Do you use a GPS on you mortorcycle?

I use a TomTom Rider 2 on my VStar 1300 Cruiser.
tnx,
mikey

Zummo 550 on victory vision

I intend to but NOT on the handlebars. Just don't need that visual distraction.......and YOU don't need it either, no matter HOW good a rider you think you are !!

I'm presently starting to look for a used one with an earphone jack.....so I can program in a route, turn the screen WAY down and run it in my jacket pocket with audio prompts only. Alas, the Magellan I have now has no phone jack.

I have a Stella scooter and an Aprilia Atlantic 500. Both have Ram mount brackets on them (using the mirror mount) I use my Colorado 300 on either and plan to use the NUVI 550 this spring (already have a holder for it) The Colorado worked, but was tricky to use specifically for guided navigation on roads. Hence the NUVI 550 purchase. I liked the idea of the Zumo 660, but don't need all the fancy bracket stuff it comes with.

The NUVI 550 does not have mp3, and I have refrained from doing music on either motorbike for fear of being distracted or not hearing a honking car or truck.

I just got my Garmin Zumo 550 and use the fairing mount on my Ultra Classic. Give me a couple of weeks and I'll know more

I've ridden my Harley with left handlebar mounted eTrex Legend starting in 2002. Upgraded to an SP2720, now a Zumo 550, soon a Zumo 665 with XM weather imagery.

It's been great listening to mp3s on the Zumo, better than the iPod that kept cutting out due to its hard drive not liking the open road vibration.

I feel I ride safer with the GPS. It's not a distraction. The speed readout is closer to my road line of sight than the tank mounted speedometer. Distance to next turn keeps me aware of where I need to be and for informing other road users of my intentions.

Oh, the flight recorder title refers to my 80mph rear tube blowout where the eTrex recorded the whole scene, even surviving the bike rolling over in the ditch.

I use my Nuvi 350 on my Goldwing since I ride mainly in the dry. Used a plastic bag once in a pinch. Worked fine. It's hooked thru the sound system on board for routing & mp3 music.

Fred

Glad to hear you found my post helpful:

You hadn't asked in your last thread, but I have had my various bike navigators (V, SP3, 276c, Zumo 550 & Zumo 660) mounted on either the left handlebar or on the top nut of the triple-T using a threaded stem nut and RAM ball.

Check at the RAM web site for bike-specific suggestions using their wizard, though it doesn't know about tapped center-mount nuts . . . .

As to being the only people with navigators, there are lots of us here - but then this is a POI site, not normally a 'how to' site as regards installations.

I don't usually mention other sites, and I have had serious issues with the webmaster at the site in question, but you can get lots of advice from the members at www.zumoforums.com which is dedicated to the Garmin bike navigators.

I use a Zumo 660 on my Fatboy (though I had to modify the mount bracket to fit the thicker handlebars), and my wife uses the Zumo 550.

We don't use the audio features yet, but I'm still investigating the options.

What kind of mount is everyone using? Also, are you just running off the built in battery for your GPS?

Just realized I asked the original question but didn't give my setup.

I use a Zumo 550, mounted on the right handlebar using the Garmin handlebar mount. I have it on the right bar so I can select settings, or choose a POI while stopped and holding in the clutch. I also run the mp3's from my sd card out to the stereo on my Harley Ultra Classic.

The rides to Myrtle Beach each year are great; cruise control on, music playing, Harley dealers, Sams CLubs, Wal Mart, and American Legion POIs programmed in for proximity alerts (all of which I got from this site).

I place the garmin in the trunk and connect it to the bikes Aux stero via a patch cord that I fished thru the bike into the glove box where it is pluged into the stock stero cable. Works great. I sometimes just plug it directly into the factor plug/glovebox; however the glovebox is not large enought for the charger and GPS.

I use a Garmin nuvi 780 mounted to the left bar with a 17mm ball mount sold by a guy on eBay (loug_33). It's worked extremely well for the past year, although I'll probably be going to a RAM mount for my MotoDroid as soon as the snow melts.

I use my Garmin 1490t on my HD Ultra Classic. I use the suction cup mount on my tach. Works just fine there and rides well too.

I us a Nuvi 750 with a Ram mount on my Harley Roadking on the left side of the handlebars. If it rains I put a ziplock bag over it. For power I ran the powercord under the tank & seat to a auxiliary lighter outlet I have setup in my saddlebag. I have a headset I use if I want to listen to my mp3 files that I have on it. Works pretty dam good. They want to much money for the Zumo models. This works just fine.

On the left side , on a RAM mount, I usually have my Garmin E-Map or 2720 on either my V-Strom or Honda NX 250.

The 2720 is all weather but the E-Map gets put away when it looks like rain...

Ron

I plan to use a gps this summer.I will use a ram mount.

Used a Lowrance ifinder in a ram mount just to the left of the speedo on the handlebars. I got a tomtom for Christmas so I ordered the ram mount for it and will be using that this next riding season.

I use a Zumo550 on my FJR1300. Use a stem nut RAM mount in the middle for mounting the cradle. And yes, I use the build-in MP3 player and I also have a GXM-30 XM receiver. On my KLR I use the handle bar mounting hardware that came with the GPS. It's mounted on the left side handle bar.

I recenly changed from the old Garmin 2740 and upgraded to the Zumo 665 LM with the XM traffic and weather service. The unit is mounted in the center of my Victory Vision. I really prefer my unit mounted in the center when at all possible. I ride from Blazing to freezing and rain or shine.

No, but I use one on my bicycle. I know, I know some will laugh but it keeps track of a lot of information I use to guess about or have to calculate. My Garmin Edge 205 has a prominent place on my handle bars. I wouldn't be without it.

Been using a Zumo 450...and just purchased a Zumo660..I have tinnitus in my ears so I omit the music and sound.

Will move my 450 to other bike or truck or use for spare...

I often ride with a group. There is always someone with a GPS on their bikes, but I'm not a fan of it...

My personal opinion is that it can become too distracting.... I need 100% of my visual skills looking forward not down at the bars.
Now with that said, I do use a CB on the Wing (built into it).. but that is interfaced to the intercom, and is not a 'visual' thing.

I played around with an Isolation transformer to take a CB external speaker feed, and pad it down to mike level for injection into the intercom system, and have done same thing to MP3 & CD player, and adding that 'mod' to a GPS would definitely be less distracting.

My $.02 (about 600K+ Miles on motorcycles since 1962)

I used a TomTom Go 300 on mine for years, but just recently upgraded to a TomTom XXL550 and a Garmin LM50. I like the ability to use Itinerary feature on some TomToms. I can create a route in MS Streets & Trips, export a GPX, use software like GPSBabelGui to change that to a TomTom Itinerary file, which, happens to be a text file. What could be easier than a text file? I am learing to make TourGuides on the Garmin now. A LOT more Complicated. But there are folks on here that can help you through that process.

In the TomTom Itinerary file you end up with a text file that starts with Lon, then Lat, then Name, and then a number between 0 and 3. A zero is a Waypoint and a 2 is a place you want to stop at (desintations). You can have several desintations in the same file. Between each field there is a pipe, a separator, that is the shift of the backslash key above the Return Key. It looks like this "|". It is actually two vertical dashes on the keyboard. Load that into your itn directory on your TomTom and go select it and you are on your way. As you travel, it marks the places you have been as done by changing the last number in your file. If you don't get close enough to your lat/lon then you might have to go through the menu and select "mark visited".

From a has-been, cross country, long distance rider doing 20,000 miles per year:

I used a non-mapping Garmin for a couple of years then updated to one with a very basic map. I'd enter a destination by coordinates and used the arrow to point to my destination and show the straight line miles to go. If I was within 90 degrees of the destination, I was making progress. I had the second unit attached to the bike with a small cable I had crimped on. It wouldn't have stopped somebody from taking the gps but would have slowed them down. Gps was attached to the handlebars and never removed for a couple of years.

A hurricane got the bike and the gps was still working when I replaced it.

on my Road Star SIlverado...Ram Mount cranked in such a way that it sit in the middle of the bars right over the speedo...

I have my 765t mounted on my right handlebar using a Ram mount and a Garmin MC Mount. It works just as well as the expensive Garmins and a sandwich bag is all you need in the rain. I couldn't be Happier !

I have the zumo 665 with the XM Weather and Traffic active. It is mounted on my Road King's left handlebar with the Ram mount that came with it. I find the weather maps very useful, especially on long trips but the XM traffic is lacking terribly.

I was born deaf in my right ear and have never heard stereo or appreciated music so no XM radio or MP3.

I regularly view the trip logs from our trips and local adventures.

I especially like my trip/route information available to me while traveling instead of relying on my memory or reading maps.

Ride safe and enjoy your time on 2 wheels!

Zumo 660 on a Honda VTX 1800R - from sunshine to pouring rain.

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x101/soberbyker/bikes_zps...

yes, a Zumo 550, I have two mounts, one for my bike one for wifeys bike, both mounts are in the same spot attached to the left side by the fluid box. You can see it in the photo linked above, on wifeys bike.

There are some GPS mounting options that can raise it to or even above the level of your speedometer. You do sometimes look at that?

Ron

765t here as well. Mounts to a custom made plate attached to the fairing brackets of my ZX6R.

Garmin 2720 dead center mounted right in the way of the keys, but that is where BMW pus their OEM mount on the LT.

Sadly Motorcycle specific GPS's are horribly overpriced junk. A standard Garmin Nuvi for $99 on sale works better than the $1100 thing they try to pass of as a motorcycle gps.

the 2720 is waterproof so I use it rain or shine, but shine behind me makes it impossible to read. Built in MP3 is not useful at all, my phone works better for music.