Skip to main content

TomTom 410

Finally got around to testing the "new" TomTom mounting kit onto Pepé.

I've used it on a few trips away in the car and to Spain recently and Florida even and used the hire cars there with no problems.

The new kit includes a locking bracket to the handlebars and one to lock the 410 itself to the bracket. It will stop the casual passer-by scumbag thief but the determined thief will get it. It will save me unshipping it at petrol stops and slipping it in my pocket.

I like to leave a little as possible on the bike when I leave it, such as overnight, and with the old setup I have removed the whole lot just leaving the ball bolted to the handlebar. With this I just need to undo the connector and remove the cable at the mounting end and pull the plug  from the socket. Cleaner and easier.



I had fitted a Bosch type plug on the end of the cable when it first arrived, but didn't test it. I have "sealed" it with my usual foot of insulating tape wrapped tightly so seal the plug where the wire goes in. The same has worked for a long time on the older model.

The 410 doesn't seem to have a battery charging icon on the front page but as a test I took the plug out of the socket. Sliding the unit into the mount had no effect. Then popped the plug in and it powered on. The same as it does in the car.



I need to test it with both my LS2 and Shoei helmets and their Bluetooth system before I plan to use it when we go to Assen in a few weeks. Okay. Three weeks today.

I have the routes that Neill has created installed and the latest map updates and so once paired with one of the helmets sets we should be okay to go.  

It is already connected to my phone and that allows the My Drive app to work and create a route on the phone app and send it to unit. It works pretty well unless you are in a hurry!!

posted from Bloggeroid

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

New Battery?

The weekend showed how weak the battery has become.  Having had to use the dbPower unit on four separate occasions during the day in Belgium was the giveaway. We are in the second winter of this problem where the battery isn't strong enough to start the bike. In the summer it charges and holds that charge and although I keep the dbPower unit to hand I rarely have to use it.  But in winter it barely has the power to turn the engine over. It's simply "clunk". The lights come on though and that probably doesn't help. So what to do? Being a fair weather biker nowadays I won't be using the bike that often until the new year. Do I get a new battery sooner rather than later? It might end up freezing away in the garage. I have a garage in a block away from the house with no power, so a trickle charger is no use either. I have been looking at a replacement though.  A  Motobatt  with a high cranking power should be around £75. So unlikel...

Czech Invader Rally 2022?

Looking to next year for what maybe a jolly-boys trip to the Czech Invader Rally or what might end up a Billy No-Mates trip. I have been to five previous Czech Invaders but only once when I rode there completely alone. I did that in 1992 on my DR800SL. It's not something I would do again. Not in one hit. When I arrived I could hardly get off the bike I was so stiff for sitting in one place for hour upon hour. Those were all held at the same "rally-inn" in  Chudčice  near Brno. The last one I did was way back in 2004 with Claire as pillion. The BMW GS wasn't well received - not being a Suzuki! BMW at Rally. There is no way I'll be on the Kettle. At 37mpg it will cost a kidney to ride the 1700 mile round trip. So Pepé will need to be the bike of choice. If only I had cruise control as well to help with the saving of fuel. If I am to go over as a solo traveller I will stay in Youth Hostels. After all I will be an old age pensioner by then. We did that way back in 199...