Magellan GPS Help Needed

[Tripod]

The spousal unit was making a trip to the Big Box Store and I asked her to pick up a current edition of a particular Thomas Bros. Guide. They were out of that particular one, so, being the practical girl she is, she brought home to me, a Magellan Road Mate 1700 GPS unit. I consider myself very proficient in the mechanical arts but woefully deficient in electrical skills. Therefore I am turning to my fellow SpyderLovers for directions in hooking this bad boy up...partcularly where and how to mount this thing. Any, and all, suggestions, pictures and experience you can share would be greatly appreciated.

Tripod :doorag:

 

[bone crusher]

The spousal unit was making a trip to the Big Box Store and I asked her to pick up a current edition of a particular Thomas Bros. Guide. They were out of that particular one, so, being the practical girl she is, she brought home to me, a Magellan Road Mate 1700 GPS unit. I consider myself very proficient in the mechanical arts but woefully deficient in electrical skills. Therefore I am turning to my fellow SpyderLovers for directions in hooking this bad boy up...partcularly where and how to mount this thing. Any, and all, suggestions, pictures and experience you can share would be greatly appreciated.

Tripod :doorag:

Return it and get a Garmin zumo or Tom Tom...I'm also not familiar with the Magellan you are referring to, but you definitely need a waterproof GPS for your bike.

Also, Garmin customer service is beyond good...they are amazing...always get a person in the U.S. who will help...good luck with Magellan...they are lacking in customer service. I have a Magellan 4300...I like the unit and use it when I travel for work, but I don't think the quality matches that of my Garmin...the screen already has issues as compared to my Garmin, which is fine after numerous drops...

 

[Tripod]

Return it and get a Garmin zumo or Tom Tom...I'm also not familiar with the Magellan you are referring to, but you definitely need a waterproof GPS for your bike.

Also, Garmin customer service is beyond good...they are amazing...always get a person in the U.S. who will help...good luck with Magellan...they are lacking in customer service. I have a Magellan 4300...I like the unit and use it when I travel for work, but I don't think the quality matches that of my Garmin...the screen already has issues as compared to my Garmin, which is fine after numerous drops...

Thanks for your opinion of our purchase...what I'm looking for is someone with experience mounting a GPS unit. What works best..RAM mount, top of dash mount, etc.

Tripod :doorag:

 

[dave01]

I had a Magellan and used a ram mount and an Aquabox to make it waterproof. Use the ram mount that goes around the bar, mount it on the right side bar ( you will have to remove the plastic ring that covers the bar) or get the ram mount that fits on the clutch cover if you have an SE. I will look for the part numbers that I used. Hope this helps

Here is a link for ya for the parts
http://www.ram-mount.com/EmptyPages/AQUABOXES/AQ6MAIN/tabid/1538/Default.aspx

 

[patches]

Before I got my Ram mount and as crazy as this may be..I used the suction cup on my Megellen for about 10K miles and just tied a little fishing line to it just in case. Just stuck it right on the dash where beween the two dials. Only came off twice and I don't even have a windshield. Get a Ram Mount and you will be happy as a clam. The ram mount, you can mount it just about anywhere you want. I loved my Megellen for the past 3-4 years until I broke it, not motocycle related, just a bad expience hacking the firmware and never got it back online.

 

[WackyDan]

No.. You don't need a water proof unit. I use a Garmin and put a zip lock around it in crappy weather. Works fine.... Though I do want a Garmin ZUMO someday.

Ram mount is the way to go... Well worth the money.

Now.. As far as the Magellan... I understand you were not looking for comments on the manufacturer... But I have to add mine.

I went through four Magellans in one year. I had always used them. When I bought my 5250, I loved the interface, but it died after two months. At the time Magellan support was pretty decent and inside of 2 weeks they had sent me another... But it was flaky...

Then Magellan was bought by MiTAC.

I then bought a 5700? That died the 2nd week I had it. Support this time was terrible. It took two weeks of emails and phone calls before they even issued a repair authorization #. They send another unit once mine was received and that died inside of two weeks too. Frustrated...I gave up.

I bought a Garmin 1300t and it has held up since September in the cars and on the Spyder. The fonts are also bigger, which is nice when in the bike. I spent $239 on that one and now it is $129 for the 1300 without the traffic receiver.

I'll never buy a Magellan again. $500 of Magellan GPS's, four different units and two different models do not lie.

 

[irish2themax]

The spousal unit was making a trip to the Big Box Store and I asked her to pick up a current edition of a particular Thomas Bros. Guide. They were out of that particular one, so, being the practical girl she is, she brought home to me, a Magellan Road Mate 1700 GPS unit. I consider myself very proficient in the mechanical arts but woefully deficient in electrical skills. Therefore I am turning to my fellow SpyderLovers for directions in hooking this bad boy up...partcularly where and how to mount this thing. Any, and all, suggestions, pictures and experience you can share would be greatly appreciated.

Tripod :doorag:

I got my mount from KewlMetal but you need their console too. The picture shown is my Zumo but I had a Magellan Roadmate 760 before that

 

[bone crusher]

No.. You don't need a water proof unit. I use a Garmin and put a zip lock around it in crappy weather. Works fine.... Though I do want a Garmin ZUMO someday.

Ram mount is the way to go... Well worth the money.

Now.. As far as the Magellan... I understand you were not looking for comments on the manufacturer... But I have to add mine.

I went through four Magellans in one year. I had always used them. When I bought my 5250, I loved the interface, but it died after two months. At the time Magellan support was pretty decent and inside of 2 weeks they had sent me another... But it was flaky...

Then Magellan was bought by MiTAC.

I then bought a 5700? That died the 2nd week I had it. Support this time was terrible. It took two weeks of emails and phone calls before they even issued a repair authorization #. They send another unit once mine was received and that died inside of two weeks too. Frustrated...I gave up.

I bought a Garmin 1300t and it has held up since September in the cars and on the Spyder. The fonts are also bigger, which is nice when in the bike. I spent $239 on that one and now it is $129 for the 1300 without the traffic receiver.

I'll never buy a Magellan again. $500 of Magellan GPS's, four different units and two different models do not lie.

A zip lock bag on a GPS? That's hard to defend when you can get a waterproof GPS...plus, what would I put my sandwich in?

Garmin rocks Magellan with customer service...I have both but obviously like the Garmin more...(did I make that obvious?) :dontknow:

 

[bone crusher]

Thanks for your opinion of our purchase...what I'm looking for is someone with experience mounting a GPS unit. What works best..RAM mount, top of dash mount, etc.

Tripod :doorag:

Sorry...got ahead of myself there...I have a RAM mount and it works great...I also got a locking (key) system for the mount as these apparently can disappear too....odd...

I put mine on the right handlebar...easy to use...I don't need to look down to see it and I can use all the functions quite easily. I'm not a fan of looking down for anything...wanna keep that head up when riding....

 

[WackyDan]

A zip lock bag on a GPS? That's hard to defend when you can get a waterproof GPS...plus, what would I put my sandwich in?

Garmin rocks Magellan with customer service...I have both but obviously like the Garmin more...(did I make that obvious?) :dontknow:

NAH....

MATH... $239 unit versus $800+ unit. Take gallon zip lock, rubber band it over gps and ram mount... It has never gotten wet and I can still use the touch screen. I've used it that way in 3 heavy long rains on trips... not an issue. Even if I go through a unit a year, that means I'm still spending less or the same... getting a new one every year with the included free one time updates after purchase.

To each their own of course. Zumo would be ideal, I agree. I want the new 665 for the larger screen and XM... And that is very rich for me at the moment.

AS for my RAm mount... the ball is up on my CHAD bracket, which puts the Garmin right in my field of view so I'm not looking down at it on my bars.

 

[MadDogMN]

I mounted my Zumo to the left side mirror arm using a ram mount and wired it directly to the battery. This way it does not move in turns and curves and I can use it while the bike is off to plan routes and such.

I screwed the ram mount to the bottom of the mirror arm. The top rung has the wires for the turn signals.

Works great.

 

[Tripod]

I mounted my Zumo to the left side mirror arm using a ram mount and wired it directly to the battery. This way it does not move in turns and curves and I can use it while the bike is off to plan routes and such.

I screwed the ram mount to the bottom of the mirror arm. The top rung has the wires for the turn signals.

Works great.

MadDog,

That sounds interesting...any chance you could post some pix??

Thanks,

Tripod :doorag:

 

[bone crusher]

NAH....

MATH... $239 unit versus $800+ unit. Take gallon zip lock, rubber band it over gps and ram mount... It has never gotten wet and I can still use the touch screen. I've used it that way in 3 heavy long rains on trips... not an issue. Even if I go through a unit a year, that means I'm still spending less or the same... getting a new one every year with the included free one time updates after purchase.

To each their own of course. Zumo would be ideal, I agree. I want the new 665 for the larger screen and XM... And that is very rich for me at the moment.

AS for my RAm mount... the ball is up on my CHAD bracket, which puts the Garmin right in my field of view so I'm not looking down at it on my bars.

$800? I have the 550...probably well under $450 now and well worth it...the 665 is really nice but I have no need for it...I like the 550 as I can stick it in my pocket and go...don't have a CHAD but if it's in your field of view, all the better...

Hey, ever check out poifactory? Great POIs there, including ones for red light cameras and speed cameras around the country...updated weekly...this is a must, IMHO, if you live in an area that has these items...

 

[WackyDan]

Yeah... That 665 Zumo is $999 MSRP... Can find them for $700, but then you are wondering if that merchant will ever deliver.

$800? I have the 550...probably well under $450 now and well worth it...the 665 is really nice but I have no need for it...I like the 550 as I can stick it in my pocket and go...don't have a CHAD but if it's in your field of view, all the better...

Hey, ever check out poifactory? Great POIs there, including ones for red light cameras and speed cameras around the country...updated weekly...this is a must, IMHO, if you live in an area that has these items...

 

[bone crusher]

Yeah... That 665 Zumo is $999 MSRP... Can find them for $700, but then you are wondering if that merchant will ever deliver.

Yeah, when I got my zumo 550, I got a 'great price' from one of those online stores in New York...big mistake...they sent me a used unit...sent it back...never heard from them again...they folded...I had my Visa get my money back...phew!

Learned my lesson...only buy from reputable ebay sellers and from amazon...

I know the 665 is larger and has a few more gizmos, but the 550 will suffice for most people...it has bluetooth (and xm capability that I don't really care about) and that is good enough for me...with my G4, I can use an iphone and apparently can use the ipod feature as well (linked separately)...

The 550 fits the bike nicely too...geez...I was wrong...still $658.00 on Amazon...it really hasn't dropped in price at all...the 660 is actually cheaper at $440.00, and the 665 is about $1000.00...wow!