Sat navs talk to me!
Discussion
Ok looking at asking for money etc for Xmas in order of getting a sat nav for the bike.
After having a brief look for 5 mins they all seem to be £300 plus!! Is there any cheaper or are these worth it? Seems you can pick up a car sat nav which does everything you need for £50.
So do anyone know of cheaper ones etc or have you cleverly mounted a car one!
After having a brief look for 5 mins they all seem to be £300 plus!! Is there any cheaper or are these worth it? Seems you can pick up a car sat nav which does everything you need for £50.
So do anyone know of cheaper ones etc or have you cleverly mounted a car one!
I'm still using an old Garmin 670 Nuvi, a car navi. It's at least 8 years old and each year it gets used in several hours of heavy rain. It still works perfectly well. Bike specific units are a complete waste of money IMO.
Get a car navi where you can have a bigger screen, many more functions and at less than 1/3rd the price.
Get a car navi where you can have a bigger screen, many more functions and at less than 1/3rd the price.
I have a Garmin.
Only been able to use it in the car though as the bracket to hold it on to my handlebars broke when tightening it. In the car it has been fine, but I'd probably avoid Garminb as their customer service has been shocking.
A replacement part was requested back in June/July and after having apparently been posted a few times already, incl by reg/spec delivery, it still has not arrived. A real shame as it's only a 70p part, but integral to the units functionality.
And before anyone moans, I did set my torque wrench to the recommended setting and checked it was working correctly beforehand, but the bracket still sheared off.
Only been able to use it in the car though as the bracket to hold it on to my handlebars broke when tightening it. In the car it has been fine, but I'd probably avoid Garminb as their customer service has been shocking.
A replacement part was requested back in June/July and after having apparently been posted a few times already, incl by reg/spec delivery, it still has not arrived. A real shame as it's only a 70p part, but integral to the units functionality.
And before anyone moans, I did set my torque wrench to the recommended setting and checked it was working correctly beforehand, but the bracket still sheared off.
I have a Garmin.
Only been able to use it in the car though as the bracket to hold it on to my handlebars broke when tightening it. In the car it has been fine, but I'd probably avoid Garminb as their customer service has been shocking.
A replacement part was requested back in June/July and after having apparently been posted a few times already, incl by reg/spec delivery, it still has not arrived. A real shame as it's only a 70p part, but integral to the units functionality.
And before anyone moans, I did set my torque wrench to the recommended setting and checked it was working correctly beforehand, but the bracket still sheared off.
Only been able to use it in the car though as the bracket to hold it on to my handlebars broke when tightening it. In the car it has been fine, but I'd probably avoid Garminb as their customer service has been shocking.
A replacement part was requested back in June/July and after having apparently been posted a few times already, incl by reg/spec delivery, it still has not arrived. A real shame as it's only a 70p part, but integral to the units functionality.
And before anyone moans, I did set my torque wrench to the recommended setting and checked it was working correctly beforehand, but the bracket still sheared off.
The bike specific units are a rip-off. They don't have the features, such as internet access for traffic updates that car units half the price have. The Tom Toms don't even come standard with a powered hard mount, you have to buy that as an accessory!!!
However I don't like flaffing about with plastic bags, so I coughed £400-odd for a waterproof Garmin Zumo bike model.
However I don't like flaffing about with plastic bags, so I coughed £400-odd for a waterproof Garmin Zumo bike model.
creampuff said:
However I don't like flaffing about with plastic bags, so I coughed £400-odd for a waterproof Garmin Zumo bike model.
Why do you need a 'plastic bag'? My 8 year old Garmin Nuvi 670 car navi has been in numerous downpours in the Alps etc on my bike and has never missed a beat. The touch screen works perfectly with/without gloves. When i buy a new navi, it will definitely be a car version and it will be used 'naked', no plastic bags etc.I've had a Garmin Zumo 550 for 5 years and it has been excellent apart from one problem, in many hours and 1000's of miles of use in all weathers on faired and unfaired bikes. It also fits in the car perfectly. It has traffic reports for the UK and Europe all the speed camera's and does Bluetooth for and music.
It locked up once and I could not do anything with it (but I always carry a map as back up)and I called Garmin and they told me to send it to them, 10 days later I had a new unit. So in my experience the customer service has been excellent.
I like Garmin because you can plan your routes on the PC/laptop and download to the unit, not all the other makes have this function.
It locked up once and I could not do anything with it (but I always carry a map as back up)and I called Garmin and they told me to send it to them, 10 days later I had a new unit. So in my experience the customer service has been excellent.
I like Garmin because you can plan your routes on the PC/laptop and download to the unit, not all the other makes have this function.
I never bother having the audio hooked up on my Tomtom rider V2, despite having an intercom and Bluetooth that's perfectly capable of doing it. Just glancing at the screen occasionally is plenty good enough. the bike specific ones tend to be a bit tougher though, mine's 5 or 6 years old, been dropped loads of times, and still works fine.
If you go for a cheaper car unit check what features they have. Most of the cheaper ones just direct you to your destination rather than allowing you to program a route in with waypoints. The latter is what you want on a bike as you can plan an interesting route and then use the satnav to let you follow it without having pages of instructions taped to the tank. Dunno about Garmins but the newer Tomtoms have a "winding roads" option along with the usual fastest, shortest, avoid motorways, etc options. A couple of mates have them and they seem to do a good job of planning interesting routes to your destination.
If you go for a cheaper car unit check what features they have. Most of the cheaper ones just direct you to your destination rather than allowing you to program a route in with waypoints. The latter is what you want on a bike as you can plan an interesting route and then use the satnav to let you follow it without having pages of instructions taped to the tank. Dunno about Garmins but the newer Tomtoms have a "winding roads" option along with the usual fastest, shortest, avoid motorways, etc options. A couple of mates have them and they seem to do a good job of planning interesting routes to your destination.
Another newbie type question, what is the cleanest/easiest way to power the sat nav? (just using an old car one). Would you make a direct connection to the battery with an inline fuse and a cigarette lighter socket or it there something smarter?
I have an old mounting that I think would work fine but not sure about powering it.
I have an old mounting that I think would work fine but not sure about powering it.
I just use my Samsung phone with google maps (free) fixed to the bar in a waterproof mount. £40 for mount with charge lead to bike...it saves carrying multiple devices
works great, did 2500 miles in Spain last month. A Bluetooth headset in helmet is useful to hear instructions, particularly navigating in cities.
no need for anything else ...of course you need a phone with decent size screen
works great, did 2500 miles in Spain last month. A Bluetooth headset in helmet is useful to hear instructions, particularly navigating in cities.
no need for anything else ...of course you need a phone with decent size screen
Ballon said:
I like Garmin because you can plan your routes on the PC/laptop and download to the unit, not all the other makes have this function.
+1 That is the most important feature for me. When I ride or drive for pleasure I like to plan my route based on the fun factor of the roads. I use Tyre Travel which is a great bit of free software and allows routes to be planned and loaded straight into higher end Tom Toms and Garmins. Ballon said:
I like Garmin because you can plan your routes on the PC/laptop and download to the unit, not all the other makes have this function.
Yep, one of the reasons I upgraded from my old Nuvi 255 was that it couldn't accept pre-planned routes, which made it a bit of an arse-on when riding with a group who all had the routes programmed in.As to customer service, I emailed Garmin to see if they could point me towards a spare charger for my new 2548; after a fortnight's delay they finally got back to me an hour before I had to leave to get a ferry, on the trip I wanted a spare charger for
The part number they gave me is the wrong one
- the 2548 needs a particular charger as it uses the lead as an aerial for the traffic receiver; said device is not listed anywhere on Garmin's online shop (UK, US or otherwise). They offered me the generic charger which will charge but won't allow the traffic function to operate.Don't know if it's any help, but me and a number of bikers I know just use our smartphone. There's plenty of mounts.
Though, my iphone and SGS2 needed the gloves off for operating it which wasn't ideal, my newer high-end phones can actually be operated when I'm wearing my leather gloves.
Though, my iphone and SGS2 needed the gloves off for operating it which wasn't ideal, my newer high-end phones can actually be operated when I'm wearing my leather gloves.
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