To GPS or Not

Commuter

Commuter

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Hi Gang,

Just tryinh to understand a little more about GPS, my tuff map seems to work well but this seems like a great idea especially for my trip to Italy this year.

If you would put you recommendations up here. The Street Pilot and the Garmin III or V seem popular. As a newbie to these things I would appreciate some pointers.

Are they water proof how easy are they to use and mount to the GS and power connections etc.

Many thanks, Commuter.:beer:
 
Commuter said:
Hi Gang,

...especially for my trip to Italy this year.

If you would put you recommendations up here. The Street Pilot and the Garmin III or V seem popular. As a newbie to these things I would appreciate some pointers.

Are they water proof how easy are they to use and mount to the GS and power connections etc.
Click to expand...

Yeah great- used SPIII (BMW Navigator) for trip round Spain (3,000 miles) - easy, no worries bout maps got me where I wanted and allowed freedom of diversions to look at interesting places (for 30seconds)

Are they Waterproof: Yes lost one over the side of an 1150RT at 30 mph - she bounced and settled in some Irish bog water no problems

Later at 60mph using the same mounting she departed the RT at 60mph (bounced around 4 to 5 feet high first bounce) on tarmac was destroyed... Garmin replaced for 180GBP

Choose the mount carefully (I use Touratech lockable) - I have a different mount for the Boxercup.

The BMW Navigator is pretty much the same as the Streetpilot III Deluxe and is more expensive but should come with lifetime Mapsource upgrade (have not received the latest yet though).

There is some question regarding buying in Europe or in the US where it is half the price but has different base maps which theoretically should not be a problem as you download the maps you need - until you find you have not downloaded the one you want.

I use it a lot but it is not much good in Ireland as the maps have no detail...

Read the remainder of the section and do a search using Google etc on MapSource/Garmin for some interesting sites...

If you are travelling to Italy you may have difficulty fitting all the maps on 128mb card (England & Ireland fit on 128mb but not Scotland but depends on the map detail) but apparently you can hire addition cards from some place down south

Spend some time playing with it and it's route calculation method...

Used it yesterday in a Taxi going to pick up the Boxercup as the driver did not know the area... Useful at other times as well...:D
 
Did you lose the SPIII each time using the Touratech mount? I use the (non-lockable) Touratech mount, along with the plastic knurled securing screw from the original Garmin mount - I can't see how I could lose the unit unless the mount broke......


MikeO:confused:
 
I've got the old Garmin Streetpilot Atlantic and am using a RAM Mount from Cyclegadgets. It sits perfectly on the GS, on the left and high enough that I don't need to take my eyes of the road, just glance at the needle...

Cyclegadgets RAM Mount
 
Mike O said:
Did you lose the SPIII each time using the Touratech mount?
Click to expand...

No I it was a mount that is no longer sold and used the Garmin swivel plastic thing. The mount was not the problem it was the Garmin item.
 
Commuter.

Consider the Garmin 176.

It's got:
1. Big screen. Much bigger than the 3+ or V

2. Accepts data cards. This will allow you to store much more map detail than the 3+ or V. IMO vital if you are traveling far.
It also allows data to be transferred to the card and thus the GPS much faster using a card reader.

It's not got:
An auto route function.
 
Nick, seriously consider one of THESE ok so they don't route you but, at £500 are an excelent piece of kit.
 
Commuter said:
Hi Gang,

Just tryinh to understand a little more about GPS, my tuff map seems to work well but this seems like a great idea especially for my trip to Italy this year.

I've been using the stretpilot 111 for a year now, and with the 128mb card and the latest mapping ver 5. at £800 it's £450 cheaper than the BMW which in essence is the same unit.
If you want autorouting and large screen this is the one. I use it on 2 bikes and a car for work just useing the bracket that comes with it.

John
Click to expand...
 
Re: Re: To GPS or Not

roadrider said:
I've been using the stretpilot 111 for a year now, and with the 128mb card and the latest mapping ver 5. at £800 it's £450 cheaper than the BMW which in essence is the same unit.
If you want autorouting and large screen this is the one. I use it on 2 bikes and a car for work just useing the bracket that comes with it.

John
Click to expand...

For background there are a number of ways of purchase:

Street Pilot III which does includes 32Mb Card or more than one country MapSource

Street Pilot III+ which includes 128Mb Card plus Europo Map Source

BME Navigator - same as III+ with a couple of extra items

Prices ( see www.expansys.com )

SPIII GBP841
SPIII+ GBP1018
Navigator GBP1250

The prices on the street are coming down but not with BMW. When the Navigator was first released there was a difference of GBP50 between Navigator and SPIII+ and the waiting time for the SPIII+ was two months. Now!!!! Of course BMW does not lower prices to match the world!!!!:(

The theoretical advantage of the Navigator is that it contains the locations of all BMW Motorrad dealers in Europe. It does not and they are out of date plus there is a theoretical automatic Mapsource upgrade (which has yet to show).

There is a difference between the Garmin 3 and the SPIII is basically the colour screen and more uptodate Software. The formats of waypoints and routing has changed I believe. With other Garmin units the routing and accuracy is different and they use a different method of location calculation. In theory the Garmin 3 should be more accurate but loses in functionality for vehicle routing. However that may not be important to you.

The alternate is to use other units such which tend either to be "walking" oriented or not waterproof or vehicle proof.

Of course you could just attach a simple GPS unit to your laptop or desktop and use Microsoft Autoroute. Not sure how that would fit on your bars but I am sure that RAM will produce a mount for it :rolleyes:

Word of warning. Mapsource does come up with some interesting routes. I had me travelling from Edinburgh to Liverpool via Belfast. Well it was the shortest distance by road!:D
 
BMW Navi can be got a lot cheaper......

Depends on your relationship with your dealer;)

I got my navigator last year for quite a bit less than a Grand, with all the bits and bobs (sorry Spanish Bob, again)!

Ask them how many they have sold and then see if they want to shift one at the right money.........some will understand what you are getting at...:p

Nothing ventured...............

CC

:cool:
 
adamski49 said:
AdamZ

You may be interested (or dsiappointed) to know that the SPIII Deluxe has dropped in price. £845 from a genuine Garmin supplier:

I don't think an extra £400 for the Navigator can really be justified.

Adam
Click to expand...

I quite agree, tis always the problem when buying when they first come out. I bought mine early last year when there was little difference.

If I had the option I would go direct for Garmin and not BMW. The upgrade on Mapsource is only GBP150....
 
adamski49 said:
AdamZ

You may be interested (or dsiappointed) to know that the SPIII Deluxe has dropped in price. £845 from a genuine Garmin supplier:

http://www.gpsw.co.uk/acatalog/P_GARSPIIIDX.htm


I bought one from Sunrise in Tottenham Court Road for £837 all in. Just told them I'd seen it on the Net for £835 and could they match. I suspect they'd go lower.

Same day (about 5 weeks ago) I ordered twin mounting bits for my bikes from Touratech, but they _still_ haven't arrived...

Jol
Click to expand...
 
Bought the GPS V and pretty happy with the setup. Could of done with more memory but if you plan it well you should be fine. The baseroutes have not let me down even in Sout-Africa and was spot on. Would recommend it as the time and effort following maps escpecially when it rains is just not worth it.
 
SP III

I've had an SP III since late last year. Very pleased with the unit itself. BUT it is only as good as the mapping. It has lead me up the garden path (literally) a couple times. The auto routing is worth while but I'd recommend you turn off the "recalculate" feature. It's a pain when the whole display goes off for 2~3 minutes while it calculates a 200yd diversion!
I would recomend the R.A.M. mounts. There are so many variations on the rubber ball theme that you can always find the best way to mount the unit to the bike. The rubber balls also help to isolate it from the vibrations.

A tip for all users :- attach a cord to the unit somewhere ( I use the little "D" ring on the back cover) and tie it to the bike. Then when it comes out of the mounting, as described in a previous post, it won't fall into the road.
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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