Gps Devise For Bikes

[Polanskiman]

Hello Folks,

Not sure I have seen a good topic on GPS devices for Motorcycles in ThaiVisa. Anyone had experience with these devices, if possible here in Thailand (although abroad experiences are ok too)? Even if you have adapted a standard GPS device (for car for example) to your motorcycle, you are welcome to share how you made the adaptation and how good (or bad) it is holding. Your personal experience as well as what you think are pros/cons are welcome. Pictures are also most welcome so illustrate your words.

I have a K. Versys and want to get a GPS but still undecided what route to take, thus the topic.

NOTE: Stick to the topic so to make this as useful as possible to others. If you want to troll, be impolite, be sarcastic, or say how stupid having a GPS is... Please: PASS.

Cheers.

Edited November 9, 2012 by Polanskiman

[marstons]

I use the one form the car on my PCX, velcro on the screen and sat nav, leave the bracket on so you know where to put velcro. Works fine, i have charger for the bike but not added it yet as battery covers my needs. Just use it when lost.

[Polanskiman]

I use the one form the car on my PCX, velcro on the screen and sat nav, leave the bracket on so you know where to put velcro. Works fine, i have charger for the bike but not added it yet as battery covers my needs. Just use it when lost.

Would you mind being more specific? What brand, model? Any major problems you've seen so far?

[Phatcharanan]

Hi. I use my car Nuvi when I am on my bike. Keep it in my pocket and use a Bluetooth headset for listening to turn-by-turn navigation. Its a small Bluetooth so it fits inside my helmet just fine.

Other than that, Garmin sell sat-navs specifically for bikes.

[waza]

I use garmet on my mobile phone, would have worked better if I had a cigarette lighter socket on the bike to recharge it. But it has got me around Thailand for the last few years

[marstons]

I use the one form the car on my PCX, velcro on the screen and sat nav, leave the bracket on so you know where to put velcro. Works fine, i have charger for the bike but not added it yet as battery covers my needs. Just use it when lost.

Would you mind being more specific? What brand, model? Any major problems you've seen so far?

its a garmain unit, i stuck one side of the velcro pad on the screen which shows the dials speedo etc and the other part of the velcro to the back of the Garmain unit, then just velcro the unit to the bike dash board.. No problems so far i have a cigarette lighter kit for charging just not fitted it yet. will post some pics tomorrow. The velcro is purchased in a roll at tesco big c etc.

[krbkk]

the only one how work perfect on a bike is the Garmin zumo 550

but this model is sale out and will not longer repair if you have a problem.

the newer model is the zumo 660 but this model with bracket you can not safe for stolen

[aussiebrian]

I have a Garmin Nuvi 550 on my Harley. Had it a few of years now. Software isn't too bad but like all gps software, sometimes you wonder why it is sending you a strange way to your destination. Sometimes it tells you to turn somewhere and as soon as you turn it tells you to make a u turn. No blue tooth It is designed or motorcycles and the best thing it is waterproof . It finds satellites quite easily. Comes with a hardwire kit and is waterproof and also has a bracket for motorcycle handlebars. I don;t trust the bracket setup 100% as it has popped off the bracket over bad bumps, so I have now made a cover for it with extra security in case it pops off again.. It works ok but was dropped and now switches off when I hit a bump. I broke the screen on it a couple of years ago and had to send it to Garmin Taiwan for repairs. They will fix any problem you have for $99US plus postage. Have software for Thailand and most countries including Australia, Cambodia, Malaysia and downloaded Indian software which was useful traveling around there on a Bullet last month.

I also have got Sygic software on my smart phone. That of course will work with blue-tooth and I like the software much better than the Garmin, I used it in India in a tank bag and was easy to follow with clear instructions, But it also sometimes would say you have arrived at your destination a long way from it but still kept directing you. The Garmin software is more user friendly, but sometimes hard to tell where bridges are and where to set yourself up for turns. Hope that helps.

[soon2bexpat]

I have a garmin 62s and a newer garmin montana. Both are accurate and reasonably easy to use. I brought the newer montana for the larger screen size. Using it in conjuction with garmin basecamp and google earth you can plan where you want to ride using a computer then save the route to either the memory of the garmin or to the micro sd card. Both are reasonably rugged, 100% waterproof and the montana's touch screen is easy to use whilst wearing gloves. There are plenty of sites where you can download maps for free or you can buy them direct from Garmins website.

[TongueThaied]

I have a Garmin Zumo 660 and f'ing love it. Couldn't function without it -- especially on those grueling trips to BKK. As to the poster who said it cannot be secured against theft -- this is a GOOD thing. Locking a GPS to your bike is false security. You do that and the thief will just cause a lot of damage while stealing it. With the Zumo 660, just press a button in the back of the included mount and it pops right off. It fits neatly in your shirt or back pocket. I have NEVER had the device come off the mount by itself. I have never experienced this with any Garmin device. I suspect that the poster who had this experience did not have the device fully snapped into the mount -- i.e., user error.

It is fully waterproof (as opposed to "water resistant"). It is also an MP3 player and is Audible compatible. I listen to audio books as I tour. It is a very well designed motorcycle device. Mine cost me about $600, purchased on Internet in US for shipment to me by a friend. Here, you will pay a ridiculous $1,400 or more. It is one of those things you will want a friend to post to you.

I also have a Garmin Nuvi 880 for my car. Here's the thing. If you ride your motorcycle a lot, like I do, get a dedicated motorcycle device. But the Zumo 660 does come with both a mount for your motorcycle and a mount for your car. There is a reason the Zumo 660 costs $600 while many other good devices cost only $100 or less. If you hold the Zumo and say the Garmin Nuvi 880 in your hand, you will know immediately why one is so much more expensive. It is truly a case of getting what you pay for.

As for the poster who said he carries his GPS device in his pocket and just listens to turn by turn instructions with headphones, all I can say is that this strategy works well in uncomplicated areas. But if you are trying to navigate the Gordian Knot multi-ramp, multi-level interchanges in Bangkok, you MUST be able to keep one eye glued to the GPS screen, and you need your hands free for clutch and throttle. There is no getting around it. One screw-up in BKK can easily cost you 30 minutes or more.

By the way, the Garmin Zumo 660 is also full Bluetooth which can integrate with your phone. But not only Bluetooth, also AD2P, for beautiful stereo music and books! A lot of devices have Bluetooth, but few have AD2P.

As for getting strange destinations sometimes or a weird route or being told to make a U-turn at a strange time, this sort of things occurs from time to time with all GPS devices. If you USE the device and really learn it, these situations, which are actually fairly rare, are easily identifiable, and are more of an annoyance than genuine problem.

Finally, if you do ride a lot and you get a full time motorcycle device, I also recommend you get an aftermarket sunshade for it. there are many available. When the sun shines directly on the screen, it is hard to read. With the shade, most of this problem is eliminated.

[Rimmer]

Off topic attempt at humour removed, please try to stick to the topic, thanks guys

Yes we know about the title but sorry we can not edit it.

[Gweiloman]

I thought about getting a Zumo 660 but like the poster above said, the price is ridiculous (over Thb 30,000). I ended up buying a Peaklife GPS from chinavasion and it fits the bill perfectly. It's well made, water proof, shock proof. Comes with two separate mounts (I've put one on my Versys and the other on the PCX). It comes with a sunshade as well plus all the other necessary chargers.

Best of all, as it's a WinCE device, you can load the software that you like on it. I have Papago, Igo Primo and Igo8 loaded on mine.

I plot my routes out on TYRE and then import the file into the GPS as a .kml (Goggle Earth) file. It comes with bluetooth (though it's dodgy and does not work with all bluetooth headsets - does not work with my Cardio headset) but I think I can use a wired setup if I really want.

For slightly over US$100, I reckon it's a super buy.

[floridaguy]

I just use my iPhone with Garmin Thailand loaded. I used a car Garmin nuvi 3790, but the performance is the same. Using my phone means I don't have to carry an additional device. The phone's battery drains pretty quickly with 3G on all times, so I have a cigarette lighter charger hardwired into the switched light circuit, so power is off when the key is off. You can see it just to the right of the phone holder. When plugged in, battery level never dips below 100% with the GPS and 3G going. The mount is hand made from a belt clip holder for the iPhone. As you see in the photo, it swivels out of the way if I need it too. I use my headphones to listen to spoken turn by turn directions so that I don't have to have the screen on, or be distracted by looking at it.

Edited November 10, 2012 by floridaguy

[marstons]

I use the one form the car on my PCX, velcro on the screen and sat nav, leave the bracket on so you know where to put velcro. Works fine, i have charger for the bike but not added it yet as battery covers my needs. Just use it when lost.

Would you mind being more specific? What brand, model? Any major problems you've seen so far?

its a garmain unit, i stuck one side of the velcro pad on the screen which shows the dials speedo etc and the other part of the velcro to the back of the Garmain unit, then just velcro the unit to the bike dash board.. No problems so far i have a cigarette lighter kit for charging just not fitted it yet. will post some pics tomorrow. The velcro is purchased in a roll at tesco big c etc.

Quite basic but it works for me, also there are brackets available on E bay that you can fastern to screen and clip the bracket onto the ball joint attached to the screen.

[Polanskiman]

Hello guys. Thanks everyone for sharing and giving your personal views, tips and tricks. It is greatly appreciated and I am sure others will benefit from this. Keep your posts coming.

I was wondering, does anyone have experience with Tomtom? Most posts talk about Garmin or other brands but seems Tomtom (although equally as good as a brand compared to Garmin) doesn't seem to be popular here. Your comments are always appreciated.

[Gweiloman]

Tomtom is very good too. The screens shots tend to be fairly basic though, but in a sense, is better for bike navigation as the screen is then unclustered and the route is clearly indicated with a red track on a light cream beige background. I use Tomtom SEA on my iPhone as one of the route preference setting is winding roads - maximum, medium and minimum which is nice for exploring on a bike. One note of caution - even on medium winding roads, Tomtom will sometimes send you on unpaved roads even if you had specified to avoid them. Another thing about the Tomtom (if using only audio instructions), the instructions are quite brief. For eg, assuming you have a left turn coming up and then continuing straight for say 10 kms, Tomtom will just tell you about the left turn and then keep quiet for 8.5 km, followed by "xxx turn ahead" and then silence till 800 m before the turn.

Sygic on the other hand, after the left turn will tell you to go straight for 10 kms. Sometimes, while using Tomtom, I just have to stop to check that the communications with my bluetooth is still working as there's just silence.

[floridaguy]

I did not have good luck with Tomtom. Garmin has a Thai company that all they do is update the maps every year around Jan or Feb. Tomtom does not have a Thailand specific map, not nearly as detailed or as many POIs. Garmin allows me to set the detail on the map with 3 different detail settings so that you can eliminate the clutter. Tomtom frequently had me driving on dirt roads. It actually routed me down a dirt road not far outside of Bangkok and through a farmer's pineapple field. It was a very narrow 1 lane muddy dirt road, so I couldn't turn around and had to endure the poor farmer yelling at me as I drove through his farm to the connecting road. Funny, but not for him. I gave up Tomtom after that.

[Gweiloman]

I did not have good luck with Tomtom. Garmin has a Thai company that all they do is update the maps every year around Jan or Feb. Tomtom does not have a Thailand specific map, not nearly as detailed or as many POIs. Garmin allows me to set the detail on the map with 3 different detail settings so that you can eliminate the clutter. Tomtom frequently had me driving on dirt roads. It actually routed me down a dirt road not far outside of Bangkok and through a farmer's pineapple field. It was a very narrow 1 lane muddy dirt road, so I couldn't turn around and had to endure the poor farmer yelling at me as I drove through his farm to the connecting road. Funny, but not for him. I gave up Tomtom after that.

Funny

[Polanskiman]

Anyone has had experience with the GPS Navigator "Peaklife". If you have dealt with this GPS could you please give us your views?

For those who might have never heard about it, It's a chinese brand. Here is a link : http://www.chinavasi...h_GPS_Navigator

PS: just realized poster "Gweiloman" did share his view on this specific GPS. Anyone else?

Edited November 13, 2012 by Polanskiman

[Polanskiman]

I thought about getting a Zumo 660 but like the poster above said, the price is ridiculous (over Thb 30,000). I ended up buying a Peaklife GPS from chinavasion and it fits the bill perfectly. It's well made, water proof, shock proof. Comes with two separate mounts (I've put one on my Versys and the other on the PCX). It comes with a sunshade as well plus all the other necessary chargers.

Best of all, as it's a WinCE device, you can load the software that you like on it. I have Papago, Igo Primo and Igo8 loaded on mine.

I plot my routes out on TYRE and then import the file into the GPS as a .kml (Goggle Earth) file. It comes with bluetooth (though it's dodgy and does not work with all bluetooth headsets - does not work with my Cardio headset) but I think I can use a wired setup if I really want.

For slightly over US$100, I reckon it's a super buy.

Thanks for sharing. Really appreciated. Yeah one of the really problems is the price tag of those Garmin and Tomtom devices. Even bought abroad, it's still around 400/500 euros. Bought here, and you can eat pasta during one month

Anyways, how does the suction cup hold well with vibrations and bumps?

Edited November 13, 2012 by SeaVisionBurma

[Polanskiman]

I thought about getting a Zumo 660 but like the poster above said, the price is ridiculous (over Thb 30,000). I ended up buying a Peaklife GPS from chinavasion and it fits the bill perfectly. It's well made, water proof, shock proof. Comes with two separate mounts (I've put one on my Versys and the other on the PCX). It comes with a sunshade as well plus all the other necessary chargers.

Best of all, as it's a WinCE device, you can load the software that you like on it. I have Papago, Igo Primo and Igo8 loaded on mine.

I plot my routes out on TYRE and then import the file into the GPS as a .kml (Goggle Earth) file. It comes with bluetooth (though it's dodgy and does not work with all bluetooth headsets - does not work with my Cardio headset) but I think I can use a wired setup if I really want.

For slightly over US$100, I reckon it's a super buy.

I forgot to ask earlier. Regarding the Peaklife, did you need to pay any import duty and VAT when arrived to Thailand? Would you mind telling us how they valued the product on the package? Thank you in advance.

[Gweiloman]

I thought about getting a Zumo 660 but like the poster above said, the price is ridiculous (over Thb 30,000). I ended up buying a Peaklife GPS from chinavasion and it fits the bill perfectly. It's well made, water proof, shock proof. Comes with two separate mounts (I've put one on my Versys and the other on the PCX). It comes with a sunshade as well plus all the other necessary chargers.

Best of all, as it's a WinCE device, you can load the software that you like on it. I have Papago, Igo Primo and Igo8 loaded on mine.

I plot my routes out on TYRE and then import the file into the GPS as a .kml (Goggle Earth) file. It comes with bluetooth (though it's dodgy and does not work with all bluetooth headsets - does not work with my Cardio headset) but I think I can use a wired setup if I really want.

For slightly over US$100, I reckon it's a super buy.

Thanks for sharing. Really appreciated. Yeah one of the really problems is the price tag of those Garmin and Tomtom devices. Even bought abroad, it's still around 400/500 euros. Bought here, and you can eat pasta during one month

Anyways, how does the suction cup hold well with vibrations and bumps?

Suction cup held very well, no problem whatsoever. Don't forget, the set comes with another handlebar clamp as well (which I fixed on my PCX) if you prefer that.

[Gweiloman]

I thought about getting a Zumo 660 but like the poster above said, the price is ridiculous (over Thb 30,000). I ended up buying a Peaklife GPS from chinavasion and it fits the bill perfectly. It's well made, water proof, shock proof. Comes with two separate mounts (I've put one on my Versys and the other on the PCX). It comes with a sunshade as well plus all the other necessary chargers.

Best of all, as it's a WinCE device, you can load the software that you like on it. I have Papago, Igo Primo and Igo8 loaded on mine.

I plot my routes out on TYRE and then import the file into the GPS as a .kml (Goggle Earth) file. It comes with bluetooth (though it's dodgy and does not work with all bluetooth headsets - does not work with my Cardio headset) but I think I can use a wired setup if I really want.

For slightly over US$100, I reckon it's a super buy.

I forgot to ask earlier. Regarding the Peaklife, did you need to pay any import duty and VAT when arrived to Thailand? Would you mind telling us how they valued the product on the package? Thank you in advance.

I had it delivered to Hong Kong (no tax there) and hand carried it back on my of my trips. I think you can choose the normal mail option (not DHL of Fedex or UPS) and you might just be able to get away without paying any import duties and VAT.

[Gweiloman]

Anyone has had experience with the GPS Navigator "Peaklife". If you have dealt with this GPS could you please give us your views?

For those who might have never heard about it, It's a chinese brand. Here is a link : http://www.chinavasi...h_GPS_Navigator

PS: just realized poster "Gweiloman" did share his view on this specific GPS. Anyone else?

http://www.st-owners.com/forums/showthread.php?116748-Peaklife-Motorcycle-GPS

http://www.kawasakiversys.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21086&highlight=peaklife

[Polanskiman]

Suction cup held very well, no problem whatsoever. Don't forget, the set comes with another handlebar clamp as well (which I fixed on my PCX) if you prefer that.

That's great. Does it fall off at a certain speed or not?

I had it delivered to Hong Kong (no tax there) and hand carried it back on my of my trips. I think you can choose the normal mail option (not DHL of Fedex or UPS) and you might just be able to get away without paying any import duties and VAT.

Just had a chat with Chinavison this morning. Seems customs and taxes is not a problem.

http://www.st-owners...-Motorcycle-GPS

http://www.kawasakiv...hlight=peaklife

Thanks Gweiloman. I have seen those reviews and many others in fact. Was just wondering about the folks around here.

Also it seems that they have a bluetooth headset that is compatible with their Peaklife GPS. http://www.chinavasion.com/china/wholesale/Cheap_Mobile_Phones/Cell_Phone_Accessories/Bluetooth_Helmet_Headset_for_Motorcycles_2nd_Gen