Pimping The Road King Classic

I am heading back to the UK in May to pick up the Road King Classic and bring it back to Almerimar. Apart from the fact that I miss it, Sands and I want to use it as our main mode of transport rather than the Jeep. Part because the Jeep is so old and consumes so much fuel (think green, think skint!!!), part because it is just so much more fun to use the Harley than a car!

I am also planning to do some more work with the Long Way Round Andalucia this year with some road tours that we are setting up, so it will be a great opportunity to earn some money and combine the pleasure of the Road King Classic with the pleasure of taking Photos and Videos ….. a pretty good scenari to me; sun, Harley, Photos, Video, Mac’s, income!!!

All of which is a reason excuse to pimp the Road King Classic a bit with some technology I reckon!

Fisrt up will be a Sat Nav. Am going with the Garmin Zumo 550 as it has been designed specifically for bikers with the buttons on the left (right hand required to operate the throttle at all times on a bike ….. well not true on the Road King Cassic as it has cruise control), and Harley themselves do a branded one NOT that I will paying extra for that ‘honour’ thank you very much. I was also very impressed with Ben Sinclair’s excellent article on how to get Garmin working with your Mac, bith with and without Mapsource. As my partners in this venture use Mapsource on a PC and we want to be able to uplaod routes direct to clients GPS systems this is pretty vital for me. The Zumo has a good mounting for the Road King Classic, and will work with a bluetooth headset which may be useful. I need to figure out the power supply though (see below)

Second, I want to figure out how to mount the iPhone. As with the Zumo power will be an issue and I am hoping that I can create something that will enable me to use the Crystal Jacket. I plan to do some tweeting, Qik video, 12 secondsTV from the Road King, and of course hooking it up to the intercom will allow me to listen to some music as well. I think a combination of the clasp on the back of the Crystal Jacket and some tie wraps should do the trick!!!

Finally I am interested to see if I can fashion a mount for the JVC Everio GZ-MG130 as we will be offering the clients a DVD and Photo package of their trip. I haven’t even started to figure that one out yet though, so any sugegstions much appreciated!

As for the power then I reckon I have two challenges. I need to get power to the Zumo 550 and the iPhone, so a double cigarette lighter socket will probably be the best. Hook that up to the battery, and then can plug both devices in directy. I am also thinking of running a direct feed off the battery attached to a multi socket which I will fasten into one of the saddle bags so I can charge items up when riding.

Any thoughts, suggestions, ideas please give me a shout!