Garmin or Tom Tom?

+1 on everything said above. When I got back into bikes I bought a Garmin ZUMO 660LM (lifetime maps) which cost me about $600 CDN a couple of years ago. I do like its robustness, secure mounting and display quality and most importantly, the fact that I can control it with gloves on.

The one thing that no GPS unit does (in my experience at least) is allow you to see the entire trip and plan a route that is logical for your proposed day if you have several place you want to visit. For that, a map really is still essential, IMO. Once you are underway, a map in a tankbag is only useful when you stop - while moving it is simply too dangerous to look down for that length of time.

In my view, glove-friendly control is the biggest benefit of a bike unit over a car model. The car models use a screen technology that requires a bare finger touch while the bike units can be controlled with a gloved fingertip (although it requires a fairly firm poke). The other key difference is that the bike units (the Garmin ZUMO at least) have a motorcycle keyboard function which makes the characters larger and easier to hit with your gloved finger. Now, it is a bit more tedious to use in "bike mode" because the screen shows only a portion of the keyboard at a time, but at least you don't have to remove your gloves to control the unit.

The other thing if you are concerned about water-proofing is that a car unit can easily be made virtually as waterproof as a bike unit. There are several videos on the web that show how to accomplish this very quickly and at nearly no cost. See for example a YouTube video by GPS Kevin:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2UvIoL78Cg

The robustness of the electronics on a car unit remains a potential concern. However, I have never actually had any Garmin unit fail (except one that was dropped by the former boyfriend of one of my daughters) and in any event, they are cheap to buy and widely available if one dies or is stolen.

I have tried use my cell phone as a GPS but it uses a fair bit of data and so could become costly if I was away from home, plus cell coverage is not available everywhere while GPS coverage is. In addition, the screen on my phone is smaller than that of my GPS and like others, I don't want to squinting and peeking, while riding.

Finally, I find any sort of voice alert to be extremely distracting and so linking the GPS to my Scala Rider system is something I have only done once - and only for about 10 minutes. Betty (my GPS female voice) was always interrupting me and my thoughts and in a few minutes, I found myself debating with her about the best route and asking her to pipe down because I liked the song that was playing. I finally decided that SHE was working for ME - and so I turned her off. The Scala is great as an intercom, music system, FM radio receiver and occasionally to receive a phone call - but as a GPS read-out - NOPE!

All in all, if I were doing it again, I think I would simply buy a cheap car unit with the biggest possible screen - waterproof it, and live with any limitations. As was pointed out above, you could buy 3-5 car units for the cost of one dedicated bike unit. As for the Garmin/TomTom debate - I like Garmin and own several of them.

The more recent Nuvi 2567 units have a "new and improved" user interface which I find much less effective and far more difficult to use than the slightly earlier units. I have found that nearly every built-in GPS car unit is dreadful to use in comparison with any suction-cup unit (the one in the French Citroen brand is truly puzzling, as are the VW GPS units in Europe) - but I am sure that one can get used to anything.

Pete

spiderman302 said:

The caveat with cell phone GPS is the map may not be in the phone. If you ride out of range of the cell system then there is no map.... The dedicated GPS works in the wilderness.... Yes, you may be able to down load the full map for your app on the phone but you have to know how to do that ahead of time.....

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That is a true point and I like one thing on the dedicated GPS units, quick and easy view to find populate exits for gas stations and food. With two taps of my finger I can get an idea of a good exit for gas and food. Not just is there gas ahead, but how far and how much competition, helps keep fuel fresh and prices competitive.

But around towns, the traffic monitoring and updated accuracy of the phone apps is far superior to the dedicated units.

I like both, so I use both! One keeps me on the big picture and rolling, one keeps me flowing smoothly in traffic around town.

Another vote for the 5" Chinavasion unit. A good discussion on it here.

Just to clarify:
- you DO NOT need cell coverage with many of the cell phone apps. Thus, they do not use up your data. The nav function is carried out with resident maps and the gps chip in the phone. So, they will work where there is no cell service what so ever. This true even for Google maps. All you need to do is download and save the maps of where you are going. I have used my cell phone for navigating while in Europe and I had it on "airplane mode" to keep it from incurring roaming charges.
- some car specific units are glove friendly. eg. my TT 920 and my garmin 765.

For way more info that what you can digest regarding phone apps and navigation, check out the threads on AdvRider under the "mapping and Navigation" title.

Interesting comments regarding voice instructions. I rarely look at the unit. Instead I rely mainly on voice. This leaves me free to be looking for signs of where I will be turning, watching traffic, etc. But, like I said before, to each their own when it comes to navigation.

I cannot find a source for the iGo software. The IGo site refers me to vehicle sites.
Where do I find the software?
(sorry if the answer is really obvious)

DavidR8 said:

I cannot find a source for the iGo software. The IGo site refers me to vehicle sites.
Where do I find the software?
(sorry if the answer is really obvious)

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David - This is the email where I get my software -

yehob25 at gmail dot com

Periodically he sends me email when he has a map update.

Uncle Phil said:

David - This is the email where I get my software

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Thanks!

Uncle Phil said:

Yes it does, but it's still plenty waterproof. I think it's rating is you can hose it for 30-60 minutes and it still works.

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I avoid the rain like the plague and am not too proud to bag. But the Chinavasion (as in Chinese invasion— ironic) is attractive for its 5" display and modest price for a bike GPS.

Currently I use my phone and Navigon by Garmin. My version is US only but there are many others. I can download any and all states as desired. The map data footprint is small so you could load the whole US if needed.

Base software 225MB
CA 125MB
TX 123MB
DC 1.4MB
Most other cites 10-40MB.

I want a Chinavasion as well. I don't ride enough to justify it but I like the bigger display. From a practical standpoint the phone works well for me. My GW buddy is going to remove his GPS because he uses his phone in its place and likes the UI better.

I recently used my phone in my jacket instead of on the bike and listened via the Sena. It worked out well but looking at the screen is an advantage when navigating several lanes and exits. My app and most dedicated GPS units give some kind of lane guidance as to where you may need to be when approaching your next instruction.

The one solid advantage of a phone app over a dedicated GPS may be map upgrades. They're very easy on the phone and possibly more frequent. As always— YMMV and run what you like best and what best suits you.

Oh Garmin vs Tom Tom... I have no idea. LOL

The map upgrades on the Chinavasion are pretty difficult - power the unit off, remove the microsd card, insert the new one, and power on. If you just want to copy the maps only, delete the old map folder and drag and drop the new new map folder over - which is what I do since I have some custom settings on my unit

One of the challenges I have is remembering directions. I grew up on the Canadian prairies where roads are on a grid an more often than not, numbered not named. That's pretty easy to deal with. New cities and routes outside my local riding area are a challenge.

Our recent RT rental was my first experience with a motorcycle GPS. I can honestly say that aside from stop-and-go traffic in the hills on San Fran, riding around NorCal was a relatively stress-free experience because I didn't have to hold route directions in my head. The ease of use and excellent display were a real treat.

I originally thought that having the voice prompts would be helpful, in practice they were actually annoying. When two-up they interrupted conversations and it was difficult to tell when the helmet-to-helmet comms reconnected. As a result I muted the sound on the BMW Nav 5 system and relied on the display.

Which leads me to my point: I thought originally that I'd use my iPhone and Navigon and voice alerts with my phone in my jacket pocket. The BMW experience told me that I need a device I can see while riding. I'm not sure that the small screen of a iPhone is going to cut it.

The price of the Chinavision unit is attractive. Including software I'd be somewhere in the range of $200 for a dedicated unit. The Navigon app plus maps is $90 minimum.

Then again, taking a cue from @MaxPete there's a 1-yr old Garmin Nuvi for sale locally for $20. The fact that I couldn't use it with gloves is a non-issue for me.

DavidR8 said:

I'm not sure that the small screen of a iPhone is going to cut it.

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I have an iPhone 5s which has a 4" screen. Not at all big as current phones go. Though presbyopic with my glasses up to date I have no problem reading the screen. But that's an individual situation and preference.

I also have an iPad mini that I want to try. I seldom touch the phone when it's in place as my GPS and paired with the Sena further reduces the need to.

Still the Chinavasion seems like a worthwhile alternative. The ability to use it with gloves is probably the biggest selling point for me for those time I want additional information on food or fuel. Siri has been helpful but still needs a fair amount of work.

DavidR8 said:

Then again, taking a cue from @MaxPete there's a 1-yr old Garmin Nuvi for sale locally for $20. The fact that I couldn't use it with gloves is a non-issue for me.

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I think all Nuvis are pressure sensitive touch-screen. Making them glove compatible, the Zumo just uses a slightly different gui, bigger buttons, helping make it glove friendly.

DavidR8 said:

The fact that I couldn't use it with gloves is a non-issue for me.

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Don't underestimate this feature. I wouldn't buy a GPS to use on my bike that wasn't glove friendly. I tried to use one early on and hated having to remove my glove every time. It's much handier than you think.

paulcb said:

Don't underestimate this feature. I wouldn't buy a GPS to use on my bike that wasn't glove friendly. I tried to use one early on and hated having to remove my glove every time. It's much handier than you think.

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Yes, I think you are right on this.
I did more thinking last night about how I used the gps on the RT and except for at the very start of a ride I used it with gloves. So have to rethink this.


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st1300doug said:

I'm happy w/the TomTom 1515 I bought off of Amazon for $120. Works great.

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Does it work using gloves?


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Relatively easy to turn gloves touch screen friendly.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Making-A-Glove-Work-With-A-Touch-Screen/

My Garmin Nuvi only lasted twice , for no reason to fail.