Garmin SatNav Mount

While I had the K1300s apart on Sunday it was the ideal time to install the Garmin SatNav mount on the bike as well. The way the cable fits into the mount isn’t very easy to remove once installed, so the install had to be a permanent one really.

The new Garmin SatNav is now a 5V unit (USB voltage) so to power it from a 12V system Garmin have supplied a 12V to 5V step down unit with a built in noise filter. This unit is not small and as other owners have reported, it may not be easy to find a suitable place to install it. This is certainly true on the K1300s as most of the space is filled up on this bike, especially if you have most of the extra toys fitted. Thankfully having the fuel tank out enabled me to find a suitable spot that this box just fitted into. I managed to install it between the frame and the ABS unit on the left side of the bike in front of the seat just under the fuel tank.  The cable was also long enough to connect to the spare socket in front of the battery, (designed for the BMW SatNav) then route back down to the install location I had found and then back up to the mount location. I installed the new Ram Mount and cradle to my current yoke ball mount. The new cradle and SatNav fits better than my old one and doesn’t obscure the clocks at all. I also tested it with my tankbag fitted and although it is close, I was able to find a position that didn’t interfere with the movement of the handlebars from lock to lock. I am very happy with the install and just have to now setup the bluetooth with the Autocom and go out and test it.