Hi. As everybody knows our ATs have a little hole in the glass bottom. What are your opinion of making the GPS bracket instalation over the bar above the instruments concerning the air flow that is inducted by that hole. Do you think it will influence the air dynamics making riding disturbs?
As a heads up, it's not a bracket for a GPS and should it break (which has happened to several riders), Honda will not replace it under warranty. Just saying......:wink2:
I used the small u bolt supplied by Ram along with their shortest extension, this fits perfectly for my Garmin Zumo 390. The Zumo sits solidly without any vibration so, as far as I can tell, no strain on the bar.
Do use protection between the bar and the u bolt though, I used a thin neoprene strip.
Yes, there's several reports of breakages and why I've moved my GPS down to the handlebar clamps. My 590LM I found was quite heavy and did shake around a bit. I'm not saying that everyone's will break, just that I'm not taking the chance. Plus where it is now is closer to me and it doesn't take any more of a glance now it's below the clocks than above.
I've been looking for Honda-based information about this for a while.
The new CRF250L Rally has a similar bar above the instruments and they call it a GPS mounting area. Not sure if it is the same diameter as the AT but one might assume that the bigger sibling is designed to handle equal or more punishment.
I made a mount for my new TomTom rider 500, from a plastic things i bought in the hardware store for under 1$ That are used when mounting windows in building and stuff. I used a router and made a cut in both of the plastic bits.
I think when it sits close to the bar it wont be the same amount of force on the bar as with the RAM mount arm.
I’ve got the batzen screen adjuster and GPS mount on my 2017 DCT.
I broke one of the mounts last year off road, from all the bouncing.
Had to have it welded, re-inforced both sides and then powder coated.
Would have been cheaper to buy a new one, but it would have failed again.
Looked at mounting my GPS on the handlebars with ram mounts, but I like the mount above the display cluster,
Is easier to read when riding.
I have updated the mounting of my GPS to my own MotoPumps designed mount. The idea was to make the mount as small, light, compact and close to the bar as possible to minimize weight, inertia, vibration, etc. I was happy to eliminate the RAM extension. The mount articulates easily to set the angle you want for the screen.
The mount grips the 12mm cross bar and has an AMPs pattern base plate for horizontal or vertical mounting. The kits I have put together include stainless hardware and allen key for installation.
I have these on my website and have a $10 discount code for the AT community SAVE$10GPS
I have updated the mounting of my GPS to my own MotoPumps designed mount. The idea was to make the mount as small, light, compact and close to the bar as possible to minimize weight, inertia, vibration, etc. I was happy to eliminate the RAM extension. The mount articulates easily to set the angle you want for the screen.
The mount grips the 12mm cross bar and has an AMPs pattern base plate for horizontal or vertical mounting. The kits I have put together include stainless hardware and allen key for installation.
I have these on my website and have a $10 discount code for the AT community SAVE$10GPS
Rob,
Just took advantage of your $10 off code for forum members.
Your mount looks simple and effective.
Going to give it a try on my 2017 DCT.
Thanks for putting this option out there for us.
Regards,
Don
BTW the GIVI windscreen has no ‘hole” and I have no issues, I got tired of the amount of rain that would come up the fairing through that “hole” and spray me.
Lol I thought I had some pics of the GPS mounted, but the last pic was the only one I could find, you’ll have to kinda zoom in to see it tho.
AT-Dragon is correct in his recommendation if you are going on a lot of rough terrain. Those that have broken the welds on the windscreen mount tend to be riding hard off-road and the weight of a GPS up there is just to much for the design. The Camel brace on the other hand is more that robust.
My brace broke on one side just from having a tall V-Stream shield and running on a rough road. They're not robust. The Camel brace triangulates it and no more flutter.
I have the SW Motech q/r gps mount on mine, but I still added a screen brace by Vlad as you’re still adding stress onto the Oe frame which as we all know has been prone to fail.
I started off with my Garmin 595 mounted on the crossbar, but found it intruded too much on my view off the road ahead. I bought a mount made by Telferizer (in the UK) which simply replaces one of the bolts securing the handlebars with the equivalent of a Ram mount. As I use a Shad tankbag I have since fitted a Ram long extension to allow me to position the GPS next to my offside mirror. Easy to look at when checking my rear view and very secure too. Although their site doesn't show a mount for the AT, I simply shortened the bolt from my previous bike; same thread and diameter as many other machines
Very detailed and objective response. All I can add is that I initially had my Garmin on the screen crossbar using the SW Motech Q/R mount. It did vibrate quite a bit and then I saw a few other owners failures creeping into forum discussions. I changed the position down between the ‘bar clamps, but this was too low for my liking. When Vlad brought out his screen brace, I fitted that and moved the GPS back above the clocks and the difference is brilliant....no bouncing or vibes worth talking about and at best, no worries of the screen frame fracturing, no matter how remote that can be.
There have definitely been some discussions of the brackets breaking on ADV and other forums. My dealer was definitely aware of the issue and mentioned that for the money it doesn't hurt to add the reinforced bracket. I added the Camel ADV version to my wife's bike and my own. There is a guy by the name of Vlad (?) who also makes one. Maybe we would not have a broken bracket without the Camel ADV reinforcement, but we have had zero broken with it, so it is all good
The bigger question seems to be how much the GPS contributes to it. One guy had one break with a GPS mounted and then had a second one break without the GPS mounted. He felt it just wasn't beefy enough and the washboards he was riding broke it, so he wasn't sure how much the GPS contributed.
Just a few random mentions of the issue here, but more can be found via searches...
I read the threads above, and the ADVrider links actually show MORE riders saying they have had NO problems after thousands of miles riding off-road with a GPS installed on the AT windscreen mount.
I have this Delrin mount coming. It is much lighter than metal brackets, just to be on the safe side.
I read the threads above, and the ADVrider links actually show MORE riders saying they have had NO problems after thousands of miles riding off-road with a GPS installed on the AT windscreen mount.
I have this Delrin mount coming. It is much lighter than metal brackets, just to be on the safe side.
I don't believe anyone is debating that there will more people who have NO problem than those who will. But of course that doesn't mean no problem exists or that there isn't a risk that it could break. At least one guy had it break twice and both the AT's in that first link had them break on the same trip. It may be particularly vulnerable with a heavy unit such as the Zumo 595. It isn't widespread or happening to them all, but it does happen enough that my dealer was well aware of it, having handled warranty cases for it. I didn't have a problem with spending the $90 (per bike) for some peace of mind with the Camel ADV brackets.
I have no idea if either or ours would have broken or not. We added the brackets and moved the GPS's. They are a lot more stable on the Camel brace than they were on the windcreen bracket.
Similarly more people will have no issue with the tank/fuel pumps on the 2018/19 ATAS than will. But some of us (self included) have had to have the tanks cleaned and the fuel pump and injectors replaced. Mine at about 3,500 miles.
I like the look of that Delrin bracket. I may have to look into one for myself.
And unless my memory fails me, Honda did not advise the fitting of GPS units on the bracket and stated that it was only suitable for the Tripmaster unit....but that’s a long time ago and maybe they changed this ‘policy’.
They're much lighter now.. the Zumo 396 is lighter than the current tripmaster and the top of the range is 75g more. The top of the range TomTom is 20g lighter.
As i said before.. for fitment of the satnav Honda advised me to follow the advice of the dealership and fit it to the upper bar.
I own and recommend the MotoPumps GPS mount, looks cool. Mounting a Garmin Zumo 396, it went together perfect with the hard wired, quick GPS release mounting plate. Light weight and low profile, sits close to the bar right above the dash. Thanks for designing and releasing these Rob.
Just fitted the Camel ADV sat nav brace to my AT.
Paperwork says it's a 30 minute job.....hmmm.
Top Tips for Fitting
1 brush up on some choice swear words
2 ensure there are no children within hearing distance
3 set aside plenty of time
4 Remove the rubber seal from the lights....I found this to be the ONLY way to fit lower bolts
5 wedge a cloth or something in the gap revealed by removing the rubber seal
6 if you don't do 5 then there is the chance the bolt will fall through.....that is a problem !!
7 ensure you re-seat rubber seal fully
8 the rest of the installation is easy
9 admire your new sat nav mount
10 nurse your sore fingertips and tend to any cuts you may have incurred
It's a great piece of kit, but an absolute swine to fit the lower bolts.
5 wedge a cloth or something in the gap revealed by removing the rubber seal
6 if you don't do 5 then there is the chance the bolt will fall through.....that is a problem !!
When I fitted mine, I tried a few different methods for getting the bolts fed through the back of the holes and the best I found was using some wire wrapped around the bolt. It allows you to feed it in much more easily than using your fingers or any kind of wrench.
I have the same issue. Very light contact when it is open, but I think I can solve it with some nylon spacers between the grommet and the screen to add just a little more distance.
I never had that issue with my '16, but the '19 has that hood over the instruments as well as a taller screen, so I can't set the angle exactly the same as it previously was on the '16.
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