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GPS Advice?!?

Joined
Jan 4, 2010
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Location
Fort Worth, Texas
First Name
David
I'm in the market for a new GPS for my WR250R. I was about to pull the trigger on a Garmin GPSMAP 64s. Others have suggested the Montana or Oregon is the way to go. They're certainly more expensive, but I'm not sure. What are you using and what would you like to be using?

I didn't see a recent thread discussing this, so lets hear what the smart buy is and WHY its smart.

Thanks!
 
My most recent GPS purchased was a 64ST. I had used a Zumo and a TomTom rider.. Both had the advantage of a large screen, colorful way points and the ability to show different types of data like the map and speed, and distance to next way point on the same screen, but in a dusty environment they both would become unreadable. Since they were touchscreens, any attempt to clean the screen while underway often changed what was displayed.

I purchased a used 62 from a TWTer and liked it's hard button interface and could live with the smaller screen. I don't really the map for route planning while underway or need a 3x4 inch display with a giant arrow that points the next turn. Simple written instructions like a roll chart work for me and the 62/64 will do that with the right maps. (The 62 will only store 500 way points or I would still be using it.) Since it is a hand held it gets in car, on bike and in rucksack duty. Finally it uses AA batteries so you have the choice of rechargeable or if push comes to shove any convenience store will get your unit powered again. The ram mount was around $10 if I recall.

If you need a rugged, multi use unit, but don't need to talk to it, have it talk to you, forward phone calls, etc. Then the 64 is more than enough. Perfect for a dual sport.

m
 
I liked the AA battery option on the 64, Oregon, and Montana for the same reason. I can get rechargeable AAs and charge those each night or just roll with spares. I'm mainly using this off road on the dual-sport, so talking, handling phone calls or music isn't needed. All of these units appear to have microSD slots, so bumping up the pathetically small amount of memory they come with is no problem.
 
Get a waterproof phone and cut one additional device from your life.
 
I use Locus. It's a little nerdy, but once you figure it out, it's VERY capable. It does require a network (cell or wifi) to do setup an automatic route - but I nearly never do that. I typically make a route the night before - either on the phone or on Google Maps or something - copy the GPX file to dropbox or Google Drive, then import into Locus from there. Locus can download maps for offline use, so once the track is on it, I don't need any further network connection. You can also pre-download maps on your computer and copy them over.

The biggest problem with phone-based stuff on a bike is usability with gloves on. Kinda sorta works, but for anything more than a couple taps, I need to have a bare finger or two.
 
The 64 does not have a power input port. Not a problem if you plan to use only batteries. Major problem if you want to use bike power. Do not try to use the USB cable for bike power. The jack on the unit is not strong enough to withstand the vibration and it will fail, only a matter of time.

The software in the 64, Oregon and Montana is basically the same so the functional differences are just screen size and control type. The only problem I've ever had with the Montana touchscreen is if it the bike sits still in the hot sun for a while, the unit will get hot and the touchscreen will fail. Once it cools down, back to normal. Just remember to lay a glove over it when you stop at the taco stand.
 
I use Locus. It's a little nerdy, but once you figure it out, it's VERY capable. It does require a network (cell or wifi) to do setup an automatic route - but I nearly never do that. I typically make a route the night before - either on the phone or on Google Maps or something - copy the GPX file to dropbox or Google Drive, then import into Locus from there. Locus can download maps for offline use, so once the track is on it, I don't need any further network connection. You can also pre-download maps on your computer and copy them over.

The biggest problem with phone-based stuff on a bike is usability with gloves on. Kinda sorta works, but for anything more than a couple taps, I need to have a bare finger or two.

I had an old pair of motorcycle gloves that I cut off the tip of the index fingers just to be able to use the phone without de-gloving.
 
The 64 does not have a power input port. Not a problem if you plan to use only batteries. Major problem if you want to use bike power. Do not try to use the USB cable for bike power. The jack on the unit is not strong enough to withstand the vibration and it will fail, only a matter of time.

The software in the 64, Oregon and Montana is basically the same so the functional differences are just screen size and control type. The only problem I've ever had with the Montana touchscreen is if it the bike sits still in the hot sun for a while, the unit will get hot and the touchscreen will fail. Once it cools down, back to normal. Just remember to lay a glove over it when you stop at the taco stand.

My bike currently doesn't have a power port. I was going to add one, but maybe not. Does the Oregon and Montana have a dedicated power port that is vibration resistant?

The heat seems to be a common enemy of touchscreens everywhere. I can remember an older iPhone "overheating" on me in a tankbag map pouch. The glove is a good trick.
 
My bike currently doesn't have a power port. I was going to add one, but maybe not. Does the Oregon and Montana have a dedicated power port that is vibration resistant?

The heat seems to be a common enemy of touchscreens everywhere. I can remember an older iPhone "overheating" on me in a tankbag map pouch. The glove is a good trick.

The Montana does, the Oregon does not. For the Montana, you have to buy the Garmin Rugged Mount separately, about $35. It is good for use with a ram mount system.
 
I use Locus. It's a little nerdy, but once you figure it out, it's VERY capable. It does require a network (cell or wifi) to do setup an automatic route - but I nearly never do that. I typically make a route the night before - either on the phone or on Google Maps or something - copy the GPX file to dropbox or Google Drive, then import into Locus from there. Locus can download maps for offline use, so once the track is on it, I don't need any further network connection. You can also pre-download maps on your computer and copy them over.

The biggest problem with phone-based stuff on a bike is usability with gloves on. Kinda sorta works, but for anything more than a couple taps, I need to have a bare finger or two.

I have a couple of issues with using a phone as a GPS.

First, the screen is never bright enough to view well in bright sunlight. Major problem.

Next, the phone uses too much power constantly running gps sofware thus requiring power input. The power ports on phones are no more robust than the usb ports on Garmin gps units, so why should I expect them to withstand the vibration from a cable when mounted on a thumper.

The phones themselves are nowhere near as tough as a Garmin GPS. If I damage/ruin my phone it will cost as much or more as a Garmin to replace the phone. Garmin offers an out of warranty replacement service for usually $75-150 depending on the model of GPS if I destroy it. I use a fairly cheap phone; this Samsung S6 Active was $200, still more expensive than a replacement refurb Garmin. Years ago my puppy chewed a Garmin to pieces. The Garmin rep sent me a refurb for $60 because the story made him laugh, the standard charge for that model would have been $90.

Many people like to rag on Garmin and I know the software is far from perfect, but the hardware is very tough and functional once you learn it. The bottom line for me is I can have as many custom detailed maps as I want available at all times. I currently have 14 maps installed on my Montana. Go to http://cartografiagps.com/en/ and compare the detail of the E32 map to that of OSM Mexico and tell me which you would want if you were out in the MX backcountry with out cell service.

If you are riding central TX backroads, the phone would suffice. I need more.

If I lost my Montana, I would go buy another tomorrow. I just noticed that gpscity.com has refurb Montanas for $299.
 
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I power my 64 with the USB port when it's on board the bike. So far I haven't trusted it when it was raining. Also I suspect the USB port is not as robust as the power/NMEA port on the 62 so I have secured the cable with a zip-tie to reduce vibration. If I were riding on very rough terrain I would likely unplug it and run on the battery.
 
Get another mount for the Nav V on the GSA and swap it back and forth. Far cheaper.
 
+1 for the Montana 600(or equivalent). I've had mine for about 4 years now. Always works with everything I throw at it. I have a hot shoe on both bikes it just snaps into. I even have a cold shoe on my MTB and run it on the rechargeable battery. It has the ability to transfer files to another unit via Bluetooth, which has come in handy on occasion. I bought it because it has a big screen. I can't imagine trying to use a unit with anything smaller.

I agree with the people who don't like using a phone for a GPS. I don't like multitasking equipment, and don't like having my phone hanging out in the elements. I do however use my phone in ADDITION to my GPS on occasion.
 
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Dahveed, from what I've seen the Montanas are very common. I know on the rallies I attend, it's the one I see the most. There is an advantage in that commonality in that it is fairly easy to swap tracks around wirelessly from unit to unit. I know Rich has one as do Jeff and myself. I don't want to speak for Rich, but he has seemed at times to like his older unit (62S?), mostly because of the hard buttons I think. I'm getting used to the touch screen now, but I admit it was troublesome for a while. I'm pretty certain that both Jeff and Rich were doing their lead duties from the tracks in their Montanas at Big Bend this year. There are three possible power sources, bike power, internal battery or AA's in a pinch. It can be recharged inside at night via USB cable, but it is a different cable than your phone.
 
I got the extended 2 year warranty on my refurbished from GPS City. There is a short window for exchange, I think 6 weeks. It was no problem after 6 months exchanging it. Other than the 12 dollar S&H. The screen went black it was a 67 Nuvi for truck.
Are those things meant to take a hot dash in Texas summer?
 
Dahveed, from what I've seen the Montanas are very common. I know on the rallies I attend, it's the one I see the most. There is an advantage in that commonality in that it is fairly easy to swap tracks around wirelessly from unit to unit. I know Rich has one as do Jeff and myself. I don't want to speak for Rich, but he has seemed at times to like his older unit (62S?), mostly because of the hard buttons I think. I'm getting used to the touch screen now, but I admit it was troublesome for a while. I'm pretty certain that both Jeff and Rich were doing their lead duties from the tracks in their Montanas at Big Bend this year. There are three possible power sources, bike power, internal battery or AA's in a pinch. It can be recharged inside at night via USB cable, but it is a different cable than your phone.

Mike, Which Montana do they have. My research shows that the Montana 610 doesn't have bluetooth. The Oregon does. Yeah, getting the same unit as most others have is a plus.

The plan is to now see if I can load the TOPO map on the BMW Nav 5. If I can, then maybe that is the short term solution. Otherwise, the Montana is probably the way I'll go.
 
Jeff's is a 680, mine is a 600 and I think Rich's is too, but you might should check with him. They do not have blue tooth which many see as a limitation. The trading of tracks etc is done via a different protocol. I'm not sure what it is. It is much more limited than Bluetooth though.
 
I thought the mount for the Nav V was the smarter solution. You are already used to the unit and getting power should not be an issue.
 
I thought the mount for the Nav V was the smarter solution. You are already used to the unit and getting power should not be an issue.



If it lets me load the map. I think I have everything I need to mount it to the bike.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I have a Montana the currently sits around the house a lot (I need to get out more) that you're welcome to try out for a few weeks if you like. It has its own powered cradle (you provide the ram ball mount on your bike) and I spliced on a Powerlet (BMW) socket on the end of the cord so it can go from bike to bike as needed.
 
I have a Montana the currently sits around the house a lot (I need to get out more) that you're welcome to try out for a few weeks if you like. It has its own powered cradle (you provide the ram ball mount on your bike) and I spliced on a Powerlet (BMW) socket on the end of the cord so it can go from bike to bike as needed.

Thanks for the generous offer Steve. I just ordered the refrubed Montana 600 from GPSCITY.

The Nav 5 has a finite amount of memory and I didn't want to start uploading new maps and replacing the old one for fear of never getting it back to normal and bricking it. The Montana takes MicroSD cards for additional storage.

Thanks to all that have contributed to this discussion. :clap:
 
:tab One comment about batteries. I have repeatedly had issues with batteries vibrating in the unit and losing connection, causing the unit to power down or even lock up. Sometimes, putting a foam ear plug in the case between the batteries and the cover would help for a while. This happened with the 276CS, 60CS, and even the Montana 600. It happened with the standard battery in the 276 and the Montana, and also with AA's in all three units. For this reason, I switched all units to being powered from the bike and have never had any further issues. Although, my 276 did eventually die :tears: I use the Montana powered cradle. I have never had any problems with it even in very rough riding conditions.

:tab I use the 600 for dual sporting. Sometimes the screen gets dirty. I just wipe it with my glove. If the screen gets messed up because of the touchscreen interface, I just hit the "return" arrow in the lower left of the screen and it goes right back to what I was last viewing. My biggest gripe about the touchscreen versus the rocker button of the 276/60 is that it is VERY hard to precisely location a drop pin or the cursor to highlight or identify something on the map, like when trying to pick a particular road. I have to sit and fidget with it, trying multiple times to get the cursor where I want it :doh: It was MUCH easier to be precise with the rocker button.

:tab As for being able to see the screen, the biggest issue is my vision, not the unit. I would LOVE it if I could make the fonts bigger. I have everything set as big as it can go, but it is still just a hair too small. I used to be able to stand up and see it better, but not any more... :-|
 
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