Low Bat warning

[richardcgvyr]

LOW BAT WARNING

Last summer, I went on a motorcycle trip from Quebec City all the way down to Los Angeles and back through the Canadian Prairies (10 000 miles on my Harley!!)

I used my brand new TomTom Rider for this trip and found it to be a very helpful tool. Easy to use and to read, but most important, does not take your attention off the road!

During the first part of the trip (around 3 000 miles), I started to get an intermittent LOW BAT warning on the screen. The unit was well positioned on the rack. Then, I had to use a rubber band and some electric tape to hold it in place, but eventually no contact was being made between the GPS unit and the mount.

After a quick investigation, I noticed that the four little pins on the support were worn out and that the four contacts on the GPS were engraved. That?s probably why the connection between the GPS and the support (rack) couldn?t be made anymore?

I contacted TomTom and explained them my problem, which I think is a design problem and is set to happen again to somebody else. After many calls and some hassle (I must admit that the guys at TomTom were very nice?), they sent me a new GPS with a new mount. But I haven?t noticed anything different on the new GPS, so I?m afraid it might happen again on my next trip?

Anybody ever had this kind of problem?? Is there a way to fix this problem??

Your help would be greatly appreciated!

Richard Tremblay

P.S. I ride a Harley 2007 (Ultra Glide Classic).

 

[lodo]

Richard

Are you talking about having gone from the TTR1 to a TTR2? That's what TT did for me when I complained about the mounting issues with the TTR1. The issues with the power connections on the TTR1 mount are legendary

If you have a TTR2 and mount I think you will be fine - mine is great and I haven't heard of any issues with the TTR2. If they just gave you a new TTR1 and mount I don't think you will be a very happy camper for long.

 

[richardcgvyr]

How do I know which model they sent me? TT sent me a new Rider last september and it looks just like the one I had before (same mount and connector). I'm afraid this problem might happen again...

Thanks for your help Lodo!

 

[Pedro2NR]

Maybe this will help
Rider 1
Rider 2

 

[lodo]

It sounds like they just sent you another TTR1 and if so, you aren't going to get any better power connections over time. I'd suggest you talk to TT and ask for the upgrade to the TTR2. It's happened before

 

[richardcgvyr]

Thank you for the info, they definitely sent me a TT rider I, the new unit is exactly like the old one, I?m persuade, that it is a conception problem.
Now I have to talk to TT and convince them to satisfy a happy customer
Thank you for your help Lodo and Pedro2NR. Will keep you posted

 

[Thom]

If you search the threads (I think it's "Is your mount a POS" you'll see that I had the same problem (only I didn't make it as far). A few of us received completely new units after a few complaints.

 

[lodo]

No problem Richard. It was Thom who got me encouraged to call TT and ask for an upgrade based on issues he had been having with his TT1. You will see in that post that it took asking twice in my case to get TT to say yes, but it all happened on the same phone call so it wasn't too hard.

Good Luck

Thank you for the info, they definitely sent me a TT rider I, the new unit is exactly like the old one, I?m persuade, that it is a conception problem.
Now I have to talk to TT and convince them to satisfy a happy customer
Thank you for your help Lodo and Pedro2NR. Will keep you posted

 

[HausHH]

Thank you for the info, they definitely sent me a TT rider I, the new unit is exactly like the old one, I?m persuade, that it is a conception problem.
Now I have to talk to TT and convince them to satisfy a happy customer
Thank you for your help Lodo and Pedro2NR. Will keep you posted

This problem is really legendary, but also very rare, because by far most of the sold devices and mounts work 100% properly. Because I didn't want to rely on my luck, I bought the Wunderlich Extreme mount, look at this:
https://www.multi-pod.de/go.to/modix/2,203192,203867/haltesysteme_zubehoe.html

Wunderlich also has U.S. branches and can solve your problem 100%, if Tomtom refuses your wish to upgrade to Rider 2.

 

[richardcgvyr]

Tried very hard to convince TT to upgrade me. But at the present time, since they send me a new GPS and he is working fine, they will not do anything.
TT gave me a Ref. number and if the snag arise again, they will fix it.TT guys were great, they know my problem, they won't let me down.
The thing is, I'm afraid that this problem will struck me right in the middle of the riding season. I'm planning to cross the country all the way to the West Coast again.That why the reason for buying a TT Rider.
Thank you gentlemen for your help, the unit presented by HuHH might be a solution.
Will let you know.
Richard

 

[myvrodrocks]

This problem is really legendary, but also very rare, because by far most of the sold devices and mounts work 100% properly. Because I didn't want to rely on my luck, I bought the Wunderlich Extreme mount, look at this:
https://www.multi-pod.de/go.to/modix/2,203192,203867/haltesysteme_zubehoe.html

Wunderlich also has U.S. branches and can solve your problem 100%, if Tomtom refuses your wish to upgrade to Rider 2.

If you don't mind...I'd like to challenge that statement. I do not believe that this is a rare occurance. I'd be willing to bet that it will happen to each and every unit if used enough. You rub any two surfaces together long enough and you will cause wear.

Maybe...being mounted to a harley casues more vibes than a Honda...but then again, if that is the case, than any TT will wear out eventually.

Wold anyone care to post their mileage with the unit mounted and current status as to whether or not their little pins have punched holes in the mating surface?

Mine was good for about the first 6000 miles...then the charging issue began.

 

[HausHH]

If you don't mind...I'd like to challenge that statement. I do not believe that this is a rare occurance. I'd be willing to bet that it will happen to each and every unit if used enough. You rub any two surfaces together long enough and you will cause wear.

Maybe...being mounted to a harley casues more vibes than a Honda...but then again, if that is the case, than any TT will wear out eventually.

Wold anyone care to post their mileage with the unit mounted and current status as to whether or not their little pins have punched holes in the mating surface?

Mine was good for about the first 6000 miles...then the charging issue began.

Of course I was shocked to see pictures a my german Tomtom forum about this issue. I went to my bike and checked the surface, but there was no trace of damage. Even though I decided to buy the Wunderlich Extreme mount, but not because of the pin issue but because of broken Tomtom cradles that led to lost/flying devices during the ride. At that time my Rider had guided me for about 5000 miles. In the meantime I used it for about 8000miles and still no trace of wear.
The same is true for several friends who own a Rider and didn't purchase a Wunderlich Extreme mount.

It may be, that 4 cylinders are an advantage in this issue, but I also know customers with 2 cylinder (BMW boxer, Moto Guzzi Le Mans) machines, who don't have problems with their rider. Ever seen a Guzzi without vibrations? In the german Tomtom forum there are also owners of 4 cylinder bikes, who have had this issue.

I rather believe in quality variations of the cradle.

 

[Thom]

I made it about 600 miles on the trip when mine failed. I'd have to guess that the unit only had about 1000 miles on it mounted to the bike with another 2000 mounted in the car.


I've got a BMW 1994 R1100RS (boxer twin) so I get some pretty good vibes from the engine, but the mount is sort of protected becasue I have basically rubber mounted handle bars on it. (the clip-on's are mounted to a hard plastic before being mounted to the bike (weird setup if you ask me, but it works...)

I don't have a picture of it, but I then have a platform that is mounted into the barbacks that I mounted a RAM mount ball base onto, then the 3" extension, then the TomTom mount. The unit has plenty of bounce in it, but is still legible at highway speeds (or slightly above ).

 

[myvrodrocks]

Maybe the mount has something to do with the amount of vibes it gets. I am using the handlbar mount. Is anyone using the flat 90 degree mount with the sticky on the bottom? I would think that one would be much more stable...