taminator

Hello! Need some help finding a GPS to use on my motorcycle please. My current navigation system consists of a 5X7 notecard, directions written with a sharpie, taped to the inside of the windshield. Not the most high-tech solution but it's served me well EXCEPT when some roads are not marked correctly or not at all. So I'd like a GPS for the bike.

The #1 thing I need most is the ability to map out my route ahead of time (i.e. west on FM 1788, then north on Hwy 6, then east on Western lane, etc) then plug that into the GPS so I'll have the directions I need. My husband and I travel cross-country on the bikes so we always carry a netbook with us. I'm not the most tech savvy person so please bear with me: do I need something that comes with city navigator software that I can install on the netbook that will allow me to plan my route then load onto the GPS (read that somewhere)? Something else I read said I'd need auto route or a routable map source. Looking through all the various product descriptions I can't determine what's what.

Not particular on brand, not worried if it's bluetooth enabled and really don't want to spend over $300. I just want something I can load my own routes on.

Thanks a million!
Tammy

HumVee

Welcome to GPS Discussion forum, Tammy. Your low-tech method, plus a paper map and compass will get you anywhere you want to go - but a GPS device is very handy. Even after you get your GPS unit, I recommend you carry a paper map and compass in your gear when travelling on a long journey (in case your electronics fail you).

The feature you want is called Routing, and I agree it's a very important feature. When looking at Garmin products, you want a device that doesn't have Routes = 0 in its specifications. Most road navigation GPS units available today are not weather sealed, and are meant for in car navigation rather than motorcycles. While you can make these work, and even seal them up (I have a friend who uses a condom - not kidding), I recommend that you look for a GPS unit that is sealed against water and dust. These are GPS units that are IPX7 rated or higher.


TomTom makes one called the TomTom Rider, $630 on Amazon.com. But I'm a Garmin fan, and most of my recommendations will be for Garmin products:

• Garmin zumo motorcycle GPS systems (all of these have IPX7 ratings):
  • zūmo 220 - All of us on the forum agree this new "budget" model zumo is way over-priced (at least in MSRP - we haven't seen one hit the shelves yet) and would recommend the nüvi 500/550 in its place. No street price yet.
  • zūmo 550 - The oldest model zumo that Garmin still makes. Popular with riders who demand XM Radio & Traffic ability. $655 on Amazon.com.
  • zūmo 660 - The first widescreen zumo, and still relatively new (released about a year ago). $639 on Amazon.com.
  • zūmo 665 - Brand new, and gives the z660 the XM Radio & Traffic ability it lacked. $1,000 on Amazon.com (but comes with the XM traffic receiver).
• Garmin nüvi automobile GPS units that carry the IPX7 rating:
  • nüvi 500 - These two GPS units are identical, except for the maps they come with. The n500 comes with a smaller City Navigator NT map (48 US states on the version you'd likely want) but also includes topographic maps for the same region. $258 on Amazon.com.
  • nüvi 550 - comes with a full City Navigator NT map for a region (North America for the version you'd likely want) but no topographic maps. $258 on Amazon.com.

The zumo products are expensive, but motorcycle optimized and come with motorcycle mounts as well as car mounts. They also come with the City Navigator NT road map DVD that will allow you to install MapSource and your road map onto your computers and use it for planning trips. There is also ways to use online maps to plan your trips and send them to your device, but we can talk about that another time. The nuvi 500/550's do not come with the motorcycle mounting kits (2 parts, 1 & 2) or City Navigator NT disc ($76 on Amazon), which largely accounts for their much lower cost. They're also physically smaller, and don't have the multimedia and Bluetooth cell phone features of their zumo cousins - so if you don't care about those features, it's a great way to save money. The mounting cradle & bracket are available on Amazon.com (1 & 2) and GPSCity (1 & 2), among other places.
Considering you've already stated that you don't care about Bluetooth, and would prefer to spend under $300, then I think the n500 is for you! However, many riders choose to use a handheld GPS unit mounted on their motorcycles instead of using a larger touch screen. The most common I've seen of these on motorcycles is the Garmin GPSMAP 76CSx and GPSMAP 60CSx. The screens are much smaller however - and physically, they really aren't all that much more compact than the touch screen models - in fact, they're larger than some. Mostly, they're also useful for trail hiking and other outdoor activities. I carry a 76CSx on long trips, as a backup to my zumo 660, and as a trail unit when I'm off the bike.

taminator

Thank you so, so much!! I was leaning toward the Garmin nuvi 500 or 550 and hoping they would work. Thanks for all the additional info on the mounting hardware. You just made my month!!

Thanks again
Tammy

HumVee

Happy to do it, Tammy! I think you'll be happy with your n550 or n500 (depending on whether nor not you want topo maps). If you don't want to buy the City Navigator North America NT map right away, you can use online maps to plan routes and download them to your Garmin GPS unit (after downloading and installing Garmin Communicator Plugin). It used to be that MapQuest was the easiest online map site to use to send actual routes to your Garmin GPS, but that site won't communicate with Garmin GPS units at all now - it's been broken for several months, and I hope it will eventually get fixed. I've always liked the intuitiveness of Google Maps better, but unfortunately they still only allow you to download individual waypoints, not entire routes (we should all contact Google, and let them know how important Route downloads are to us). There is a 3rd party workaround called TakItWithMe that lets you plan your route in Google Maps, and then download it. It's kludgy - you have to save your route into Google myMaps, then copy the URL to TakItWithMe, which then provides the download to your Garmin device. But it does work. Does anyone know if there's any other free online map system that works with Garmin Communicator?

AJK

Hope you don't mind my jumping in here, but I have the same need to input my own routes as Tammy, except in a car, not a motorcycle.

None of the Garmin GPS units I have looked at (in their owners manuals) say anything about being able to plot routes on a computer and then download to the GPS device. Some allow multiple point routing, ie. 755T, but you must do this right on the GPS unit which is much too small a screen to be workable for a long trip. I have MapSource and have used it for years to input to my Garmin eMap and I now want do the same with a newer model GPS. Will that work or is a more recent version of MapSource (mine is from 1999) be required? Or is this method to plot out a route and download still possible?

HumVee

AJK, all of the GPS manufacturer's manuals are terrible. I mean they're pretty - but they're very light on actual content. In fact, any Garmin GPS that has Multipoint Routing capability (any Garmin GPS who's specifications for Routing is greater than zero) is able to have routes downloaded to them via computer synchronization as well as directly on the units themselves!

They will all work with MapSource (even the models that don't have Routing - you can still manage maps, waypoints and tracks), and with online mapping systems like Google Maps and MapQuest. If you have an old version of MapSource, it's free to update to the current version. Just go here.

AJK

They will all work with MapSource (even the models that don't have Routing - you can still manage maps, waypoints and tracks), and with online mapping systems like Google Maps and MapQuest. If you have an old version of MapSource, it's free to update to the current version. Just go here.[/quote]


Thanks for your reply. Are you saying that all current Garmin GPS units will work with MapSource, such that I can plot a route on my computer using MapSource and down load to the GPS unit?

HumVee

I'm saying that all current Garmin GPS units (of which I am familiar - so I don't include avionic or marine models) are able to use MapSource software. Not all of them can accept routes plotted on MapSource being sent to them - they still have to be Route capable. If they aren't Route capable, you could still create your waypoints for your routes with a numeric naming convention, and manually select the next waypoint yourself - but it would be far better to look for a Route capable Garmin (any Garmin model who's specification shows Routes with a value greater than zero). MapSource by itself has a terrible (very basic) map - but if you have a City Navigator map loaded into it, then you can plot turn-by-turn routes. I have done this with both my zumo 660 and a much older model GPSMAP 76CSx. One of the greatest advantages of sticking with one manufacturer for your GPS units is that you can use the same software to manage all of them....

AJK

Thank you very much, HumVee