XT coming next week

[Peobody]

You would need confidence that the stick-on pad would hold up against the weight of a swinging XT. The back of the XT is ridged which may affect adherence. It would be an interesting thing to test over your sofa or bed.

[jfheath]

I always pull on my XT after putting it in its mount to make sure that it is seated properly in the top and bottom grooves. I cannot see any way, short of damage that the unit can bounce out. The clip holds the XT in position against the mount. In theory an upward bounce could put pressure on the clip to release it, but In practice that is not possible. There is a square moulding around the electrical contacts which prevent the XT from moving in any direction once it is clipped in.

I've read that some people have done something to make the contacts press more firmly against the rear of the XT. I wonder if this pushes the XT away from that square moulding allowing any force from a bounce to be transferred to the clip, thus allowing the clip to give way.

Clearly it has happened to people, but it is impossible to say after the event whether or not it was fitted properly in its mount.

I would be wary of mounting it so that the top is close to the screen, or reaching over the top of the Zumo when riding. Long RAM ball mounts are also best avoided if mounting close to any other item. They flex more.

A common location for a mounting place seems to be between the bars in front of the fuel tank, which makes access to the ignition key awkward. I have my 590 mount located there. It occurred to me how easy it would be to partially release the XT catch and when turning the ignition on/off, if had put the XT there instead. My XT is mounted to the top of the dash, behind the screen on the left hand side.

But just for the peace of mind, a tether would be a useful investment.

[rbentnail]

My XT has never come loose despite numerous dirt road attempts to make it do so. Also, once I found I could I have since exclusively used the XT in the portrait position. That puts the release button on the side.

[danham]

Looking at this again today, I am still befuddled that a 2A USB charger (2A x 5V= 10watts) would not provide enough power to boot the dead XT, but on the 13.6V power supply, the XT started just fine while drawing only 0.42A, or 5.7 watts of power.

Just an amateur guess, but I wonder if some of the other pins in the bike mount supply something that helps "wake up" a dead battery?

-dan

There are only two pins in the mount: +5VDC and ground.

I plead senility. I guess I was thinking of my old 660 mount.

-dan

[danham]

a quick question, will this XT need a tether tie cord of some kind to the bike, in case of accidental pressing the unit release lever on the mount?
in other words, is there a risk of the unit falling off the mount when riding?

For peace of mind, I use a rubber phone mount thingy.

https://www.tackform.com/products/pack- ... 40fa&_ss=r

-dan

[twowheelstom]

well the XT battery did charge up by using the USB 2.1A charger to wall current. I did unit registration and a Garmin Express software/map updates. But one issue was trying to exit or cancel the DEMO MODE program, that continued to loop back again even after many XT unit shut downs, on startups that DEMO MODE program started up again, I found no way on the XT to kill it. But I got lucky cause after being fed up I went on Youtube and found a guy who said, open up the Volume screen on the XT and press your thumb on the upper-right corner of the XT screen and hold your thumb there for a bit, and bingo, up popped a menu screen with Developers menu and the Demo Mode cease/stop button, pressing that got rid of that Demo Mode crap, I was happy at that point. I think the stores put their XT units on Demo Mode for customer awareness to increase sales. I now wonder if my new XT was in some store shelf running on Demo Mode to snag potential buyers. anyways, all is good now

[Peobody]

For peace of mind, I use a rubber phone mount thingy.

I have never seen anything like those Tackform Slings. I'm not normally an impulse buyer but I just ordered them. Thanks @danham .

[danham]

For peace of mind, I use a rubber phone mount thingy.

I have never seen anything like those Tackform Slings. I'm not normally an impulse buyer but I just ordered them. Thanks @danham .

I use one on my mountain bike to make sure my iPhone stays with me for the whole ride and one on my Kawasaki for the XT. The extra 2 seconds required to hook them up is well worth it.

sling.jpg (478.25 KiB) Viewed 656 times

-dan

[lkraus]

Though I do wish the mounting "click" sounded a bit more solid, and I do give the XT a tug to make sure it is locked in, I've never actually had it come loose.

When I bought a 3D printer and was looking for a project, I found a soft "bumper" for my XT, which provides some protection in the event of a drop, and also improves my grip on the XT to prevent a drop in the first place. It included a hole to add a tether but I never bothered to do so until my wife was throwing out some device which had a tether. I still don't think it is really necessary, but being able slip it over a wrist if my hands are full is sometimes handy. On the bike, I slide the loop over the mount, to keep it from flapping in the wind and to hopefully snag on the mount if the XT releases itself. Similar bumpers (with tether) can be found by searching for "Zumo XT bumper case".

2024-01-31 11.50.31.jpg (82.08 KiB) Viewed 654 times

[lkraus]

well the XT battery did charge up by using the USB 2.1A charger to wall current. I did unit registration and a Garmin Express software/map updates. But one issue was trying to exit or cancel the DEMO MODE program, that continued to loop back again even after many XT unit shut downs, on startups that DEMO MODE program started up again, I found no way on the XT to kill it. But I got lucky cause after being fed up I went on Youtube and found a guy who said, open up the Volume screen on the XT and press your thumb on the upper-right corner of the XT screen and hold your thumb there for a bit, and bingo, up popped a menu screen with Developers menu and the Demo Mode cease/stop button, pressing that got rid of that Demo Mode crap, I was happy at that point. I think the stores put their XT units on Demo Mode for customer awareness to increase sales. I now wonder if my new XT was in some store shelf running on Demo Mode to snag potential buyers. anyways, all is good now

I think the Demo mode erases itself if the XT is turned on while traveling for a mile or two.