Wire in a Garmin Zumo 595 cradle

[VladTepes]

Read this entire post thoroughly before starting, please.

Overview of the wiring harness (someone else's YouTube video). The harness and mount for the 590 is identical to that for the 595.

Step 1: Read the installation instructions that came with the GPS .  Yes, really.
They are sparse on the wiring side of things BUT do tell you how to put the mounts together.
You need at least three hands so enlist the help of a friend, or if you are brave enough - wife.

There are 2 ball mount parts - one goes on the back of the cradle, the other (we'll call it the bike mount) attaches to the bars or mirror mount, as below

Step 2: Assemble the ball mount to the back of the GPS cradle. (screws - cradle - spacers - ball mount - nuts). Pretty straightforward.

Step 3: Decide where the GPS cradle will be mounted on the bike.

The kit comes with two types of brackets for the bike mount.
Type 1 clamps around the handlebars by way of a u-bolt.
Type 2 mounts to the throttle or clutch bracket. (in the case of the GSX this is also where the mirrors mount).

I decided to go with the second option, on the clutch side.

Step 4:  Get you spare set of hands to hold the clutch assembly in place, as it will slip/fall when the screws are removed otherwise.  Even if it just slips around the bar you then have the added complication of getting it back in the right place - best avoided in the first place.

Step 5: Remove the screws holding the mount in place.  Watch out that mirror doesn't drop too.

Step 6: Place the washers on the screws and push them through the front of the bike mount, add the spacers over the screws at the rear and then offer the screws into the original screw holes which you removed earlier.  Tighten.

The spacers proved to be just right, and it all came back together snugly.

Step 7: Use the extension arm (one of the ball mounts goes into each end) to mount the cradle to the bike, and adjust until you get a location you're happy with.  Tighten the arm.

Step 8: Now it's time to consider where you want your wiring to go.

Step 9: Remove your seat, side covers and rear tank bolts.  Don't lose anything...
(Especially don't drop the rubber tank mounts into the airbox. It's unlikely but just take care).

It's important to keep the cable away from heat, at least as much as possible, and the best option is to run the cable along the frame spine and back to the underseat area.  The 'cable' includes not only the power cables but also the audio in / audio out / mic and USB cables.

Step 10: Very important.  Put the handlebars to full lock in the direction opposite the side you are mounting the GPS.  As I was mounting on the clutch or LHS - I put the handlebars to full right lock.

This ensures you don't find later that there isn't enough cable, or that the cable is getting stretched because you didn't allow enough slack.

Step 11: Remove the tank.  It's not necessary to unplug everything just pull it up and back off the front mounts so you have some room to work with, it has enough movement to sit further back on the frame rails.  Just make sure it's stable and doesn't fall because that would ruin your day.

Step 12: Run the cables around the bars and to the frame spine... making sure you have the right length of cable (you followed the instruction about steering lock earlier?!) use a cable tie to hold the cable in place. Run it back further along the frame rail and secure with another cable tie. 

About now the tank will get in the way, so carefully refit the tank to the front mounts.  It's likely the front rubber tank mounts have fallen off so you may need to pop those back into place first.

Now get your helper to lift the rear of the tank and hold it, to give you some room to play with. I ran the cables back under the tank mount (either side, doesn't matter) so they all ended up under the seat. 

Step 13: refit and secure the tank.

Step 14:  Wiring

The kit does not come with instructions as to how to wire the cradle into the bike's electrical system.
I figured that it's not likely I'd be leaving the GPS on and unattended (these things are expensive!) for any length of time, so hard wiring it straight to the battery made sense to me.  It's a damn sight easier too.

The power cables have bare ends so you'll need a set of side cutters, some wire strippers and a decent crimping tool.  Also a couple of insulated sleeve ring terminals. The blue ones work perfectly.


Cut the last cm or so off the power cables (red +ve and red/black -ve) and then strip about 1 cm off the end of the cable.
(The reason for the first cut is I found that the bare section was too short as it came, and the plastic sleeve won't slip over the already twisted end).

Twist the end of the stripped cable, and slip the terminal over the end of the cable, so that the bare twisted wire is just poking through near the ring. Naturally you need to be sure the insulated portion of the terminal will cover any bare wire and part of the wire insulation. Trim as necessary.

Make a good crimp. Repeat for the other power cable.

Step 15: Remove the tray above the battery compartment.  Now, one at a time, unscrew a battery terminal screw (start with the black or negative side). Keep note of any wires already connected to the battery to make sure they go back on. Slip the battery screw through the ring terminal for your GPS (in this case the red/black wire) and then back through any others that were there previously, and tighten it back up into the battery terminal.

Now, repeat for the positive side. Red wire to +ve (red) battery terminal.

Step 16. Roll up the excess power cable.  Note that there is a fuse on the red (+ve) cable.  You will need to know this if your cradle ever stops supplying power - check there first!

Step 17: Refit the tray.

Step 18: The other cables can just live in the under seat compartment, until needed.  One of these is the audio out, so if you are planning to plug headphones in, run this to somewhere readily accessible when you are sitting on the bike.  (This isn't relevant if using bluetooth connection).

Step 19: Go back to the bars and use a few cable ties just to neaten up the cable to the cradle, so it's not flapping about.

Step 20: Fit your GPS into the cradle, power it up if it doesn't do so automatically,  and note that it should show the battery charging icon.

All good?  Cool.  Power off and remove the GPS from the cradle, put it somewhere safe.
Fit the weather cover to teh cradle whenever the GPS itself is not fitted.

Step 21:  Refit your side covers.

Step 22:  Have a celebratory beer, and marvel in your own magnificence.

Hopefully these pictures will help illustrate some of the above.









Another video from YouTube should be of some assistance too.
Again no difference between the 590 and 595 kits in this respect.

[VladTepes]

The Garmin Zumo 595 Owner's Manual is available for download in the Downloads - Manuals section.