The Problem

Two days ago my Garmin Nuvi 550 started re-booting every few minutes. It became impossible to use. After a bit of research I discovered that this is a common problem with this model and I could send it away to be refurbished. The problem is that our one week trek begins this Sunday so I need a GPS.

After a long discussion with Garmin, they sold me at a discount the Garmin Zumo 390LM specifically designed for motorcycles. It is Bluetooth and has applications for maintenance, tire pressure TPS and so on. Best of all it has the option to select curvy roads:)

They shipped it overnight so I would have it for my vacation. I received it yesterday and I realized after opening it that although it has a USB connection to be used in a car with a suction mount but it had a more water resistant connection when you screw the ball on the back for a ram mount. My biggest problem is that the RAM mount blocks the USB connection since there is a rubber seal to prevent water from going in. 

I just had the dealer install the USB cables and now the new Garmin required a hard-wire connection to power using a red and black wire power wire supplied. I called Honda Embrum, Honda, Cornwall and Honda Ottawa last night to see if they could install it. Everyone was busy.

3:00 AM Tossing and Turning

I could not sleep because I wanted to install the GPS and have it ready for our vacation.At 3:00 AM I finally got up and made a pot of Coffee and began to read the service manual that I purchased for $35.00 at http://www.service-shop-repair-manual.com/.

It did not look too difficult to disassemble the panels and I already decided that I was going to posi-tap the wires into the wires feeding the auxiliary plug.

When my wife got up at 6:00 AM,. the job was complete! Our vacation will continue as planned.

Here is the video with instructions to remove side shelter.