GPS on the Ducati

I didn’t know how much I used a GPS on the motorcycle until riding the Ducati around without one. I  tried to use a phone to navigate but it has limitations:

• screen size
• hard to navigate with gloves, screen friendly gloves are clunky and imprecise
• subjected to weather
• battery drain and if connected to power source may cause heating issues and decrease the longevity of device, especially if streaming music also
• limited GPS specific notifications: weather, fuel stops, traffic, tire pressure, etc

After doing some research on various forums and speaking with others I settled on the Garmin 590LM from GPS City and the Navihalter locking mount. Thankfully there was a special code from the ADV Rider forum that knocked a bit off. The code and going with the 590 over the newer 595 help offset the cost of the mount. The GPS comes with a RAM mount but I don’t like having the GPS mounted to the handelbars. They are generally a large and swing around as you move the bars. With it mounted centrally on the bars it blocks the instrument center and handlebar bag.

 My preference is to have it fixed close to the instrument screen so can easily see everything when looking in one direction and then back to the road, limiting my gaze away from the road. The space and layout of the Multistrada Enduro cockpit is tight and the Navihalter is the best solution for me.
Here is the installation and wiring it to the bike power outlet. The bike is prewired for a GPS and the wires are banded to the overflow hose off the tank opening. Don’t get to aggressive pulling on the wires to release the band holding them or you will add a bit of time to the installation when the hose comes off in your hand. This I know.

The Navihalter is sturdy and very simple to mount, thankfully because the instructions are in German and I haven’t used my HS German for decades. The locking add on are the two parts between the mount and chocolate. The locking mechanism pivots slightly upwards when unlocked to allowing unit removal.  When locked down the release mechanism is blocked from moving upwards. The extra height of the locking keeps the unit in the lowest position on the mount but Palmer Products in the UK has a relocation kit that will move the screen forward and allow the unit to be moved higher from the instrument screen. The kit also lifts the screen up a bit, making it taller and directing flow over the rider. I will be ordering one of these shortly.  Also came with a small square of chocolate to eat during installation but I would have preferred some beer

Remove the windscreen to expose the windscreen operating lever.


























Mount the metal angle plate to bottom of the operating assembly and make sure you loosen or remove the set screw to avoid scratching the plastic, like I did.

























The mount simply slides over the operating mechanism and the set screw holds the mount from moving. Simple and very secure.


























Remove the cover over the emergency start switch, it just pulls off and you could access the wires by feeling around to the left side. It is attached to the tank overflow hose. Remember, be gentle.


























The wires.. and what is this hose?? Son of a…. GRR Once I realized what the hell I did I started taking steps to remove the panel and the reason for the screws missing in the picture.













You have to remove the black panel with “Ducati” printed on it. It comes off pretty easy, remove the two bolts in the above picture and slide it forward. If you want to change the color of your Enduro all you need to do is remove the colored tank cover panel.











Open the parts pack from the GPS box and start putting it together. The metal anti vibration sleeves for the mount will not fit in the holes for the Navihalter so I placed them behind the mount, between then mount and the Navihalter. Then mount the mounting plate, ensure the washer is under the head of the screw.






















Remove the accessory plug and attach the red fused power wire to the top of the plug. Pulling back a bit to expose the wires from the bike show what the colors are. I also cut almost two feet of extra wire from the wiring kit. The circuit is already fused but I kept the inline fuse supplied. Probably overkill and something for me to remember if the circuit fails. I also used heat shrinking and waterproof connectors. Heat gun died so I had to improvise with a lighter, hence the dark look to the connectors.
























The wiring kit also has line in, out, stereo and powered USB. Others have cut all the other wires but I just taped them and coiled the under the dash. The USB can be useful for another way to charge the phone and play music through the GPS. Unfortunately you can’t load up a USB drive with music or routes for the unit to read.. WTF Garmin?





















All installed and put back together. I am need to pick up my handlebar bag that was supposed to come with the bike but I am also still waiting on the Enduro package. When you turn the unit off it sends a message with a pin where you parked. Nice one Garmin. I didn’t have that on my Nav V. I gave into the kids begging to go to Sonic last night, don’t judge.
















With everything hooked up and running I moved onto pairing the unit with the iPhone6s and Cardo PacTalk. I tried adding just the GPS to bike but I would lose the Smartlink functionality for weather and traffic. Now I have unpaired from the bike and I have the unit paired with the phone and headset. With this setup I can’t use the Ducati app or control music and volume from the handlebar. I am going to play with the pairings a bit more to see if I can find a way to use the features of the bike and gps together.

I miss the integration of the Nav V unit has with the bike and wonderwheel. Motorcycles using the canbus system must provide all the same information and Garmin should be able to interface with others. At a minimum provide a bar add on to scroll or navigate the unit without taking your hands off the bars.

It took me just over 2 hours to complete the installation. If I were to do it again I could probably have it done in about a hour. Don’t make the mistakes I did and you could have your installed in about the same amount of time.