What type of GPS?

[COOLMACHINE]

Hello Everybody,
I have finally decided to pry open the wallet and purchase a GPS for my motorcycle. I'm tired of house hunting and not being able to find the darn place. Especially since it's harder and harder to find a street sign these days.
I would appreciate some input on what you model you have and what you like/dislike about it.
Also, what type of mount do you have? I will be putting this on my Kawasaki motorcycle though, not a Spyder.
I'm looking for the best bang for the buck on the GPS.
I appreciate your time. Thanks. Jerry
Would also like to say I presently do not have 12 volt outlet so at least temporarily would be using batteries. Do they even make one that works on battery power only? (NOT motorcycle battery but actual AA's AAA's C's D's.

[Ga Blue Knight]

In my opinion the best bang for the buck is the Garmen nuvi 550. It sells on the web for around $450 to $550. It's made for motorcycles, and also comes with a car mount as well. It's blue tooth ready has a MP3 player and you can sync your smart Phones as well. It's a little old tech wise but very over built and glove usable. There are newer models out there even of the Nuvi (660) but they are much more expensive and don't really offer much more. Harley Davidson sells this unit under their own label for around $900. Look around on the net for motorcycle specific models that come with all of the mounts and wires needed to hook it up as the 550 does.

[Rayelljay]

How does the TomTom unit fare in this discussion...? I have one in the Cooper S so the Spyder would need a power outlet for me to be able to swap.

[NorthStar]

If you are on a budget I suggest you purchase a basic Garmin Nuvi and buy a Ram Mount and cradle to mount on your clutch reservoir. There are plenty of Nuvi's out there that sell for less than $100.00. The cradle and motorcycle mount will cost you another $30.00 or so, and if it rains throw a plastic bag over the unit.

You can also get a nuvi hardwire cable to wire directly to your battery rather than try and charge it with a 12 volt outlet. The small GPS unit batteries generally last for 3-4 hours between charges.

I did this for 10 years before shelling out for a Zumo 550 when I purchased the RT.

[Ga Blue Knight]

How does the TomTom unit fare in this discussion...? I have one in the Cooper S so the Spyder would need a power outlet for me to be able to swap.

As Northstar said any GPS will work with a ram mount and an old shower cap! It all depends on what you want and how much you want to fiddle with it to get it to work. Keep in mind that all that extra stuff costs as well (wires mounts etc)

[NancysToy]

If you are on a budget I suggest you purchase a basic Garmin Nuvi and buy a Ram Mount and cradle to mount on your clutch reservoir. There are plenty of Nuvi's out there that sell for less than $100.00. The cradle and motorcycle mount will cost you another $30.00 or so, and if it rains throw a plastic bag over the unit.

You can also get a nuvi hardwire cable to wire directly to your battery rather than try and charge it with a 12 volt outlet. The small GPS unit batteries generally last for 3-4 hours between charges.

I did this for 10 years before shelling out for a Zumo 550 when I purchased the RT.

The Garmin Nuvi 550 (not the Zumo descibed and misnamed above) is relatively cheap, water resistant, and has a mount available from GPSCity. GPSCity also has the necessary RAM mount parts to fit your clutch reservoir or handlebars.

[wyliec]

I'd be lost without my garmin with bluetooth while driving the spyder. If I had to rely at just looking at the screen, I'd be past the turnoff more times than not. And, like Scotty said-

http://www.gpscity.com/

[bjt]

I had a Garmin zūmo 450 and it was great. It was extremely water resistant and Garmin's customer support is top notch. My only complaint is that they had two different keyboards that would display for you to type in information depending on what screen you were on. One of them showed about 5 letters across the bottom of the screen. You had to scroll back and forth through the alphabet to pick letters and it was inconvenient to use. I never found a setting to adjust to force all the input to use the other keyboard.

Being the zūmo models are made for motorcycles, I think their controls are designed to be easier to use with gloves on and they had 4 external buttons on the side of the face to access a few basic things like zoom in and out, audio and on/off. It also had a neat fuel gauge feature that you could set the number of miles you could get from a tank of gas and about 20 or 30 miles before the zūmo hit that mileage, it would warn you of low fuel by displaying a message across the screen and put a fuel pump icon in the lower right corner. Touching that icon would automatically search for the nearest gas stations and you could pick one for the zūmo to navigate to. It is pricey but well worth the cost in my opinion. Here is a copy of the zūmo 550 info from the Garmin site.

Enjoy Bike-Friendly Design

Durable and dependable, zūmo 550 is built for motorcycles:

• Glove-friendly touchscreen with left-handed controls makes it easy to operate
• High brightness, sunlight-readable, UV-resistant display makes it easy to view your screen
• Motorcycle console for trip information, including fuel gauge to warn you when it's time to fill up
• Motorcycle mount with universal mounting hardware so you can mount it anywhere
• Included motorcycle and automotive mount (with integrated speaker) for riding or driving
• Custom caps available in a variety of colors to reflect your style
• Vibration-tested, waterproof and built with fuel-resistant plastics to withstand the elements

[cjackg]

If you are on a budget I suggest you purchase a basic Garmin Nuvi and buy a Ram Mount and cradle to mount on your clutch reservoir. There are plenty of Nuvi's out there that sell for less than $100.00. The cradle and motorcycle mount will cost you another $30.00 or so, and if it rains throw a plastic bag over the unit.
You can also get a nuvi hardwire cable to wire directly to your battery rather than try and charge it with a 12 volt outlet. The small GPS unit batteries generally last for 3-4 hours between charges. I did this for 10 years before shelling out for a Zumo 550 when I purchased the RT.

For a little more, you can buy one of the new NUVI's with 5" screen and Bluetooth interface. I recently went to a new Garmin Nuvi 2460 with lifetime maps for a less than half the price of a 550. Very nice unit mounted with a Ram mount from GPS City.

[COOLMACHINE]

Thanks everone. I really appreciate the input so far. Anyone else? Thanks again. Jerry

[retread]

Rider Magazine had a write up on a TeleType GPS a couple of months back, not a Garmin, but sells under 400. Might be worth checking out.

john

[cougar]

Hard wire it. You will not be happy with the battery life. Gets old very quickly.

[smartin436]

I used a Garmin 1350T in a cradle for a long time, if rain came, i would put a small ziplock bag around it and keep on trucking.
On the Spyder, I mounted it in a Ram Aqua box. Its a little bulky but totally waterproof.

[prmurat]

sumo 550 with Bluetooth and XM radio...
Philippe

[ijon1]

I use a Google gps ap on my Droid phone with a small bluetooth.

[3pod]

The Garmin is hands down the best bang for your buck. Had a Zumo 550 on my Ultra Classic which was hard wired. Could take it off and use in car also. Check on the internet for best price. My 2011 RT Limited came with Zumo 660. I believe the Zumo model is made specifically for motorcycles and is waterproof. Just my opinion and seems to be others on this thread.