"Which GPS Do I Buy" Thread Fest - Ask your question/Find your answer HERE!

I owned and had an extremely bad experience with a Tomtom Rider.

You can read my rant here: [thread=2875055]My tomtom experience.[/thread]

I'm now looking at buying a Garmin Zumo.

Garmin is introducing the nuvi 500/550 this week as ruggedized, waterproof, motorcycle capable units, but keep in mind that they do NOT have speech-to-text or Bluetooth. Apparently they are being advertised as a "crossover" unit.

Pricing is at $500 for both (the 500 has topo maps included). I expect that the pricing of the Zumos isn't going to drop much further anytime soon.

http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-550-Portable-Crossover-Navigator/dp/B001CT009O/

I am looking to invest in a zumo 550. If you have one, please give me your opinion as to it's performance as a GPS and the quality of the XM radio. Is it worth the price?, is there a new model coming? what other accesories do I need?

I used to have the zumo550 until i let my wife use it. She didnt seem to think there was a problem leaving it in the car overnight. The guy that stole it from her car didnt see a problem in it either.Anyway, it was an excellent GPS and the XM was great. The XM will lose reception in the heavy tree covered mtns, etc.. but for the msot part it was excellent. I dont have the money for a new zumo and by the time you add up the money for a zumo and xm antenna you have some major bank invested. So, being cheap I bid on and won a fctory refurbished 2730 that came with the new maps, a one year warranty, and the gxm 30 antenna puck. My price was 265 dollars. Not bad since its almsot the price of the antenna by itself. So far after palying it I actually like some things about this unit over the zumo. If you dont need bluetooth or a battery backup them yu may want to look into it.

Hi,

It's fine as a GPS,does not handle tracks as well as some other Garmin models,that may or may not be an issue depending on the amout of offroad you do.Have not switched my XM to the Zumo,so can't help there.

I got mine at the recent BestBuy selloff for $399,it was worth that price!

Most online stores sell for around $650-700,beware of online sales less than $600,they are often bait and switch shops that want you to spend more on accessory packages,extended warrantees,etc.,otherwise they really delay or cancel your order.
Check www.resellerratings.com

The 550 is complete,includes RAM MC and car mounts,all wiring,cables.If you want XM,then you need the GXM30 antenna which can be found for $150 used or up to $250 new.

www.zumoforums.com is a great resource,spend some time there.

"Layin down tracks" is the GPS forum on this site,go there for all the GPS info you need.
Let's save GSpot for GS bike info.

JR356

Actually with the latest update the Zumo550 is much quicker with the track transition. I have the XM antenna as well and run bluetooth from my phone and helmet through it. The XM option however forces you to use headphones unless you do a full receiver/bluetooth rigging.:huh

This is a bit of a concern, I've been thinking of upgrading (?) to a zumo from my modest tomtom, which I stick into my mapcase in the tankbag for the last hour or so of my journey (on battery) to get to my destination in a city or wherever.
I've recently got back from a tour through france and northern italy and it performed flawlessly. Now after reading this thread i'm thinking, is the garmin an upgrade?... anyone help me by pointing out the advantages please

Your question is actualy off topic, so I keep it short:

It's no concern. Most people have no problems. My goal here is to make a proper description what triggers this bug. It seems to be a specific combination of maps and locations..

Garmin list no specs or info on tracking capabilities, so if they do not do tracks they SUCK. just another in a zillion other worthless street units out there.

I recently bought a KTM 990 and will head off for a trip around Australia

Thought it would be handy to have a GPS fitted to the bike... especially for the outback parts.
Has anyone here experience here what suits best for a longer trip? Don't want to spend a fortune for a high end GPS receiver I have to sleep on to avoid it gets stolen but should fit on the bike and do the job.
Any recommendations about GPS receivers and mounting hardware very much appreciated. Thanks

Swissbloke -

I have a Garmin 60CXs and am using a Touratech GPS mount that bolts upto the front headlight subframe.

Here is the linky for Touratech picture here in the US:
http://www.touratech-usa.com/shop/show.lasso?sku=040-0662&-session=touratech:844F0E0F13ae011B61lOG41174B1

I have hard wired the powercable into ACC1 connector behind the headlight for constant power.

Check the "Laying Down Tracks" forum for more ideas.

Hope this helps-

+1 for the Garmin 60CXs

Takes mud, rain, and knocks with no problem.

GARMIN 60CX in excellent condition (includes)

+ TOPO CANADA & USA
+ METROGUIDE NORTH AMERICA
+ METROGUIDE EUROPE
+ CD with 221 ridable tracks in Canada (most of which are in Ontario)
+ 2g Micro SD card
+ Carrying cradle
+ Original box + manual

+ as cheesy as it may sound - share a couple of beers and spend a few hours to bring you up to speed on how to best make use of your GPS.

Among the many great features.... this unit has WAAS (high sensitivity reception) + autorouting (also perfect for using it in your car)


$350 firm


Michael
416-704-7280
Mlobodzinski@paradigmcap.com

Another vote for the Garmin 60 CSx, plus a I know of 2 off road tour comapnys that have tried different models and they now use the 60.

Mine is mounted in a RAM mount, easy to remove so I don't leave the unit on the bike.

I would suggest hard wiring the GPS in rather than just relying on the batteries as they don't last too long and vibration off road can turn the GPS ff if just on battery power once the unit has done a few miles and been vibrated around. No such problem when hard wired.

I recently tried both the Garmin Colorado 300 and the new Oregon 400t, although the Oregon has the touch screen and is easier to navigate, the touch screen is hard to read and washed out with different lighting conditions. So I have switched back to the Colorado 300.

The Colorado 300 has all of the best features and is easy to navigate. It also capable of receiving the 1:24,000 TOPO series maps by Garmin. The best thing is you don’t have to spend hundreds of dollars for a GPS mount. Garmin sells at $10.00 handle bar mounts the fits perfectly between the center of the bars. Ill get some picks posted soon.

A link to that mount would be appreciated My ADV. I bought the Colorado 400T and am enjoying it so far.

Here it is... https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=11411

Just ordered one.Thanks

I don't know if this should be a new thread or not.. but has anyone directly compared the Zumo 550 with the GPSMap 478? They're within $100 of each other it seems. The Zumo will pronounce street names and has bluetooth (pronouncing street names may be nice once I get a Starcom1, but no value at this moment). GPSMap 478 has a waaaaay better screen... and customizable fields on the screen. I loved that feature in my GPS V. Not to mention more tracks/routes and such. Right now, the 478 is looking like a winner. Am I missing anything?