Garmin drops in the new "Curvy Roads" option...
- Thread starter Top_Speed1
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Geezer
Parsimonious Curmudgeon
That is pretty cool.
RossKean
Well-known member
I wonder if there is any chance that Garmin will do a software update for the 6xx Zumo's out there. I've often wondered why this was not a standard option for a MC GPS.
Just Krusen
Well-known member
Aasland
Depleted
Does the "curvy roads" option work well?
Just Krusen
Well-known member
Hard to tell in South Florida.
But i was having it create routes in N. Carolina and it was picking much better routes than the faster or shorter modes. In some cases it was picking routes that I would have chosen. That seems pretty good to me because I only plan the twistiest routes available. I'll give it a good workout in April.
bigjohnsd
2021 BMW R1250GSA
Would be interesting to see a TomTom Garmin Curvey Road Shootout
Just Krusen
Well-known member
TomTom sucks. Sent it back after using using it for a week. That's why I have a 390 now.
Tomtom Rider Revue
I just jumped ship. After 7 years and 175,000 with my Garmin Zumo 550 I decided to give the new Tomtom Rider a try. The TTR like the Zumo series is a motorcycle specific GPS. And like the Zumo it comes with everything you need to mount it to your motorcycle. Also like the Zumo the TTR is waterproof so there is no need for baggies or putting the unit away when the rains threaten. I liked my Zumo 550 but it's on death row and I did not want to send it back to Garmin again for the 3rd time. Garmin has been great with the repairs in the past with quick and free service. I don't think they had my unit for more than a week either time. I'm looking forward to trying out the new Rider. At the price $349. (half of the new Zumo 390LM) it has a lot of features, many seem better than what Garmin offers at this time. We'll see.
Fast forward. I sent my TTR back a few days ago after giving it a 6 day trial. Can't beat the no cost 30 day trial from The Home Shopping Network.
I feel that I spent more than enough time trying to learn the new GPS but I could not get past some of it’s shortcomings. Hell the TTR has a compass that has east and west wrong. The processor is much slower than any Garmin I have ever used and I've had many models since 1990 when I started using them on my boat. The worst thing was that it could not even follow the simple route I programmed for Saturday’s ride to Honda of Winter Haven. In the middle of the ride I could not get it to finish the route for the last 50 miles. It kept sending me back to the route stating point no matter what I told it. Coming from a Garmin I found the menu structure to complicated. Way too many steps just to load a route. I think it was 10 button pushes to load the route and another 5 just to cancel it. While following the route I created (before it caused a problem) I hit the gas station quick link button and TTR locked up and shut the unit off. I restarted and tried again only to get the same results. At the gas station I tried it again and it worked fine, but who cares I'm already here. At lunch we were only 3 miles from our destination but no matter what I did the TTR took me back to the start of the route (Ft Myers) and then back to where I was, 190 miles. Good thing I'm not stupid enough to follow it. Just backing out of the menu structure was a pain. Garmin uses one back button, and if you hold it in it will back all the way out to the main menu. TTR has you using several different buttons and a whole bunch of tapping to do the same thing. On the way home I just hit the home button and the route worked OK. It's idea of the fastest way home and mine were slightly different but nothing worth griping about. I did like the fact that roads were named with both route number and name. I never liked Garmin's using name only for major routes. The TTR has a winding road routing feature that seemed to pick some interesting routes. The simulations I ran at home were actually similar to routes I would have chosen, especially the ones in the mountains. That was pretty cool. It also is Bluetooth only which is of no value to me. But, Garmin is going the same route on some of its new models now also. I don’t listen to my GPS as I find it annoying so none of that matters to me and I did not test it.
I am very picky about the GPS units I use on my bikes. The Tomtom Rider just did not make the cut for me. I would not recommend this unit if you were in the market. Better to bite the bullet and get a Zumo 660 or 390. Or get the cheaper Nuvi line with a supply of baggies for when it rains. Stay tuned next month to see what route I decided to take next.
Ed “Just Kruse’n”
Tomtom Rider Revue
I just jumped ship. After 7 years and 175,000 with my Garmin Zumo 550 I decided to give the new Tomtom Rider a try. The TTR like the Zumo series is a motorcycle specific GPS. And like the Zumo it comes with everything you need to mount it to your motorcycle. Also like the Zumo the TTR is waterproof so there is no need for baggies or putting the unit away when the rains threaten. I liked my Zumo 550 but it's on death row and I did not want to send it back to Garmin again for the 3rd time. Garmin has been great with the repairs in the past with quick and free service. I don't think they had my unit for more than a week either time. I'm looking forward to trying out the new Rider. At the price $349. (half of the new Zumo 390LM) it has a lot of features, many seem better than what Garmin offers at this time. We'll see.
Fast forward. I sent my TTR back a few days ago after giving it a 6 day trial. Can't beat the no cost 30 day trial from The Home Shopping Network.
I feel that I spent more than enough time trying to learn the new GPS but I could not get past some of it’s shortcomings. Hell the TTR has a compass that has east and west wrong. The processor is much slower than any Garmin I have ever used and I've had many models since 1990 when I started using them on my boat. The worst thing was that it could not even follow the simple route I programmed for Saturday’s ride to Honda of Winter Haven. In the middle of the ride I could not get it to finish the route for the last 50 miles. It kept sending me back to the route stating point no matter what I told it. Coming from a Garmin I found the menu structure to complicated. Way too many steps just to load a route. I think it was 10 button pushes to load the route and another 5 just to cancel it. While following the route I created (before it caused a problem) I hit the gas station quick link button and TTR locked up and shut the unit off. I restarted and tried again only to get the same results. At the gas station I tried it again and it worked fine, but who cares I'm already here. At lunch we were only 3 miles from our destination but no matter what I did the TTR took me back to the start of the route (Ft Myers) and then back to where I was, 190 miles. Good thing I'm not stupid enough to follow it. Just backing out of the menu structure was a pain. Garmin uses one back button, and if you hold it in it will back all the way out to the main menu. TTR has you using several different buttons and a whole bunch of tapping to do the same thing. On the way home I just hit the home button and the route worked OK. It's idea of the fastest way home and mine were slightly different but nothing worth griping about. I did like the fact that roads were named with both route number and name. I never liked Garmin's using name only for major routes. The TTR has a winding road routing feature that seemed to pick some interesting routes. The simulations I ran at home were actually similar to routes I would have chosen, especially the ones in the mountains. That was pretty cool. It also is Bluetooth only which is of no value to me. But, Garmin is going the same route on some of its new models now also. I don’t listen to my GPS as I find it annoying so none of that matters to me and I did not test it.
I am very picky about the GPS units I use on my bikes. The Tomtom Rider just did not make the cut for me. I would not recommend this unit if you were in the market. Better to bite the bullet and get a Zumo 660 or 390. Or get the cheaper Nuvi line with a supply of baggies for when it rains. Stay tuned next month to see what route I decided to take next.
Ed “Just Kruse’n”
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