I've decided on a GPS system

[majicmaker]

YIKES!! Was all of this Crap Worth it?! I'm Scared of even Thinking about GPS's Now! :assassin:

Somebody Close this thing Already!! :lol:

 

[Redfish Hunter]

Wow, you guys got awfully worked up over next to nothing! If it helps any I and my father both run the Zumo 660 and love it. There is no seperate antenna on the 660, it is built in. We also use the Cardo Scala Rider G4 headset which allows you to bluetooth the voice commands from the GPS into the headset. This is extremely handy on the FJR because there is no easy way to mount it up high on the dash in your line of sight. On my ST it is mounted front and center and I can see it easily without diverting too much attention. We use the Scala for bike to bike comm, not for music although the voice dialing phone can be helpful. The one drawback so far is that when the GPS tells you to turn, it overrides the bike to bike comm and you can't tell the other bike what you are about to do.

I agree with the old geezers about using the paper maps, I always have paper backup and seldom use the GPS as a route plotter. If there is a dirt road on the atlas, it will show up on the Garmin, even the hiking trails show up on the Garmin, it depends on how zoomed in you are.

By the way, did you actually buy the 220 already or are you still thinking? With all the fussing I got confused.

 

[garyahouse]

 

[majicmaker]

God Please!!! MAKE THEM STOP!!! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Good one Gary!! It's Funny as Hell!

 

[VTFJR13]

I have been reading up on all the GPS posts here with a keen interest. I want to get one myself. Garmin seems to be the logical choice by popularity and features. So I looked at their four motorcycle offerings. Being an engineer I always try to do an analysis first.

The Garmin Zumo 665: Read a lot of bad Juju on many different sites and on Youtube. It seems to not be fully developed yet. Plus you need to mount the antenna off like some sort of afterthough doo-dad. I am not sure I want to use my telephone or listen to XM when I ride. I wear ear plugs and want my full attention to the idiots I share the road with.

The Garmin Zumo 660: The junior Zumo 665. All the problems with less features.

So that left me to campare the Zumo 550 and Zumo 220. After reading all the product review on the global interweb I though it would be a slam-dunk decision. I was wrong.

The best choice, for me was the Zumo 220. It cost less. It had enough battery to run a full day. And it had more features.

Well PanAmerican I'm with you on the GPS thing. I have been using one for a few years now and I haven't had any voice prompts in my helmet and I have done fine. I purchase the Nuvi 220 because it is (or was)the cheapest waterproof gps that garmin sold. I think I paid $200 for it. I meets all my needs and it really is waterproof.

 

[Surly]

Seconds out! Box!

Best regards

Surly

h34r:

 

[okmac]

The deal breaker for me would be no headphone jack. I could never hear voice prompts from the unit itself and taking my eyes off the road in an unfamiliar place where I need GPSdirections equates to bad things happening!

+10

The coolest and most essential thing about a GPS on a touring bike is, having carefully plotted in the route, and being far far away from home in unfamiliar territory, that the lovely GPS bitch tells you when and where to turn. Even when it's dark and raining. No audio jack out would immediately remove a unit from consideration for me, no matter what else it might do.

To me it is the last thing I want a GPS to do. I can follow the visual queues thank you very much. Besides when I'm riding - I'm listening to what's going on around me. I don't want to hear a voice telling me which way to go.

To each his/her/its own.

Well, if you have used a GPS on a motorcycle before then I guess you know what works for you, but I tried it without listening to the voice and it was much more distracting to keep looking at the GPS that any voice commands. I also missed a lot of turns because I didn't look down at the GPS often enough.

For 42 years I have navigated my way around America with a paper map just fine. I've also got a Casio Pathfinder watch which can give me atomically accurate time, a compass, altitutde, barametric temperature and the temperature. I've got a GPS built into my car and I've muted that SOB too. When I'm traveling up WI Hyw 67 snd and looking for County Road F I don't need a voice telling me it's 2 miles, 1 mile, 1/2 mile, 100 ft, here. Seriously, maybe I'm old school about it. Just give me an arrow which way to turn.

What I want is to travel, see an interesting road, take it and know that the damn GPS will get me back home. I'm not frickin' Ferdinand Magellan tacking around the Cape of Good Hope. I can figure it out. Sometimes, I might even stop and ask directions. Meeting interesting people is part of a good ride experience too.

I'm not in that big of a hurry. I don't want people calling me on my cell phone when I'm riding. If I have to make a call, I'll pull over, park the bike and make a call. I don't want to listen to Howard Stern. NPR, FoxNews, CNN, the ball game, religious talk shows, that same rock and roll I've listened to for the last 50 years. I want solitude. It's me and the road. And this little device which can help get my tired ass home for dinner.

That's all.

Geez, I have found a brother. Lets have peace and quiet while you are riding and just pay attention to the world around you . It is beautiful, but if you are listening to a radio or someone on a phone you are not even on vacation. Shut it out, have some peace and quiet and enjoy the world as it should be.

Mac

 

[PanAmerican]

The deal breaker for me would be no headphone jack. I could never hear voice prompts from the unit itself and taking my eyes off the road in an unfamiliar place where I need GPSdirections equates to bad things happening!

+10

The coolest and most essential thing about a GPS on a touring bike is, having carefully plotted in the route, and being far far away from home in unfamiliar territory, that the lovely GPS bitch tells you when and where to turn. Even when it's dark and raining. No audio jack out would immediately remove a unit from consideration for me, no matter what else it might do.

To me it is the last thing I want a GPS to do. I can follow the visual queues thank you very much. Besides when I'm riding - I'm listening to what's going on around me. I don't want to hear a voice telling me which way to go.

To each his/her/its own.

Well, if you have used a GPS on a motorcycle before then I guess you know what works for you, but I tried it without listening to the voice and it was much more distracting to keep looking at the GPS that any voice commands. I also missed a lot of turns because I didn't look down at the GPS often enough.

For 42 years I have navigated my way around America with a paper map just fine. I've also got a Casio Pathfinder watch which can give me atomically accurate time, a compass, altitutde, barametric temperature and the temperature. I've got a GPS built into my car and I've muted that SOB too. When I'm traveling up WI Hyw 67 snd and looking for County Road F I don't need a voice telling me it's 2 miles, 1 mile, 1/2 mile, 100 ft, here. Seriously, maybe I'm old school about it. Just give me an arrow which way to turn.

What I want is to travel, see an interesting road, take it and know that the damn GPS will get me back home. I'm not frickin' Ferdinand Magellan tacking around the Cape of Good Hope. I can figure it out. Sometimes, I might even stop and ask directions. Meeting interesting people is part of a good ride experience too.

I'm not in that big of a hurry. I don't want people calling me on my cell phone when I'm riding. If I have to make a call, I'll pull over, park the bike and make a call. I don't want to listen to Howard Stern. NPR, FoxNews, CNN, the ball game, religious talk shows, that same rock and roll I've listened to for the last 50 years. I want solitude. It's me and the road. And this little device which can help get my tired ass home for dinner.

That's all.

Geez, I have found a brother. Lets have peace and quiet while you are riding and just pay attention to the world around you . It is beautiful, but if you are listening to a radio or someone on a phone you are not even on vacation. Shut it out, have some peace and quiet and enjoy the world as it should be.

Mac

Some people are afraid to be alone with their thoughts. It maybe just a case of unfamiliarity.

 

[Redfish Hunter]

A few more thoughts on your purchase decision ocurred to me. The 660 comes with a trick little weatherproof mount that you can wire directly to your battery, no cigarette lighter plug involved. It has a single release button and the unit comes off and can be tucked into a saddlebag or shirt pocket quickly, eliminating theft issues. It comes with the Ram mount to attach it to the handlebar piggybacking the clutch reservoir mount. The touchscreen is "glove friendly" and when it is used in your automobile (mount included) it automatically adjusts the sensitivity of the screen to allow ungloved fingers to control it.

I understand those of you who don't want the noise/distraction in your helmet on your ride. I fought against it myself. If you are on an all day ride with your best friend, it's nice to be able to communicate without stopping. I also use the bike for more than just play rides and the ability to answer a phone call on the go is useful. Unwelcome, but useful. The addition of the GPS makes an already great looking bike look even more sophisticated, IMO.

 

[tcfjr]

I have a Zumo 550, with XM Radio and Traffic, and it has worked well for me for over 60,000 miles.

As Fred W. mentioned earlier, in my experience voice prompting is a safety feature. If you're navigating in heavy traffic -- say rush-hour in the Bay Area in Northern California, or Seattle, or anywhere with serious traffic that you're not familiar with -- you just can't afford to glance down to your GPS to figure out where you are and when you need to turn.

I also prefer hardwired audio -- if you're doing a 1500+ mile day, most wireless solutions will not have enough charge to keep working all day and all night. I have a simple mixer that lets me listen to both the GPS and the radar detector, which works well for me.

And for those frequent times when I want a little peace and quiet, the mute button is just a tap away.

 

[Old Michael]

.

 

[TomInPA]

I agree with everyone.

But I use a Streetpilot 2820, so it's a compromise. I miss lane assist, Junction view and speed limit display, but the in-helmet management of XM music, GPS directions and phone, as well as RD and bike-to-bike via Autocom make it all good. The Zumo 200 is a worthy GPS that like most Garmin products delivers very well in some areas, while giving nothing in others. IMHO if a Garmin Nuvi 765T was waterproof, it would have been the best GPS ever sold. It had mic and audio output, all features of the Zumo 660, and cost only $224 when new.

Garmin has done almost nothing new in nearly 10 years. They just keep repackaging it, usually in less detail, and dummied down. It's a little disturbing how many people think you should buy the same GPS as they own. Your evaluation is good, and you know what you're giving up in return for what you're getting. My priorities are a bit different. I can live with that.

 

[Fred W]

It seems that some of the people responding to this thread are not very familiar with the zumo 220 as many of the comments are off the mark. They may be confusing it with the nuvi 500, which is also a waterproof, smaller format GPS. The nuvi 500 looks a lot like the zumo 220, except that it does not come with any motorcycle mounting system and also does not have the bluetooth headset output. The list price is also $100 cheaper for the nuvi.

In keeping with the comparison the OP made in post one, it would make sense to consider all of the options available:

Here's the features comparison of the entire Zumo iineup (doesn't include the nuvi 500). These zumos are all designed and intended to be used on motorcycles, and they are all IPx4 waterproof and all come with a motorcycle mounting system and can be wired to the bike. From there the features, and prices, vary.

The streetpilot 2820 is functionally equivalent to a zumo 550, but with prior generation hardware and technology. I owned one of these before I bought my 550. The biggest issue with a 2820, besides actually finding one, is that the unit has no means to expand the memory, which means that you can't load much in the way of maps, routes or music. Having an SD expansion slot in the zumos means that you can expand the total memory and load as much of that stuff as you want. The streetpilot also has no battery, which makes it a PITA out on the road. It has also been "discontinued" by Garmin so no guarantee of future map updates.

The nuvi 765T is a nice GPS, but it has also been obsoleted by Garmin. I have one, and do use it in my cars. It is the equivalent of the zumo 660 except that it has an even dimmer display screen than the 660, which is dimmer than a zumo 550, which is only barely adequate IMO. The nuvi screen gets washed out by sunlight very easily. It is not waterproof, does not come with a motorcycle mounting system, isn't glove friendly, and does not have a useable bluetooth output (it's there, but because you can't change the pairing key code it can't actually be used with many (most) headsets). It can be hardwired to an intercom just fine though.

To be honest, if I were trying to spend less on a motorcycle GPS I think the zumo 220 is a much better option than messing around with the nuvi 765T and baggies, or the nuvi 500 which doesn't allow any means to get sound to the helmet at all.

Just to keep you all on your toes, there are substantiated rumors on the ZumoForums that Garmin will be releasing a newer zumo model late this summer. Where it would fit in their lineup is anyone's guess. I wish they would just work a bit harder on fixing some of the software "bugs" and improve some features in the zumo 66X units first before moving on to a new one.

 

[RaYzerman19]

I've got the 550 and it works great aside from teh touchscreen being alittle squirrely at times when I'm tring to enter information.

I am NOT a fan of the scrolling alphabet keyboard input feature and mine ocasionally selects random letters that arent even on the screen at the time.

Buy a digitizer + LCD screen assembly on ebay for about $35-40, as your digitizer is needing replacement. Easy to do yourself. If you buy the digitizer only, it is harder to do.

As for the scrolling alpha keyboard, change it in your settings to have the whole keyboard displayed instead.

 

[Bounce]

Please tell me where I made inquiries about this topic or where I solicited others for advice on this matter?

ADMIN INTERRUPTION!

All posts to public forums and mail lists are done with the assumption that THE PUBLIC will make comment. (Why else post them?)

To the OP: If you want a monologue of your life events, start a blog using any one of the many options out there. You can't dictate the types of responses others will submit.

To everyone else (including the OP): Let's ratchet this back down so we don't have to lock the thread.

 

[PanAmerican]

So, I'm looking at this to mount the Garmin.

It's from Yamaha of Canada and I can't seem to find it anywhere else. I like the fact that it brings the device closer to my eyes (just a bit), it looks nice, and it's a Genuine Yamaha part.

Anybody ever seen this one before?

https://www.yamahagenuineparts.com/Motorcycle/moreinfo.asp?ID=699&shopcat=accessories&Class=Sport Touring&Year=2009&Model=FJR1300

 

[Aasland]

Some people are afraid to be alone with their thoughts. It maybe just a case of unfamiliarity.

Thoughts? What thoughts? There are supposed to be thoughts in there? :dribble:

PS. I don't care what the other people say about you, I think your comparison between the 550 and 220 was excellent, even if I decided on a 550 for myself. I just learned that the 665 will stream AD2P from a phone, which is something I've been wanting ... so I'm back in investigation mode.

 

[Bokerfork]

.

Well said. A little succint, but still, well said.

 

[wheatonFJR]

.

Well said. A little succint, but still, well said.

Well thought out too.

 

[Bounce]

So, I'm looking at this to mount the Garmin.

It's from Yamaha of Canada and I can't seem to find it anywhere else. I like the fact that it brings the device closer to my eyes (just a bit), it looks nice, and it's a Genuine Yamaha part.

Anybody ever seen this one before?

https://www.yamahagenuineparts.com/Motorcycle/moreinfo.asp?ID=699&shopcat=accessories&Class=Sport Touring&Year=2009&Model=FJR1300

before anyone replies, are their conditions/constraints/expectations?

i ask because i've seen it before and have opinions.