What Sat Nav ?

[JMC]

Just a quickie, doing some research for Santa, any recommendations for particular sat navs? Garmin, Tom Tom Rider ? I've been told they can mount direcly to my front sub-frame/wind shield frame (2010 GS12), there fore not needing a mounting kit.

I have no intention or inclination of doing the Paris - Dakar but am going to Spain Next year.

I would also like to use it on my bicycle for long distance stuff (well it might encourage me to do long distance stuff).

Going to the NEC next week so may get the chance to pick one up, cheers.

 

[karnevil]

What do you mean by mounting kit?
I think you will find they all need some form of mount.
Best look on the Garmin and TomTom web sites.

 

[STUBBS]

look for a second hand garmin quest 2 an a ram mount kit

 

[doolittle]

Have a look at:

Garmin Zumo 660 - high end option
Garmin Zumo 550 (and discontinued 500)
Garmin Zumo 220
Tom Tom Urban Rider/Pro and discontinued Rider V2
Also check out Garmin Nuvi 550

 

[D6]

does spain like sat navs?

 

[karnevil]

does spain like sat navs?

In general

Barcelona and Sitges .................................... NOPE

 

[RADZIOL]

what sat nav is it?

 

[Demongroover]

what sat nav is it?

A very expensive one.

I use TomTom Rider on both my bikes.
Powered from bike, slots straight on.
I can plot routes and itinaries on my PC with a free program called TYRE and with one click, save to the device, brilliant!
Just done 3000 mile round trip through France, Spain and Portugal this summer, it was invaluable. Didn;t get lost once and it saved hours fretting about and finding camp sites etc.

 

[Andy B]

We can argue the toss all day about whether Tom Tom or Garmin is better. I think it's much of a muchness!

You might find this gives you some insight. And this. If you google it you'll find loads.

As for fixing I'm not clear on what you mean. I think both come with a RAM mount in the box which means it will attach to your handlebars or similar but you'll need to think about whether you want to wire it in (or just rely on battery power or lead to the ciggi socket) and security. I gave up on my RAM mount because every time I stopped and got off the bike I felt I had to take it with me. Touratech do lockable mounts for both.

 

[(RIP) Miff]

I use a Garmin Zumo 660. It comes complete with a bike mounting kit AND a car mounting kit. I swap it between my car and bike regularly.

AFAIK, the Tom Tom Rider needs extra bits for it to be used in a car.

In a recent mini test in BiKE magazine, they preferred the Garmin over the Tom Tom, despite the Garmin being over £100 more expensive.

 

[sven]

In a recent mini test in BiKE magazine, they preferred the Garmin over the Tom Tom, despite the Garmin being over £100 more expensive.

Despite the Tomtom providing much better routing The Garmin Zumo 660 may have more bells and whistles, but it seems to continue their tradition of strange, illogical routing - rather defeats the point of having a GPS And yes, I have used several Garmins, which is why I've been using a TT Rider v2 for the past three years and it's been flawless in both my car and bike

 

[RD.]

Hi,

I use a Garmin Zumo 550 in my Defender 110, on my black Ducati 1098s and now on my 2010 GSA and an Garmin Oregon 300 on my sailing boat - It can also be used for hiking and rambling etc.

My reason for using Garmin is simple, they are well made and almost bombproof. The company produce robust, reliable GPS / SatNav units. They work well, have useful features and have been used in the sailing industry for ages prior to road use. Garmin gained their exceptionally good reputation in the marine industry. The marine environment is far more harsh than anything road use is able to throw at it.

I have ridden to the Nurburgring about 4 times through France, Belgium, Holland and Germany and without the Zumo 550 my friends, wife and I would have been in trouble on most occasions. Riding with mates on Ducatis and averaging 85 - 110 miles per tank full of petrol, finding fuel stations in unfamiliar surroundings would have been a complete nightmare. Its very likely that one or a few of the group would have ran out of fuel and waiting on an Autobahn or minor road for help is bad news particularly as we all had very similar tank ranges and filled up at the same time. By the time we arrived at some of the fuel stations some of the bikes were running on excitement!!

One of my friends has a Tom Tom Rider and he is very happy with it. He too has ridden across most of Europe. The TT-R looks pretty good.

Paul also said that when travelling above about 80mph (Ahem ) the TT-R doesn't update itself quick enough and you soon find yourself almost on top of the junction that the GPS is directing you to take - This can cause problems and potential accidents if you have someone up ya chuff. To be fair though, I'm quite sure that the same applies to most if not all GPS units.

I still really like the TTs and the "Lane Assist" feature is a very good idea. Garmin have the same type of thing now I think.

The new widescreen TTs and Garmins are aesthetically more pretty than the ugly and brick like Zumo but then again I didn't buy a 2010 GSA for its good looks either!!!

Last year I met a GSA rider at the catering trailer on the top of Portsdown Hill. At the time I had my 1098s and while I looked at his bike and the GPS set-up he came over. We had a good chat and he explained to me just how strong the Zumo is:-

He said he forgot to use the security screw to secure the unit to the base and he thinks that he didn't mount it properly. The GSA rider said he was riding at about 60mph when the Zumo came off its base mount and bounced along the road. He went back expecting the GPS to be in bits and not working but the GPS only had some minor scratches and the unit started as normal.

Is that lucky, robustness or perhaps both.

 

[ianp5uk]

I have a Zumo 550 and I'm pretty happy with it.
Haven't used a TT-R so can't compare. The Zumo 550 has all the MP3, Bluetooth, Mobile phone functionality. With extras can get Satellite radio, traffic alerts and work as a speed camera warning system. The display is bright enough in all but direct sunlight. Generally easy to use.

Bad points - I have found some postcodes a little out of place but we're talking 100m not miles away and only occasionally. Maybe the postcodes were that big? Sometimes if you make a mistake and press back it loses what you have just typed. It's not good at taking or providing different coordinate systems. It's very much a road system you can't download an OS map. Does have some add-on crappy Garmin terrain ability but they aren't very good compared to OS. The only rea annoyance is that it doesn't seem to use names instead of numbers. A lot of business locations used building names, so something like Small Business Ltd, "Lancaster House" on a 5 mile road means you are on your own if you don't know the number.

 

[Beemerman59]

Hi,

Last year I met a GSA rider at the catering trailer on the top of Portsdown Hill. At the time I had my 1098s and while I looked at his bike and the GPS set-up he came over. We had a good chat and he explained to me just how strong the Zumo is:-

He said he forgot to use the security screw to secure the unit to the base and he thinks that he didn't mount it properly. The GSA rider said he was riding at about 60mph when the Zumo came off its base mount and bounced along the road. He went back expecting the GPS to be in bits and not working but the GPS only had some minor scratches and the unit started as normal.

Is that lucky, robustness or perhaps both.

I dropped my 550 onto a concrete floor from about 5 feet and it still works 12 months later just fine. I thought that was lucky. From 60mph drop though thats got to be design.

 

[Larne]

Depending on your requirements you might also want to look at the Garmin Zumo 400. They are currently retailing at around £200 and if you are not bothered about bluetooth connectivity they have (AFAIK) all the same functionality as the more expensive Zumo units.

I have an Autocom system with a bluetooth dongle so I already have my phone connected, thus not needing to do so via the GPS. The Zumo 400 came with a RAM mount that went onto my R1200GS in about 5 minutes (mounted onto the bar that supports the screen) and the power comes off the CANBUS socket (connector not included). The only additional cost for me was £50 for the special Autocom cable to connect to the Zumo.

 

[twizzle]

Hi,

I
Last year I met a GSA rider at the catering trailer on the top of Portsdown Hill. At the time I had my 1098s and while I looked at his bike and the GPS set-up he came over. We had a good chat and he explained to me just how strong the Zumo is:-

Well thats the first time i've heard "micks monster burgers" called a catering trailer....

 

[buzzman]

Been using Tomtom rider V2 for past 4 years on both BM's. It proved invaluable on a trip across France. What was interesting was a test between my tomtom and my mates garmin. Same destination on 2 different days, and 2 very different routes was the result, not being biased towards tomtom, but mine was a far better ride, garmin took us on a very complicated ride. PM me for good site to get them from as I have bought 3 diff sat navs from said supplier and all have been cheapest and they are not refurbs.

 

[R17GSR]

As peeps have said they're all much the same. I have had Tomtom for years in the car so got used to their programming modes. Had a Rider V2 now for three years, never let me down, It's mounted in the very good, very expensive touratech suspension mount. Never had any real probs throughout europe, if your in a city thay can temporarily loose them selves, but that happens in the UK too.
Ride free
Gary

 

[Steptoe]

have a look in the gps section of the forum to get an idea of all the pros and cons.

Don't overlook the garmin 2610, available for around the £100 mark, the last of the proper GPS units , more useful programmable options than the newer GPS units which seem to be made with less user options so as not to confuse the average user.

I've recently bought a second unit for when my 2610 wears out .....

 

[Toad]

have a look in the gps section of the forum to get an idea of all the pros and cons.

I'll move this over there to assist with this research.....