Does anyone use the Zumo's battery and/or Lighter adapter for power. I'm considering the 550 to use between my bike, truck and car. If the battery last 6-8 hours I don't see the need to hard wire it since I can plug it into the lighter when it gets low. What's the downside to this?

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On an UC, the downside is that if ya have that huge adapter plugged in, ya ain't gonna turn the bars very far ta the left...

 

3-4 hr battery life,has to be in the mount to charge,and the lighter adapter is for the car mount,bike mount has to be wired in to charge the zumo,or place in bike mount and use battery for the 3-4 hrs of life the battery has

 

I have and use the Zumo 550 between my vehicles including the bike. Since I have the bike setup to have all the quick-detach options I couldn't setup the Zumo as a hardwire option. I purchased a RAM mount which has the rubber ball stud directly attached to the fairing while the rest of the mount stays attached to the Zumo cradle. I made a much shorter version of the hard wire power cable (which stays attached to the Zumo cradle) and installed a cigarette lighter plug on the end. So now all I have on the bike is a small ball mount and when I install the Zumo cradle I have a short pigtail power cord I plug into the power outlet which I had already installed in the fairing. This also allows me to completely remove the Zumo, cradle and mount and lock it away if I stop anywhere. Doing it that way is much easier than digging out that security mini-screwdriver to remove just the Zumo itself.


Brian

 

I sometimes rent bikes when I travel so I just put a cigarette lighter on the end of the bike mount and take the whole thing with me when I go (Radio Shack sells them) and they won't interfere with your steering on an UC. Mine goes to the stops both directions.

 

The biggest down side to using the Zumo on battery power is there will be no voice prompts or MP3 without being connected to the vehicle power. You'll just get tha navigation screen. If you get the 550, it will come with the cradle for the car and you can put a lighter adapter on that wire.

 

Curious, and I apologize for the hijack, but is the cigarette lighter hot all the time on an Ultra or is it on only when the ignition is on?

 

stro, the cigarette lighter is powered with the ignition on or the accessory position; not when the ignition is off.

My buddy has a Zumo 550 with the cradle mounted on the handlebar, right side, and wired the power inside the fairing to the cigarette lighter's power and ground on his '06 EG Classic. He also wired the Zumo to an Aux plug by connecting it to the rear of the HD radio so he wouldn't have to use the Aux port on the front of the radio--he's very pleased with the installation.

 

Someone else had a post a while back about fashioning an auxillary plug at the back of the radio...wish I was that good with electronics, I'd give it a shot. My luck, I'd fry it.

 

I think I'll go this way with the Zumo 450 my wife bought us for Anniversary, Fathers' Day, etc.A couple of questions though, did you guys shorten the power cable and if so what did you do with the inline fuse, is it not needed since you're using a fuse power source (the lighter)?

Thanks!