| Author | Message | ||
     Dio |
Anyone have any commentary about the Zumo 450 or 550 - likes or dislikes. I just got my 450 and getting ready to mount it. Has anyone had a Ram mount break? They look pretty solid, but I gotta wonder, do these things last forever without breaking? The zumo 450 in the cradle is pretty hefty. | ||
| Lowflyer |
I broke my Ram mount. I had it on my CRF450R. It broke when I jumped a double and landed a little flat. You will like your Zumo.  | ||
| Scud |
I've been using Ram Mounts for years. One for a Valentine One radar detector. One for a Garmin StreetPilot ColorMap (3"H x 7"L x 3"D) which weighs about 2#. Thousands of miles with no problems. They are durable, strong, & isolate vibrations. Zumo 550 will be my next GPS. | ||
| Hooliken |
I have had my ram mount on my XR650R, Multi and now the Uly. Needless to say while on the XR-R it met gods green earth on more than one occasion. Have not been able to break it yet! I run a Magellan X-Over but just recently used a friends ZUMO. Like some of the features on the Zumo over my Magellan. I paid half as much for my X-over and it does the same job. | ||
| Debueller |
No worries......my 550 has been on my Uly for over 20,000 miles in the rain, cold, sun, dust, mud, ect, and has worked flawlessly. I love it. | ||
| Kurbennett |
Ditto to what Debueller said. I have the 550 and it has worked flawlessly. The supplied ram mount has worked well. | ||
| Lowflyer |
Ditto again. I have had a Zumo on my Uly since they came out. Tough as nails and worth every penny if you ask me.  | ||
| Supertoon |
Love my 550, rigged a fused cig. lighter power cord to use on rental bikes and the bluetooth hands free in the car is excellent. It synchronized easily with my bluetooth phone and up-loaded all my contacts by itself. Add a 2 gig card of mp3 music and off you go! Nav features and coverage are heads and shoulders above the nav. system in my Subie.... So far (with the exception of that frigging safety screw), the ram mount works well! | ||
| Debueller |
A great alterenitive to the dreaded "safety screw":  http://www.touratech-usa.com/shop/show.lasso?SKU=065-0141&-session=touratech:824C20A702e2016254xoX24FB5B0 Kinda pricey,($142) but I love mine. | ||
| Supertoon |
Debueller, Nice set-up, my question is would leave your bike unattended with the Zumo in place? Looks real solid and seems that it supports the unit better with superior vibration damping. I am always afraid that a potential robber would just grab onto the unit and pull so hard that it would break the two locking pins. In other words, even with the safety screw tightened down I would never leave the unit on the bike out of view. | ||
| Ozarkdennis |
I can't comment on a Ram mount since I use the factory mounts on my 07. Do love the 450 Zumo. I didn't need all the features of a 550 so saved some $$. It has survived a trip on the Uly to Co and NM from here in Ar and a trip to Fl from here on my Kaw 08 900. Who knows where to get windshield Ram mount for my truck? | ||
| Gotj |
Here's one option for a windshield RAM mount. http://www.whitehorsepress.com/product_info.php?cP ath=171_175&products_id=5329 | ||
| Dio |
I just received an order from Ram Mounts. This is a full list of all their stuff. The order ships from the closest distributor with a slightly discounted price. Great service. http://www.ram-mount.com/ | ||
| Joe_solo |
Have had a GPS on my bike for years, never had a lock and never had a problem. Take it off at night. For the most part I have found that people don't interfere with motorcycles. | ||
| Debueller |
The Touratech lock pictured above offers only a small amount of security from theives. The ram mount on the Zumo has a knob that turns so you can loosens it to allow for the gps to be angled for easy viewing. If you unscrew the knob enough, the gps will fall off, lock and all. The only thing holding it would be the wire, which is easily cut. The Touratech lock gives the illusion of a securely locked unit. I also disliked the security screw and always felt compeled to use it to avoid an accidental release of the gps while traveling. The Touratech securly holds the releasing mechanism down to avoid an accidental release. Unless? http://65.102.174.116/rammount/productdetail.aspx?partnumber=RAM-KNOB3L (Message edited by debueller on January 19, 2008) | ||
| Johnboy777 |
"Have had a GPS on my bike for years, never had a lock and never had a problem. Take it off at night. For the most part I have found that people don't interfere with motorcycles". Canada doesn't have any people. . | ||
| Jackbequick |
"..any commentary about the Zumo 450 or 550..." There is a lot of stuff here: http://www.zumoforums.com/ This link has a list of suggested changes and improvements that the users on zumoforums intend to submit to Garmin: http://www.zumoforums.com/index.php?topic=3792.0 RAM Mounts: Have and use them in several places including an Dyna FXD with a much heavier StreetPilot 2610 and have never had any problems with them. Jack | ||
| Bearly |
I had the rubber connector cover have is rubber ties break and fall off inside a year. Other than that I'm happy with the 550. | ||
| Lowflyer |
Bearly, Just curious about the rubber ties. Do you leave your bike parked in the sun much? | ||
| Bearly |
No I really don't. Oh the odd day twice a month it sits out at the airport for four hours. The rest of the time, I'm just riding it. :-). So it's just the little cap you know that goes over the contact when the Zumo is not mounted. It's held back out of the way by magnets when you have the unit mounted. Yea the rubber just rotted. The rest of the unit is great. Nitpicky realy. | ||
| Jackbequick |
If you can keep the rubber cover out of the sun it will help. And to try to slow the deterioration, get a small bottle of glycerin at the drug store and work it over with some of that on your fingers, then dry it off with a dry clean cloth. Glycerin was the standard preservative or "delay the deterioration" tool for things like eye cups on binoculars, cameras and the like for years. Seems like Garmin could have found a material that was a little more resistant to the effects of UV exposure. | ||
| Uly1080 |
I have a RAM mount for a Garmin Nuvi360 (which I already had), and while the GPS isn't weatherproof its a great addition...especially when riding two up...with the wife...who hates being lost  . No problems with the RAM though. | ||
| Helmetbolt |
Here's my Zumo in mount.   | ||
| Naustin |
I mounted the ram mount sideways on the vertical part of the bar to place the zumo in the center... Too cold to test it so far, but hopefully having the mount horizontal rather than vertical won't create a problem... Love the Zumo!  | ||
| Lowflyer |
I don't know, but I think the UV exposure on the rubber dust cover was quite easily overlooked on the list of engineering problems to solve.  My unit has about 15k miles on it and the rubber still looks new. Then again, my Zumo rarely leaves the mount so that cover is always folded under. I also never leave my bike in the sun if it can be helped. Nelson Rigg makes a bike cover for about $20. I use it obsessively. | ||
| Tankhead |
I lost my cap to my safety screwdriver on the first ride. It unscrewed itself while on my keychain. Do you guys have a problem with the security screw that keeps the clamp on the zumo backing out while riding? This also happened to me the first ride with my ZUMO. Thankfully I caught it before it backed all the way out. | ||
| Borrowedbike |
I think the security screw is just to keep you from ripping it out of the mount and throwing it when it mispronounces street names! I have a 450 and LOVE it. Ram mount sells a threaded ball that will fit in the threaded hole the XBs uses for it's mirrors. Cost me about $10, is very clean, and removes the bulk of the supplied mount. | ||
| Supertoon |
I think the problem is not trusting the stock retaining thingy without first tightening down the safety screw. I think I will go with the Touratech mount without the lock for a little over 100 bucks and say good-bye to that nasty little screw forever! Plus every real adventure bike MUST have a touratech goodie on it! Otherwise you are just a poseur!  | ||
| Muppet |
Got mine mounted in exactly the same position as Helmetbolt. It just takes a split second to glance down to the screen, better than low down in the middle IMHO, can almost see the screen out of the corner of your eye without taking your eyes off the road. I use the stock Garmin mount, been on for over a year, no problems at all. Lost the rubber capo mind, but apparently a phone call to Garmin (or e-mail) will have them send you a new one FOC. Zumo 550 is great, I even like the security screw! | ||
| Debueller |
Quote from Muppet: Lost the rubber capo mind, but apparently a phone call to Garmin (or e-mail) will have them send you a new one FOC. It's true.......I sent Garmin an email monday, and today they sent me an email telling me I will recieve a new cover under warranty in 7-10 days. BTW, I have had my Zumo for over a year. I think the warranty is past? Kudos to Garmin.  |
