SAT NAV

[denjy]

Morning all, I have recently taken delivery of a shiny new 900GT and have been spanking ebay and amazon for bits and pieces. I have recently been looking at satnavs and was amazed that there only seem to be 2 major manufacturers in the market. That is until you dig a little deeper and the cheap Chinese satnavs (Excelvan etc) start to appear. Has anyone got any experience of these, as they are a fraction of the cost of the major candidates in the market  and could be a worthwhile purchase? 

Another alternative is to use my iphone in a waterproof case with a sat nav app such as NAVMII , or indeed, a car sat nav which seem to be much cheaper  (also in a suitable waterproof housing).

Or do I have to save my pennies for a Garmin or TomTom? (maybe paper maps are the way to go)

 

Any help here would be appreciated 

 

Cheers

Denjy

[jdavis]

I use my phone (Note 5) with Waze around town and Google for trips. Spotify in the background.

 

Edited May 23, 2019 by jdavis

[bugie]

I previously had an old school Tomtom rider 2 and have switched to smart phones maps now (Sygic and Copilot - I prefer Sygic). I don't think i would invest in another motorcycle GPS. Having said that; The biggest issue is keeping them cool enough and glare from the sun.

Mobile/Car sat navs :

Pro: Cheaper than motorcycle Sat Navs:
Con: Don't have anti-glare, Don't have motorcycle touch friendly screens, aren't waterproof. 

Mobile specific

Pro: 1 device instead of 2 mounted to your handlebar (phone and GPS in 1) and only 1 device requiring a power source
Con: They get very hot and need good air flow. If you use them in a closed tank bag they often get so hot they turn off to protect the device being damaged. If the mobile breaks, you lose communication and GPS capability.

Car Sat Nav specific :

Con: Often don't support bluetooth and don't have motorcycle mounting options

Motorcycle Sat Nav specific:

Pro: Glove friendly, good anti-glare, waterproof, and often has the option of choosing more scenic routes for motorcycles

 

 

[chitown]

Still prefer a dedicated satnav. My phones have usually been more expensive, less hardened against the elements and vibration, and a more critical item to protect while far from home. Like to keep it on my person, on the off chance I'm separated from the bike, can reach it and use it. Redundancy should one device fail. While there are plenty of things I don't like about Garmin and their software still dig their hardware. Lasted through years of goat trail pounding, drops, and exposure. First Zumo still works at 13 years old but have replaced the digitizer with one from ebay and it no longer gets map updates. Still useful and pretty good $/year of service. Picked up a 660LM back when Garmin end-of-lifed it at a healthy discount. 

[nhchris]

I tried  my Garmin on the bike but could not read it in normal daylight. I spent way too much time looking at it rather than the road ahead.  Was a real distraction.

To me the ideal rig would be iPhone Nav with blue tooth audio to a head set. No visual access required at all.

In the car the latest iPhone Nav is better than my Garmin.

cb

[mellow]

I use the Zumo 590 which is discontinued but replaced by the 595...   The most useful feature it has is the up-ahead function.  It will show you things such as restaurants, lodging.. and GAS... along your route... previous versions would show that as well but within a radius of your current location so something 5 miles away as the crow flies could actually be 25 miles away.  The up-ahead feature will only show you what is along your route so you can see if it's a mom/pop gas station only or several more name brand stations and gives you the ability to plan your gas stops better to avoid being stuck.

[betoney]

55 minutes ago, chitown said:

Still prefer a dedicated satnav.     While there are plenty of things I don't like about Garmin and their software still dig their hardware.

I use the cheaper Garmin Nuvi or Drive series automotive models.  I like that I can enter numerous stops in a days route (much easier than Google Maps) and it shows me the entire route distance through all stops and not just the next stop.

The automotive models are cheap, I've picked them up on sale for around $100.  I usually get a 2 or 3 year replacement warranty with it, (Best Buy) if it stops working then I just return it for a new one.

[betoney]

14 minutes ago, mellow said:

I use the Zumo 590 which is discontinued but replaced by the 595...   The most useful feature it has is the up-ahead function.  It will show you things such as restaurants, lodging.. and GAS... along your route...

I have used that feature many times.  Being in an unknown area and getting low on gas is an uneasy feeling, pushing a button and seeing that gas is 7 miles ahead is awesome!

[denjy]

Thanks for all the input so far guys, really useful. I have discounted the use of chinese cheapo GPS as the few reviews I have found aren't very encouraging. However I have an ebay bid on a TomTom Rider V5, it's old but still does what it is supposed to do. I also have an old TomTom One but I never liked it as it took ages to acquire the satellites and needed to be permanently powered as the battery would only last about 15 minutes. 

Thanks

[betoney]

11 minutes ago, denjy said:

I also have an old TomTom One but I never liked it as it took ages to acquire the satellites and needed to be permanently powered as the battery would only last about 15 minutes. 

Thanks

Yes, they need to be wired to power, even fully charged the battery life might last an hour.

[denjy]

Thanks for all the comments, I never bothered with a satnav on my previous bikes as they were all limited on cockpit space as they were all sports bikes, however I have now managed to win an eBay bid on a Tom Tom Rider V5. A bit of an older piece of kit, but with lifetime European maps, should be fit for purpose. Also got some connectors to wire it into the spare power connections behind the screen, so that it will turn on with the key.

Cheers

Denjy

[fddriver2]

I use old automotive  Garmin NUVI's "waterproofed" following the details in this video. I don't use GPS often, mostly on trips. I haven't had an issue yet.

Used ones are on sale on FB marketplace for as low as $35 - $50 with lifetime updates. Mated with a RAM mount they seem to work fine.

 

[fddriver2]

A picture of one on the bike

[countersteer]

I have a Garmin Zumo 660 (discontinued) and had an earlier model Zumo prior to that.  My favorite feature is being able to construct a multi day trip in strange territory on my PC and then load onto the GPS.  My quest for the twistiest road segments has sometimes landed me in places that were less than ideal, but all in all it's worked very well.  Last time I looked, I couldn't find a phone app that matched the trip planning functionality of the Garmin software.  Perhaps that's changed?

[krillz]

A cell phone is a horrible idea for me. I ride where there is no service what so ever. I use a nuvi 2555. I also have gloves that work for devices. I’ve rode in the rain while using it  still works  

Try Garmin Base Camp app on your PC to pre load routes.