640 Adv Cockpit Project

[Trevor S]

Works a treat. Survived 2000km's of very harsh offroad on a recent shake down ride (Cooktown and north to Cape Melville, on roads so rough my eyeballs are still shaking 4 days later)

sans GPS and Pocket PC, mount is handbuilt by a mate who works at an engineering shop. RAM cradles, GPSOZ power/data cable, circa 1980's XR indicator rubber for additional vibration isolation, the roadbook holder mounts are already isolated but the big Katoom has more then it's fair share of vibes to deal with . Pocket PC is a IPAQ 3970 that has done 45,000kms on my BMW 1150 GS Adv and my Magellan Meridian that does time on my Husky 450, BMW 1150 Adv and KTM 640 Adv



with GPS and Pocket PC


FYI I had an autoelectrician mate upgrade the lighting so that highbeam runs with lowbeam when highbeam is on. He did it with a relay and sourced power from the accesories socket for lowbeam, he was supicious of the existing wires ability to handle the extra power requirments of low and high together (wires looked too thin). Makes a HUGE difference when riding into the night, which we did on all 4 nights of a recent trip.

[WageSlave]

Originally Posted by Trevor S

FYI I had an autoelectrician mate upgrade the lighting so that highbeam runs with lowbeam when highbeam is on. He did it with a relay and sourced power from the accesories socket for lowbeam, he was supicious of the existing wires ability to handle the extra power requirments of low and high together (wires looked too thin). Makes a HUGE difference when riding into the night, which we did on all 4 nights of a recent trip.

Hello,
If possible I'd like more information on the headlight modification. I have an '03 KTM 640 ADV and have been looking for discussions about doing exactly what you've done with the hi/lo beam configuration. If you have any photos, schematics, or detailed instructions I'd greatly appreciate it.

Thanks,
Steve Robinson

[braaap!]

sweet job Trevor!

I second SRob's request for some tech details on re-wiring Hi and Lo together...

and know what you mean about the oem wire gauges, they are the absolute minimum cross section..... ktm?

The new 'roadbook holder'.... is that stainless tubing or nickel plated steel?... very tidy.... was planning on modifying mine too, as the right handguard connects on full lock an' it needs additional tabs for mtg gear - your design starts me thinking.....

S'pose we'll be seeing a ride report soon?....

[Loadedagain]

hey guys.... any chance of copying this to the thumper forum? i ran into it by accident and i'm sure many of the thumper guys would be very interested.

[Trevor S]

Originally Posted by SRobinson

Hello,
If possible I'd like more information on the headlight modification.

Steve

There was a thread on it on KTM Talk some time ago with a schematic for an '02 which is what gave me the idea. I printed this schematic out and took it to Andrew, the mate that did the mod for me, he said he didn't like the way it was done and devised a new mothod. I will ask him to draw a schematic so I can scan and post it here. He has a rogh schematic he left with me but I might ask him to tidy it up :)

I didn't think to take any pics The relay was mounted under the dash to feed low beam while high beam was on, power was sourced from the accesories plug for the reasons mentioned in the original post.

[Trevor S]

Originally Posted by braaap!

sweet job Trevor!
I second SRob's request for some tech details on re-wiring Hi and Lo together...

Will see what I can come up with. It really does make a difference when riding the bike through the night.

Originally Posted by braaap!

sweet job Trevor
The new 'roadbook holder'.... is that stainless tubing or nickel plated steel?... very tidy.... was planning on modifying mine too, as the right handguard connects on full lock an' it needs additional tabs for mtg gear - your design starts me thinking.....

Mild stainless, the guy that made it is an avid dirt bike rider as well. He is unsure how it will stand up the vibes. I am a Surveyor not a Engineer so I have no idea. Call this design "Beta 1" I use the lugs from the genuine roadbook holder to raise the height to avoid touching on full lock, the Pocket PC is protected behind the screen from rain as long as you are moving (rode through rain for 5 hours with nary a drop), it WILL get wet if you are stopped and it rains, I have a strip of electrical tape across the top to stop dirt accessing the earphone, pointer and SD card slots as I ride. (pointer is kept in my jacket pocket) . The bracket is open on the right to allow a quick release of the Pocket PC but in retrospect is probably not needed. The bracket took him some time to make, plenty of bending :)

Anyone that thinks Aussie GPS units are okay for "serious" adventure riding in Aus doesn't know what decent mapping is, or are probably carry paper maps with them as well. This provides me with effectively unlimited storage, the abilty to use maps from a multitude of sources plus the genuine flexability of a PocketPC for other uses i.e MP3 player, Star Charts , travel diary etc.

I must stress it's not a solution for everyone as alot of people have trouble using digital solutions, ie a mate of mine gets lost when trying to use it but then he can't use a computer either. As a "solution" it is the best there is at the moment.

Originally Posted by braaap!

sweet job TrevorS'pose we'll be seeing a ride report soon?....

Can't be farked.

[braaap!]

Originally Posted by Trevor S

Will see what I can come up with. It really does make a difference when riding the bike through the night.

would appreciate that muchly.... am experimenting with a hybrid HID setup at the moment and worry about fryin' the weeny wiring.....

Originally Posted by Trevor S

Anyone that thinks Aussie GPS units are okay for "serious" adventure riding in Aus doesn't know what decent mapping is....

that's until somecompany comes to the market with a 'ruggedised' palm PC
like a mini Toughbook style gadget.... any of you (ex) Service guys know what the boys in Khaki are currently using to know WTFAW? (where the fcuk are we).

Originally Posted by Trevor S

Can't be farked.

OK! just post some photos .... with GPS co-ordinates ... bet you have some taking up valuable space on a HDD somewhere......



go on, make us all jealous!!

[Trevor S]

Originally Posted by braaap!

that's until somecompany comes to the market with a 'ruggedised' palm PC

Available to Suveryors now. I did have a URL somewhere, price was bordering on ludicrious from memory. This is why I run the Meridian as well as the Pocket PC. The Meridans mapping is a backup in case my real mapping shits itself :) I have been suprised at how long mine has lasted. It's done 50,000km on my BMW ADV in lots of shitty country and now several thousand on my KTM so I see no use for anyting "more" rugged for my use.

Originally Posted by braaap!

OK! just post some photos ....

Just for you

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=94698

Originally Posted by braaap!

with GPS co-ordinates ...

No real need, it pretty much follows the track marked on the NATMAP Map series (this is what I run on Oziexplorer on the Pocket PC) as well as the Hema Cape York Map (in Ozi format),



though the Hema map is missing lots of sidetracks that are on the NATMAP Raster Map eg Ninian Bay and the Starcke Goldfields which are worth a diversion to get to the top of the hills for the view back to the mouth of the Starcke Rv. Met an old prospector up there, he was there "for the lifestyle, the money wasn't that good", or so he said :)

[Trevor S]

Originally Posted by braaap!

would appreciate that muchly.... am experimenting with a hybrid HID setup at the moment and worry about fryin' the weeny wiring.....

Finally got of my arse and got Andrew to do a wiring diagram,



also installed heated grips this weekend, so I took the opportunity to take a pic of the relay installation.

(red tape wrapped box is GPS/Pocket PC powersupply)

[rjf]

For my cockpit install I've used touratech mounts. for the PDA they have a new mount that has Mvg ( what ever that is ) dampers and a water / dust resistant bag / holder that velcro and clips into the mount. I'll post a review in thumpers once I get some photo's sorted out. They have pics on the touratech website too. For both mounts it cost Aud $ 240 including postage so It wasn't that much dearer than RAM mounts.

For my headlight's I read a post in thumpers where you swap the power wire's over from low beam and the park light. I did this mabye 2000 km ago and it still works fine.
Now when I I turn the headlight switch to park or on the low beam is on. the hi low beam switch now switches from high to park, leaving the low beam on.

This is the link I think
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=75770

Having done this I'd like to try higher wattage bulb's, but Ain't game because the standard wire's are quite thin. Getting a relay done could fix this too.

[Trevor S]

Originally Posted by rjf

For my headlight's I read a post in thumpers where you swap the power wire's over from low beam and the park light. I did this mabye 2000 km ago and it still works fine.
Now when I I turn the headlight switch to park or on the low beam is on. the hi low beam switch now switches from high to park, leaving the low beam on.

This from the auto electrician mate that wired mine up when I told him about how you did it.

"yeah that is not a bad idea, but in your case you wanted the lights to function the same as they always had with the exception of high beam, there are probably a couple of downsides to the easy setup though. If you want to just use the park light for some reason ie. setting up camp at 10pm or roadside breakdown etc you cant you would have to use low beam The other is he is using a circuit that was designed for a 5w bulb with a 50w bulb where as your power in coming from the saftey of the acc circuit, the park circuit most likley will handle the load as he writes his is still working but saftety and light performace wise I dont believe it is the most desirable setup.

Originally Posted by rjf

Having done this I'd like to try higher wattage bulb's, but Ain't game because the standard wire's are quite thin.

Getting a relay done could fix this too.

Agreed.

[sequent]

Originally Posted by braaap!

would appreciate that muchly.... am experimenting with a hybrid HID setup at the moment and worry about fryin' the weeny wiring.....



that's until somecompany comes to the market with a 'ruggedised' palm PC
like a mini Toughbook style gadget.... any of you (ex) Service guys know what the boys in Khaki are currently using to know WTFAW? (where the fcuk are we).


OK! just post some photos .... with GPS co-ordinates ... bet you have some taking up valuable space on a HDD somewhere......



go on, make us all jealous!!

In the enviro section of the mine I work at, we use Trimble Recons. They're certainly rugged, and with good functionality.

We got them from a company called Ultimate Positioning at this address:

http://www.ultimatepositioning.com/i...appinggis.html

They cost around $2700 plus GST if applicable.

[rjf]

Your auto elctician mate makes valid points, all concerns I had before the mod !

I did it the easy way 'cause that was the only instuctions I had to follow. Now you've posted how to do the relay I'll be doing that when time permits.

Thanks again,

Rhys.

Originally Posted by Trevor S

This from the auto electrician mate that wired mine up when I told him about how you did it.

"yeah that is not a bad idea, but in your case you wanted the lights to function the same as they always had with the exception of high beam, there are probably a couple of downsides to the easy setup though. If you want to just use the park light for some reason ie. setting up camp at 10pm or roadside breakdown etc you cant you would have to use low beam The other is he is using a circuit that was designed for a 5w bulb with a 50w bulb where as your power in coming from the saftey of the acc circuit, the park circuit most likley will handle the load as he writes his is still working but saftety and light performace wise I dont believe it is the most desirable setup.




Agreed.

[braaap!]

Originally Posted by sequent

In the enviro section of the mine I work at, we use Trimble Recons. They're certainly rugged, and with good functionality.

We got them from a company called Ultimate Positioning at this address:

http://www.ultimatepositioning.com/i...appinggis.html

They cost around $2700 plus GST if applicable.

Thanks Sequent! (does your section lose many of those jiggers?..... )

and thanks for the diagram Commander Fart (sorry, couldn't resist.... must try not to be a..... dickhead......)

2/10 for handwriting (barely legible)

Am seriously thinking of mounting a (small) spot light off the mudguard, so I can see where I'm steering.....

[warewolf]

This weekend I finally got round to adding a relay to keep low beam on with high, with low beam power coming from the accessory socket. (btw I can't find the diagram in this thread - broken link?)

This has raised a question: do the concerns over the size of the power feed wires apply to the ground return? Both high and low beam grounds are joined at the connector blocks where the lights plug in to the wiring harness. My thought was to move the ground for one beam to another point with less load. Good idea? Bad idea? Other comments? TIA

btw I also grabbed a pair of "Plus 50" bulbs. Rated at the same 55W as the OEM bulbs, but "have xenon added to the halogen gas mix for more light without extra heat or wattage" according to the marketing blurb. I haven't managed a test ride yet, but in the garage they did seem brighter.