Sat nav - what to get?

[Michael47]

Hi

I've never had a sat nav, but to be honest i'm rubbish at navigating - especially through London, so am thinking about getting a sat nav that I could also use for a trip to Europe. Now the big question is of course - which one to get. A local bike dealer recommended the Garmin zumo 660 - and yeah looks fancy and all, but 550 quid - I can afford it, but if the older ones are just as good there's no point really.

Anyone have any experience with the 660 - is it worth the splash? will an older model get the job done just as well?
Cheers

[Skudd]

I have a Garmin Zumo 400, you can pick them up now for buttons on ebay. The 550 are better but do the same job.

I have an autocom fitted to my bike anyway so it just plugs into that. The big plus with a Zumo of any type is that you get music while you ride and the system is built around a left handed use so you can keep on the gas.

I would look on ebay for a second hand autocom and the Zumo 400,450,500,550. You should be able to do the lot for under £200.

or if you just get an autocom fitted and you have sat nav on your phone you could do it that way.
____________________
Famous last words of Humpty Dumpty. " Stop pushing me "
Petty Anarchists look at "1984".............. The Visionary looks at "Animal Farm".

[Michael47]

[theopj]

There's a new Tomtom Rider coming out soon - Urban Rider I think. Two versions - one with no headset and one with a bluetooth headset if you need it. About £250-300 - might be more with a euro map.

Edit - Tomtom have updated their website:

https://www.tomtom.com/en_gb/products/bike-navigation/
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Suzuki Bandit SA 1250 & Honda CB750F2T

[Skudd]

My autocom and zumo are wired together.
____________________
Famous last words of Humpty Dumpty. " Stop pushing me "
Petty Anarchists look at "1984".............. The Visionary looks at "Animal Farm".

[Peirre oBollox]

ANY satnav will do the job ..................... from £30 - £500



its what you want it to do, and what your considering connecting to it (comms etc). If you serious about a good spec waterproof satnav, & want to use it regularly for touring etc then spend the £££`s.
But for occassional use, a cheap £30 set that you can stick in a plastic bag will do the job
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I accept no responsibility for swearing, drinking, motorcycle riding or your pregnant teenage daughter.

[willis1337]

[barnhatter]

The Tomtom gps is a great bit of equiptment and you can also get a cradle with speaker for the car.
BUT
The other parts are rubbish. The bike cradle slowly disintergrates the lugs wear and the roll pins start to come out. They also run out of stock of the £45 cradle. On quierying it to the sales woman she thought that they sold lots because they were popular I said it was because they were crap.
The Scala Headset also is very poor. I have broken 2 by driving in the rain. On querying it to Scala they said that it was wateresistant but not waterproof, they suggested removing it in heavy rain. FFS this is designed for motorcycle use and they say in the adverts its weatherproof.
Summing up the Tomtom GPS is very good, but the other bits let it down. Watch the cradle and buy a starcom intercom with bluetooth.
I will show the reply I got from cardo in another post later.

[SamJL]

I just use the GPS on my phone.

Set it to where I want to go, headphones in, phone in pocket, good to go
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2009 CBR1000RR
2004 KTM 200SX
2004 KTM 65SX

[kitty kat]

[Michael47]

Thanks for all the input guys, finally decided on a zumo 400 and thought I would share the fitting with you guys.

I got a Telefizer which I think put's the sat nav in a fairly good position - All instruments are visible and it's not obstructing anything.

Rider view:
https://img442.imageshack.us/img442/612/24994121.jpg
From the side:
https://img840.imageshack.us/img840/1366/27573534.jpg
The Telefizer:
https://img43.imageshack.us/img43/8779/37034308.jpg

[MonkeyKnuckle]

I have a zumo 400.

The sat nav is waterproof but the mount is not. Mine got wet a few weeks ago and no longer charges the sat nav. I searched through the web and it seems it's an inherent fault with them, something to do with the pins corroding.

There is a little flap thing used to cover the pins but that's about as useful as a chocolate fireguard.

A new mount is £50.

I've tried e-mailing Garmin but they aren't interested so I'm having an e-mail argument with them at the moment because I'm not spending £50 on a new mount because they are supposed to be waterproof and the fact it broke because it got wet is a joke.
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MKGaming.com
2000 Honda CBR600F - Sold! 2003 Honda CBR600RR - Current!

[barnhatter]

It seams that both Garman and tomtom have waterproofing problems, Mounts etc being made too cheep and badly designed. Although to replace poorly designrd bits is expensive.
I used to go scuba diving and things were madeto be 100% waterproof so why cant the Satnav manafacturers make there bits to a similar standard.

[Skudd]

Vasaline is the answer, just a bit, and it is usually the 3 pin from the left ( the power pin) that gets buggered.
____________________
Famous last words of Humpty Dumpty. " Stop pushing me "
Petty Anarchists look at "1984".............. The Visionary looks at "Animal Farm".

[MonkeyKnuckle]

I got fed up of speaking to the customer service person so I forwarded the e-mails to the CEO of Garmin and all the Vice-Presidents.

A couple of days later I get an e-mail from the head of customer service and they are now sending me a free mount.

One of the VPs/CEO must have forwarded it to him as the e-mail includes what I wrote to them.


I'm happy now.
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MKGaming.com
2000 Honda CBR600F - Sold! 2003 Honda CBR600RR - Current!

[willis1337]

[MonkeyKnuckle]

They only have a one year warranty on them and I bought mine a little over a year ago.

I have to send the old one back to them as they want to 'inspect' it but they are sending me the new one first so it's all good.
____________________
MKGaming.com
2000 Honda CBR600F - Sold! 2003 Honda CBR600RR - Current!

[Skudd]

Garmin does seem to be an all round good egg, both with it's goods and with customer care. Well worth the extra few pounds you spend.
____________________
Famous last words of Humpty Dumpty. " Stop pushing me "
Petty Anarchists look at "1984".............. The Visionary looks at "Animal Farm".

[willis1337]

When I renew the bike sat nav - prob next year - I will be switching to a Garmin rather than the TomTom, mainly due to TT's poor customer service and withdrawal of third party POI alerts on all new devices.

[FreshAL]

What happened to those £35 eBay ones? I can't find the link/thread we had going a while ago

[fliolly]

I use Tom Tom on iPhone (in jacket pocket) listen via headphones, Can play my tunes, answer calls and run mcn data logger all at once. Now all i need to do is find a way of reading and replying to email on the move and I'm sorted!

[willis1337]

Just heard that you can get £120 off a new Garmin zumo 660 if you're a member of the IAM.

So if you're buying a 660 and not an IAM member - join up for £19 (£139 less the £120 saving on the sat nav) which includes six 2 hour training sessions and your IAM test fee.

It is good fun.

[tony_d123]

I second the IAM course, just completed mine and really enjoyed the observed rides and learnt a lot.

I also looked at the Zumo offer, but I think from memory that it was £120 of the RRP from Garmin which is quite inflated to start with. So just check, as I think you could still get it cheaper without discount from the usual box shifters.

I read all the reports and forums and ended up buying the TomTom Rider 2 and after a 2500 mile European trip I am well pleased with it. The thing that swung it for me was the price and Scala headset included.

The main drawback with the TomTom over the Zumo was the lack of track logging but there is a lot of third party freeware or shareware available which adds a host of additional features. I just loaded "Tripmaster" and problem solved.