Not a Recommended Product; Touratech GPS Mount

[minivin]

Well, not impressed at all, brought the mounting bar for the yoke, and what a joke. Item as follows:

01-040-0654-0


Firstly £25.74p inclusive of P&P and VAT, and no stainless steel fasteners or protective strips to not damage the yoke paint work, and at that it's a nastily stamped-out item that hasn't even been de-burred in places, just welded on a tube and slapped some paint on. So to rectify this some 0.5mm gasket paper and stainless fasteners were sourced


The willing patient


Firstly, following the instructions

Put the mount adapter on the upper fork bridge, with the longer attachment tabs to the rear

Ok


One thing I noticed when putting it together, a lower tab caught the steering lock lugs and jammed the steering! So make sure the screws are through the Nylocs and maybe some Loctite. As having a Nyloc fall off and jamming your steering at speed won't be funny!


Next I offered up a lockable mount for a Streetpilot III, as the instructions say

Any of our GPS mounts can be installed on the mount adapter with no problems

Ummm.... firstly it's clamping over the bend


So some fabric tape was added to prevent it chipping the paint off


Ok, bolt it down, studs aint long enough for my liking as 1 1/2 threads through the Nylocs isn't achieved.


But where does the ignition key go?!?!


So ok, pull the mount rearwards to get the ignition key in


And we are left with a GPS that is unusable


So with light fading, I invalidate any company warrenty or corporate liability by going against the instructions and turn the tab around


Longer 50mm stainless steel screws were also fitted as one again the original length did not even really get out of the Nylocs and I wanted the threads through properly. Loctite 270 was also used to make sure it was a good job and the cradle added again with 270 on the threads. As per if riding the bike


And the ignition key can just be fitted, but a pig if you turn it to steering lock. Threads not protruding far enough through Nylocs on the cradle mount


So, to summarize, the instructions are either wrong, or it doesn't accept all Touratech cradles, or it's just terribly designed. Considering this is well over £100 of installation with also the powder adapter cable extra, I would have expected it to have been designed better.

German engineering, what went wrong?

[gus]

What a pile of shite that is.
Looks like its made out of old meccano!
Dont like the way it blocks the view of the instrument binnacle either.
GPS on a bike just dont go................................
In my humble opinion.
Seriously,i would send that holder back with a little note attached.
Then make your own aluminium /stainless one.
gus

[minivin]

aiy, for many years I've made do with a map stuffed in a pannier and memorised routes upto a certain point, dug the map out and then done the next stage. However going through Lyon in France last year at Midnight in the middle of a thunder, lightning and rain storm and the bloody road signs changing from A numbers to E numbers totally threw me and resorted to me pulling off the autoroute and looking at the map while leafs and branches blew past me

It mounts beautifully in the Land Rover on the Garmin supplied mounting cradle, but I thought if I spent the money on Touratech I would have had a well thought out cradle for the BMW

The antenna support is meant to be able to be rotated in 90 degree steps, which if rotated clockwise would make the rev counter more easy to read, but alas the last time it was in that position the antenna would not locate into it when trying to put the unit into the cradle, and thereby prevented the unit from being fitted and fastened down

Was also going to get a mount to fit to the Vincent Comet, think I'll stick with maps on the Vomet

[Blackal]

Well......... I have to say that GPS and bikes do go together, but....................... Touratech seem intent on proving otherwise

What a crap installation!

Send it back for a full refund and get a Ram mount off the clutch reservoir or from the fork yoke.

Send them the link to this thread as well, just in case they think it is you being fussy

Al

[minivin]

I would send it back, but unfortunately I brought the lockable cradle from someone on here so that would be £30 down the drain However I think I'll print this out and send it in a letter to them to inform them that it seems that although this is a product on a bike that is now out of production, such quality is not to be tolerated

[Blackal]

Looks like you'd get away with adding a second "loop" off the one that the touratech mount is on just now - to bring the mount back towards the tank?

Stevie Wonder could weld it together neater than the touratech effort

Al

[throttlemeister]

I got the same clamp and it works for me.



I have seen better looking solutions, but they are also more expensive. RAM doesn't do it for me, I think it's shite and not a workable solution on the long trips I like to take. It always comes loose, as the clamps compress the rubber of the bals and you end up constantly tightening up and repositioning while riding.

[madman]

I have the same clamp on the top yolk and have had it for 2 !/2 years now with no problems. I used titanium bolts on mine with a standard plastic cradle on top of it. I seems to mount a little further back than yours and is fully adjustable so there is no problem with the key or the line of sight.
[img][img]http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q259/bikesindordogne/bike%20mods/1100s008.jpg[/img][/img]

[Blackal]

Looks now like the problem is really a compatibility issue with the Touratech cradle/Streetpilot 3/R1100s combination?

As seen from the previous photos - the yoke clamp for a 2610 is satisfactory.

The Streetpilot is a large unit, and the cradle ain't exactly minimalist. It could be a difficult unit to use on the R1100s?

Can't say that I've had a problem with the Ram mount on my S, with the 2610 or Quest mounted from the clutch reservoir. No squashed balls or loosening nuts Vibration doesn't seem to be an issue either.

Get along to one of the Boxertrix weekends, and have a poke about at other folks' bikes to see what you think.

Al

[snavetrauts]

I am very happy..(even more so now that i have seen the touratech offering) with my Ram system. This system was recommended by others on this site and it was all good advice. It does not vibrate.... and on the many miles I have done..I have never had to adjust it while moving. I di set it up very carefully.

If the ball rubber does wear then you simply purchase a new ball which screws into the various mounts you can buy. Only a few quid.

I could'nt possibly spoil the beautiful dash area with all that gubbins... Looks do matter to me as well as funcytionality...so if you can have both, then great.

I'm sorry you have had a bad experience....perhaps you can sell iut to a GS owner where more rugged (meccano) looks are not an issue.

Regards

Stuart

[theseadog]

+1 for the RAM Solution, I've got RAM mounts on both the GS Adv and the Pan13 and have not encountered the problem Gijs refers to with loosening.

You can practicaly hear the 'must worship at the alter of TT' over on that "other" site screaming as we speak. . . . . . "what, criticise TT......... How could you" Easy cause we're not blinded by badges unlike most of them who seem to think because it's got a TT sticker on it, it's got to be good. .. . . .


Best GPS mount solution I had was on my S and that was and old car-phone bracket mounted on the top yoke and a standard garmin plastic cradle mounted on that. Nowhere to do similar on the current bikes but that RAM is excellent so I'll probably stick with that in future


Toodle Pip

[sproggy]

Another vote for RAM mounts - not only FAR cheaper than TT rubbish (tried the TT 2610 mount on my GS - hated it) but also infinitely flexible in terms of both design/location and mounting angle. Oh, and far less obtrusive too.

My solution:





These pictures don't show the wiring but I now have a Nippy Norman 'waterproof' power socket (standard cigarette lighter size, not BMW style) mounted to the front edge of the yolk to the left of the ignition switch. Means I can charge the phone off the bike if necessary, as well as being able to use a standard Garmin car lead. Having said that I've shortened a bike lead and fitted a plug to it as I don't need the speaker on the bike.

Can't remember how much it cost as I had some of the bits already but I'd guess at around £30 including the Garmin mount itself. And IF I sell the bike I'll just unbolt the ball and replace the carbon yolk cover for a tenner - good as new.

[Rob B]

I have had the TT solution, first with a Streetpilot III and then with a 2610, on the S for 4-5 years.

Accepting that it's a pretty average design, I added some heat shrink on the threads, put some sticky sponge on the bracket, and got a key with out the rubber, (BMW part, too) and job done.

Rgds

Rob

[Blackal]

Stuart - glad to hear you're happy with the clutch cover mount - what length of arm did you decide on? Did you get a better price from the USA than initially quoted?

Sproggy - I dare say some would recommend not drilling the yoke, but I did the same on my Daytona 650 and don't see a problem.

It's a good way of getting the GPS exactly where you want it with minimum vibration.

I've got a new bike , (pics to follow) and have initially gone for a mount projected forward from the fuel filler surround. It'll also be a good mount for a bike-cam.

Al

[sproggy]

Sproggy - I dare say some would recommend not drilling the yoke

Perhaps, but a 6mm hole with the edges filed smooth (no stress points) well away from the vertical 'webs' that actually give the yolk the strength/stiffness that it needs is unlikely to cause any problems. Actually the yolk could probably be 'hollowed out' 1200-style but I'm not going to try it as I'd have nowhere to mount my GPS