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Second thoughts about the Garmin Zumo 396LMT-S

Charliedog

Guest
Guest
I ordered one of these when they were on sale last week without much research, and now I'm having second thoughts about it before it arrives.

I didn't realize it came with wiring that had to be hard wired on the C14.  I was thinking of using the Garmin plug that I had used for years with an auto GPS unit since the bike already has a 12v outlet. I had installed a 12v outlet in the right pocket of my C10 years ago and ran the wiring under the lid for a waterproof connection at that end even tho the car GPS wasn't waterproof. 

So, where does a person run the wiring or store the excess on the bike?  And it would still need to be accessible when the body work is removed for routine engine maintenance.  I haven't checked YouTube yet, maybe there's something helpful on there.

I just can't decide if it's really worth it.

TIA 
 
I was a bit irritated myself as one of the wires "they supply" will plug into my {USB} Power Plug, but it couldn't be used if I choose to use their Mount.
Very irritating...  :mad:

The other power cord that they supply, has to be hard wired.
  There are accessory leads under the glove box to access.
  Their wire can be wired into them, and wires can be easily hidden.
    {I added Bullet connectors to the wires supplied by Garmin).

Ride safe, Ted
 
I wired mine too the accessory leads in the front. Turns on when the bike dies and asks if ii want to stay on the battery when the bike turns off.Easy job to hard wrie it
 
The zumo line of GPS units use dedicated motorcycle mounts. The unit can tell if it is getting power from the m/c mount to keep track of mileage for fuel refills and maintenance functions on the larger ones. The auto mount uses the USB power and disables the fuel tracking. Note: auto mount not included with the 396ltm.
I have aux fuse boxes on my c-10s and run the wires under the tank along the frame to the dash and come out near the windshield.
 
Just putting this out there, but i you actually take the time to read the owners manual, one would actually LEARN  some important features  of their ride..... like theres powered accessory leads in several locations on the c14.......sheesh, kids today just dont take the time to read anymore...gotta explain every thing to them...!!!
 
Final thoughts:  When I joined this forum I thought it was a group of individuals supportive and helpful to other Concours owners.  It seems to have developed a holier-than-thou attitude which is neither supportive or helpful.  I feel like I'm wasting my time here.
I can understand individuals going to the other forum.
Bye.
 
Charliedog said:
Final thoughts:  When I joined this forum I thought it was a group of individuals supportive and helpful to other Concours owners.  It seems to have developed a holier-than-thou attitude which is neither supportive or helpful.  I feel like I'm wasting my time here.
I can understand individuals going to the other forum.
Bye.


welcome to the internet!
 
konehead said:
Just putting this out there, but i you actually take the time to read the owners manual, one would actually LEARN  some important features  of their ride..... like theres powered accessory leads in several locations on the c14.......sheesh, kids today just dont take the time to read anymore...gotta explain every thing to them...!!!

You do understand that he bought it before reading the manual don't you? You see, normally, in order to have the manual in your possession, you have to take delivery of the item. Yes, in today's world, you often can get the manual online before buying, but most do not do that, because the item comes with a manual. So people rely on the information supplied by the company, or retailer they buy from.  ::)
 
When I am going to spend several hundred dollars on an item I will read both the advertising materials and the owners manual. You can usually get it online. That way you can find out what it can and can't do. You can see how it is mounted and hooked up. Will it work with your bluetooth headset for calling, music, GPS audio, etc. In this case you should also read your headset manual to see if it works with the GPS.

I have no problem with someone asking a question. But keep in mind that the answer may not be correct. You are relying on my memory of what the manual said or what someone else told me.
 
I replaced my Zumo 450 with a 396LMT-S. I had already hardwired the 450 so the cable splicing and optimization was trivial.

Just take the time to hard wire it or just wire the cable to a cigar lighter plug.

One big difference is the 396 has a DC to DC level converter inline. Just dress that cable down to a 12V plug and use the outlet. Not the best install...but it will work.

The 396 has a great feature set and when linked with a smartphone with has tons of features. Keep in mind you are likely sending your trip data to Garmin for their usage.

$250 means a now model coming......still a great deal.
 
I believe the new model is already here, the Zumo XT.  $500 so Garmin is trying to split the difference between their models that started around $800 and their more inexpensive ones.  I have the XT, used it on a Colorado trip recently and the bright screen worked really well. 

Steve
 
Just returned from our Colorado ride.
  The new Garmin Zumo 396LMT-S worked great until it didn't..  :-[
Will not power up any more.  :-[

Ride safe, Ted
 
connie_rider said:
Just returned from our Colorado ride.
  The new Garmin Zumo 396LMT-S worked great until it didn't..  :-[
Will not power up any more.  :-[

Ride safe, Ted

Have you tried a reset?

Reset the device
If the device still does not power on, or if the screen has become frozen and will not power off, a soft reset can help by
forcing the device to reboot.


To perform a soft reset:

Connect the device to the motorcycle mount
An A/C adapter or automotive power cable may also be used, but if the problem persists, the motorcycle power cable will
need to be used
Press and hold the power button and slowly count to 20
The device should now turn on. Leave the device connected to power to give the battery time to charge.

Note: The zumo XT may not power on properly if a 64 GB microSD card is inserted and hasn't been formatted.
Power the device on before inserting the memory card and a prompt will appear to format the card.

https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=Gn2l5lc4SQAnq7Rd9vj82A#:~:text=taking%20these%20steps.-,Reset%20the%20device,forcing%20the%20device%20to%20reboot.&text=The%20device%20should%20now%20turn,the%20battery%20time%20to%20charge.
 
Thanks Phil.
That seemed to do it.

I attached the GPS to a charger in the house and performed the soft reset.
  Would only indicate charging. But that was better than before.
I then put it on the bike and it loaded up fine. yahooooooooooo

Now, I have it back on the charger.

Ride safe, Ted
 
connie_rider said:
Thanks Phil.
That seemed to do it.

I attached the GPS to a charger in the house and performed the soft reset.
  Would only indicate charging. But that was better than before.
I then put it on the bike and it loaded up fine. yahooooooooooo

Now, I have it back on the charger.

Ride safe, Ted

Sweet! Glad it worked.  :beerchug:
 
Ted,

Also take notice of the charging pins on the motorcycle mount (sounds like yours are ok).
One of my pins recessed and did not spring back up.
Only had that once in the 1st 200 miles, been fine since, but the cradle would not charge up the unit be cause the one pin would not make contact. I had to, like you revert, to the house charger to revive the unit. 
 
Also, when you turn the unit off, wait until the power off dialog appears and confirm you want it off.

If you just hold in the power switch a second or two, the unit goes into to a low power mode with the screen off and this will still run down the internal battery.

Hold down the power switch until the power off dialog renders, then confirm turning it off on the touch screen.



 
Using the usb cable that came with the unit should put it into data transfer mode. Why it only charged in the house. If you want to power a Garmin gps from a ups power cord you have to look for a power only cord.(Amazon or google) Garmin adds a jumper wire in the cord connector to tell the unit it is hooked up to a computer for data transfer. The car cigarette liter plug doesn't have this jumper and will power the gps.

At the end of the night when I am done with my gps I turn it off not just let it go into standby. Push and hold the power button for about 10 sec until you get the  message to turn off. When you hook it back up to the motorcycle and it gets power from the bike it reboots and away you go.
 
After being on the charger for a period of time, the screen lit up as usual.

On the day it failed, we had been riding for 3 days. Worked fine each time.
After 1 stop, it just failed to come on, and {regardless of which power source/wire I used} it would not come on.

NOTE: The GPS mount is hard wired into the keyed power of my bike.
          Each time I turn off the bike, the message comes up that it will be shutting down after XX minutes.
            Shut down each time as far as I know.
          Will keep an eye on it and see what happens.
 
Good ole fashion paper maps don't have this problem even though they're prone to tear right where you want to look.  :motonoises:

Almost forgot, Ted can't read!  :rotflmao:
 
Just Cliff said:
Good ole fashion paper maps don't have this problem even though they're prone to tear right where you want to look.  :motonoises:

Almost forgot, Ted can't read!  :rotflmao:

I started to throw Ted under the bus again by telling him to JRTI or RTFM.....but he always takes the easy path like bitchin' on the board or trailering everywhere :)) :D
 
The shutdown in xx seconds is just into standby and the battery will still run down if not used for several days. The hard shut down will let it reboot and can also helps with connection issues to your headset or phone.
 
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