I am considering investing in a GPS/Sat-nav system to mount onto my Tenere, but there are so many on the market, and there seems like such wise people on this forum, I though I would ask

• what GPS system do you have, or recommend?
• how and where have you mounted it?
• how have you powered it?

I know there's usually a trade off between cost and quality, but i'm looking for a cheaper unit that can accomodate UK and Euro maps.

You collective sage-like advice and suggestions would be welcome

(Apologies if I have duplicated a previous thread, I have had a brief look and didn't see a recent GPS/Sat-nav thread)

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I have a zumo 400, not that you can get them any more, the 400 is permanently out of stock. It is basic, ie no bluetooth but it was cheap and it has detailed UK maps with reduced detail EU maps . The zumo 400 has the standard clamp / ram-mount, which I have fixed to the cross bar so that it sits below the instruments. It is powered directly from the battery, through the fused connector.

If you are looking for a gps for the bike, you should consider:

It is strictly a bike gps, or do you need it to be removable for use off the bike, either on another vehicle or as a handheld unit? Consider size, as you will need to remove it from the bike when it is parked up.

Price I - robust waterproof gps units are generally more expensive than their car-based alternatives, do you need all of the "expensive bolt ons" such as bluetooth music etc that the higher spec unit offers.

Price II - additional maps. If the coverage is insufficient for your needs, factor in the cost and availability of the additional maps.

Price III - map update costs. The map you get with the gps will become obsolete, consider how much the updates will be,or if there are any free updates.

Software accessories - POI (points of interest) files are generally free if dated, however some like speed cameras are often charged for, but may be initially free with the gps unit.

What do you want to do with the gps unit, is it strictly a "get you places" thing, or do you plan to use the route data elsewhere? In which case you might wish to explore how easy it is to get at the route data held on the machine. For example the route data from the zumo can be dragged into Google Earth to build up a collection of route data.

Si

I' have a Nuvi 550 from Garmin via the GPS Warehouse. For �300 I got the unit itself (waterproof, but no external sound option) with the car mount, a cradle with associated ram mount and a power cable.

I fed the cable along the chassis rails under the tank and up the side of the instruments, then attached the ram arm to the bar just under the screen. I don't miss the spoken directions as it's high enough to be easily seen.

I had a PDA unit on my GS, but that wasn't waterproof, and required an aquabox, but with the rubber screen in place I couldn't see the screen.

My only grumble is that it can be a pain to 'plan a route'. A to B is much simpler to set up.

Ive a Garmin Zumo 550

Its a great piece of kit and has all the bells and stuff if you ever needed it (except you have to buy your own blue tooth headset if you want to here the women tell you where to go)

I bought it off another forum member on this site so got it cheaper than retail and its got full UK and Ireland maps + Western Europe. Ive mounted it on the lhs of the bars and it seems to work fine, not vibes or problems so far. Ive just wired mine directly to the battery and ran the wiring up the lhs of the tank. I never leave the GPS on the bike when i leave it so no problem with it draining the battery.

It is an expensive buy but then you do get both bike and car setups for it plus its got all the programming and stuff you need for the computer etc. Ive not used most of it as i normally use A-B routes or just use it as Map mode and have a general route/area in my head i want to travel in.

Would i buy it again?Yes
At full price?no

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Plough on

Cheap pda in waterproof case ,can upload the latest tom tom maps and also run memory map ,Fantastic kit and the best of all very cheap

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OFFICIAL CRASH TEST DUMMY

I second that, if all you want is a gps that you can use on the bike every now and then get a cheaper car gps or a pda type set up and then place a cover over it when it rains.

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Plough on

I had a TomTom Rider 2 which if you just want to do A-B routes with good mapping and good instructions then it's great.

I now had a Zumo 550, which has more functionality and what I disliked about the TomTom, it has a bread trail (records your track) so you know exaclty where you've been. Planning a journey is much easier too. However, I dont think the mapping and instructions are as good as TomTom.

For what I want then the Zumo wins.

If you want bluetooth get a 500 or 550, if not then a 400/450 should do.

The new 660 it's quite right yet...

More info here than you can read in a lifetime:

http://www.advrider.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=37



Nick.

For what i'm looking at, the basic requirements are A-B and route planning. I'm not bothered about bluetooth, or audio, and a given is waterproof. UK and Euro mapping. Being able to download the route would be useful, as I plan to compile my big rides on my blog.

I have a tom tom car sat nav, that was bought well before I thought I would ever actually get a bike, but it is obviously not suiutable for the bike.

I was favouring the hand held, mountable type, I was looking at something along the lines of a Garmin 60CSX - that kind of mountable GPS thing, but am open to what is available and recommended at a low cost.

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