| Author | Message | ||
     Griffmeister |
I just saw an ad for the Garmin Zumo 390LM for motorcycles. Seems it has a new navigation feature called "Curvy Roads Routing" which is supposed to take you to your destination on the most winding roads it can find. Anyone going to try this out and give us a report? | ||
| Ezblast |
Ahhh - cool! | ||
| Pwnzor |
I have not seen that, but it sounds like a great idea! Heading to Amazon! | ||
| Pwnzor |
HOLY CRAP! $699.99???? I'll find my own curves, thank you. | ||
| Reepicheep |
You can do it yourself even better with a little bit of work if you invest the time to learn the tools, and get the right GPS that lets you control the actual route instead of just setting endpoints and a few waypoints. Unfortunately the only affordable GPS that does that is the old Quest's, and their map data is starting to get a bit long in the tooth, and the Garmin desktop software gets worse every year in terms of managing the digital rights management that lets you use the maps you bought on the GPS you bought. | ||
| Sifo |
I have a Garmin Nuvi 500 that seems to do this when it's supposed to give the most direct route. I spoke to their customer support about that a couple of years ago and was told that if I needed something that was more dependable with routes, that I might need to look elsewhere. Looks like they may have found a marketing solution to a deficiency they have. It wouldn't be the first time. I will say that it's taken me down some pretty cool roads that otherwise would have been missed. I've also been lead miles out of my way, down a long dead end road the lead to a farmers house. My Garmin had me turning down his driveway and you could see the path it was suggesting was a two track going back behind his barn. I wasn't about to do that so I reset the unit to recalculate the route. It came back with an error message stating it could not calculate the route. True story. I've logged a lot of miles with the GPS. I agree with Reepicheep that you can find a lot of great roads with a bit of work and setting the right waypoints. You do have to be smarter than the GPS. Mine makes some incredibly stupid choices. They don't all work equally either. Like any tool that you may purchase, you need to learn how to work it best, and when to not use it. As bad as it can be, I don't take a long bike trip without it. I often have it with me on day trips, even if it stays in my pocket the whole time. YMMV. $699.99? I expect that they will be found deeply discounted in the not too distant future. I still don't plan on replacing my Nuvi while it's still working. At least not unless prices drop dramatically. | ||
| Argentcorvid |
The ZUMO "motorcyle" GPS units are more expensive because they are built for more severe environments than the inside of a car. They're weatherproof, have a screen that's more visible in direct sunlight and are built and tested to take the vibration. | ||
| Mbest |
Sadly, I'm told that this one doesn't support XM or MP3 music. I haven't confirmed it myself, but anyone looking to get one should check on that if those are important features. | ||
| Cataract2 |
I just went with the Garmin Montana for my GPS needs. Have the Sena SMH10 Bluetooth headset and a Samsung Galaxy 3.6 music player. That handles the music needs. | ||
| Steeleagle |
I had the Zumo 550 but it met an untimely death, so I went with the Zumo 350LM (Note: NOT the 390, as it wasn't available yet.). The 350 is slightly smaller than the 550, but as mentioned above, it doesn't have many of the features the 550 had. Plus, if you are interested in the "traffic" option, Garmin's literature SAYS it has it. But it doesn't, confirmed by Garmin as an error, much to my disappointment. I'd be interested in the 390LM features if somebody can pony up personal experiences. Right now, if I was in the market, I'd still be looking at the 550, although the curvy road option sounds appealing. | ||
| Court |
>>>I had the Zumo 550 but it met an untimely death, You are aware that Garmin is replacing the 550's? I sent mine in, along with $150 and got a refurbished one that is indistinguishable from new. I really like the 550. http://www8.garmin.com/support/outofwarranty.html | ||
| 7873jake |
the 390 also has a tpms thingy for bikes. | ||
| Strokizator |
Loaned my Zumo 550 to my nephew for a few months and it came back with bubbles in the display screen. "Gee uncle John, I don't know how that happened". Anyway, got a replacement screen off flea-bay for a few bucks. Installation is easy and we're good to go again. | ||
| Steeleagle |
Hmm!! My Garmin 550 got smushed by my 1125R, so it may not be "warranty", but I REALLY liked my 550. I guess they can't say "No!" until I ask. Thanks for the heads-up! | ||
| 86129squids |
Sifo- do tell. I'm intrigued by these devices, would like to implement if I can purge their vices. I suck as a poet, shoot me in the ass. I expect my experience with GPS to be similar. | ||
| Rich |
My zumo was replaced free once, it was out of warranty, too. The second time it cost me the $150, and was worth it. I looked at the new one last week at AIMExpo, but the zumo is still ticking. | ||
| Pwnzor |
My 550 has been serving faithfully on the handlebar of my last 3 motorcycles. Rain, sleet, snow, sun... these things matter not to the trusty 550. Battery still holds a charge forever. | ||
| Reepicheep |
I wonder if the "replaced" 550 is any better than the original 550? Or do they just re-seat the cables that pop out and pack it back up and ship it back out to the next guy? | ||
| Steeleagle |
I submitted a repair request for my 550. We'll see if they allow me to ship back relatively large pieces for a replacement. If they do, I'll let you know if the "replaced" one is better. | ||
| Froggy |
Here is a comparison chart of the 665, 550, and the two new models https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/catalog/product/co mpareResult.ep?compareProduct=120318&compareProduc t=138275&compareProduct=107979&compareProduct=414 The new curvy roads and TPMS system looks cool, but it still looks like a downgrade overall. | ||
| Sifo |
Sifo- do tell. Some units will come with mapping software so you can do routes on your computer and download them to the GPS. I think Garmin calls their software Trip Planner. Mine didn't include this software. Someone here turned me onto a shareware program called Tyre. Tyre uses Google Maps as the mapping engine and works quite well. It's easy to set waypoints to keep you on track. I wind up setting a bunch of them because the GPS unit often tries to take a different route. Always check the route after it's been loaded to the GPS. You may have to add more waypoints to get the desired result. This is typical of what a route looks like when I'm done.  One thing I really like is that following the GPS, is mentally, a lot like following someone else on a ride. When I'm leading a ride without a GPS, I find that I do a lot of mental activity regarding where I'm heading. When I'm following someone else, I can shut down that mental process and enjoy the ride more. Following the GPS is a lot like that, without having to stare at someone else's back end. Out on the road I always set my home location to my hotel, or where ever I'm staying. Then I can explore as I wish, and always know my way back. Keep in mind that you can always just ignore it, or even stuff it into a pocket and do your own thing. Or you can simply use it as a compass and pick roads that go the general direction you want to travel. It really is a great tool with some of the options available on them. One thing, I can't hear mine at all over wind noise. Not a big deal at all. It always displays how far to the next turn. I have gone right past turns though simply because I was really enjoying a road. I did that once and didn't notice for about 12 miles! Then I had to enjoy that road 12 miles in the other direction! I would say, be VERY careful when getting used to riding with a GPS. They can really take your attention off the road, especially as you navigate to various functions. We are already very exposed to dangers on the road and any distractions we add should be done with great caution. Some things I use often on the road is being able to find a gas station. It took me a long time to figure out that it would find stations that are actually on your route. I can't believe that isn't the default. Same thing with finding hotels, etc. Finding restaurants is handy too, but they come and go a bit too fast to be reliable in the provided points of interest. It gets even worse when your maps are a few years out of date. I think more units are going to lifetime map updates, that will keep things more up to date without extra costs every year. Anything else you want to know? | ||
| Torquehd |
I'd be surprised if there was anything GPS-related that your smartphone couldn't do. I bought an android media player for like $300 a couple years ago, i didn't even know it had satellite GPS until i stumbled across it in the apps. Now i have an android smartphone that can do almost anything I want, as far as GPS goes. maybe not a curvy-road-app, but who cares. that's what map recons, or aimless rides into the country, are for. if the GPS's only criteria is "curvy road", you'll probably end up on a lot of crappy-quality roads and gravel roads that you wouldn't want to ride on. Iphone took awhile to realize that they could put sat GPS in their phones, but they're finally there too. | ||
| Sifo |
I'd be surprised if there was anything GPS-related that your smartphone couldn't do. Not charge you a monthly fee is one thing. I don' own a smart phone, so I'm not sure if you're correct or not. Usually a specific purpose tool has advantages over a general purpose tool with a similar function though. I would never think that a multipurpose leatherman tool is as good at turning nuts and bolts as my sockets and open end wrenches. Sure is a nice tool to have around sometimes though. So can a smart phone do the stuff I described in my above post? I have no idea. | ||
| Steeleagle |
I highly recommend using the Bluetooth functionality with earphone or whatever you choose for staying connected with the GPS. It puts the voice in your ear(s) so you don't have an urgent need to monitor anything other than traffic. I didn't have them for my 1st road trip to Homecoming 2010, and it was nerve-wracking trying to monitor traffic around Chicago, watch for turns left or right, plus keep track of my buddy who was riding with me. The next year I had the BT earphones and they lower my BP around 20 points or more! The 350LM and 550 (and I assume the 390LM) have BT capability. Also as far as between the 350LM and 550, I liked the buttons VS the touch screen. | ||
| Froggy |
Yes, to put it bluntly, smartphone GPSes are garbage. Online GPS programs like Google Maps and Waze require you to be online to use them (or try and cache the area ahead of time), or you can fork out extra money for an offline program. Smartphone GPS software varies in quality (Apple maps sucks, Google Maps is unstable), and is often missing critical features such as the ability to upload custom routes or record where you have gone. Then you still have a device with a cheap low sensitivity GPS chip, resulting in lower accuracy, harder to get a signal lock, and slower recalculation. To top it off, smartphones are not designed to be used on motorcycles, the vibrations, heat, cold, rain, and other elements will shorten their life, and if it has a captive screen you can't use it with gloves on. Many phones won't let you charge for long while mounted on a bike, as if you put it in a weatherproof case or a safe spot on the bike, it is more likely to overheat resulting in it shutting off or stop charging. That is not even including the overall higher cost of a smartphone (varies, but can easily exceed the cost of the cheapest zumo), plus monthly fees to run a data connection, and if you are on Android or iOS you can count on the device letting you down at the worse possible time, either rebooting or not picking up signal, or app crashes. Zumos have high sensitivity receivers, dedicated high end GPS software, functionality that phones can't touch, and are designed by riders for riders. They aren't 3rd rate garbage like most smartphones. | ||
| Slaughter |
That monthly fee, being waterproof - able to wash off grime in the sink - stuff like that. STILL, it's nice to carry your backup in your pocket. ALSO - if you do track days or racing, there's an awesome app for track mapping, braking, accelerating, lap timing: http://www.gps-laptimer.de/Home.html Database is unbelieveably complete! I use it at Willow and now that I've gotten use to it's functions, it'll be a great tool for next season. (Message edited by slaughter on October 25, 2013) | ||
| Reepicheep |
I agree with everything Frank said... and I'll add that for the smart phones, "NavFree" is one that will actually cache maps ahead of time, and does an OK job as a basic GPS. Doesn't help you much on a bike though, as you are just ruining a nice phone trying to mount it where it would be useful (as currently designed). With Sifo's suggestion above, they can work but you are pushing a rope with many GPS's. Different models will support different numbers of waypoints, so depending on your model it may not work at all. And different map data can translate down to your GPS with some really really whacked out results that you won't notice until already task loaded and out leading a ride noticing you just made a left onto a dead end road to touch a waypoint that was actually just off your screen on the GPS only to turn back around and resume your previous route. Which will lead to you getting a lot of ribbing later that night smoking cigars. I'd argue there are two different problems a GPS will solve, though some GPS's will try and solve both. The first is "finding my way to somewhere when i don't know where it is and when I don't care how I get there". Almost any GPS, phone or dedicated, will do this OK. Except maybe an old Quest (it will do it, but you will die of bordom in many cases before it is done). The second is "help me follow a route I have already spent a lot of time carefully designing". Only the high end Garmins will really do this well, and even then the whole process is a lot more challenging then you would think. Interestingly, the old Quests can still do this really well, if you can live with the outdated map data (which isn't actually that big a deal, as most of the good motorcycle roads are old roads). | ||
| Sifo |
And different map data can translate down to your GPS with some really really whacked out results that you won't notice until already task loaded and out leading a ride noticing you just made a left onto a dead end road to touch a waypoint that was actually just off your screen on the GPS only to turn back around and resume your previous route. Which will lead to you getting a lot of ribbing later that night smoking cigars. OMG, remind me to tell you sometime.  | ||
| Ishai |
To present an alternative- I bought the new TomTom Rider for under $400 ,and I use it for the winding roads function mostly. I haven't used the Tyre software yet, but I have very good experince with this GPS. it is very solidly built and is quite heavy but that did not present an issue for me. I like to stray off my planned route onto small backroads as they appear and if I have a destination it re calculates fast- whithin less then 10 seconds. So for my purpuses this new TomTom works great. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Interesting Ishai, so are you saying the TomTom rider has the "curvy roads" feature built in? I am getting so angry with Garmin over their idiotic DRM implementations combined with their unwillingness to keep them working that I, after being a long time Garmin fan, am pretty much at the "any brand *but* Garmin" a this point. If you are going to put really annoying DRM on your product, then you need to move heaven and earth to make sure it keeps running until every last one of those device owners no longer wishes to use it. Or provide a final "unlocked" version when you exit. |
