Sat-Nav

[winxp-master]

What Sat-Nav do you guys use?

I have had nothing but trouble with my crappy tomtom rider since i bought it and ive just about given up so i guess im looking for some advice as to what i should be buying...

Garmin seems an obvious choice and the Quest at £249.99 with motorcycle kit looks a good buy.

Any input to steer me in the right direction would be gratefully apreciated.

Craig.

[Mabels Old Man]

I've got a Quest1 and a 2610 which are good. However they are both obsolete. have a look at the Zumo 550 which is not a lot more and also comes with a bike kit, MP3 player and bluetooth cabability (i think)

Tarka will be along in a moment to tell you to use maps :rolleyes:

[Critch]

:toothy1: Map reading is a long forgotton art !!!

[skyrise]

sorry but i'm also going to be an unhelpful numb nuts.. and say Map..

in my view the point of traveling is to find new and interesting places.. and its impossible to do with sat nav... get a map and have some fun... if you are worried about getting lost then get an Iphone or something that you can use google earth.. there you have an up to date map of the world.. the only drawback is it can take a while to find where you are.. in the world. :D

[winxp-master]

I understand your points but sat-nav has other advantages for me... i use them with my mobile so i can take calls on the move etc... also i find it usueful in country lanes as i can glance and see if a bend coming up is a really tight bend or not, i don't rely on this 100% obviously but it is very helpful and i actually like getting lost on the bike it's all part of a run out really but it's nice to have just incase i think.

[FatFergie]

I've got a quest and a etrex hcx, neither is perfect but the etrex has a far more sensitive receiver which makes it my favourite even though it has no voice prompts. £249 sounds like a lot for something that is fairly average and doesn't as far as I know have the capability to route your phone through it.

[Monsieur]

Garmin Zumo 550 :thumbup:

Maps are vital too and I always carry both with me - satnav helps me with the hassle of having to stop and consult map.

http://monsieur.smugmug.com/photos/275610961_RLRL5-M.jpg

[Snaphappy]

I went for a run out yesterday set the sat nav to shortest route including tracks.....bloody excellent.
I didn't have a clue where I was going and didn't have to worry.
I've got the Garmin Street pilot 550 designed for cars not bikes but had it before the bike itch came back, can recommend their products but I haven't tried anything else.

Garmin SP550 Europe roads, Points of interest including tel numbers of petrol stations/garages, speed traps (Europe wide), blue-tooth to the phone with screening, MP3 player would love the Zumo550 but think I would loose too much trying to sell this one.

all in all:thumbleft::thumbright:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24732897@N08/2382638401/

[Snaphappy]

Cant seem to edit my last so here's the pic
http://www.xrv.org.uk/photopost/data/500/medium/Garmin_Vara.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24732897@N08/2382638401/

[winxp-master]

oh dear,

i finally had an idea to rig my tomtom up so it would charge and erm, well...erm, it didnt quite goto plan... the port i was using didnt have a + and - marked so it was a 50/50 guess so :confused:...erm... :confused: i kinda blew it up lmao

best 300 quid i ever spent...

right then...garmin reviews... :rolleyes:

[Redbus]

What Sat-Nav do you guys use?

I have had nothing but trouble with my crappy tomtom rider since i bought it and ive just about given up so i guess im looking for some advice as to what i should be buying...

Garmin seems an obvious choice and the Quest at £249.99 with motorcycle kit looks a good buy.

Any input to steer me in the right direction would be gratefully apreciated.

Craig.

Hi Craig,
You dont say whats crappy about your rider but if its mapping then the maps on gps and also paper are only as good as data collected for and put into them. I doubt there is a single paper or gps that is totally accurate. Technology goes on but are the maps any better. Being a geek I've got more gps than I want or need but I feel happy to turn it on when I get lost and want a way home. Currently own a garmin 550 zumo, garmin 2610, Garmin etrex vista, HP Ipaq which is good for the use of different makers maps.

[Redbus]

oh dear,

i finally had an idea to rig my tomtom up so it would charge and erm, well...erm, it didnt quite goto plan... the port i was using didnt have a + and - marked so it was a 50/50 guess so :confused:...erm... :confused: i kinda blew it up lmao

best 300 quid i ever spent...

right then...garmin reviews... :rolleyes:

Craig sorry for all your woes didnt see this but got me another post:cool::cool:
The output sound from the 550 zumo is stereo was the rider?

[GOODFOODGUYD]

What Sat-Nav do you guys use?

I have had nothing but trouble with my crappy tomtom rider since i bought it and ive just about given up so i guess im looking for some advice as to what i should be buying...

Garmin seems an obvious choice and the Quest at £249.99 with motorcycle kit looks a good buy.

Any input to steer me in the right direction would be gratefully apreciated.

Craig.

hi Craig, I have just spent the last month sorting out the good, bad and ugly where bike sat-nav is concerned and settled for the Zumo 550 for my Varadero1000. The cheapest local one ( Bridgend, South Wales ) I found was £379.99 but that does not mean it the cheapest nationally. I settled for the 550 simply because I wanted to use it for both bike and car without having to dismantle mounts etc. The Zumo does indeed come with both a Ram mount for the bike and a very good car mount that has a built in speaker. The Zumo comes with bluetooth capabilities, Mp3 player ( all be it with a limited memory) full europe mapping and 90 day trial of cyclops speed camera thingy. I have opted to hotwire the bike satnav directly to the battery and the connections come complete with an inline fuse and ample lenght of wire to successfully connect. I have mine mounted in a place that will stop me from fiddling with it while driving ( just right of centre on the lower section of the bars). If you go for the Zumo, its a good idea to upgrade the flash card to say a 1 gb ( Tesco £10.99 ) as this will enable you to increase the Mp3 player memory. The Zumo also comes with a headphone socket on the Ram mount to enable headphone connection to hear the voice prompts and listen to your fav tunes whilst riding. Hope this can be of some help, should you need any other info then don't hesitate to ask
best wishes
Goodfoodguyd

[StumpyFingers]

Craig sorry for all your woes didnt see this but got me another post:cool::cool:
The output sound from the 550 zumo is stereo was the rider?
The tomtom rider 2 is mono.

[J]

I looked at several GPS units and thought what do I need? I need one with a large screen. So I bought a Garmin street pilot 3 with colour which has a largen screen and simple to use. It may be obsolete but you can up the maps and it only cost £150 and came with all the brackets for bike and car, well worth it cause i could not warrant £400 for a new garmin zumo.:thumbup:

[tonyk]

Hi,

Have the zumo 550 and it is worth its weight in gold,I have it a year now and they hae come down in price considerably,from £500,when I bought mine to a recent post on here for £358, http://www.globalgizmos.co.uk/

I like to hae maps to hand also,especially when camping and the like,planning the route for the following day,but wouldnt be without the zumo now,mp3,bluetooth ,phone,connected,toooooooooooooo many extra benifits to list,

if your going to take the plunge,I recon this is as good as it gets :thumbright:

Hope this helps,

Tony K

[winxp-master]

Thanks for all your input it has been very helpfull...

Redbus it was more technical problems and crappy customer service than anything else...

goodfoodguyd that mini review was helpfull thanks, a lot of people are telling me the zumo is a really good one to go for so i just have to decide if i want to pay the extra for a good one or buy a bog standard one cheap...

You get what you pay for!

Thanks guys...

[fatowl]

I use a MyGuide 3100 - about £80. It's designed for a car, so not waterproof, but I've made up a mounting that goes just behind the screen, above the speedo and tacho. I used to use cling film to keep the rain off, but I've found that it's not needed, it's well sheltered. Functions are a bit basic - but it does everything you need.

[Snaphappy]

and off the record try this
http://www.scdb.info/
it's great for continent use but totally buggered for Britain too many mobile units registered, but I think you can opt not to load them, I'll have to try before the next visit

[winxp-master]

Update;

I went for the Zumo 550 and it arrived today, lovely bit of kit and the install to the bike was effortless really, the ram mounts provided were excellent...so she's all wired up to the ignition and recieving power, i just have to go for a test ride and make sure it doesn't try to send me off a cliff!, lol... :-)

[winxp-master]

If anyone has the official route inputted into there zumo i would be gratefull if they could send me it as i haven't quite worked out all the bits n bobs to it yet, i'm hoping to have it cracked (not literally) by the time i set off but you never know.

Thanks.