Zumo XT mounting Ideas

WJBertrand

Ventura Highway
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Jun 20, 2015
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Ventura, CA
I didn’t specify and mine arrived with the motorcycle mount. No car mount was included.


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RCinNC

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Aug 30, 2014
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North Carolina
I made a double loop mount for my Zumo XT. It's a great unit, but it's a bit heavy, so I wanted a mount that would have a strong grip on the accessory rail. It looks like this:



It's made from a piece of 5/32" aluminum plate, a couple hardware store u-bolts, and a threaded ball from Amazon. I made a couple bushings out of plastic for the inside of the u-bolts; the bushings really increase the grip strength of the mount on the accessory rail without having to really tighten down on the acorn nuts.

I made a cable strain device to hold the Zumo power cable. If the power cable gets jarred, like it might when I reach down between the front cowling and windshield, the cable strain device will keep the cable from pulling on the mount itself.




The mount is wired to the PC8 power distribution box under the seat.

I had some initial concerns about the strength of the Garmin mount, and was even trying to design a tether that didn't require me to glue anything to the Zumo's housing. After about four months of riding with it, I'm not worried about the mount any more.
 

Checkswrecks

Ungenear to broked stuff
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...I had some initial concerns about the strength of the Garmin mount, and was even trying to design a tether that didn't require me to glue anything to the Zumo's housing. After about four months of riding with it, I'm not worried about the mount any more.
I thought the mount for the Montana was pretty rugged and felt the same for many months on the Tenere till one day. The GPS was gone.

My son and I made a 3D printed mount for the Triumph Tiger and it has a simple velcro leash. (not visible here)
 

RCinNC

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I thought the mount for the Montana was pretty rugged and felt the same for many months on the Tenere till one day. The GPS was gone.

My son and I made a 3D printed mount for the Triumph Tiger and it has a simple velcro leash. (not visible here)
I decided to revisit the whole retention issue. I don't want to use a tether. One reason is that I don't want to stick anything to the Zumo, and another is that, even with a tether attached, the Zumo would still be free to flop around and get damaged if it broke free from the mount, especially on some of the awful gravel roads I ride on. I'm on my fifth version of a clamping mount that'll both incorporate the Garmin powered mount and an additional clamping system that'll hold onto the Zumo and keep it from moving if the mount fails. So far, I haven't come up with a workable design...yet.
 

Cycledude

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Jan 29, 2016
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Rib lake wi
Bought $8 bolt and Ram ball off eBay , it replaces the right front handlebar clamp bolt, Zumo XT nicely mounts to the Ram ball, been using it like that for over 100,000 miles without any problems.
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SkunkWorks

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Sep 13, 2018
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Colorado
I trimmed down a GoPro tether and stuck it to the back of the XT (the tape that they use is rather permanent. It's certainly not coming off)
I wrap the tether-cord around the mount-base and twist it a few times before I clip the Zumo into it.
If it ever did release from the mount accidentally while riding, at least it wouldn't fall to the ground.
I've never had either mount-base that I have let loose (I have one on my FJ1200 that I use also)
It clips in pretty solid. I've ridden some gnarly stuff, and even dropped the bike a few times. It still held solid.

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Cycledude

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Rib lake wi
I don’t worry about the GPS coming out of the mount and if it ever did come out of the mount while riding down the road hopefully it would just fly off and not get stuck down by the triple tree and cause an accident !
I used a Garmin Nuvi for over 300,000 miles and during my last deer accident the impact made it come out of the mount and go sliding down the freeway, one of the car drivers that stopped picked it up and carried it up to the ambulance for me, it still works ! That Goldwing was a total wreck with nearly every piece of plastic on it broken.
 
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RCinNC

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North Carolina
I did finally make a new Zumo XT mount that has some added anti-accidental detachment features. Here it is:



There's a thread here if you're interested in this sort of thing:

 
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