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What GPS are you using?

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66i more than a gps and at my age don’t want to take any chances. Comes with Birdseye which is really cool. Also use Montana 680 t and 595.
 
I'm not fond of phone GPSs either. I've driven across half of New Mexico looking at a big, fat "out of range" announcement plastered across my phone screen.

I'm a Garmin fan. I've tried Magellan and Tom Tom; to me, Garmin just seems to be the best all around package. Right now I have a Zumo. They're really pricey, starting at close to $500. But I bought this one from a TWT member for less than half that.

If you want to get in at a lower price, you can honestly get away with a Garmin Nuvi car model - I've used several on the bike. They have largely the same mapping and routing features as a Zumo. The touch screens will work with gloves on. If it rains, you can pull a baggie over it and keep riding; it'll be hard to read, but in a downpour, but you probably aren't riding a tricky route anyway at that point. The screen is usually bright enough even at high noon if you swivel the screen slightly or tilt your head. And a car GPS can be had for well under half the price of a Zumo. In fact, you can buy brand new out-of-date models on EBay for sometimes as low as $100.

The downsides of using a car GPS are:
  • The power plug on the back (usually a USB mini plug) isn't nearly as robust as a Zumo, and tends to wear from handlebar vibration. You'll have to replace your power cord every few thousand miles. And I've had the plug itself fail.
  • It isn't as tough. If you drop it, you'll probably be buying a new one.
  • It probably won't have that cool, quick-release mount that the Zumos have.
  • The screen won't be as bright as a Zumo. Usually bright enough, but not as bright.
  • In the rain, it's pretty much impossible to read the screen through a wet baggie.
If you're looking for a GPS for your bike that has offroad mapping, and maybe can double as a backpacker GPS, some other folks can probably help you. I have an aging Garmin 76CS backpacker GPS, but I've found it to be supremely useless on a motorcycle. The screen is to small, and it frankly was never meant for setting up & following routes.
 
I'm still rocking an old Garmin Zumo 220. Software still works, maps still update, and I don't need all the bells and whistles of the new ones. Recently the touch screen started to go on it. Picked up an entire screen with digitizer off ebay for $20. Pulled a bunch of tiny screws and then all I had to do was unplug the ribbon cable and plug the new one in. Took me about 10 minutes and works like new.
 
Fan of the Tom Tom rider 400 their software for plotting routes and uploading them is much simpler for old, tech adverse guys.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
I went the other way and dumped fixed GPS units to just use my phone or tablet for navigation. If you are experiencing no GPS when you have no cell signal it's because you're not using the right app, your phone isn't setup for it or your phone lacks the proper hardware. Pretty much any phone sold over the last few years should be able to do stand alone GPS independent of cell service. I've got a 40 dollar LG rebel burner phone I got off Ebay to do APRS on and even it does stand along GPS, it doesn't even have a sim card in it.

I use different apps. Right now my go tos are Googlemaps which you can download off line maps for and GAIA which is use quite a bit for building routes for off and back road trips. CO-PILOT works pretty good as a cell or tablet based navigation and you keep voice direction even offline. Google Maps looses that. I don't mind it because I build my routes in GAIA and follow the line instead of letting the "bitchin betty" tell me when to turn.
 
I have a 395LM thats scheduled to be here tomorrow. It's mainly gonna live on my Wee Strom. Hopefullt this time next week I can tell you more.
 
Right now I have Garmin's. I have a 376c, a 378, Two Zumo 665's, a Zumo 595 and a BMW Nav V. I really like what I see in the new Zumo XT. It has a bright screen that can be seen in sunlight, easy touch and glove friendly, durable for adventure type bikes and less expensive than a 595. I wish I had waited for the XT instead of buying the 595.
 
6325619_sd.jpg



I got one of these Chinese things at Walmart for 25 bucks

and didn't activate it. I just use the Android part of it and

download navigation apps from the Google Play Store that

don't have to use internet. Just use it for the GPS part of it.

Works Ok but the screen resolutions pretty bad and not

very bright but it certainly gets the job done cheap. just

don't expect a lot out of it. It has a GPS module in it as all

cellular phones must have so it stays locked in on my

location.

​
 
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Downs, have Google started letting you download larger maps? Last time I tried their offline maps the largest area was pretty small, at least as far as traveling goes.
 
gixxerjasen said:
Downs, have Google started letting you download larger maps? Last time I tried their offline maps the largest area was pretty small, at least as far as traveling goes.
Click to expand...
And the darn things expire in like 30 days so always fussing with it.
 
No phone service required on any modern smartphone. There are many apps available. OsmAnd is an example of one. .... download as many maps as you want.
 
gixxerjasen said:
Downs, have Google started letting you download larger maps? Last time I tried their offline maps the largest area was pretty small, at least as far as traveling goes.
Click to expand...
You can download more than one area. And then areas are pretty large. I can downloan most of the state of Arkansas in one shot then move to another section of map and initiate another download.

So while i couldn't download a whole multi state trip at once i could initiate several downloads which takes very little time. So basically its a non issue.

f6721b2ba35f29b7e5625d2a37b6f52c.jpg


Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk
 
synthlegend said:
No phone service required on any modern smartphone. There are many apps available. OsmAnd is an example of one. .... download as many maps as you want.
Click to expand...

I have osmand on a tablet in the truck. I hate it. Need to delete and try a different one.
 
Been using a Zumo 660 for a decade or so. Recently gave it a present of the Lifetime Maps upgrade, as this model pre-dated LifetimeMaps being standard. It interfaces with my Sena BT in the helmet for turn by turn reminders, and it can store and play music, though I will usually play tunes from the phone as it has more storage. It will also route phone calls through the Zumo, but I haven't found that feature particularly useful. All that adds is giving Zumo the ability to override phone audio for the turn notifications.

The 660 has been thoroughly tested in all kinds of bad weather and on rough road surfaces and it just keeps ticking along. Really can't ask for more. It was ridiculously pricey at the time of purchase, which is why I put off upgrading the map license for so long when for a little more than the price of the upgrade I could purchase a whole GPS with lifetime maps. Only without the waterproof aspect needed for motorcycle use. Kept waiting for a sale on Lifetime Maps, and now was riding into areas where the roads had changed significantly and decided to bite the bullet.

It is light, rugged, handy, easy to use, and removes and fits easily into my jacket pocket at stops when leaving the bike, or to bring into a restaurant to sit and ponder the route ahead.

It works very well with Garmin's Basecamp software for creating routes, that is, the 660 paints the route exactly how I laid it out. Anyone finding one of these new or used would likely be happy with it.

The wife got a Zumo 590 with a bike, and it redraws every route I upload to it from Basecamp. Very frustrating, as I otherwise do like the display. Maybe I can dig a little deeper for some setting that fixes this, so far, haven't found it.

One annoying thing with most GPS devices I've used is how the map layers disappear those backroads I'm riding just when I get it zoomed out to the perspective I prefer. So, I have to keep it zoomed in one or two ticks closer than would work best for me. This is more a map thing than a GPS thing, but may be something that would bug others. Unfortunately, you really won't know if it is an issue until you have any GPS on the bike and are using it.
 
A Zumo550 came with my bike. The issue I have with it is more having to do with my eyes than the GPS.
 
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Check out my thoughts here if interested:

www.twtex.com

Motorcycle GPS which one do you recommend

I did a search on the forums but found nothing so I will ask the question. I need to know who makes a GPS that I can use when I drive from San Antonio to Panama. I have seen a video before and can not find it of a guy who had a GPS and you could click on his link to see the route he is taking...
www.twtex.com www.twtex.com
 
Last edited by a moderator:
MotoTex said:
Been using a Zumo 660 for a decade or so. Recently gave it a present of the Lifetime Maps upgrade, as this model pre-dated LifetimeMaps being standard. It interfaces with my Sena BT in the helmet for turn by turn reminders, and it can store and play music, though I will usually play tunes from the phone as it has more storage. It will also route phone calls through the Zumo, but I haven't found that feature particularly useful. All that adds is giving Zumo the ability to override phone audio for the turn notifications.

The 660 has been thoroughly tested in all kinds of bad weather and on rough road surfaces and it just keeps ticking along. Really can't ask for more. It was ridiculously pricey at the time of purchase, which is why I put off upgrading the map license for so long when for a little more than the price of the upgrade I could purchase a whole GPS with lifetime maps. Only without the waterproof aspect needed for motorcycle use. Kept waiting for a sale on Lifetime Maps, and now was riding into areas where the roads had changed significantly and decided to bite the bullet.

It is light, rugged, handy, easy to use, and removes and fits easily into my jacket pocket at stops when leaving the bike, or to bring into a restaurant to sit and ponder the route ahead.

It works very well with Garmin's Basecamp software for creating routes, that is, the 660 paints the route exactly how I laid it out. Anyone finding one of these new or used would likely be happy with it.

The wife got a Zumo 590 with a bike, and it redraws every route I upload to it from Basecamp. Very frustrating, as I otherwise do like the display. Maybe I can dig a little deeper for some setting that fixes this, so far, haven't found it.

One annoying thing with most GPS devices I've used is how the map layers disappear those backroads I'm riding just when I get it zoomed out to the perspective I prefer. So, I have to keep it zoomed in one or two ticks closer than would work best for me. This is more a map thing than a GPS thing, but may be something that would bug others. Unfortunately, you really won't know if it is an issue until you have any GPS on the bike and are using it.
Click to expand...


I ran a ZUMO 550 for the better part of 10years. It's why I still use Basecamp a lot for trip planning. I can save it as a GPX file and upload it to nearly any device I've got by saving it to Google Drive then importing from there. I keep an old car GPS around that has lifetime maps just so I can keep my basecamp maps updated ha.
 
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