Which GPS for North Africa and Europe?

Lee Frost

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Never owned a GPS unit before and would like to buy one for my F650 GS Dakar, partly because I'm planning a ride through Morocco later this year. Thje Zumo 550 seems to be the unit of choice among GSers, but do I need to spend that kimnd of money or is there a cheaper waterproof unit around that will do the trick?
 
I still use Quest(1) for leading tours in Morocco.......more than adequate (unless you have really poor eyesight) and waterproof/sand proof.

You can take it indoors and plan on it as well, 'cos it's got the internal battery.

You'll get a Quest1 WITH all the leads and a ram mount for around £100 here or on Ebay.

Make certain you get the European spec one 'cos it's got significantly more memory.

Mapping is irrelevant for Morocco.....have a read of the forum section and you'll find loads of info on Olaf's Maroc Topo....it's free and it'l perfect for riding overt there:)

Be aware that you can't route automatically on a GPS using that topo map, 'cos it's an overlay rather than routeable data.....you'll have to create a route on the unit itself or on PC in Mapsource(which is why you need one you can take into the shade and use on internal power or connect to a PC)


I actually use 2 units simultaneously on my bike over there....the second one is a RINO 520Hcx.....I run that at a different screen zoom but that's only for convenience and so I don't have to hold people up while I fiddle with the Quest.
If you're going with another bike, it may be worth looking at the Rino units......the best bit is they have a very high powered walkie talkie built in so that you can talk to the other rider and use it to track/find them automatically.

It's also very rugged and IP7 waterproof.

Have a search and a long read...there's loads more info here already, but basically, unless you want all the posy bells and whistles, you don't need to spend the price of a second hand car on a GPS unit :blast
 
Zumo 550 with the free maps Fanum mentions for Morocco. Has all of Europe on it when you buy it. Also has internal battery for use off the bike and comes with all the mounts and power leads for a bike :)
 


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