New/Old Farkle

Yes, it's a rainy day here so I've got time to muck around on the computer...

Before the TT2000 I finally got around to installing a farkle that had been sitting on the bench for quite a while.  It is a GPS mount from Projekt D that offers a bit more secure mounting than the original RAM setup I had.  I have nothing against RAM mounts - they are very good (especially for cameras) for mounting things in different positions and offer a lot of flexibility.  But if you look at the picture below you can see that there is a single allen bolt holding an expanding rubber inside the steering stem and this does loosen off after time.  The mount is also prone to vibration occasionally.

Original RAM mount

Now, the reason I hadn't installed the mount previously was that I had tried to undo some of the big allen bolts holding the handle bars on but just couldn't budge them.  I decided that it was better to stop and wait until I could get some help or better tools rather than risk rounding off the allen heads.

Anyway, the day before I left for Nelson, Brian suggested giving it another go as he had installed the same mount ok on his bike.  He brought around his impact driver and some decent bits for it and we set to work.  Well, the bolts were still damn tight - much tighter than Brian said his ones were.  We smacked them around a bit with the impact driver and then I put the allen bit in my socket and leant into it hard...and then harder still!  Man they were tight!  But, eventually we cracked one and then the other four.  After that the installation was a doddle...

New bolts and spacers came with the mount

With Garmin holder bolted onto mount

Tada!

Suffice it to say but the new mount is a whole lot more rigid and secure than the old setup and after bending it slightly to get a nice angle (and so the glove box can be opened) the mount is perfect!  On the trip I never noticed any vibration and everything looks like it came from the factory like it...neato!