Garmin Zumo 590LM

Do you happen to know if the 590 will fit on the Zumo 660 mount? I have a 660 on my bike and the mount is wired thru the fairing etc - would be nice if I didn't have to take it all apart to change the mount.

No, the Garmin Zumo 590LM uses a different mounting cradle and will not work on a Zumo 660 cradle. I also routed the cables on the FJR from the mount point near the center of the triple tree, through the frame, under the tank to headset and power connections under the seat. Always fun to do motorcycle wiring.

I've had my Garmin 590 for just a few days but so far I'm very impressed. Coming from the Garmin 450 the lane assist feature alone is a big improvement. I've subscribed to both weather and traffic and having the on screen weather map saved me a soaking over the weekend.

I set mine up on my HD Roadglide and ran the USB cable under the tank to my right saddlebag. It's nice to be able to get weather and traffic updates as well as be able control and charge the iPhone while I'm riding.

The only bug I've found so far is that when external power is removed I do get the "powering off" warning however if I let it power off on it's own it actually just goes into sleep mode. Once I reconnect it to power I no longer have voice prompts or smartlink connection. It requires a complete power down to solve the issue. I've reported this to Garmin and we'll see what happens.

The one thing I've found is definitely not a showstopper and so far I'm very happy with the investment.

No love for the 590 here?

Does the 590 have the lock down screw that the 550 does?

I can't figure out if any of the new Zumo's have this. I have a 550 and I like being able to go somewhere and leave it attached. I'm thinking about getting one of the newer ones because the screen on my 550 keeps shrinking .

No lock down screw. 3rd party makes a cradle lock of sorts.

I saw one that was nearly $200. These companies must think GPS users are made of money.

Sounds like you found the Touratech. It's a beautiful piece of kit, but expensive.

The standard cradle uses a very fast release button. Since wiring is in the cradle it is pretty easy to stash the GPS in a jacket pocket.

I found a $125 alternative from Kradellock http://www.kradellock.com/Purchase.php

I've created some of my TourGuide alerts which I used with my zumo 660 and nuvi 3760T. The zumo required MP3 files while the nuvi required WAV files - and both worked great. I updated to a zumo 590 and the MP3 TourGuide alerts don't work. Anyone know if I need to use the WAV files on the 590 - or what the problem might be.

Other than this problem I'm really impressed with the new features on the 590. And, the screen is much easier to read in sunlight...

The Zumo 590 is listed as having an mp3 player so my guess would have been that mp3 files will work as they did for your 660.

On the other hand, although many devices, usually the older ones, can use mp3 audio files for alerts, all devices, including the mp3-compatible ones, can use wav audio.

If you have a mix of devices, some that can use mp3 and others that require wav, the easiest solution is to use wav files for all of them.

Not much less, but a lot less complicated looking. Thanks

I just hate to add to the already overpriced units for motorcycles.

Does anyone know if at least the power cable from the 550 is compatible with the 590, or 660, 390?

I already have the 550 hardwired in and it would make life easier if I could remove it from the 550 cradle and use it on one of the others, saving taking stuff apart to route a new cable.

Thanks

Thanks for the info on WAV files. Didn't know that all of the GPS's could use WAV files for alert sounds.

You also need a specific version of sox.exe placed in the same directory as POI Loader

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/25730

Garmin has apparently run short of some critical part for the new Zumo 590 and announced a price increase this week. The retail price has gone up $100 from $799 to $899.

Better deals are available, but I just thought that this looked like retail suicide ahead of the holiday season. This is already an incredibly expensive GPS, and the price increase has pushed out most people I know that were considering it.

Anyone aware of any electronics product that actually went up in price after its introduction, and made it stick? Crazy!

I've always been a fan of Garmin however the 2014 Limited I just purchased has it's own nav system. Personally, I think it sucks. I want a 590 to use on the bike.

I'm having a problem getting information on using Google Maps and GPSVisualizer to create a GPX ride plan. I can create the planned route easy enough but I can't test it on a 590.

Anyone using this GPX method to create rides for the 590?

Thanks

Have you tried using Garmin's tools? Both Mapsource and Base Camp have the ability to create routes that can be saved as GPX files. The advantage is they use the maps that are on your device so you know they will play back exactly as planned.If you are using a PC, Extra_POI_Editor can help you fine tune the route and the placement of waypoints.

Instead of using Google why not use Mapquest.com. You can easily create a route there and send it as a gpx file to your computer connected Garmin device.

See http://www.poi-factory.com/node/42698 for info on MapQuest route planner.

If yo9u do not have a manual, see
http://static.garmincdn.com/pumac/zumo_590_OM_EN.pdf

Are you asking
1) how to get a "route" into the device
or 2) how to "simulate" a route?

The manual does not seem to address either.

I did see that the SD card can be used to store "routes" but I have no idea what that means.

I tested the waterproof feature on this GPS this week, riding in several intense thunderstorms. Scary stuff with rain causing flooding and very limited visibility, flash-bang lighting and thunder and winds bringing down branches, and even a tree blocking the road here in PA.

So I'm assuming the Zumo kept working since you didn't post anything about it failing...