New Gps For My Bike, Ideas?

[dave_boo]

Reaon for why I didn't select the Zumo was simply what is stated in GT-Rider "For me the drawback of the Zumo is the short battery life as I use the GPS also for hiking to waterfalls, caves, etc. (4 hours max but in practice considerable less). In addition the Zumo has limitations to save tracks (max 20 archived files of each max 1 MB in the form of .gpx files)." Since this particular GPS will also be used on my mountainbike, hiking and for my dive trips (saving good spots) The Zumo was to limited, yes it is a great unit especially if it's for your bike and car but I already got a speaking bastard GPS in my car which I almost threw out the window until I figured out how to shut it up. So for my use in a multirole it was in my humble opinion the best choice.

I do agree the Zumo is a tempting piece of kit, and if it was for my car and bike only it would probably be it.

The battery life is a bit short, but that's not a big concern of mine. If I know where I'm going, and I'm not in a hurry, I don't need directions. I know what you mean about the voice though; it can get extremely distracting, more so for the wife than I so I'm afraid that there's times I leave it on simply to torture her.

[Bard]

Hehe I can imagine the torture Dave, it was driving me nuts. Like when my wife put on some Thai moaning music in my car, I flipped out that cd out the window to avoid a road rage.

Since it's a multirole GPS I needed it did not fit all the needs, but if I got one for car and bike only it would have been it.

[thaicbr]

if you route it before you go then you only get the turns you want. that what it said on the forum anyway....lol

allan

Dave the CBR250 seems to be ok now, and boy its a screamer now i've changed the chain & sprockets to 520's.

by the way what chain is on the Ninja.

[dave_boo]

if you route it before you go then you only get the turns you want. that what it said on the forum anyway....lol

allan

Dave the CBR250 seems to be ok now, and boy its a screamer now i've changed the chain & sprockets to 520's.

by the way what chain is on the Ninja.

I always route first; although sometimes I'll re-route whilst on the way. None the less, that dam_n voice will still say, for instance, "Continue straight on 32". Like, "No shit, I was going to exit toward Lopburi instead of staying straight toward Bangkok?"

Good about your CBR250, I'm reserving a ride on it!

[jrbkk64]

Hi guys,

Would be interested to hear from you guys who recently bought a GPS device and have used it on your bike. I want to buy one and will really only use it for onroad with some minor offroad around Thailand, Laos and Cambodia.

The Zumo is still very expensive in Thailand and would prefer a cheaper option. What about the C60? Is it any good for my purpose? I will not use it in a car as I have a built-in one already.

Thanks and looking forward to your experiences.

[LivinLOS]

Recent 60csx buyer.. Really happy.. Tho dont bother putting Thai 7/11 batts in as it chews em.. Real batts last about 2 days of use.. I will be putting in a wired power socet for it.

250 USD from ebay and free hacked maps..

[imaneggspurt]

420euro +7,000 baht thats still bloody expensive. but yes it is a nice bit of kit.

Hope he got it for 420 Euro plus a 100 baht deal installation somewhere in the Kingdom... If that I would go for it...

Hehe sleepless looking, I know that one, supposed to work now and you can see how busy I am There are a lot of clever people with the bike who had great DIY solutions which is pretty great, good sharing community. The GPS mount was clever and I also liked the luggage solution, the seat is pretty cheap I believe, so I think I will go for a DIY like that when I finally get back from work.

I have a streetpilot 3 with thailand in it, it also has a touratech bike mount, like new, i want 12000 baht, i replaced it with a zumo550,.

Edited December 12, 2008 by imaneggspurt

[AnthonyR1]

I got the zumo 550 as soon as it came out. Have the mount in the car and on the bike. also have it hard wired on my bike which is convenient, eliminates batteries. there are so many units available now, not to mention all the mobile phones that have GPS built-in, however for motorcycling i feel the 550 is in a class of it's own. no problem using the touch screen functions with gloves on, waterproof and more importantly dust and dirt proof, bright day-time screen and you can select a little motorcycle vehicle icon

i will say this though; on my R1 it's a dangerous accessory, have to choose the time to look down at it carefully, due to the mounting position i pretty much have to be looking straight down.

[Bard]

I bought and tested the 60cx and it is an extremely neat unit, easy to read weather proof. And just pop it of the mount and put in in your pocket or on the belt clip so no theft and no bulk to carry inside shops etc. You also get a function which is "Off road" and that is neat when you walk to waterfalls, or riding on a unregistered dirt road. I also used this function riding on my mountain bike on a dirt track. The batteries leaves little to be desired with usage for more than 2 days of riding.

I was recommended this unit by GT-Riders and I have not regretted one second, I was considering the Zumo 550 but I am glad I went for the 60Cx, you get a great handle mount, power cable, and car mount for it as well. I now use it everywhere, it is fast to find satellites and if you go in to a dead zone (parking lot) it finds back the satellites as soon as you get out again. I also tried to not follow the directions and forced it to re-calculate a new route, which it does very fast and very accurate. Also when you drive roads which is not mapped it automatically draws up your route and use them to get to the point after. Great GPS.

Cheers Bard

[LivinLOS]

Agreed with everything.. I wanted a GPS for the bike, but also one I could use as a handheld when I go city hopping and visa running.. The 60CSX does all that very happily.

If I purely wanted an automotive only device there may be better options, other GPS's I had in Europe gave better information on upcoming POI's (garages and services) and a more pleasant drive routing screen, where the 60 is a bit functional on that screen, so much so I prefer to keep it on map and zoom in or out depending on the road distance / type.

I just wish they would open source the hardware interface.. Mapsource is a truly nasty application and being locked into it is not nice.. A more google maps / google earth tie in and smoother sync would help the PC side of the game.

[xylotrupes]

Hello there

Heard that the Kawasaki D-Tracker is a good bike for city traffic. Anyone got one? Seen lots of the little mini-motos around, but never seen anyone driving a D-Tracker in-town.

Cheers

Michael

[AnthonyR1]

where do you guys get your map updates? my zumo flashes a messages that new maps are available for thailand.

[AnthonyR1]

Hello there

Heard that the Kawasaki D-Tracker is a good bike for city traffic. Anyone got one? Seen lots of the little mini-motos around, but never seen anyone driving a D-Tracker in-town.

Cheers

Michael

i think the D-tracker is a great deal and a great bangkok bike. i don't own one (yet) but i've been out to the kawi dealer on rama 9 a few times to have a look. good road clearance, long shock travel for the shitty roads, light weight and an awesome turning radius. i've been considering one lately as a 2nd bike, just for buzzing around town.

[LivinLOS]

where do you guys get your map updates? my zumo flashes a messages that new maps are available for thailand.

If you hunt about theres forums that post the maps unlocked..

I posted the full SE Asia pack on GT rider if you look..

Thailand (8.1 most recent)

Laos

Cambo

Vietnam

Malaysia (peninsula and borneo)

Sing

Hong Kong

Macau

Indo (most not all)

All in one 200MB file.. I have the Thai 8.1 standalone also if space is an issue.

If they re-encode the map to have a different map code you can have multiple versions on one GPS, so by adding the 8.1 and making it the default map it doesnt remove the 8.0 or lower you already have and probably paid for.

[AnthonyR1]

where do you guys get your map updates? my zumo flashes a messages that new maps are available for thailand.

If you hunt about theres forums that post the maps unlocked..

I posted the full SE Asia pack on GT rider if you look..

Thailand (8.1 most recent)

Laos

Cambo

Vietnam

Malaysia (peninsula and borneo)

Sing

Hong Kong

Macau

Indo (most not all)

All in one 200MB file.. I have the Thai 8.1 standalone also if space is an issue.

If they re-encode the map to have a different map code you can have multiple versions on one GPS, so by adding the 8.1 and making it the default map it doesnt remove the 8.0 or lower you already have and probably paid for.

wow! thanks for that! great info!