it shows to just take the two leads to the battery terminals. I can do that. I want this on switched power so in the event that I accidentally leave it on, I don’t run down my battery. Does wiring it straight to the battery do that? I would think I need to run it to some sort of switched power rather than straight to the battery. I have no clue how to do that. Any advice would be helpful.

 

[Fennellg]

The Best Motorcycle Dashcam & Cameras | 4K+1080p - INNOVV

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Cost effective and simple. Your garmin will be cool with 3 amp window. Your expansion possibilities will be limited however. Things like heated gear, grips would be a no go.

By the way ran my garmin direct to the battery for years. I went the eastern beaver pc8 route when I put a rigid led light bar. Needed the light to be switched by the ignition for obvious reasons. The eastern beaver allows any circuit to live all the time or switched. I prefer the gps to be live all the time. Don’t want a reboot every time I get gas. When we stop to eatI put my helmet over my gps. Don’t have the hassle to restart or rejoin my route. Less drama. The draw is low for the hour or so for a meal break.

 

[thughes317]

I’ll start this by saying I’m a complete idiot when it comes to anything electrical. I’m getting ready to order a new garmin Zumo XT2 for my 23 S10.

When I look at the wiring information in the instructions, it shows to just take the two leads to the battery terminals. I can do that. I want this on switched power so in the event that I accidentally leave it on, I don’t run down my battery. Does wiring it straight to the battery do that? I would think I need to run it to some sort of switched power rather than straight to the battery. I have no clue how to do that. Any advice would be helpful.

Garmin's wiring harness has a bulit in "sensor" that knows when the bike is shut off (I believe it sees the drop in voltage when the engine stops and the charging system is no longer charging). Regardless of the magic that garmin uses, the correct answer is to wire it directly to the battery as the instructions state, in this specific case there is no need for any "power hubs", or Eastern Beaver stuff, etc. (Unless you want to future-proof and have additional switched power connections for other accessories).

 

[WJBertrand]

You are correct. It will remain on when you turn off the bike if wired directly to the battery. There’s a switched accessory lead hidden behind the wiring harness under the right cover you can use.


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[thughes317]

Garmin's wiring harness has a bulit in "sensor" that knows when the bike is shut off (I believe it sees the drop in voltage when the engine stops and the charging system is no longer charging). Regardless of the magic that garmin uses, the correct answer is to wire it directly to the battery as the instructions state, in this specific case there is no need for any "power hubs", or Eastern Beaver stuff, etc. (Unless you want to future-proof and have additional switched power connections for other accessories).

Mea culpa, I checked my wiring connections and found that, indeed, I did have it connected to the switched power lead referenced by WJBertrand (no magic voltage sensing technology implemented in the Garmin harness, I was thinking of my Quadlock power adapter).

Apologies.....

 

[JT3NSB]

@WJBertrand ok. How do I tap into that? Do I need some sort of connector?

 

[Fennellg]

Eastern Beaver sells them. But if you are doing that get a pc 8. It’s plug and play. Switched and unstitched circuits. Room for expansion. 30 min job hardest part figuring out where to mount.

 

[robp]

Yamaha Super Tenere 1200 and Tenere 700 Electrical Accessory Cables

Eastern Beaver various cables for the Super Tenere 1200 and Tenere 700, including splitters and break-out cables

www.easternbeaver.com

Get the power lead (second item on page)
Get the splitter (first item) if you want to eventually wire in another accessory.

 

[JT3NSB]

Thanks @Fennellg as I said I’m a wiring dummy. Your pic has several optiions. Which harness do you think I need for the s10?

 

[Fennellg]

I know what you posted. My first post addressed your concerns. You hook INNOVV to your battery two connections, and you now have 3 switched circuits.

The eastern beaver cable will get you there also. But at the end of the day get your feet wet learn and expand your knowledge and abilities, or pay a shop to do it. Eastern beaver is not the easiest to deal with. Out of Japan, no one to talk to you.

 

[Fennellg]

Ok pulled my stuff apart. Trying to change my air filter and plugs. This will give you a better overview of what you are dealing with. If you order one of the wire connectors from eastern beaver, you have a Choice. Cut the end off and splice or order a connector and splice. I recommend heat shrink insulator tubes. Use a heat gun on low. Harbor Freight has a nice heat gun and shrink tubes that are cheap but good. Crimp splicers are the way to go. You have to get special pliers for crimping. YouTube is your friend.

Don’t understand why you want this thing switched. You can’t leave it on the bike, unless you do the helmet trick. It will be stolen.

With that sad I have given you a road map. The connector is a white triangle. You have to remove the cap to it. Then plug in the wire connector. Then connect to your gps or pc8 then your gps. If you get a pc8 no cutting plug and play. The triangle plug has 3 wires or connections. One hot, one switched, one ground. Get a cheap voltage meter from harbor freight to figure it out. You can Google the color of the wires and what they are. Others may know in the forum. It’s been a while since I tackled this.

The PC8 is the way to go. It future proofs the job. I did what you are thinking about doing. Took the long way around the barn and re did it right.

 

[WJBertrand]

There are good reasons to connect the zumo to a switched circuit. For me, and I’m sure I’m not alone, I am going to forget to turn it off sooner or later and kill the battery. A lot of us park in a secure locked garage so there’s no need to remove the device every time we stop. Some of us have added locking mechanisms that allow leaving the unit installed, at least in most places.

If you need to use the unit for plotting, etc. while mounted, with the bike turned off, there is always the internal battery for that


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[Fennellg]

The later units battery are a joke. Cycling the unit for gas stops and breaks is going to be a lot harder on it. Trying to rejoin the route once powered down is not always fun. Particularly in group who more often than not is hung over.

With that said either option, the plug direct or pc8 will do both and can be changed.

I get the feeling this member is trying to do this as cheap as possibly and is resisting research and homework. The math is real simple. Figure it out and do it your self and save or pay to get it the way you want.

 

[WJBertrand]

What makes you say the battery in the XT is a joke? Seems to do what it’s supposed to do for at least a few hours.
I had a previous zumo wired to a switched circuit that went over 100,000 miles on two different bikes that was wired to a switched circuit. It was still working fine when I upgraded to the XT.

 

[JT3NSB]

I appreciate all the input. I have zero mechanical skills and less wiring experience. Naively I thought I could just plug the thing in somewhere. It turns out my mechanic used the spare hot plug for my denali lights anyway. So I will need a splitter from eastern beaver to make this work out anyway. I appreciate your map and guidance @Fennellg . Ive got some YouTubing to do and some tools and parts to buy.

 

[RCinNC]

I would never leave my Zumo on the bike, so worrying about the Zumo draining my battery if I left it on is really a non-issue for me.

Frankly, it's pretty useful to install some sort of power distribution box like a PC 8 or similar for a project like a Zumo installation. Once you put a power distribution box in, it'll make your next thing you want to install a lot simpler.

But if you're determined to go the easiest way possible and still have the ability to switch the Zumo power on and off, and you don't want to try connecting the Zumo power cable to a switched power source already on the bike, then the next easiest solution is to wire an illuminated switch into the Zumo power cable and then wire the power cable directly to the battery. It won't switch on and off when you turn off the key, but the illuminated switch would (hopefully) remind you that the Zumo power cable is still hot, and to turn it off.

They make a waterproof illuminated 12 volt handlebar mounted switch for ATVs that might work. They're made for a 22mm bar; I haven't measured the bars on the S10 so I can't say for sure if this particular switch would work, but if not, there are others of this type that might.

https://www.amazon.com/Motorcycle-Handlebar-Waterproof-Spotlight-Handlebars/dp/B08TWM8LNP?th=1

Personally I wouldn't go this route, but it is a simple way to have a switched Zumo power source.

 

[Fennellg]

My 595 battery won’t last 5 min. The power button fell out. Have talked to garmin and repair shop. That battery complaint is just the way things are with them according to them. Don’t know for sure but read enough reviews to suspect the xt to be the same. My 595 was ok in the beginning but no where as good as my 550. To add insult to injury it’s not as bright as the 550. It gave over a decade of good service. As I told garmin disappointed 30k on this one and a lot of trouble. My 550 went 250k. Put some flex tape over the hole. It works. The repair shop would replace the button and make it new but the not holding a charge thing is the way it is. 2nd battery. Went back to the original little better.

 

[Checkswrecks]

You really should spend the hundred bucks for a PowerCenter 8, FuzeBlock, or similar. Today you want to add your Zumo, then lights, then a heated jacket, then...

Installation of these devices is incredibly simple, connecting just three wires. The big black and red to the battery are idiot-proof. The third is to a source of switched power and simply splicing into the spade at the bottom of the existing cigarette outlet wire works well.

(Do NOT try to use the cig outlet for anything requiring actual power, as the wire is only capable of supporting 3A.)

 

[MFP]

I’ll start this by saying I’m a complete idiot when it comes to anything electrical. I’m getting ready to order a new garmin Zumo XT2 for my 23 S10.

When I look at the wiring information in the instructions, it shows to just take the two leads to the battery terminals. I can do that. I want this on switched power so in the event that I accidentally leave it on, I don’t run down my battery. Does wiring it straight to the battery do that? I would think I need to run it to some sort of switched power rather than straight to the battery. I have no clue how to do that. Any advice would be helpful.

@WJBertrand ok. How do I tap into that? Do I need some sort of connector?

I just did an install this past Spring of a Garmin Zumo XT on my '13 S10. I ordered a specially made harness for the S10 from Electrical Connection. This harness uses the auxiliary electrical connector mentioned above which I believe the '23 S10 also has and is located/hidden/tucked behind the lower cowling where the battery is located. By using this well made harness connector with the aux. electrical connector you will then be able to have power juiced to the Zumo XT when the ignition is keyed on and power cut when the ignition is keyed off.
No real electrical skills are needed as it is pretty simply a plug-n-play with the connectors and two posi-taps for the power/ground wires. The hardest part is routing the Zumo XT's wire for a tidy appearance and safe functionality.
There are two options for the harnesses, I opted for the T-Harness & Accessory Connector combo as I run a set of GIVI LED fog lights and the Zumo XT from the same aux. electrical connector.
Works great and no chance of accidentally leaving either the GIVIs or Zumo XT on by accident even if they were both not powered down (shut off).
There are also two other items from MotoPumps that I used which securely mounts and locks the XT for an additional piece of mind.
A quick heads up that the Garmin supplied RAM mount and nav mounting plate are wobbly AF when riding even on the smoothest of roads, much worse when/if you venture off the slab.
The MotoPumps mount and lock are high quality items made in the US.
I can walk you through the whole process if need be, just PM me your phone number and I would be happy to help you out.

Harnesses:

Yamaha Super Tenere Accessory Connectors – Electrical Connection

electricalconnection.com

It does state that these items are currently out of stock but you can call for updated details as their customer service is on point.

Zumo XT mount and lock:

Garmin Zumo XT Security Mount — MotoPumps - Performance Under Pressure!

All in one GPS mount and Security Lock for the Garmin Zumo XT GPS

www.motopumps.com

Cheers,
MFP

 

[JT3NSB]

I got the wiring splitter made up at my dealership and was able to do the rest myself. All done. Huge improvement over my 396. Thank you to all for all the suggestions!