Power through the British weather

[CrankyCraig]

Looking for a dependable means of charging a couple of USB devices during the best the British weather has to offer, preferably at the same time.

Never done any kind of touring on a bike, but I'm thinking of giving it a go this summer, and I don't want to be stuck without a satnav after the first downpour. Current thinking is a small, waterproof tank bag with clear satnav pocket, and the cables/charger housed inside this, but there's probably a better option.

What do you guys use?

[Rubin215]

I remember in the good old days, leaving at 9am with no real idea where we were headed, looking at maps when we fuelled up, stopping to ask locals if we thought we were lost.

Leave the satnav at home, go out and have an adventure...

[Brads67]

Rubin215 said:

I remember in the good old days, leaving at 9am with no real idea where we were headed, looking at maps when we fuelled up, stopping to ask locals if we thought we were lost.

Leave the satnav at home, go out and have an adventure...

On a 125 , 2 stroke with drum brakes perhaps ?

Water proof tankbag would suit. There are a few weather proof sat navs as well. I use a Garmin Montana. as it does a lot more than sat nav. I run 4 usb outlets and charge my phone while it's in my trousers waterproof pocket.

[Birky_41]

I do a few tours so to speak each year. I'm doing nurburgring for 4 days next month. My setup is quite simple and works very well

We all use sena to keep communicated for anyone that has these they'll know the laughs and banter you have when all out together

I have essentially a bike bum bag that goes on the centre of the bars, the phone goes at the top (case is waterproof) so I have sat nav through Google which does cameras, live updates and free to use with I think the majority of data plans now outside England

My bike has a USB install kit behind the dash which I do but failing this they are cheap as chips for a wing wong special on fleabay then run direct to battery with a on / off switch

In the bike 'bum bag' there is enough space for a power bank (again off ebay about a tenner and has a solar panel to slowly charge when out all day riding too) and I put the USB cable, visor cleaner and cloth and the road lok disc lock key in there

I have used this setup for coming on 3 years and it's been perfect. Europe last year I did 4000 miles in 10 days and ignoring the back box for clothing etc in terms of sat nav, power and charging it was all I needed. Never once did I need an adaptor to plug in at night for hotels etc. If the power pack was drained from charging everything over night I'd plug it into the bike and it would be charged in a few hours

[Rubin215]

Brads67 said:

Rubin215 said:

I remember in the good old days, leaving at 9am with no real idea where we were headed, looking at maps when we fuelled up, stopping to ask locals if we thought we were lost.

Leave the satnav at home, go out and have an adventure...

On a 125 , 2 stroke with drum brakes perhaps ?

A 125?

No mate, I started on a Honda H100S!

Fair enough it was a 2 stroke and had drum brakes, but oh, the luxury that an extra 25cc would have brought...

[Dog Star]

I have an Interphone Sport connected via bluetooth to my phone - I simply have the phone speak navigation instructions to me. I find this pretty convenient on a bike.

[Wildfire]

Dog Star said:

I have an Interphone Sport connected via bluetooth to my phone - I simply have the phone speak navigation instructions to me. I find this pretty convenient on a bike.

Exactly what I use. I plumb the route in before hand and it will auto correct if I go off piste a bit. If you really need to you can stick a power bar on the phone for a bit more charge time. If you're not using the Interphone for bike to bike coms, the battery life is excellent!

[CrankyCraig]

Rubin215 said:

I remember in the good old days, leaving at 9am with no real idea where we were headed, looking at maps when we fuelled up, stopping to ask locals if we thought we were lost.

Leave the satnav at home, go out and have an adventure...

Adventure is just what I'm looking for, but my plan is to use a satnav to create one. I remember those days too, but I must have misplaced my rose tinted specs, because I remember them very differently. Perhaps it's just the difference of being in a car or on a bike, because none of those bits you mentoned contributed anything positive to any of my journeys.

However, I'm a firm believer that it takes some form of adversity to make an experience truly memorable. Just not so much that it's miserable. Personally, I'd rather that adversity didn't arise from problems linked with communications, navigation or poor planning. There'll be plenty of other crap with the potential to go wrong though. I mean, 2 weeks touring Scotland with a tent and a bike. How could it not.

Birky_41 said:

My bike has a USB install kit behind the dash which I do but failing this they are cheap as chips for a wing wong special on fleabay then run direct to battery with a on / off switch

I like the sound of your set-up. I saw these USB kits prior to posting, but the price alone was inspiring no confidence whatsoever. How would these fair in the absence of a fairing and during heavy rain? Also, how severe are the penalties for forgetting to switch the thing off, because that is absolutely something I will do, probably every time.

The Optimate ones look good and prevent the battery from completely discharging if left connected, but I can't seem to find a twin USB type. Again though, my assumption is that these ports won't like water, and will need to be kept in a bag away from any.

[boxedin]

A slight deviation from your request and I don't know your budget etc. But for something simple, waterproof, reliable etc.
A Garmin Zumo in the mount wired to the battery does exactly what you want.

Music playback over bluetooth too.

I used a 550 and 660 over 10000s of miles all over Europe.

Great for those last few miles when you're dog-tired getting to the destination. Also for getting you back on track after detouring up a road, mountain pass ( or unmade roads in forests ) you like the look of but have no idea where you've ended up an hour later in another country :-)

[Berz]

I have one of these battery connectors with the SAE end of it poking out the side of the fairings permanently.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Battery-Tender-SAE-DC-P...

Then when needed I run one of these from the SAE connector to inside my tankbag.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01H53QE8G/

Then I use my normal phone charger cable to go from the tankbag to my phone in a mount on the handlebars. If it's going to rain, I put my phone in a sandwich bag.

If I was doing it properly I would put it through a switched live so the USB adapter doesn't drain the battery, but it spends most of it's time disconnected from the SAE so it doesn't drain anyway.

Edit

That SAE battery I linked doesn't have a waterproof hood to cover the contacts so maybe avoid that one

Edited by Berz on Thursday 21st March 12:19

[CrankyCraig]

Berz said:

I have one of these battery connectors with the SAE end of it poking out the side of the fairings permanently.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Battery-Tender-SAE-DC-P...

Then when needed I run one of these from the SAE connector to inside my tankbag.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01H53QE8G/

Then I use my normal phone charger cable to go from the tankbag to my phone in a mount on the handlebars. If it's going to rain, I put my phone in a sandwich bag.

If I was doing it properly I would put it through a switched live so the USB adapter doesn't drain the battery, but it spends most of it's time disconnected from the SAE so it doesn't drain anyway.

Edit

That SAE battery I linked doesn't have a waterproof hood to cover the contacts so maybe avoid that one

Edited by Berz on Thursday 21st March 12:19

I've gone with this, minus the handlebar mount for the time being, though I particularly like the idea of a sandwich bag as a waterproof cover. That's genius.

If I was using the bike more frequently, I'd without a doubt go the Satnav route, but for the infrequent use it'll get and the cost of it, it's hard to justify over a smart phone.

Thanks to all who contributed.