Garmin montana

2208 Views 10 Replies 6 Participants Last post by Cal, 3 mo ago

Cal

Discussion Starter · 3 mo ago

2012 Dl 650 When I reach 5200 RPMS my Montana 650 goes blank randomly. Below that never a problem. I have lived with this for years so just curious.
It is in a rugged amps mount powered by the switched connection hiding under the right side fairing.
Any ideas why?

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Rolex

· #2 · 3 mo ago

I would think the problem is with the Garmin unit.

Disconnect the power from the bike and just use the internal battery, see if you get the same problem.

If you do try mounting it in a different position on the bike, less vibrations.

I will assume it works like my Zumos

If the problem is with the bikes power you should get a warning when the power is lost and it will give a countdown giving you a chance to stop it shutting down, but of course you have to be looking at the screen to see the countdown happen.

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jettawreck

· #3 · 3 mo ago

I'm thinking maybe it's protecting itself (the Garmin) from over voltage supply. Hook up a digital voltage meter/gauge to the power port/supply. Perhaps the V-Strom voltage is going too high as the rpm increase?
As suggested, if you can run the Garmin on it's built in battery source then if it doesn't happen it would seem to be a voltage supply issue.

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enumclaw

· #4 · 3 mo ago

Had that same behavior when the Garmin battery was weak. Even though I had it attached to the amps mount and had good power, when I replaced the rechargeable battery the issue went away.

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Cal

Discussion Starter · #5 · 3 mo ago

enumclaw said:
Had that same behavior when the Garmin battery was weak. Even though I had it attached to the amps mount and had good power, when I replaced the rechargeable battery the issue went away.

Thats interesting, the unit is 7 years old. I always use it on the bike in the mount so it is always charged fully when used but it does sit for long stretches of time between use.

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Cal

Discussion Starter · #6 · 3 mo ago

jettawreck said:
I'm thinking maybe it's protecting itself (the Garmin) from over voltage supply. Hook up a digital voltage meter/gauge to the power port/supply. Perhaps the V-Strom voltage is going too high as the rpm increase?

I have a volt meter in the dash and think it remains steady but Ive not ridden the bike for 4 months this winter so can not remember what the reading was. ( Maybe 13.9V?)

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conquermike

· #7 · 3 mo ago

If my understanding is correct, the Zumo is special for motorcycles in that it is designed to withstand the vibrations and shocks that are relatively unique to being on a motorcycle. I'm not sure if the Montana is designed for motorcycle applications which could potentially explain why you're having RPM specific problems, its possible the insides are compromised from the vibrations even if it doesn't feel like its vibrating much to us,

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shu

· #8 · 3 mo ago

I used a Montana for years on both my DR650 and my DL650. No problems with vibration or (very) rough riding on either one. The Montana is a very tough unit.

The Montana, about to be abused on my DR650....

I would do as @Rolex recommends: try running it on battery power while you ride as usual. If it works fine, than it's not the vibration causing internal problems on the GPS, Most likely something amiss in the wiring connections. If it does blank out on battery, the Montana is toast. (check your power/ screen saving settings first.)

I was having similar problems with my Garmin 276cx when mounted in my car. It turned out to be a short somewhere in the mount wiring. I replaced the cradle and its wire and the problem disappeared.

............shu

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Cal

Discussion Starter · #9 · 3 mo ago

shu said:
I used a Montana for years on both my DR650 and my DL650. No problems with vibration or (very) rough riding on either one. The Montana is a very tough unit.

The Montana, about to be abused on my DR650....

I would do as @Rolex recommends: try running it on battery power while you ride as usual. If it works fine, than it's not the vibration causing internal problems on the GPS, Most likely something amiss in the wiring connections. If it does blank out on battery, the Montana is toast. (check your power/ screen saving settings first.)

I was having similar problems with my Garmin 276cx when mounted in my car. It turned out to be a short somewhere in the mount wiring. I replaced the cradle and its wire and the problem disappeared.

............shu

The fact that it only happens after 5200RPM's is what has me puzzled. The screen does not blank out it flips around from landscape to vertical and then upside down! When I stay under 130km/hr(5200rpm) it does not do this. In the spring Ill check the contacts on the rugged mount. I was thinking it was some kind of electrical interference at that rpms?

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shu

· #10 · 3 mo ago

There is a setting somewhere on the Montana to allow/disallow the screen from flipping. I assume you have set that to 'disallow' (or whatever they call it in the settings.)?

Edit: from online manual. Setup>Display> orientation lock

...........shu

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Cal

Discussion Starter · #11 · 3 mo ago

shu said:
There is a setting somewhere on the Montana to allow/disallow the screen from flipping. I assume you have set that to 'disallow' (or whatever they call it in the settings.)?

Edit: from online manual. Setup>Display> orientation lock

...........shu

Thank you! I just looked at that and it was set at Auto so I locked it on landscape so we shall see if that fixes the problem....riding season here is still 2 months away!

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