An alternative GPS

[Dragonrider]

On my 2012, I had a Zumo 550, which was satisfactory, and generally did the job well. I had no interest in the BRP priced Garmin Zumo 6XX either then or now, and could care less about music players, bluetooth, or other similar options.

When I bought my Commander, it came with a Garmin Montana 650T - which is not only a nice size (big screen, but pocketable), but you can use AA batteries when the rechargeable battery dies - and those are supposed to give you 16 hours of use (but 10 hours is more typical). I thought that would suffice, and bought a Leader RAM mount for it - and used it several times. However, for long trips, having it powered is really necessary, and the GPS is too vulnerable to theft on the RAM mount, so I had to seek out an old Gizmo adaptor and lockable "rugged" mount to mount it properly on the Spyder.

This is a terrific GPS - it has both the North America maps and Topo maps for the areas I ride in, it has a decent camera built in, and - if you photograph a landmark - it will guide you there! (You may not want to have the Topo maps up when you do this, if you are on the Spyder!!!) It has a ton of APPs, including a compass, elevation plotter, 3D view, trip computer, geo caching, calculator, stopwatch, calendar, hunt/fish calendar/weather analyzer, and does a great job with multiple waypoint routing...

All in all a really nice alternative to the Zumos, if you can get one at a decent price.

 

[finless]

Yep... I got the 775T (slight higher model than 650T) and it works great.

I love the FM transmitter output as I can hear the GPS through the Spyder radio (and thus BT helmets) if I want to. I just tuned the Spyder radio to an empty channel and told the GPS to broadcast on that channel. Also love the traffic fearture.

I bought it on Ebay for $80.

http://www.spyderlovers.com/forums/...IY-GPS-mount-and-hookup-with-12V-outlet-video

Bob

 

[BikerDoc]

Fascinating

 

[Dragonrider]

750T isn't the same beast - the 750 is a normal car GPS, and isn't weatherproof. The one on the left is the 750, and on the right the Montana 650...

 

[finless]

OK so you got me

Needless to say you don't have to spend a sh*t load to have a good GPS with many options more than the MC GPS's out there.

FYI I don't care about water proof... If I was to get stuck in the rain (rare in Cali) and it failed, for $80 I will buy another

Additional FYI, check posts here... many GPS' that claim to be water proof even the expensive Zumo's... turns out there not that great at being water proof!

Bob

 

[Dragonrider]

No arguments from here - there was an old Garmin 550 that was darn good too. My Montana HAS been in the water - DEEP in the water (but that's for another thread), and was none the worse for wear. Just brought all of this up because I thought the Montana was a fun toy with a ton of features to play with... it been a good addition to my new RT.

 

[Roadster Renovations]

On our current 3,000 mile New England trip (about 1600 miles so far), we have settled into a pretty good routine. Since we have the Sena communicators, we listen to music from our 'droid and use Mapquest on it also. When the GPS notifies of a change, it mutes the music. The only downside is two way has priority over GPS, so it is possible to miss a turn.
When I was prepping for this trip I fabricated a handlebar bolt mounted adaptor that I can either attach my phone or out old Magellan. So, what we are doing now is using the Magellan for visual reference and listen to the phones' GPS. That has worked very well and is almost foolproof.
When we were riding through the adirondacks the other day the phone kept loosing GPS signal, but the Magellan kept plugging away.
I read on here that the older model GPS's may not be suitable for the vibration on bikes, so when this one finally dies, sounds like I have found a good replacement. Thanks for posting!

 

[FrankPa]

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