A spot for all of my Gadgets!

[Wesley J]

Hey All,

With the majority of the work done on the VFR, I decided to spend some time today building myself a spot to put all of my gadgets. These include my HDTV video camera, GPS/MP3, radar detector and possibly my 2 way radio for bike to bike via the Autocom system. I'm not to sure where I'm going to put the main brain for the Autocom but in case it's up front I at least have a spot for the radio.

I started out with some card stock and built myself a template. I put some brake lines in card stock, cut it out and was reasonable happy with it. So, out with the plasma cutter, a bit of grinding, a few brake lines and I had myself a prototype in 18 guage steel.

I placed it up on the bike to see that everything worked as far a sight lines etc.







From there I proceeded to biuld a little spot for the mount for my GPS. You can just see it hanging down in the lower left.



And with the mount in place:



And with the GPS in place:



A mocked up with all of the geek gadgets in their respective locations:



And this is my view when seated with my hands on the bars. As you can see I have a clear view of the speedometer but thats about it. I drive mostly buy sound and feel so I dont really need the tach for normal riding. Hell, even on the track the only time I look at my tach is on the 1/2 mile straight. I grew up on dirt bikes....





Here you can see that I canabalized one of my tripods for the quick release mechanism. It's bolted to the mount and due to the slight flexing from being bolted down it makes it a tighter fit than usual. Nice side effect!



As you can see, with the fish eye installed I have a clear view past the dash.



This is how it'll normally look if I'm out shooting video on a ride:



And loaded up:



I'm really happy with how it turned out, it's very stiff and provides plenty of room.

Cheers,

Wes

[NorcalBoy]

Holy Crap WesleyJ, Now I know why you were looking for an AP-2 and 30A HD relay kit! What's the target amp draw of all that stuff?

[benjammer]

Wesley, you are like the "Mr. Scotty" of VFR's. Just like the paint job, looks sharp.

[chomper]

wow...wesley your a talented guy! with a cockpit like that you'll make any beemer rider scream with envy

how are you powering all those goodies ? how many power out lets? and did you connect them direct to batt or into main wiring through ignition power.

[PorscheBob]

Wesley, nice layout. Do you have cruise control (so you could use your right hand if needed)?

One thing I would recommend, if it's not too late, use the key by itself, without all the items that

will scratch the top of the triple tree while bouncing around in the wind.

Scratched triple trees bring down the value of the bike when you go to sell it.

[SLOav8r]

Since my autocom has to hop between two bikes, and I don't alway need it, I mounted it my tankbag.

I have a power plug that pokes out the front of the tank and the bag plugs into it. Inside, there's a 3 port cig lighter so i can plug in cellphone charger and ipod charger. The autocom and the power outlets are velcro'd down.

There's enough room to put the autocom under the seat, but then you have to run lines from all your audio sources (radar/gps/ipod) back to the autocom. I figured why not have everything centralized.

[keeena]

Wesley - looks good, post up a vid while riding...I'd like to see how it comes out.

Is that a TL i see in the background...?

[Wesley J]

Hey Guys,

Thanks and yes, I'm a total geek.

I've go the VFRness wiring harness and relay kit and everything will be run off of that. As far as power goes, the draw will actually be very low:

Camera: no bike power yet, looking into it
GPS: a few hundred milliamps
Radar: not too sure but not much
Autocom: a few hundred mA
Radio: no bike power yet, looking into bastardizing

The heated vest and grips will be the worst offenders.

I'm going to get one of those ghetto fricton cruise deals to begin with and see where it goes from there.

I always run with only a single key. Dont care much about resale value, just how it looks. That's the keychain I keep in my jacket to get in the bags and use as a spare set.

Yup, thats a '00 TL-1000R in the background. It's my track bike and makes 143 deafening horsepower at the rear wheel! Wicked bike. In race trim its a hair under 400 lbs too >8-)

I'm doing a 10 day trip through California in late May and early June and will be taking lots of videos. Dont worry, I'll post lots here!

Scotty out ;-)

[derstuka]

My good lord! I thought I was looking at a goldwing for a second! You've enough gadgets to make Best Buy envy you!

Looks nice though! Good work!

[Wesley J]

Originally Posted by derstuka

My good lord! I thought I was looking at a goldwing for a second! You've enough gadgets to make Best Buy envy you!

LOL! Ya, it looks like a lot of stuff in such a small cockpit. For the most part I'll only be running with the GPS but want to have a nice clean setup for all of those multiday trips I have planned for this summer (3 so far).

Scotty Out!

[reg71]

Jeeze, Mr. Bond, the only thing I missed was the martini shaker/holder. or was that down lower?

[winaje]

I can only assume that you use the speedo on the GPS...? Do the cops over there accept that, if you can't see the speedo?

[powderrecon]

You forgot a laptop mount, so you can actually encode, edit and publish video while you are at traffic lights.

[douglasthecook]

Where's the espresso machine??? You forgot the espresso machine!!! Looks nice, although you might need another hand to operate all that equipment while riding. I just wish that I could find a mount for my european bought GPS, haven't seen any around, so I might have to come with another option, what youy have looks areally good, are yo going to powdercoat it?

[Wesley J]

I have a perfect view of the speedo, as stated above.

I've finished it in a soft black texture finish for now but plan to powder coat it at the same time I do some other bits.

Doug, you'll be happy to know I haul my espresso machine with me: http://www.aerobie.com/Products/aeropress_story.htm Best coffee maker on the planet.

I'm an addict for good coffee and there's one thing I've learned in my travels in the states is that its hard to find off of the beaten path. Now, where do I mount it ;-)

Scotty, out.

[reg71]

wes,

keep us posted when you make it to cali. I'm sure some of us can jump in on your trip for parts of it. you're welcome to sleep at my place if you need to also. I live 200 miles south of SF. Lot's of great roads here. Hell, I'll even take you to the Firestone brewery to sample one of the finest microbreweries on the planet.

http://www.firestonewalker.com/

[derstuka]

Originally Posted by reg71

wes,

keep us posted when you make it to cali. I'm sure some of us can jump in on your trip for parts of it. you're welcome to sleep at my place if you need to also. I live 200 miles south of SF. Lot's of great roads here. Hell, I'll even take you to the Firestone brewery to sample one of the finest microbreweries on the planet.

http://www.firestonewalker.com/

Hey Reg....have you pondered a time of the year that you might have a get-together, or is that still being pondered by the boss?

[Wesley J]

Reg,

I really appreciate the offer and I may take you up on that. We'll be down in your neck of the woods likely between May 26 and 28th.

Cheers,

Wes