I don't think a rider could benefit from a gps in any area more than the UP. I still think the mapping of the UP trails could use some help. Sometimes we were on marked trails that didn't even show up on any of the 3 UP maps we had with us. One look at the gps put everything in perspective and made it easy to reach our destinations. Basically we would start riding in a direction, stop periodically to look at the gps, and point our sleds in the appropriate direction.

The setup I used on the sled caused me no problems, and is the one I believe to be the best. The 12v battery I installed under the hood never came up short. The temps never rose above 15 in the days, and reached -15 in the evenings. I went 2 days without recharging the battery, and probably could have gone longer, but didn't want to take any chances. One of those days was a 12 hour, 300 mile day. I left the gps on all day, even at the pitstops, as long as I could keep an eye on the sled. If I felt unsure about the theft factor, I simply removed the gps and took it inside with us. The case I (actually, my wife) made for the gps provided more than enough warmth, since I kept the backlit option on all the time. The case retained the heat and the screen never faded. I never utilized the extra handwarmer that I brought along, just in case. The pics will show the case and the dash plug that I came up with. Art, you'll really like the battery setup on your sled.

The cover is actually an old Norelco Shaver bag, that I cut the front out of, and asked my wife to sew/glue a thick piece of clear plastic in for easy viewing and use of the buttons. The cord is the open-end cord that came with the gps, that I cut short and soldered a 4-pin mic connector to.

I installed a male mic plug on mine and my wife's sleds' dash.

Mounting the cover in the cradle this way was the easiest for removing the gps from the sled. All I have to do is unscrew the horizontal bolt and take the gps, cradle, and case inside when I wish. I cut a very small hole in the lower right corner of the case to insert the power and antenna cables.

Unfortunately, my tracking memory was used up after the first full day of riding. I have a 64mb card, but stored not only the whole UP for the sled, but also all the interstates from my home to the UP, which ended up being unnecessary. When I figure out how, I'll upload/download the tracks that I do have for anyone to use. Most of the tracks that I saved are off-trail riding, so they should be useful.

Glad you found it as valuable as I do Jim. I haven't installed the 12V battery, yet. Radio Shack has a fairly small one for $25, I just need to figure out where to put it. There's not a whole lot of spare storage under that hood with the big triple. I have a 2 qt. oil caddy, it's possible I could take one qt. out and put the battery there. But for now I rewired the cig adapter so it won't loose contact. The connector plugs right into the rectifier now. I'll see how it works out in Wawa this weekend and possibly get the battery when I get back.

Art, one other mounting option I had in the back of my mind if needed, was in the storage compartment in the rear of the seat. Since the seat's completely removeable, it is very possible to mount the battery there, as long as the battery's not too big. Would have to make sure it is VERY secure there since that part of the sled bounces more than any other, but I think it is pheasible.