First Impressions of 550

[Boxerboy55]

After a couple of short runs on 4 wheels last week, I finally got out on the bike yesterday and today over a 750 mile round trip in sunny Scotland.
Had used a Tom-Tom before on 4 wheels so that was my yardstick.

1. Zumo car mount better than Tom-Tom, more secure and easier to mount.
2. Zumo very User-Friendly, easy to get started without reading instructions.
3. Zumo very easy to create routes using a map as reference - but don't overdo the waypoints as Zumo may lead you off the main route to smal village - DAMHIK
4. Zumo screen easy to read with more than enough features when you're supposed to be watching where you're going.
5. Have mounted zumo on standard bracket and it's easy to see and reach on the move (I wear bi-focals).
6. I fitted a Touratech dash panel with socket with hard wired power supply from battery and wired the Zumo into the same power feed so socket remains free for future use.
7. I like the Low-Fuel warning and the option to search for nearby petrol stations.
8. Did not connect any sound, but don't think I need it as I can read the screen info and don't need Ethel chirping in my ear.
9. Route - Distance - Time was very accurate coming home tonight (over 50+ miles), with me arriving right on schedule.
10. Zumo speedo and BMW speedo within 1 mph of each other at 70-ish.
11. Don't go without a map and/or a good sense of direction - how many times did I stop to check road signs

<a href="http://s169.photobucket.com/albums/u234/boxerboy55/Ullapool/?action=view&current=Zumo.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u234/boxerboy55/Ullapool/Zumo.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

 

[TrickyWoo]

Thank you for the review - you convinced me to part with £370 today

Quick q. if I may - can I just solder the power leads for the Zumo (and Autocom) to the battery leads on a 1200GS do you know?

Thanks,

Richard
Sussex

 

[TrickyWoo]

pls ignore - I called Autocom and they explained that both Autocom and Zumo go -ve to battery and +ve to Aux PWR. Which I think BMW explained to me yesterday but I was daft enough not to explain that I didn't understand!

 

[Splat]

Nice, short and to the point.

11. Don't go without a map and/or a good sense of direction - how many times did I stop to check road signs

Can you expand a bit on this? I thought the point of a GSM was to do way with the map-reading, at least while riding.

 

[Monsieur]

Nice, short and to the point.Can you expand a bit on this? I thought the point of a GSM was to do way with the map-reading, at least while riding.

A satnav is only a tool to help with navigation, as is a map. I wouldn't go on a journey with only a satnav - I'd take a map as a guide and for reference. Satnavs are not 100% reliable

 

[Snowman]

Reference to Ethel's voice commands
On some roads I sometimes find the visual indication can be a little late and can easily pass a junction without the reassurance of turn in a 100 yards etc Happend to me a couple of times in Belgium last year and bimbling around minor roads in Lancashire last week

Just wish they came with attitude.....
Like a 'Hey are you stupid I told you to turn there' etc

 

[TrickyWoo]

Reference to Ethel's voice commands
On some roads I sometimes find the visual indication can be a little late and can easily pass a junction without the reassurance of turn in a 100 yards etc Happend to me a couple of times in Belgium last year and bimbling around minor roads in Lancashire last week

Just wish they came with attitude.....
Like a 'Hey are you stupid I told you to turn there' etc

I found the standard voice too quiet even after tweaking it with a hex editor. I bought the Patrick Stewart / Enterprise voice for £4.99 and it's:

1. Super loud
2. Super stern - you know when to turn
3. If you don't listen and take a wrong turning he tells you "Space, the final frontier. You're lost!"
4. Unlike the stock voice, this one says "In 200 yards, turn right" which the other one didn't. Odd.

Richard

 

[TrickyWoo]

Here are my first impressions of Autocom + Zumo 550.

1. Dead easy to fit even for a total duffer like me. Cables under tank on left, unit in tool tray and solder cables for Autocom and Zumo to rear of Aux and battery lead.

2. Volume is amazing. Even with Alpine earplugs on the highest attenuation I hear very little wind but super-clear voice from my wife, music and the GPS. (Please note Patrick Stewart voice, above. Found the standark UK voice poor).

3. The VOX is a joy to behold. It tool a few runs to sort it out but I can call people from the motorway at 70 and they don't know I'm on a bike. Zumo mates very easily with Blackberry Curve. Equally, on country roads I can hear music and voice with the lid up on my Multitech at 40mph. Nice.onyack

4. Fitting the earphones to a Multitech and Caberg flip-lid was (after a while) also easy and they stay in place nicely. Needed a bit of hot-knife on the Caberg to get the earphone in place comfortably.

5. Using the Zumo is very easy although removal of a glove does help. I downloaded a bunch of POIs for BMW, Pubs with Wi-Fi etc. All free and also very easy to do and no need at all for an SD card. For music and podcasts, I plug it in to an iPod in a Wunderlich bar-bag and I'm all set.

6. Don't throw away the small yellow piece of paper that comes with the Zumo - it has the license key for the GPS software. This enables you to go to bestbikingroutes and similar sites (Garmin Connect from their UK site) and put routes straight into the Zumo

7. The Garmin navs off road too!

In summary, Zumo 550 + Autocom Pro = happy GS12.