HarleyTechTalk

Just lookin into a GPS and would like to know which ones are good. Just a decent one is fine as I don't need the top of the line. TIA, RD

I really like my garmin zumo 550, but that is one of the more expensive one.
I use it in the truck and on the bike.
I bought my son a garmin nuvi 200 for his truck and think its a nice unit- basic but nice
pick it up for $100 back at  Xmas time. well worth what I paid for it

I test things like this for a living. Garmin is arguably the best, but the motorcycle specific Garmins are big $$$. The Zumo 550 is very good, the Zumo 660 looks like it will be even better, but it has software issues they're still sorting out. (It just came out end of April)
I'm still using a 5 year old Garmin 2610 on my bike, and it's been going strong. Just now the touch screen is starting to act up a bit. (it was $900.00 - 5 years ago) Lots of folks are happy with TomTom, (more reasonable) and some use a non-bike GPS and just be careful not to get it wet, etc. New models can communicate via Bluetooth, and can interact with your cell phone, and also perform MP3 playback. If you have a Bluetooth communication headset, it will all work without wires.  I like GPS just for the info; speed, altitude, compass, etc... But when the fuel light comes on, it can tell you where the closest gas is too... sometimes it's behind you, as I found out once. Handy for finding hotels, campgrounds, etc. On the other hand, I seldom use it for route planning, because I never really plan where I'm going to end up each day.

Sometimes you can find used/refurbs on eBay for reasonable money. Whatever you choose, make sure it uses a memory card (solid state) and not a hard drive. The hard drive models suffer early failures with the vibration. Good luck with your shopping.

Garry

Great info  I'm actually looking to use it in my pickup and just use a map when touring on the RK. I do have a bluetooth unit but really don't use it. I run cross country in the pickup and thought a GPS would be nice to have.

For a regular vehicle, I like the Garmin Nuvi's. 

Garry

Gary... how do you think a nuvi 260 would do on a bike... vibration-wise... i know i cant get it wet
thanks  mtrbike

Garmin Zumo...They are made specifically for motorcycles...Waterproof and buttons you can use with gloves...I never go anywhere without it...

mtrbike, The Nuvi's are good pieces, but not as rugged as the Zumo. Also, they don't tolerate really high heat, like sitting in direct sunlight as well. It would probably be okay for occasional bike use, but the Zumo is a better choice for a bike piece. I have a friend who tried a Nuvi on his ST1300 but had issues with it because it accidentally got wet. I have not tried one personally, maybe someone else here has, and can give you better info.

Garry

Still havent replaced my Garmin Quest.  Its old, but never any problems.  I use it on the bike, in the car and in the boat.  Small screen tho, and getting harder to see for my old tired eyes.  I will upgrade some day, but only because I need a larger screen.

Quests can be picked up for under 200.00 on eBay, with all accessories.

Garry gave great info, too.

menace

Quote from: Reddog74usa on July 07, 2009, 02:51:28 PM
Just lookin into a GPS and would like to know which ones are good. Just a decent one is fine as I don't need the top of the line. TIA, RD

I bought a Garmin 2720 off Ebay six months ago for $112 shipped. Added a mount and motocycle hookups for maybe $80 more. Great GPS for $200. I looked on Ebay and it appears they have pretty much been sold out as there is nothing but used 2720's for more money now!

I have a Garmin Street Pilot c530 which I use on my bike and car. I works great and no problems. I just ordered a Garmin Nuvi 265WT GPS-4.3" Touch Screen, Text to Speech, and Bluetooth. $232 from TigerDirect.com. They also have other units new and refurbished.
   Bigs

I'm with Dennis on this one. I have the H-D Quest unit with the fairing mount. I don't want any more things hangiong on my handle bars. It's nice and clean. I have the car mount also and it has a 20 hour backup battery so you can take it off the bike if you need to.
If I was to buy a gps unit now, I would buy the bottom of the line Zumo. I don't need the mp3 player or blue tooth.

Garry...

have you heard anything or tested the Nuvi 1490T.  It is due out end of this month and I will most likely pick one up.  It has the biggest screen around and can have 10 points put in which I need for work.  It will not be going on the bike but in my cage.


Thanks

What model would be the low end Zumo and whats a medium price?

NETacoma, Sorry, I have not seen the 1490T in person.

Reddog, GPS units can vary widely in price. Motorcycle specific GPS units are generally the most expensive choices. You can get a really decent non-motorcycle unit for 200 bucks. If you buy a solid state memory type, and most are these days, and you are careful to not get it wet, and don't leave it in the direct sunlight for hours on end, a car GPS works fine.

The lowest priced Zumo is the new 660. It retails at $799, but a savvy shopper can find them online for $625. The Zumo 550 was the first motorcycle specific Garmin unit, and sells for a bit more than the 660, and it's soon to be discontinued. The 660 just got a firmware update that solved some, but not all of the software issues. Most of the problems are in the bluetooth connectivity and in recalculating routes saved to an additional memory card, and are generally aggravating for intensive users. Garmin is usually pretty good about fixing this kind of stuff, but I expect it will be Christmas before it's 99% done.

I would also expect to see a lower priced M/C unit come out next year.

Garry

I am waiting for my discontinued HD Gps to come from St. Pauls HD in Minn.
It is brand new in the box and has the baby built in 115mbs of ram.
Dont get me wrong technology is great but really, is blue tooth and picture veiwer
really a need on a motorcycle?
Next thing we will see, are the mini dvds and laptop comupters built into the dash of our motorcycles.
Cant wait to hook it up and go explore some raods here in BC and see if I can get lost.
Lots of good info here on what works and for who.
Thanks All,
Rob

I've seen Garmin Zumo 450 for under $500 - it is basically a 550 without bluetooth and mp3 player.

Garmin Motorcycle Products...

https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=135&ra=true

I've been using a Garmin Nuvi 255W on my bike w/o any issues.

I have used a Magellan Roadmate 2200T for more than three years now on the bike and in the car.  Refurbished or new, they are one of the lower priced ones available that are waterproof, accurate and fairly easy to program & use, plus both oem and aftermarket motorcycle handlebar mounts are available for the 2200T.  I have had mine in the rain a couple of times, although I usually cover it up with a plastic bag as soon as possible in a heavy rain just to make myself feel better.  So far I've had zero problems.  Ebay usually has a few for sale from reliable sellers.  You can buy 3 or 4 of the Roadmate 2200T's for the price of one Garmin ZUMO or TomTom that are supposedly specially made for motorcycles.
dj

I've got a Tom Tom or is it lost lost ? Rider V2 wish I'd paid the extra for a Garmin. My Tom tom died in Hamburg two weeks ago, lucky one of the other with me had a GPS to find our way home. Took me most of a day to get it working again with several e mails from Tom tom

I think Garmin makes a great product. I've been using my 2720 for along time now.  I paid close to 1000 dollars for it. And I don't regret it at all. I'm waiting for the bugs to get worked out of the zumo 660. I'll probably pick it up some time this coming fall or winter.

Stay away from Mio there lodgic is bad. Im not sure what works good in a rural area.

I have owned two garmins for the bike. I have the Quest 2 and the zumo 550. Down and dirty I like the quest 2 better but like Dennis I don't see as well as i use too. I was gonna buy the zumo 660 but they were new and had some issues. The quest to me has a better time to turn on it, meaning if you don't have head phones on and you look at the screen it seems that you can see the up coming turn sooner. Also the quest you don't have to zoom in as far to see your weigh points. But I have not had the zumo 550 that long only a couple of months. But I am beginning to get use to it and that takes a little time. But I think once I have it down, I will like the 550 as much if not more than the quest. I have bought some smokin buds ear phones and started loading mp3's. I have never had road music before ,for a long trip and I will check that out next month. I got the 550 soaked on the last trip and it worked fine in the rain.
The 550 has a touch screen and the quest does not you have to move around with the keys. The best part about either unit is map source. You can sit home all winter in lock down in a snow storm and plan routes that you are gonna carve up come spring. Plotting routes for trips is great you can pick and choose the roads you want and just down load it to either GPS unit. In a nut shell for navigation the quest wil get the job done but the 550 has more bells and whistles . If you dont want the Mp3s and or Xm and weather the 450 would be a good choice. I wanted some tunes so I went with the 550 for the road king. Hope this helped.
Some good info here     http://www.zumoforums.com/

Garmin 2610, 6 years and still going strong!