Use a bicycle Garmin on a Motorcycle anyone?

[stromer04]

So I am into both motorcycling and bicycling, (mountain and road) And I all I have is an older GPS 60CS that works all right but is very limited compared to the newer units.

I am looking at a unit like this Garmin Edge 605 https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=160&pID=10884
and wondering how that would work as a motorcycle unit as well as bike. It has a great sunlight readable screen, gives turn by turn, can get an auto power cord for it, it has a card slot for additional maps, waterproof, small,

I wonder if anyone else is doing it.>??

[250senuf]

A few years ago I had a Garmin LEGEND on my KLR250 using the bicycle mount. The mount held up fine. Did a fair bit of dirt including some bike naps. No jumps or all out MX but some fairly rough double track in the mix.

[DewNmoon]

Originally Posted by stromer04

So I am into both motorcycling and bicycling, (mountain and road) And I all I have is an older GPS 60CS that works all right but is very limited compared to the newer units.

I am looking at a unit like this Garmin Edge 605 https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=160&pID=10884
and wondering how that would work as a motorcycle unit as well as bike. It has a great sunlight readable screen, gives turn by turn, can get an auto power cord for it, it has a card slot for additional maps, waterproof, small,

I wonder if anyone else is doing it.>??

I have a Garmin Nuvi 500 that I use on MC car and MTB. On bike with a mount like this

[DRTBYK]

Originally Posted by stromer04

........ waterproof, small,

I wonder if anyone else is doing it.>??

When you plug in the Automotive Power Adapter you make those units susceptible to water damage. There's a reason for that rubberized flat over the miniUSB port.

[1B1M5W0]

Originally Posted by DewNmoon

I have a Garmin Nuvi 500 that I use on MC car and MTB. On bike with a mount like this

DewNmoon, who makes that GPS mount for the Nuvi ???? I LIKE it.

[DewNmoon]

Originally Posted by 1B1M5W0

DewNmoon, who makes that GPS mount for the Nuvi ???? I LIKE it.

Not sure, they have um on Amazon though. Inexpensive and easy to put on bike Hbars

http://www.amazon.com/CCity-Motorcyc...5&sr=8-3-spell

http://www.amazon.com/ChargerCity-Mo...5&sr=8-1-spell


RAM mount also has the usual clamp on mounts also with a sturdy cradle

[SpeedyR]

I talked to a guy at Garmin a while ago about a smaller GPS for my KTM 450. I have a 276C which is the bomb but it's big for dual sport use on the KTM.

he recommended the Edge series as that's what he rode with on his KTM. I do a little mountain biking so it seemed like it would be a great unit for both activities..

it'll be my next GPS.

[bodhizafa]

I have a Garmin edge 705 on my F8GS. Works ok, screen is pretty small. Good battery life.

I got it mainly for mountain biking. I would like to get something with a bigger screen in the future.

[mmcander]

Which is the best - I bought an Oregon and topo maps and it doesn't work at all.... too focused on hiking (if you have any suggestions - please let me know . So in my research it seems like it is either a Garmin 60 or 76 series.

I want to be able to plot before I hit the trails on the topo map so I can ride in the national forest without getting lost...thank you for any suggestions

[Emmbeedee]

Originally Posted by mmcander

Which is the best - I bought an Oregon and topo maps and it doesn't work at all.... too focused on hiking (if you have any suggestions - please let me know . So in my research it seems like it is either a Garmin 60 or 76 series.

I want to be able to plot before I hit the trails on the topo map so I can ride in the national forest without getting lost...thank you for any suggestions

If you found the Oregon unsuitable, you're sure to do the same with a 60/76.

But I'm curious why you felt that way? My Oregon is the best gps I've ever owned. Not perfect, but pretty close to.

[John92]

You might just want to throw some maps on there besides the topo. In normal situations, I find the street style maps to be fine. I use City Navigator 2011 for setting up because it's the newest map but I have Roads & Rec, Topo 2008, and a couple freebies. I haven't decided whether I need the TOPO 100K or TOPO 24K. I really like the BirdsEye Imagery option. It's worth the cash in my opinion. You could get all the pics you needed in your first year if you wanted to. It's cool to use that with City Nav or Roads & Rec.

[The Crow]

Originally Posted by bodhizafa

I have a Garmin edge 705 on my F8GS. Works ok, screen is pretty small. Good battery life.

I got it mainly for mountain biking. I would like to get something with a bigger screen in the future.

How's this working out for you? Thinking of going the same route.

[bodhizafa]

Originally Posted by The Crow

How's this working out for you? Thinking of going the same route.

Its ok. Not great. The screen is just too small, it was a pain in the ass to really use it on the Kokopelli, especially in the sun. I already had it (I switch it between my tri bike, road bike and mt bikes, which makes it a good deal for that use) but if I was getting something just for my dual sport I would definitely go another direction. I'm probably going to pick up a GPS with a larger screen just for the motorbike in the near future. Really wish there was a reasonably priced 60csx like GPS with the nuvi 550 screen.

[rschulte]

I have a Garmin 305 mounted on my KTM. Garmin's bicycle mount works fine mounted to the KTM handlebar. It goes on and off with two zip ties.

[jparman]

If you're a cyclist the edge product is the way to go - (depending on location) unless you intend on maintaining a dedicated cycling computer for speed/distance on your bike.
I have an Oregon that I use (and love) but it doesn't do some things that make a pretty big difference in my book. They may be of little concern depending on your usage.

1. Speed seems to be relatively accurate on road bike - mtb, not so much. In Wisconsin, accuracy (speed/distance, not location) due to foliage/sky availability was terrible and off by as much as 20% on occasions. In the foothills of Co. accuracy was improved but not much. Koko and Moab area mtb, of course accuracy had improved dramatically due to sky availability. (as cross checked against an edge and cycling computer)

2. Distance was, is and continues to be horrendous - especially while hiking. My dog and I went on an unplanned hike, I wanted to get in 6 miles so I planned on a 3 mile out and back. Well, I get to three miles and I am friggen exhausted... we turn around. I feel like a complete DB, I can't believe we've only got in 3 miles. 3 miles back is going to be tough. We get back to the car... it is 4:00pm, I left at 10 am. We've been gone 6 hours. 6 miles, 1 an hour? That is my speed with a 40 lb. pack on... wow. I ski'd all winter long, how can I be this out of shape. I upload to google earth/garmin connect and distance has been corrected to 12 miles.

3. Oh, and it wasn't 400ft of climbing either. After importing the data Garmin connect corrected it to 1980ft.

Outside of those niggles I can't complain too much because...

1. It can do cadence and heartrate.
2. I can use it in my car, on my motorcycle and any one of my 5 bikes, or while hiking, snowshoeing, backpacking, etc. while taking part in these activities I've always known where I was.
a. I went up to the Porcupine Mountains to do some backpacking. Before I left I downloaded a .PDF of the park map, imported it into google earth, overlayed it on the park, rotated, adjusted, etc. and uploaded into the unit. Whammo! I now have all the park features on my GPS. Campsites, bear poles, waterfalls are within 20ft. of where the map led me to believe (this will vary based on the accuracy of source map as well as how much time you're willing to put into it.
3. On the fly, field replaceable batteries for extra-vehicular activities.
4. While I wasn't stoked on buying the map pack so I could get turn by turn - it has increased the value of the product significantly.
5. "element resistant"
6. I had another Garmin unit that sucked - in northern Wisconsin it was telling me frequently that I was going west when I was in fact going east. It told me I went in a circle when I traveled in a straight line. I have never had problems like that w/ the Oregon, in fact I was pretty far up north in backwoods Wisconsin hunting on a very overcast day in some thick thick pine and accuracy, that I noticed, was no worse than 18ft during the day.
7. Non-garmin branded Topo maps are available for free download online.

Edge products can use a wheel sensor for speed/distance correction, but to my knowledge don't have field replaceable batteries (which was a deal breaker for me) which will be huge for some and report on more relevant data when it comes to activities.

My unit (oregon 450) would be AMAZING if it had the ability to use a wheel sensor, could monitor temperature/change in temp, had increased accuracy over distance, increased HR reporting and was bluetooth and ANT+ (for speed and watts) compatible. If it had that, I would not be left wanting.

Note that the Oregon isn't friendly to Cadence/HRM information and downloads have to be identified via the "upload a file" option or data will be stripped from file and be unavailable.
When it comes to HR data, Oregon in-unit will only display current heart rate. Additional info? a computer is required. This means that if you do zone training, want to see any kind of calorie usage, see max HR, etc. you have to view post-event. Easy enough for Garmin to program - but then you wouldn't "need" to buy two.