Gps and more

Pop-Pop

Pop-Pop

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Joined
Feb 29, 2020
Messages
182
Age
69
Location
Pagosa Springs Colorado
Bike
2010 NT700
Any suggestions on a good gps? I need good sound, bluetooth and a bright 6” screen. I need spotify, waze and bluetooth radar into my earbuds.
This beemah is way too quick to go too fast! I was riding back from Albuquerque and looked down. I was doing 90 mph! Luckilly, everyone else was too!
Gotta have that musak too!
It seems like some gps’s come thru my phone and some use satellite.
 
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Just my two cents worth Pops. I went with Garmin. Currently using a Garmin XT. Garmin quit production on those and went with the XT2. Slightly bigger at 6 inches across, I think. Bright colours and easy to see. Works well even in triple-digit heat. I bought a mounting bar that puts the GPS and Uniden Radar Detector up at eye level.

9QBjpL3.png


Spotify, you can run through your phone into your BT headset. Same with Waze, though that has some limitations. Waze works well if someone else has gone down your road and seen the LEO. If you're going down a lightly traveled road like I do, or through a small town, Waze lets you be the second person to know you're getting a ticket. Hence the Uniden radar detector.

Garmin IMHO, works better than Google Maps on a motorcycle. Google Maps can be forced to give you the road less traveled with lots of turns, etc. but it is really for Point A to Point B travel and the fastest way to get there. It defaults to the freeway. That's where the Garmin excels.

Chris
 
Daboo said:
Just my two cents worth Pops. I went with Garmin. Currently using a Garmin XT. Garmin quit production on those and went with the XT2. Slightly bigger at 6 inches across, I think. Bright colours and easy to see. Works well even in triple-digit heat. I bought a mounting bar that puts the GPS and Uniden Radar Detector up at eye level.

9QBjpL3.png


Spotify, you can run through your phone into your BT headset. Same with Waze, though that has some limitations. Waze works well if someone else has gone down your road and seen the LEO. If you're going down a lightly traveled road like I do, or through a small town, Waze lets you be the second person to know you're getting a ticket. Hence the Uniden radar detector.

Garmin IMHO, works better than Google Maps on a motorcycle. Google Maps can be forced to give you the road less traveled with lots of turns, etc. but it is really for Point A to Point B travel and the fastest way to get there. It defaults to the freeway. That's where the Garmin excels.

Chris
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Thanks on the uniden and garmin. I like that detector at eye level too!
I was in moab and did the loop whos name i cant remember. Garmin wanted me to turn down a rock strewn road on my st1100. So, yea, google can b a challenge!
 
I just bought a Zumo XT2. It was on sale for $450.
 

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st11ray said:
I just bought a Zumo XT2. It was on sale for $450.
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And, u like it? Been watching the tube today and that, along with garmin treat seem pretty popular. Im a bit uncomfortable with a gps that useds my phone rather than satellites. I got stuck a few times when i changed directions.
But garmin seems to b the gps boss!
 
If you don't have a radar detector yet, I highly recommend getting one with arrows. My old Uniden just told me I was picking up a radar signal and what band it was on. Helpful, but I wondered sometimes if the signal was coming from the housing area off the side of the road or what. My Uniden R7 will tell me if the signal is coming from the front, side or rear. Amazon has it for $517. Not cheap, but I think worth it in the long run.

The R8 is like an upgraded version of the R7. In talking with Mellow who has the R8, it seems like the difference is that the R8 has a built-in Bluetooth transmitter. Mine doesn't, but I bought a small BT transmitter for about $25 off Amazon that plugs into the audio jack and it works great.

I don't think of my radar detector as a license to speed, but as you already found out, your BMW is deceptively fast and can end up costing you $$$ without you intending to speed. I ride with a guy who is an excellent rider. In town, he's the epitome of the courteous rider that everyone would think highly of. When we get to some back roads with no traffic, he's been known to open the throttle some. He has a radar detector, and that's great. But I ride at the back of the group with my own protection and if we ever encountered a LEO...I'd have enough warning to watch all of them get their performance awards as I passed by. :D

Chris
 
Daboo said:
If you don't have a radar detector yet, I highly recommend getting one with arrows. My old Uniden just told me I was picking up a radar signal and what band it was on. Helpful, but I wondered sometimes if the signal was coming from the housing area off the side of the road or what. My Uniden R7 will tell me if the signal is coming from the front, side or rear. Amazon has it for $517. Not cheap, but I think worth it in the long run.

The R8 is like an upgraded version of the R7. In talking with Mellow who has the R8, it seems like the difference is that the R8 has a built-in Bluetooth transmitter. Mine doesn't, but I bought a small BT transmitter for about $25 off Amazon that plugs into the audio jack and it works great.

I don't think of my radar detector as a license to speed, but as you already found out, your BMW is deceptively fast and can end up costing you $$$ without you intending to speed. I ride with a guy who is an excellent rider. In town, he's the epitome of the courteous rider that everyone would think highly of. When we get to some back roads with no traffic, he's been known to open the throttle some. He has a radar detector, and that's great. But I ride at the back of the group with my own protection and if we ever encountered a LEO...I'd have enough warning to watch all of them get their performance awards as I passed by. :D

Chris
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I have the R4.
 
Daboo said:
If you don't have a radar detector yet, I highly recommend getting one with arrows. My old Uniden just told me I was picking up a radar signal and what band it was on. Helpful, but I wondered sometimes if the signal was coming from the housing area off the side of the road or what. My Uniden R7 will tell me if the signal is coming from the front, side or rear. Amazon has it for $517. Not cheap, but I think worth it in the long run.

The R8 is like an upgraded version of the R7. In talking with Mellow who has the R8, it seems like the difference is that the R8 has a built-in Bluetooth transmitter. Mine doesn't, but I bought a small BT transmitter for about $25 off Amazon that plugs into the audio jack and it works great.

I don't think of my radar detector as a license to speed, but as you already found out, your BMW is deceptively fast and can end up costing you $$$ without you intending to speed. I ride with a guy who is an excellent rider. In town, he's the epitome of the courteous rider that everyone would think highly of. When we get to some back roads with no traffic, he's been known to open the throttle some. He has a radar detector, and that's great. But I ride at the back of the group with my own protection and if we ever encountered a LEO...I'd have enough warning to watch all of them get their performance awards as I passed by. :D

Chris
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I caught up to a ma statie with my first one! It kept beeping! I thought it was junk! Boy, was i wrong!
 
Mellow said:
The uniden R4 is a BT radar detector so it pairs to your phone, then your headset is paired to your phone. Works great.

If you have an android phone, use hi way radar app and it will integrate waze, radar alerts and a weather overlay as well.
Click to expand...
I have one of dem vegiterian phones! Apple! Ill bet i can find a app for that!
 
Pop-Pop said:
And, u like it? Been watching the tube today and that, along with garmin treat seem pretty popular. Im a bit uncomfortable with a gps that useds my phone rather than satellites. I got stuck a few times when i changed directions.
But garmin seems to b the gps boss!
Click to expand...
I haven't really used it yet. Just riding back and forth to work. I just loaded some BDR tracks on it yesterday. I've gotten lost on a few Forest Service roads and I finally broke down and bought the GPS to help prevent that. I've never used a GPS before so I hope the learning curve isn too bad. So far I do like it though, especially being able to pull up live weather radar.
 
st11ray said:
I do like it though, especially being able to pull up live weather radar.
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I think it was on the way to Spearfish one year and I could see black thunderclouds ahead. The weather app showed the upcoming storms and my route with a little icon showing where I was on the route. I could actually see the clouds moving and try to time my speed to miss the rain.

Chris
 
Daboo said:
The weather app showed the upcoming storms and my route with a little icon showing where I was on the route. I could actually see the clouds moving and try to time my speed to miss the rain.
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That is way cool!
 
Two of my boys, on our Montana trip connected Carplay systems to their bikes. They seem to do well with them, but, since they worked off their phones, I'm not sure what happened when they had no reception on their phones.

I have a Zumo XT2 mounted on my tankbag, so I can transfer it to either bike. Just before our trip, I had an issue with the Garman Express app having a transfer error, on my computer, and made the unit not functioning at all. Thanks to some help here I was able to get it working again. But some maps weren't reloaded so I would have blank areas show up at times. Until I can get back out and doing some riding, I don't know if it's fixed or not.

Just make sure you ALWAYS have the Latest version of the Garman Express App.
 
The XT2 is an excellent bit of kit, but it has a number of significant issues - as do most Zumos.

But there are ways to tame it and make it behave as you want.

I like using point to point navigation - ie specify my route by plotting a sequence of (not many) via points and shaping points, and let the Zumo calculate the roads to take in between. I usually also make a track of the route, and display that on the screen with the route on top. That way, if the route is recalculated and comes up with something odd - like heading me to a motorway / interstate - the track is always there to mark my original.

The XT2 has a system of synching your route and data with ‘the cloud’. A personal storage area which allows you to plot a route on a phone or iPad and this will synch to your XT2 via your phone’s data / WiFi and a BT link to the XT2 . An excellent idea which presents many problems.

Although strictly not compatible, I use Basecamp to plan routes and still use the USB cable to get gpx files onto the XT2. The Tread app can still be used for traffic, weather, information about what is on the route up ahead etc, but I do not allow it to synchronise with my cloud database of routes. You cannot disable it once it is set up. You have to not enable it in the first place.

That and a few other tricks and it becomes a much more reliable bit of kit. I still have the Zumo 590, 595 and XT - but it is the XT2 that I take with me.

There was a time when I was seriously considering sending it back as not fit for purpose. It changed my routes, moved my route points, renamed my route points so that I didn’t recognise them, went miles out of its way to head for the faster roads, got stuck in a never ending loop of insisting that I go back to the point where I deviated from the original route, broke connections with headset, ….. but I’m not one to give up on things like this and gradually a few of us have made this beast into something that can be relied upon.

I have sent detailed reports to Garmin, they have feigned interest and indicated that the issues have been passed on to the development team, but so far nothing has happened. I think ‘development team’ is the name given to a rubbish bin in the middle of the office floor.

Whatever - we have solutions and now I like my XT2

If you want more info and want to keep your hair, then head over to ZumoUserForums.co.uk. Free to join. I go by the same name over there. If you like my technical posts on the ST1300, you’ll be gobsmacked by the stuff I have done for the various Zumos.
 
jfheath said:
The XT2 is an excellent bit of kit, but it has a number of significant issues - as do most Zumos.

But there are ways to tame it and make it behave as you want.

I like using point to point navigation - ie specify my route by plotting a sequence of (not many) via points and shaping points, and let the Zumo calculate the roads to take in between. I usually also make a track of the route, and display that on the screen with the route on top. That way, if the route is recalculated and comes up with something odd - like heading me to a motorway / interstate - the track is always there to mark my original.

The XT2 has a system of synching your route and data with ‘the cloud’. A personal storage area which allows you to plot a route on a phone or iPad and this will synch to your XT2 via your phone’s data / WiFi and a BT link to the XT2 . An excellent idea which presents many problems.

Although strictly not compatible, I use Basecamp to plan routes and still use the USB cable to get gpx files onto the XT2. The Tread app can still be used for traffic, weather, information about what is on the route up ahead etc, but I do not allow it to synchronise with my cloud database of routes. You cannot disable it once it is set up. You have to not enable it in the first place.

That and a few other tricks and it becomes a much more reliable bit of kit. I still have the Zumo 590, 595 and XT - but it is the XT2 that I take with me.

There was a time when I was seriously considering sending it back as not fit for purpose. It changed my routes, moved my route points, renamed my route points so that I didn’t recognise them, went miles out of its way to head for the faster roads, got stuck in a never ending loop of insisting that I go back to the point where I deviated from the original route, broke connections with headset, ….. but I’m not one to give up on things like this and gradually a few of us have made this beast into something that can be relied upon.

I have sent detailed reports to Garmin, they have feigned interest and indicated that the issues have been passed on to the development team, but so far nothing has happened. I think ‘development team’ is the name given to a rubbish bin in the middle of the office floor.

Whatever - we have solutions and now I like my XT2

If you want more info and want to keep your hair, then head over to ZumoUserForums.co.uk. Free to join. I go by the same name over there. If you like my technical posts on the ST1300, you’ll be gobsmacked by the stuff I have done for the various Zumos.
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I'll have to check that site out. I can't figure out why my music from my Cardo Edge will not come back on after I shut down to refuel. I have to pull my phone out and turn it back on. Then I'm good to go until I shut the bike off again.
 
SupraSabre said:
Two of my boys, on our Montana trip connected Carplay systems to their bikes. They seem to do well with them, but, since they worked off their phones, I'm not sure what happened when they had no reception on their phones.
Click to expand...
I use android, so i'm not sure if Apple is the same, but with google maps, you simply download offline maps when you have service or wifi. I have offline maps on my phone for everywhere I go, that I downloaded at home so I never need service. I imagine Apple is the same.
 
Bmacleod said:
I use android, so i'm not sure if Apple is the same, but with google maps, you simply download offline maps when you have service or wifi. I have offline maps on my phone for everywhere I go, that I downloaded at home so I never need service. I imagine Apple is the same.
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They r. The rob is i zig when i should zag. If there is no cell service, the map becomes usless.
 
If you want to go inexpensive and just need plain GPS, there is always the Fodsport option (about $179 - waterproof, glove friendly).
Wal-Mart was selling a 7 inch version for about $100 but I haven't checked that one lately.
 
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