kevin10529 Posted May 8, 2009 Share Posted May 8, 2009 Can you hook one of the in-car cigarette lighter things to your battery on your bike? My batt life in my tomtom is only a few hours and i would like to be able to keep up and running for longer, also think it will be good for other things phone charger and so on. Anyone done it? expensive? Cheers Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ttaskmaster Posted May 8, 2009 Share Posted May 8, 2009 Cheap as fecking chips, mate. I run my CB off one! It's called a Hella Plug. Go to Maplins and get one of those £2 extension leads for the 12v in-car socket thingies. Pick up an automotive relay as well, while you're there. Cut the plug off, allowing as much wire as you'll need to reach stuff. Then wire it in through the relay, to a switched live and a suitable earth point on your bike. Doing it like this means it will only be on when the ignition is on. I take it you're not using the TomTom Rider, then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin10529 Posted May 8, 2009 Author Share Posted May 8, 2009 Tom Tom Rider is a rip off i think. Thinking about putting some sort of clear plastic bag or similar over the normal one to protect it from the elements. Think it will work? www.keysafe.co.uk/cigarette_socket_lead_2pin_plug_optsocket2_8365 www.keysafe.co.uk/optimate_iii_accumate_weatherproof_eyelet_lead_acclead2_8369 Will this combo work or will it drain my battery when am not riding? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ttaskmaster Posted May 11, 2009 Share Posted May 11, 2009 Tom Tom Rider is a rip off i think. Mine works fantastically. In fact, it's the best Motorcycle specific one on the market. Cheapest too at around £250 for the UK version (shop around online). Others have more features, but they're not as reliable and the build quality is lesser. Plus, the Tom comes with everything in the one box, Has Bluetooth and thus a built-in hands free kit etc etc. You can use a normal car one in a tankbag or something, but you won't get sound and you have to jury-rig it up. Will this combo work or will it drain my battery when am not riding? It will work and not drain the battery if it's connected to a switched live via a relay, as mentioned above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patterned Posted May 14, 2009 Share Posted May 14, 2009 Whatever happened to a good ol' paper map? Or hell.. save money and just stop at a gas station and ask directions the whole way. Much more adventure, meet more people, excuse for a smoke, etc... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin10529 Posted May 14, 2009 Author Share Posted May 14, 2009 Whatever happened to a good ol' paper map? Or hell.. save money and just stop at a gas station and ask directions the whole way. Much more adventure, meet more people, excuse for a smoke, etc... Dont smoke. Dont know what a gas station is and maps are shit. Guapa! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barwell1992 Posted May 15, 2009 Share Posted May 15, 2009 Dont smoke. Dont know what a gas station is and maps are shit. Guapa! haha a gas station is where i read the news paper the petrol station is where i fule me bike up silly americans geting thing wrong again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gas up - Let's Go! Posted May 15, 2009 Share Posted May 15, 2009 In fact, it's the best Motorcycle specific one on the market. Cheapest too at around £250 for the UK version (shop around online). Others have more features, but they're not as reliable and the build quality is lesser. Plus, the Tom comes with everything in the one box, Has Bluetooth and thus a built-in hands free kit etc etc. Oh no, here's the 'which one is best' debate again. TomTom Rider - great if you ride on roads, detour routing is great, interface is very user friendly - mounting is crap ( I saw two self destruct last weekend). a firm favourite with road tourists. If you want something that is rugged enough to take a beating, can use TOPO mapping, off-road ability (as well as on) full celestial information, waypoint mapping, track logs then it has to be a Garmin (you choose the product - there's a few). If by chance it goes wrong they normally have a new unit to you as soon as you send in the faulty one (48 hours ish). These are the GPS of choice for serious motorcycle traveller Anyway that's not the purpose of the post. As pretty much everyone else you need to build yourself an auxilary circuit, from this you can run a 12v car type power socket, although I find the 16a sockets much more reliable and they are smaller, only problem is you'll need to break that out to a 12v car type multisocket thingy to power such things as your phone charger, laptop charger, heated clothing, camera charger, cancorder charger or car bias GPS - whatever you choose. You can but these already made up, but they charge for it, somewhere like Touratech (if they have any in stock - they are known for thier inability to deliver on time) http://www.touratech.com/shops/008/product...219ae2553579670 As you can see, very expensive - but lots of BMUU riders buy them! More money than sense ?? Halfrauds or Maplin will suply either the 12v car socket or the 16a socket (forget it's name), maplin are cheaper for the relay, and you can pick up some heat shrink tube while you're at it to make it all a nice neat job. As for the relay, you want a 4 pin (you can pick up 5's but look out as the centre pin goes live after ignition is turned off!)automotive relay, there are lots of places on the web to show you how to wire it. in short terms though; Bring two cables from your battery (+ & -), one from an igntion source live - a feed from the break light switch is as god as any) your final cable is the live cable for you Aux circuit. (your earth is the same as the -ve from the battery) I can't remeber the pin numbers off the top of my head but follow the diagram printed on the relay and you'll be fine OG posted a daigram on this some time ago - try a search through the forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator mervin Posted May 15, 2009 Moderator Share Posted May 15, 2009 fit a waterproof socket simples Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gas up - Let's Go! Posted May 15, 2009 Share Posted May 15, 2009 I love that phrase "totally water resistant" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wild foamy Posted May 15, 2009 Share Posted May 15, 2009 use an automotive realy, as mentioned above. would be a good idea to wire the realy across the field current from your alternator so that the relay is only live when the engine is running Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ttaskmaster Posted May 15, 2009 Share Posted May 15, 2009 Whatever happened to a good ol' paper map? Or hell.. save money and just stop at a gas station and ask directions the whole way. Much more adventure, meet more people, excuse for a smoke, etc... I mostly travel alone, so the Tom works best for my needs. I still meet plenty of people, but I have no sense of direction (unlike the other half) and I prefer voice instruction so I can still watch the road. TomTom Rider - great if you ride on roads, detour routing is great, interface is very user friendly - mounting is crap ( I saw two self destruct last weekend). a firm favourite with road tourists. The Tom is the best 'simple' option and value for money (£250 or less, these days). The improved Rider 2 mount works perfectly well. It was the old cage-cradle versions that randomly fell apart. End of the day , it's what works for you. Same as using the cheapy bits to make up the hella socket. I personally used a 5-pin relay because I have a built in charger that runs when the ignition is off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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