BMW R1200RT/R1250RT Forum

So after reading through the posts again I'm going to make a final call on the power connector under the headstock. With a DVM in hand I will connect across the red/white (v+) and brown (v-) and:

• With the ignition off I should read 0v
• With the ignition on and I should see 12v
• On turning off the ignition after 30 - 45 seconds I should see the reading go from 12v to 0v

If any of the above is NOT true the interface is not working correctly and I need to look elsewhere for my Satnav power source. Is that correct?

UKDucatiman wrote:Is that correct?

Sounds good to me.

Sounds like a reasonable plan. 
Just a quick note on the use of the accessory socket as a power source. 
If you intend to use it for connecting a battery charger some chargers will detect attachments, think there's a fault a shut down.

UKDucatiman wrote:

• the socket under the headstock has power to it even with the ignition off, I found this out when putting my test wires into the male connector as the one in the red/white wire shorted against the frame! Also with the DVM across the red / white & brown wires it again 'sparked. I was rather surprised by this! So I'm thinking V+ is red /white & Blue V- & the brown part of the cam bus, but I need a look at a wiring diagram to figure this out.

See Optional Extras Socket (brown is definitely -ve).

This photo is from an F800ST where the Optional Extras Socket is near the Battery.

It nicely shows the pin orientation as follows:-
Pin 1 Ground -ve
Pin 2 Not Used
Pin 3 12V +ve



This document shows an enlarged photo, (see page 7),
http://www.pashnit.com/pics/products/cl ... 20v4.0.pdf

Thanks a lot for the continued info. If the headstock socket is indeed Faulty I will use the Garmin cradle/loom and wire directly to the battary. It has a built in-line fuse and as the 660 will not be left on the bike there won't be any drain on the battery. Will need to take a few more panels off to route the cable but probably for the best.


Not given up yet buts plan b is getting ever closer!

UKDucatiman wrote:If the headstock socket is indeed Faulty I will use the Garmin cradle/loom and wire directly to the battery.

Not given up yet buts plan b is getting ever closer!

How about cutting the headstock socket off & replacing it with a Repair Plug, might be worth a go for a Fiver, or just hardwire the +ve & -ve.

If all else fails & it's Plan B, a switched live +ve can be taken from the Rear Aux. Socket, mine is like that.

DaygloDavid wrote: How about cutting the headstock socket off & replacing it with a Repair Plug, might be worth a go for a Fiver, or just hardwire the +ve & -ve.

If all else fails & it's Plan B, a switched live +ve can be taken from the Rear Aux. Socket, mine is like that.

Leaving this now until Friday when a good mate is coming over for a second opinion. Going to re-trace what I've done before moving on. Watch this space!

I was troubled by the 'sparking' when testing the headstock plug wiring yesterday, pin 1 (+12v) to earth and across Pins 1&3. There is no way this should happen when using a DVM. Guess what, tested the DVM against a car battery and got a shower of sparks, so the DVM is shot! Mate is bringing his over on Friday so will start from '1st base again'.

Found this on the GPS City website, http://www.gpscity.com/questions?qid=51399

"Garmin Zumo 660 and 665 Motorcycle Cradle with Integrated Power Cable: Compatable with the BMW (Garmin) Navigator V?"

It appears that the BMW Nav V can be powered from the Garmin Zumo 660 & 665 Cradle, therefore, would it be reasonable to expect the 660 to take power from the Nav V Cradle.

"My 665 worked in the BMW Cradle."

Garmin have confirmed, yes, the 660 will take power from a BMW Nav V Cradle.

DaygloDavid wrote: Found this on the GPS City website, http://www.gpscity.com/questions?qid=51399

"Garmin Zumo 660 and 665 Motorcycle Cradle with Integrated Power Cable: Compatable with the BMW (Garmin) Navigator V?"

It appears that the BMW Nav V can be powered from the Garmin Zumo 660 & 665 Cradle, therefore, would it be reasonable to expect the 660 to take power from the Nav V Cradle.

"My 665 worked in the BMW Cradle."

Garmin have confirmed, yes, the 660 will take power from a BMW Nav V Cradle.

Thanks for that, so it must work then! With a 'new' DVM in hand (auto sensing model) I've established that there is indeed 12v at the plug under the headstock with the ignition on and 0v with the ignition off, so everything appears in order there. Tonight I'm going trace back-up to the cradle to solve this once and for all. Fingers crossed! 

Ok, I'm going to say it now. The Garmin 660 is not compatable with the Navogator V cradle. Whilst I do not have the ability to be 100% sure, no access to a Navogator V satnav, I base this opinion on the following investigation:

• The standard Garmin 660 cradle connected to the aux socket under the headstock powers up the 660 satnav when the ignition is turned on and charges the unit (no battary icon displayed). On turning off the ignition the 660 / cradle  senses the power being turned off and gives the option to run on the satnav integral battery or to shutdown. Everything working as expected.
• With the Navigator V cradle connected as above and the ignition off the 660 still powers up and runs off its internal battery. With the ignition on nothing changes the unit still runs off the internal battery this is also the case even if the bike is started. On turning off the ignition the satnav remains powered on, the cradle not triggering the 660 into power down mode as described above.

Continuity and power testing was checked on both cradles, from the headstock socket up to the pins of the cradles with power on and off, everything checked out fine. The only interesting point to note was the voltage on the V cradle was down on the 660 item by a couple of volts. I then removed the back of the V cradle and was surprised to find a full circuit board with microprocessor, so a fair amount of logic going on here with functionality likely developed to support the features of the Navigator V. As the Navigator IV was directly related to the 660 I think that a IV cradle would have different logic and would work with the 660. The only other conclusion is that V cradle I have is faulty but I just don't see this being the case.

So after a most frustrating experience I will be fitting the standard Garmin cradle tomorrow, just need to find a new route for the bulky cabling.

Lessons learnt, if it looks too easy, it probably isn't 

Might just be your 660 that won't work with it.  Find somebody with a IV or a V to test the cradle. 

RTman10 wrote: Might just be your 660 that won't work with it.  Find somebody with a IV or a V to test the cradle.

No, wasted too much time on this, time to move on!

The problem may be that the Four Button Mount is exclusive to the BMW Navigator V, http://globeriders.com/article_pages/ar ... nav5.shtml



BMW Motorrad Website FAQ's, http://www.bmw-motorrad.com/uk/en/index ... &notrack=1

"Do I need a special version of the BMW Motorrad Navigator V for the navigation preparation mount of the R 1200 GS?

No, you do not need a special version of the BMW Motorrad Navigator V for the R 1200 GS. The Navigator V is available in two different product packages which differ from each other in that the version for the navigation preparation mount does not include the 4-button Cradle mount, since it is already fitted to the R 1200 GS ex works."



I know someone who used a 660 with the BMW GS Mount shown above.