Check out the Zumo550 unit.
Its waterproof. It don't have any speakers for the bike. YOu have to either use a cord and go from the handlebar mount to the radio. Or use Bluetooth to hear the lady talk.
Or call Garmin and ask them. They also claim its better shock proof for ridin on a motorcycle which it was designed for.

I've had mine for about 4 yrs now.

http://www8.garmin.com/zumo/

http://www.zumoforums.com/

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by DinoVelvet

my question is....these GPS units will show you fastest or shortest routes but what if you know which way you want to go.....you have to punch in almost every stop for the unit to follow the path you wish to take and then once you punch in a certain amount of stops it won't allow you to punch in anymore.....or do they allow you to put in as many as is needed for the trip?

DinoVelvet, if you are still wondering ... yes, you can create complex routes following the roads you want to follow IF the Garmin unit you bought supports routes (check the specs) AND if you buy the map CD to load on your home PC/MAC. (You might be able to do it on the unit itself but it would be much easier on your computer.) I have been using a Garmin GPSmap 60CS for this for several years. It's a bit time consuming to do it right and you can get caught by some quirks that will drive you crazy but it does work and is very useful. If all you need to do is get from home to some restaurant, you don't need to bother but if you want to follow secondary roads on a weekend road trip and hit specific stops along the way, this is the way to do it.

I am researching the options now to replace my 60CS. Garmin does not make it easy by having so many models. I have no experience with TomTom to know if they are better or worse.

 

If you use mapsource with Garmin you can put on yer computer. Plan a trip and download the route to a memory stick. Then put it in the zumo and bring it up.
Garmin has the best GPS units on the market. I'm still using the Zumo 550 cause it has the most memory. And got the Harley Dealerships loaded into extras on the unit.

I put in where I want to to.
study the map on what roads I want to use. If I use roads other than what it has routed for me, it recalculated the destination for me automaticall.
I also use the map on my Iphone to farther help me determine what I want to do.

If you want to be able to better hear the lady talk the directions to you my buddy got one of these headsets. He really likes it. Do some homework on it too. Its well made.

http://www.amazon.com/Sena-Motorcycl.../dp/B003LIHM6I

 

I can't remember a lot of times, but I REALLY remember those times.

I can think of three times when it was getting dark and it started to rain and I decided to look for a place to stay.

When I pulled into a place that was dry, the GPS didn't work very well. Carrying it in the TourPak and stopping to use it isn't very handy, and the signal strength goes down when I stop under overpasses or covers.

 

Had a TomTom Rider 1 for the last three years. Then in September on a ride back to Orlando from Greenville, SC it started acting up and wouldn't charge on the mount anymore. So I started looking around and found the Garmin 220 motorcycle unit on Amazon. Just pulled the TomTom specific mount from my RAM mount and the wiring harness and replaced it with the Garmin unit's. 45 minutes later it was all done and working. The Garmin will accept the files created in the HD Ride Planner program and I can transfer them right to my unit after setting up an itenarary.

 

Could you please tell me what mount this is and where to find it. Thanks

Joe

 

Same thing happened with mine. I rid in a lot of rain. all you have to do is put a little (Repeat LITTLE) WD 40 on the 4 gold pins on the mount and push them in and Let them spring out 10 or twenty times and it will start charging. I kept a little silicon grease on them since then and no problems. It was in the mount contacs not the unit.

 

Thanks Honest Bob I'll give that a shot. It wouldn't hurt to have a back-up. ;-)

 

I use a Garmin GPSMap 60cx mounted with RAM mounts on my Street Glide. This GPS is mainly designed for backpackers and outdoorsman but works fantastically on the bike. It is waterproof and can be powered on 2 AA batteries if needed. I have mine hardlined/plugin on the bike using the aux headlight + that is on all touring bikes. You can also use the cigarette lighter/mini USB to power it. Memory on the unit consists of a micro SD and with it (2GB) I have loaded all of the lower 48 and Canada. Since this GPS has been out awhile, you can pick up a used one for a fairly reasonable price. Works with ALL Garmin Map software to include topo's. Great piece of kit!

 

It's RAM and don't even think about anything else...