BMW’s liquid-cooled R 1200 RT and R 1250 RT models are available with a factory installed GPS mount ideally positioned at the top of the instrument panel. To install your BMW Navigator 4, 5 or 6 GPS, you just push it in place…click. To remove it, you push a release button on the side of the binnacle. But that convenient push-to-release feature also puts your GPS at risk for a quick crime of opportunity by a passing scofflaw. Of course, you can just take your GPS with you or lock it in a pannier whenever you leave the bike unattended, but that’s a hassle, especially when touring.
Your humble scribe is not the only RT rider who’s wondered why BMW didn’t include some way to lock the GPS in place, especially on RT’s like mine equipped with central locking that secures both panniers, both fairing pockets and the top case, by pressing a button on the remote or the handlebars. Now Wunderlich offers the Navigator Lock for 2014 and newer RT’s. It’s a mechanism powered by a servomotor that disables the navigator release mechanism when you activate the bike’s central lock system. The servomotor attaches neatly out of sight, beneath the bike’s nosepiece, and plug-and-play electrical connections piggyback off the actuator for a fairing compartment lock. Accessing the space to install the unit and make the connections is a straightforward job following the supplied instructions. Here are a few observations for the installation:
After removing the windscreen and nose piece, the frame of the Navigator Lock slots in behind the GPS mount and, with a little coaxing, over two plastic nibs on the nose piece. It’s not going anywhere. The actuator aligns with an opening and, once deployed by engaging the central lock system, mechanically disables the GPS release mechanism. The right audio speaker gets in the way of wire routing, so remove the grill and the speaker itself, then route the lock’s power cord down through the opening.
To source power and the bike’s central locking system, the side panel must come off. If you haven’t removed the side panel before, look up the procedure in your owner’s manual. Do it wrong and you may snap off the side panel’s fragile mounting tabs. After removing the screws from the panel’s inner side, gently pull the panel outward until the male pins pull out from the female rubber mounts — and no farther. Next, gently push the panel in a 10 o’clock direction (looking at the bike from the right side) to separate the tabs from their slots on the adjoining panel. When routing the lock’s power cord down the side, don’t be confused by the bars in the drawing, which are Wunderlich tip-over protection.
Disconnect the OEM plug as shown, then insert the two connectors into the two mating plugs from the Wunderlich wire harness. In the USA, top-of-the-line RT’s with central locking typically also have Sirius satellite radio. The satellite antenna must be removed from its mounting bracket and placed on the frame of the Wunderlich lock on a pre-mounted adhesive pad. I found an old set of feeler gauges were rigid enough to cut through the adhesive and flexible enough to not damage the antenna. You’ll have to remove the OEM antenna bracket, as the Navigator Lock needs to occupy that space. This step wasn’t in the supplied instructions, but it became clear during reassembly that the bracket had to go. Pull up at either end and wiggle it out. Peel off the release paper to expose the new adhesive on the Wunderlich frame and stick on the antenna. Test the Navigator Lock to confirm it works, then button everything back together.
The Wunderlich Navigator Lock works as described, disabling/enabling the RT’s GPS release mechanism using the bike’s central locking feature. For $219.95 and a couple hours in installation time, you get a handy and worthwhile feature that BMW should have provided in the first place.
For more information call (828) 489-3747 or visit wunderlichamerica.com.
