Farkles, Gear & Accessories > Farkles and Gear General Section
Comms Setup
Nick:
I had time to do a little more tinkering today and decided to relocate my heated grips to switched power from the auxiliary point behind the main fusebox on the 1100 rather than directly from the battery. Now just waiitng on a few things to arrive before the plastic comes off again. On order is a Honda Marine voltmeter, dash shelf, fuse block from www.fuzeblocks.com, Jenson JHD910 AM/FM Radio- opted for it over the GME alternative and in the next few weeks a Starcom1 Digital kit. I am thinking I will stick the fuse block and starcom unit in the tail section with bulkheads installed with extensions for the head set cables. Was wondering if anyone has installed bulkheads for a starcom1 system on an 1100? If so where were the bulkheads located and was there any issues with interference? Also interested in any recommendations for AM/FM radio antenna... Will gladly post pictures of installs once I get started :D
John Meara:
Hi Nick,
I am in the middle of installing multiple farkles to my ST1300 (recall I have that dreaded disorder called "farklemania" :o ). I hope some of the following may be useful in your ST1100 deliberations, and of course of interest to other ST1300 owners :D
This current project includes fitting a Starcom Digital system, locating the main unit under the seat where Dale McLean recommends it be placed http://www.dmme.com.au/. Note that in these pics, some parts & components are still not finalised, so not bolted down and with fuel tanks and brackets missing or simply placed in position for the photos.
In this one, the Starcom unit is placed in between 3 bolts/nuts as low as possible to prevent it being squashed by the seat base when the seat is in the lowest slot. A piece of foam is laid on top of the unit before replacing the seat, to provide additional protection:
In this second pic, you may be able to see that I've shaved a few lumps off the base of the seat where these were squashing up against the Starcom unit (evidenced by some dents in the foam placed on top if the unit). You can see the black rectangle I marked on the seat base where the unit sits against the seat's underside. The 2 brownish areas in the two front corners of the outline are where the plastic is so thin (after grinding) that it's almost translucent - the brown seat foam is almost visible through it. But this is okay as it is not structural:
I also purchased the Fuzeblock and am locating it in the rear, but because this is also the small space where the McCruise Control computer must be placed, I am having to be cautious of space use. I purchased a purpose-made bracket for holding the Fuzeblock in place on the ST13. In this third pic, you can see the bracket (all pre-drilled by manufacturer for 3 different typed of fuse blocks), the McCruise computer without its cover of padding, and the Fuzeblock. It is fed from the battery with a heavy power and ground wires, and from the tail light for switching the relay (the previous owner had fitted this relay feed and it is not my preferred location, but as it was already there I have used it.)
This fourth pic shows the planned approximate locations after I get them all locked down. The McCruise unit will be placed inside a foam block at the back. The Fuzeblock will screwed to the bracket with all the wiring in place, then the bracket will bolted into place (to the two carrier rack front bolts):
You can see the end (red insulation tape) of the length of 5-core trailer wire (15 amp / 4 mm wires) used to take power from the Fuzeblock (either direct or relay power) to a terminal block at the front of the bike on the RHS. This fifth pic shows multiple wiring and cables feeling to the left and right sides of the air box (all ted down with cable ties and kept away from the ignition coils (very important). The frame acts as a shield to the coils:
In the pic above, you can see a white Powerlet outlet plug on the left side (in mid air). The previous owner had his Starcom rider headset plug into a mounting bracket located at the base of the left-side glove box, resulting in the Starcom wiring being close beside that ignition coil - not good for interference (he also then had to install a noise filter, which I expect will no longer be necessary by relocating the plug/wiring). In that location, my guess is the bulkhead fitting also copped a lot of engine heat; so when I relocated to to the top side of the dash, an began using it, it crumbled (now ordered a replacement bulkhead fitting).
Also above, I have the Uniden UHF on a RAM mount above the Cruise control switch. After a trial, this may end up on the right side (wait and see). On the right side under the dash, you can probably make out the red-taped front end of the trailer wire from the Fuzeblock, tied to the frame (more on it below).
This last pic below shows the terminal block I've located on the dash support frame (to the inside of the right glovebox above the horn). I've fed a local ground wire (thick black) to the bottom port from the bolt just to the left of the red insulation tape. The terminals feed a Powerlet outlet in the centre of risers (behind the Zumo's RAM mount), the Zumo itself, plus it is ready for a 137dB Stebel horn and possibly heated grips at some stage. I hope to locate the Stebel horn in this same area (may be tight, but there's always the left side free still). This leaves 2 or 3 spare powered terminals for "later". The large white-insulated wiring to the right is the 130 watt PIAA spot light harness (entirely separate).
I expect this to be a reasonably water-free area behind the inner cowls and fairing. However I am still considering how I might improve it with some water-proofing ...maybe wrap the terminal block in plastic? Any suggestions welcome ;)
You should be able to see grey tags on the wiring at various points - I used insulation tape (cut in to half width) and a Nikko garden marker to label all wires/cables in multiple locations, so that anyone working on the bike knows what they have in front of them, and so I can locate any problems much more easily.
I hope to finalise all this in the next few evenings or this weekend.
Cheers
Diesel:
Geez mate - you are the Farkling Guru!
Couch:
Diesels' comment +1..........fantastic set of photos John!
You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din ;D
Cheers,
Couch
John Meara:
I put in a bit more time this evening: I got the padding around the McCruise computer and located it as far back out of the way as possible. I cut about 15mm off the top of the vertical rear plastic wall that holds the tool kit - gave me a little more room to play with. Attached the wiring to the Fuzeblock first, then bolted the Fuzeblock to the mounting bracket (this order was recommended by someone on the US forums), then finally located the mounting bracket up under the carrier rack. Here's the 2 bits of this part of the job:
I even got the toolkit to sit in place. A couple of issues during the job though:
* Firstly it was a proverbial pain in the behind to get the bracket in place, where it could receive the screws from the carrier rack above, without dropping the two small tube spacers. I ended up taping the spacers in place first to the bracket.
* Second, the metal thread of the mounting bracket is too soft, and I think I may have started to strip one already. This cannot stay as is, as these are the front mounts for the base plate holding the topbox rack. can't risk the front f the topbox flexing and pulling up the base screws! So tomorrow it is off to get a couple of slightly longer screws/bolts and I'll put the nuts back on the bottom of them.Finally, I fired up the power and tested the Starcom by listening to the Zumo and UHF radio through the helmet speakers. All went well. This is what the dash is shaping up to look like:
Getting closer to putting is all back together now. I will try tomorrow to pick up a 139dB Stebel horn from a supplier at Banyo known to BMW riders. It would be nice to get it installed before I put all the fairings back on. ;)
Cheers
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