This is going to get a little long and is really aimed at those of us who have used Garmin Basecamp in conjunction with a Garmin ZUMO and also developed rather involved routes and are migrating to the new Boom Nav system.

By way of a little backstory I have used the ZUMO and Basecamp for many years and have become rather proficient in both their uses. My wife and I have led group rides from Michigan to Yellowstone and to Maine and many points in between. My normal plan has always been to have each day treated as a Route in Basecamp. In this way I have the beginning waypoint, gas, food and points of interest and the final destination for that day as waypoints and have utilized via points to ensure the route is as desired. These via points are always on an intersection so that they are not "announced" and therefore do not allow the ZUMO to indicate "mileage to via point" to be anything other than the mileage to the next stop....ie lunch/gas/scenic pullout. This has worked great over the years. When the route is shared with other ZUMO users in the group everyone is on the same page and knows how far to the next stop etc.

I am trying very hard to keep an open mind and be positive re the Boom system but..................

I have been using the Boom system for about a month now. Simple stuff like "find a gas station" or "get me home" works just fine. I have imported a couple routes that "looked" ok on the screen after importing. And here begin the issues. Today I just went for a ride to take advantage of the great weather. This was a 90 mile ride NW of Detroit. Fairly straight forward.....all two laners, a couple towns, no stops along the way. The day and the ride were great. When I got home I quickly "rebuilt" the route in Basecamp I had just ridden. Since it had no stops there were only a couple waypoints used......home and a bar 25 miles west of here which was where I headed north toward Flint before heading home. This route therefore is via point heavy. Lots of intersections to keep the route accurate since I was kind of meandering along the way. I have to lead a ride tomorrow so I thought "hey, lets put this route into Boom and see how it does". Did the export/import thing without drama. Then tried to preview the route on the Boom screen. It looked ok but I have a ton of yellow flags (waypoints) representing all the via points I had used in Basecamp. I am not sure if the route can be zoomed into to review in detail (I have not found that option in Boom yet, but it may exist) so I went to the "Maneuvers" display. Holy Different Route Batman!!!! The Maneuver page had u turns up the wazoo, had me getting on and off I-75 and other items which bore no resemblance to the ride I just completed 3 hours ago.

At this point my confidence in this system has taken a giant hit. I am looking for input on things I may have done incorrectly or suggestions to make the routes work efficiently. Is there a way to preview the route in detail? Must the via points be treated as waypoints? How precisely must the via points be placed? Also, and REALLY annoying is that Boom seems to treat/identify every waypoint or via point as an address not as "Shell gas" or "McDonald's" when the route is active. We are leading a 10 bike group to Sturgis next year as well as a couple small groups to TN/NC. I have those routes basically "built" in Basecamp for discussions and fine tuning over the winter. I really need to get this doped out because unfortunately we are all on schedules and need to avoid too many "blind alleys" along the way.

I look forward to any input those of you with more Boom experience may have, and welcome the opportunity to share ideas, challenges and fixes along the way.

 

I have a Garmin and base camp how are you downloading into the boom system? I would like to try this. i will be of no help to you your light years ahead of me already.

 

I'm a Zumo owner from way back and lead many rides as well. I am proficient with Basecamp (sure wish I was still using MapSource) and have been successfully leading rides from the Boom. I really don't preview from the bike and now have 100% confidence that I will follow what I designed on my PC.

Here's the trick: I have both the Boom and Basecamp calculate based on "fastest time". That way, each device must be forced to use the roads I want which requires more waypoints. I typically place waypoints just after the turns so as not to give me an inaccurate prompt. I've been extremely pleased with my results and love having my navi "built in".

 

TOFTS the loading of routes into Boom is easy. Once your route is "built" in Basecamp you need to have a flash drive ready to receive. Then in Basecamp it is File/Export Selection/choose your flashdrive and hit Save. Then take the flashdrive to your bike, turn the Accessory on, plug the flashdrive into the USB port on the right side of the dash (behind Door #1 LOL) then from the Nav menu select Import. See page 165 of the Boom manual for more clarity. Hope this helps.

 

Art, thanks for the encouragement. Quick question....are you importing the Route Name, All or each of the Destinations into Boom? I have all the avoidances and routing properties set the same.
Thanks.

 

From Basecamp, I highlight (select) the Route Name then "Export Selection" directly to my flash drive. I then import the Route Name only into Boom. Be sure your routing properties show "fastest time" on Basecamp and Boom. My theory is that my waypoints force the route onto the scenic roads. If you allow either of the devices to do any of the thinking, they may not be on the exact same page. Same as my wife and I. LOL

 

While I agree with you 100% in how pleased I am with the nav, I use the ride planner because I do not have access to the full basecamp program and HD Ride Planner is much more detailed for non Garmin owners or subscribers. Ride Planner does take an evening of playing with it to dial in your ride though. I ride a lot of county roads on BIG TRIPS. Thanks, Grant.

 

Following up then, one of my big issues is that waypoints in Boom show up simply as addresses rather than "Shell" or McDonalds". This makes them indistguishable from via points which it seems are all treated as waypoints in Boom. Aargh! Is my understanding correct or does someone (hopefully) have a better answer?
Thanks.

 

Seems like every new boom 6.5 owner is posting the same level of disappointment in the system... especially if they are used to a Garmin. My '15 SG has the boom 4.3 ...where do they get these numbers anyway, haha?!

Regardless, I've seen enough poor reviews (and enough flaky behavior out of my own HU) to know that I'd rather have a Garmin any day.

 

I've been using Route Converter to develop my ride routes. It allows you to use a custom name for each waypoint, so distinguishing your stops is fairly easy. Attached tutorial provides more info.