nklr: garmin gpsiii+

[themdburkes]

hello... I have just purchased a 1991 KLR250 that has been butchered, I mean converted to dirt only by the previous owner. I plan to leave it dirt only, since that is where I ride. A few problems, though. The fan does not come on. I would like to direct connect the fan to either run all the time or put it on a switch, if the thermostat doesn't work right. There is no power to the fan. The battery was eliminated long ago, and I was wondering if it is possible to connect the fan with no battery in the manner I described, and if so, how. I will also be needing either a rear wheel, or some spokes. My rear wheel is missing 4 spokes and wobbles a bit. I would also like to change sprokets to make my gearing much lower and more suitable for hilly terrain. Any help for a newbie on a mission would be great! Any leads in the right direction are appreciated. Mike.

[Devon Jarvis]

Mike, I haven't had any hands-on experience with a KLR250. I did have a set of wheels custom laced for my '78 SR500, because the salvage wheels were falling apart. Spokes started to break on the rear wheel, one at a time. I found it VERY difficult to get single spokes in the right size. Besides, once a couple of spokes are missing I would say the rest are suspect. Buchanan Spokes sells spoke sets for most bikes, in stainless steel. They might have plain steel sets cheaper, but the stainless are great. If the rim is reuseable, you can have an essentially new wheel for less than $200 (my local shop laces wheels for $70). Resist the urge to buy anything from a salvage yard. You will get exactly what you pay for, and possibly less if buying from a junkyard. You might score buying from another rider though. I have a battery eliminator on my SR500. It's just a big capacitor hooked up in place of the battery. You could run wires directly from the capacitor terminals to the fan, and use an automotive horn relay to connect a handlebar switch. If there is no capacitor or other battery eliminator device (to smooth the electrical output), at least on Yamahas like the SR500 it can damage the other electrics. Devon themdburkes wrote:

> hello... I have just purchased a 1991 KLR250 that has been butchered, > I mean converted to dirt only by the previous owner. I plan to > leave it dirt only, since that is where I ride. A few problems, > though. The fan does not come on. I would like to direct connect > the fan to either run all the time or put it on a switch, if the > thermostat doesn't work right. There is no power to the fan. The > battery was eliminated long ago, and I was wondering if it is > possible to connect the fan with no battery in the manner I > described, and if so, how. > I will also be needing either a rear wheel, or some spokes. My > rear wheel is missing 4 spokes and wobbles a bit. > I would also like to change sprokets to make my gearing much lower > and > more suitable for hilly terrain. > Any help for a newbie on a mission would be great! Any leads in the > right direction are appreciated. > Mike.

[David Kelly]

On Wed, Mar 20, 2002 at 12:38:19PM -0500, Anthony Verno wrote:

> Need some help here. Finally found a Garmin GPS III+ in my price range. > Dicks Sporting Goods will have them on sale Sunday (3/24) for $179.98. > HOWEVER, they are "factory reconditioned". They do come with a full 1 > year warranty. I have a $50.00 gift card plus a $10.00 off coupon, so it > knocks my price down to $119.98. So, what I'm trying to find out is, are > there any real word problems I need to know about this unit, and how does > it compare with other similar units? I figure at the price I can get it, > it's a pretty good deal. Thanks, Anthony

I have had a III+ for a couple of years now. Was $369.95 at Walmart when I bought. Mail order was ~$360. You will need a mount to use it on the motorcycle. Or even to use in a car as the III+ doesn't come with a mount. And doesn't come with a power cable. Does come with a data cable but doesn't include any software to use said cable. Mapsource Roads & Recreation is a very useful addtion at $90. Mounting brackets are about $25 for the Garmin brand. RAM mounts are more and have some advantages but are larger. Power cable is about $20. My new GPS-V was $410 and included Mapsource CitySelect with a one zone unlock, mounting bracket, data cable, and power cable. Considering all that the GPS-V was a pretty good deal. NiMH batteries are very useful to have. I like the Maha C204F charger (about $25, can sometimes be purchased bundled with batteries at that price). When using NiMH cells I find one layer of post-it note with the seam sealed with scotch tape makes the battery big enough not to rattle in the GPS. When the batteries rattle they momentarily disconnect and the GPS shuts off. NiMH 1600 mAh AA cells should not cost much more than $3 each. Pretty blister pack cells are not better, just more expensive. However the best NiMH batteries I have are Kodak which came with my DC-290 camera. These guys have been attending hamfests for as long as I can remember and have a good reputation: http://www.batteriesamerica.com/ Is best to have at least 8 cells. One set in the GPS and one set in the charger. -- David Kelly N4HHE, dkelly@... ===================================================================== The human mind ordinarily operates at only ten percent of its capacity -- the rest is overhead for the operating system.