Waihou Thumper
16th March 2009, 12:51
Well, what a saga.
After some nice feedback from you guys...
I saddled up on the Sunday and decided to head on out for a ride around Lake Waikaremoana.
I realised that Autumn had arrived after leaving home before dawn, it must have been only about 6 or 7 degrees out and on the mamakus and the road to Minginui it was friggin freezing!
The GPS was behaving fine, although it wasn't necessary for the beginning of the journey, not many turns and it was more fun just looking at my progess on the map.
The lake was shrouded in mist, I went from nice sun to rain, drizzle and fog. Not to worry, it was fun and I had roads to explore.
I did set up some waypoints before leaving and when I examined the routes the GPS tried to send me on, there were some dead ends. I guess some might have been paper roads, I didn't examine further but one of them said no exit on the sign post even though it clearly links up with another road to the North.
I didn't let that spoil things and I found some nice back roads and some great views....
At this stage I looked down and saw thew 12V adaptor all flaying in the breeze....
All the metal roads and the up and down motion of the forks had indeed worked the cable ties loose....Thanks Colin, you were right mate :clap: and I did have my reservations too....My horn had also disappeared from view....
It had fallen off on the road somewhere...:oi-grr:
I carried on and had a blast, found some new roads out the back of the Gentle Annie and unfortunately I couldn't hook up one valley to the next but next time I know the way....found this out when I loaded my route back into Mapsource that night.
I ended up doing about 860Km all up and it was a lond, stops only for fuel, and stretch the legs...No photos this time, sorry boys, it was rather gloomy till I got to the East coast proper....
You know thew worst thing about a GPS? The estimated time of arrival.....:clap: It wants to make you go faster to lower the ETA, it is fun, but as soon as I hit the Waioeka Gorge, it shot out and the nI wound it back in on the straights through to Matata....:2thumbsup
Next day, today....I took it all apart and had a re-think.
All of a sudden a bright idea came to me. I got a tool box under the right guard that is now empty due to the tools being more accessible in my pack or on the carrier on the longer trips.
I disconnected the battery, wired it up and cable tied it in place. Drilled a couple of small holes, threaded it in and voila!!:banana:
I now have a purpose built receptacle for the 12V adaptor, tight as in place and water resistant too! Mind you, if it goes deeper than that I have the air filter to worry about too. I don't think I will be in deep water anytime soon, I do have some leeway there and can always take it out in about 5 minutes if necessary.
So, now I have a 12V adaptor for chrging things, keeping the tunes all day, using it for whatever on the longer trips away. It is wired live all the time, the same as the GPS, it will only drain the battery when something is plugged into it. I tuck the lead under the saddle and bring it out when needed.
I have added a couple of snaps for you guys.....
Thanks for the comments and I took it all onboard....It worked!
Oh, the horn.....I got a spare and it fitted in a different place and is secure, real secure! :cool:
After some nice feedback from you guys...
I saddled up on the Sunday and decided to head on out for a ride around Lake Waikaremoana.
I realised that Autumn had arrived after leaving home before dawn, it must have been only about 6 or 7 degrees out and on the mamakus and the road to Minginui it was friggin freezing!
The GPS was behaving fine, although it wasn't necessary for the beginning of the journey, not many turns and it was more fun just looking at my progess on the map.
The lake was shrouded in mist, I went from nice sun to rain, drizzle and fog. Not to worry, it was fun and I had roads to explore.
I did set up some waypoints before leaving and when I examined the routes the GPS tried to send me on, there were some dead ends. I guess some might have been paper roads, I didn't examine further but one of them said no exit on the sign post even though it clearly links up with another road to the North.
I didn't let that spoil things and I found some nice back roads and some great views....
At this stage I looked down and saw thew 12V adaptor all flaying in the breeze....
All the metal roads and the up and down motion of the forks had indeed worked the cable ties loose....Thanks Colin, you were right mate :clap: and I did have my reservations too....My horn had also disappeared from view....
It had fallen off on the road somewhere...:oi-grr:
I carried on and had a blast, found some new roads out the back of the Gentle Annie and unfortunately I couldn't hook up one valley to the next but next time I know the way....found this out when I loaded my route back into Mapsource that night.
I ended up doing about 860Km all up and it was a lond, stops only for fuel, and stretch the legs...No photos this time, sorry boys, it was rather gloomy till I got to the East coast proper....
You know thew worst thing about a GPS? The estimated time of arrival.....:clap: It wants to make you go faster to lower the ETA, it is fun, but as soon as I hit the Waioeka Gorge, it shot out and the nI wound it back in on the straights through to Matata....:2thumbsup
Next day, today....I took it all apart and had a re-think.
All of a sudden a bright idea came to me. I got a tool box under the right guard that is now empty due to the tools being more accessible in my pack or on the carrier on the longer trips.
I disconnected the battery, wired it up and cable tied it in place. Drilled a couple of small holes, threaded it in and voila!!:banana:
I now have a purpose built receptacle for the 12V adaptor, tight as in place and water resistant too! Mind you, if it goes deeper than that I have the air filter to worry about too. I don't think I will be in deep water anytime soon, I do have some leeway there and can always take it out in about 5 minutes if necessary.
So, now I have a 12V adaptor for chrging things, keeping the tunes all day, using it for whatever on the longer trips away. It is wired live all the time, the same as the GPS, it will only drain the battery when something is plugged into it. I tuck the lead under the saddle and bring it out when needed.
I have added a couple of snaps for you guys.....
Thanks for the comments and I took it all onboard....It worked!
Oh, the horn.....I got a spare and it fitted in a different place and is secure, real secure! :cool: