Sat nav for bikes

I agree that the bike specific units are bloody expensive and disproportionatley so. It is not just a case of water proofing them however, they also have some extra ruggedisation (is that a word?) and some mountings that are bike appropriate. As many people who use them are on touring bikes they also use headsets inside the crash helmet and items like the Garmin Zumo (plus others I am sure) have built in bluetooth and or cable connection to allow the rider to hear not only the instructions of the sat nav but also music, and telephone if so desired as there is a built in MP3 player and telephone pairing function.
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There is no reasonably priced unit but the feedback of many of my customers is that the Garmin Zumo does a good job.

Actually I have tried that and it does not work that well. The GPS will lie flat against the tank bag and you have to completely take your eyes off the road to see anything and if you are on anything with even a modicum of sport riding position then the chin bar of the crash helmet can make getting a decent view even harder as you try to bend your neck right down. Any modicum of sunlight also screws up the view of the screen as the plastic map cover proved to be an excellent reflector of bright light. It also of course would be far from ideal to try and then connect it up with cables to an intercom system for example so the rider could hear the instructions.
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It was so impractical that I ended up having to stop any time to look at it to get useful instruction from it safely. I never bothered again with that solution after that trip, which was to the Austrian mountains.

Funny how we all use stuff so differently. I hate the voice intructions on sat navs and never use them, bike or car, I always prefer to have a visual image of the route ahead and get on much better that way.

Where do you get that idea? It's simply not correct.

I've got LOTS of GPS units... One in each of two boats, a handheld and two car units. All various models of Garmin. If you called me a gadget nut you wouldn't be wrong.

When I went to my dealer to buy a bike-specific unit he actually talked me out of it, explaining that other than being waterproof all such a unit would really do is cost me money. He said that the majority of his bike clients were using good car units and that if it was raining too hard they simply removed them and put them away. So that's what I've been doing.

First point is that most of the good units DO have Bluetooth and MP3 players. Mine do, and they connect to my helmet just perfectly. I started with a Midland Radio unit (BT2?) and that was fine but the combo had no radio unless I connected one to the headset by wire which was a pain. Now I have Scala Rider G4 units and the are even better. Sound quality is quite good and my GPS directions are loud and clear.

Second point I wanted to make is that the bike-specific units don't offer any "traffic" features, which is something I've grown to really like having. It's really great to get a "traffic ahead" warning and an alternate route. Even the top Zumo doesn't offer this.

Finally, especially if you already have one, using a good car unit on a bike is a lot cheaper. Heck, even if you have to buy one, it's cheaper than a bike unit. And really, I don't like riding in the rain so the few times I get caught out, it's real easy to put the GPS in my pocket so it doesn't get wet.

Now I've got a question of my own... I'm picking up my K1300GT later today and I want to connect my Garmin Nuvi. The problem is that the traffic receiver antenna is built into the cigarette lighter power cable and for best reception the cable should stretch out and not be bunched up all together (and it cannot be cut either). On my last bikes this wasn't much of a problem because the batteries and fuse blocks were in the rear portion of the bikes. If I understand right, on the KGT the battery is right up front just behind the handlebars by the tank.

Has anyone got any tips about where I could wire in my cigarette lighter plug so I could connect the Garmin cigarette lighter power cable?

Thanks

Captain Scarlet,

I did a Google search and found TYRE. In the FAQ's section I found (disappointingly) that actual routes are not carried over to the GPS... Only waypoints.

This seems to be the same behavior as using Google Maps alone, without TYRE. (I have successfully done that already with my Garmin units.)

That's really a shame, as route planning with Google is the best I've seen. It is so cool to be able to enter your start and end points and then to grab the proposed route anywhere along it and drag it to a different set of roads... Very easy to do "what if" planning. In order to make this work (with or without TYRE) you would have to plot multiple waypoints which is the part I found frustrating.

So far the best solution I've found is to use Garmin's own mapping software, Mapsource, to plot routes and then transfer them to the GPS. I wish there would be a way to transfer the Google routes without plotting all those mid waypoints.

(In my last message I mistakenly said Mapquest, which is of course a web site, when I meant to say Mapsource which is Garmin software.)

Shuggiemac,

I really should have been more clear about what I said and meant... I should have added the caveat of "unless you are willing to pay extra to add FM traffic services" the motorcycle-specific units don't offer traffic services.

The bike-specific units DO have two advantages that I can see: 1) Waterproof, which doesn't matter much to me because I don't like to ride in the rain and can easily put the unit away if I'm caught out, and; 2) The locking cradle mount, which for me would be the most valuable feature.

But now consider price (without optional extras) and at least for me, and particularly because I already owned them, I'll very happily make do with my higher-end car units with traffic, Bluetooth and MP3. And if I didn't already own anything, well, it would be a tough decision.

Do you have any experience with the bike cradle that comes with the Zumo? Is that a locking cradle or would someone have to buy such a thing separately? And how does that mount compare with the one offered by BMW (assuming it could be bought without the actual GPS)?

My question about the connection and routing of the antenna/power cable is one of ignorance of any details about my new bike. Once I take delivery of it 3.5 hours and counting) I'm sure how/where to connect will be more clear. I just thought the collective wisdom here might have saved me some head scratching.

And even though I already own so many different GPS units, I have not totally ruled out getting a Zumo 665. I like the idea of satellite radio on a long trip and a locking cradle is a great feature. It's just that I'd probably want to add the FM traffic antenna and lifetime map upgrades, making it really quite expensive.

Cheers!

The 665 includes the XM Satellite antenna/receiver but you must subscribe in order to get any service. In the States, XM and Sirius have merged into one company I believe, but here in Canada they are still separate. The service subscription prices are very different in both countries with Canada being more expensive. I seriously looked into it and was very interested, especially since there is supposed to be a fairly efficient traffic notification system available. But there is NO mention of this on the Canadian XM web site. The US site says the service is available in Canada, including in my city of Montreal, yet the Cdn site makes no mention of traffic at all. And besides that, the weather subscription add on is VERY expensive, pretty much putting it only into the hands of professionals who would need it (and could justify the expense) in their work.

I called XM in Canada to ask about traffic services and it is indeed available... But again at a lot more money than in the States.

Your question about the Bluetooth headsets... I get about 6-8 hours from a charge with my Scala Rider G4. The rechargeable battery is built-in so you don't have any expense for constantly buying batteries. And it is convenient not to be wired to the bike as I would usually forget and try to dismount without disconnecting.

Back to my new bike (which I got last night)... My plan had been to wire in a connection to allow me to use my car GPS on the bike as I've ,been doing with other bikes. The BMW dealer told me that if I made any wiring connections, I would void the warranty and that only electronic add ons supplied by BMW were acceptable. He said that most wiring on the bike served multiple purposes and that any change in the resistance on a wire could affect multiple systems. Plus the handlebar mount I have doesn't really fit the bikes bars very well. He was making a strong case for buying the BMW OEM version of the Garmin 660. The bike is apparently pre-wired for this with a proprietary plug and the mount is really well engineered and there is a protective cover, etc. etc.

How much is it? $999. Cdn dollars. (I can buy a new Garmin 660 here from several sources for only $700 Cdn. Ok, is the BMW mount available without the GPS? Yes, for $250, and it does NOT include the wiring. The BMW OEM version also does not include the other mounts and power connections that you get if you buy the Garmin version so being able to use the BMW unit in the car also would involve additional expense. The dealer told me that I wouldn't want to do that anyway, because removing the unit from the mount isn't a two-minute operation.

BMW does not offer their version of the 665. But there is an XM antenna/receiver available for the 660... But it costs about $350. And I was told (I find it hard to believe and must check into this) that the XM subscription applies to the antenna/receiver and not to the GPS itself. Meaning that if you want to use one unit in the car as well as on the bike, you'd have to buy TWO antennas and two subscriptions. I sure hope this isn't so.

In any case it's expensive enough without the XM... Add traffic and weather subscriptions (at least here in Canada) and you almost have to mortgage the house. Sigh

Being a gadget nut can be VERY expensive!

My local BMW dealer (when I lived in Manchester) only sold the mounts for the Garmin Zumo GPS. They said that Garmin kept on jacking up the prices, and other outlets sold them for a lot less than they could.

They didn't mention anything about missing wiring, so it could be the salesman is confused. Or misleading.

Eldor
A friend has a K1300s and had a Zumo 660 fitted whch kept on disharging his battery. The BMW dealer said it was all down to the Cambus system of wiring. I think he mentioned it was now connected direct to the battery but I'm not sure.
BMW certainly like to create a system that ties customers into their expensive extras don't they?

Getting the truth and nothing but the truth here is proving somewhat difficult. My dealer is telling me one thing and I'm not finding where I could get the "official" word.

The best I can find out (and I visited the dealer again today) is that there is some kind of proprietary plug pre-installed near the headset that the BMW OEM version of the Garmin 660 plugs into. But I could not find that plug when I removed the battery cover and went searching.

If I were to buy the BMW version, I'm told it would just "plug right in". And the mount is supposed to be some kind of locking mount so that you wouldn't have to remove the unit very time you left the bike. (Which it seems the mount in the genuine Garmin package isn't )

The BMW kit is not supposed to include the car mount that the generic Garmin package includes. (And I'm told that because the BMW version has a locking mount, moving the unit easily to the car isn't really practical either.)

It is also my understanding that if we were to buy just the BMW "mounting kit" (at an exorbitant price) it would not include the wiring or the plug needed to connect to that "supposedly" pre-existing connection point.

BMW charges a LOT for the GPS and the mounting kit, but they don't even offer the Garmin 665. If I'm going to spend "a lot" I might be willing to spend a little more in order to have the option of satellite radio. The last time I drove to the Gaspé region of Quebec (by car) I went for hour after hour without finding a decent (to my taste) radio station, so satellite does have an appeal for such a touring bike.

I had planned on using my Garmin 785T (car unit) on the bike as I'd done with other bikes, and I do have it mounted (although the non-standard handlebar shape makes it somewhat awkward), but connecting it is another thing. The accessory outlet plug is not a standard cigarette lighter plug and you have to buy a BMW cable (or at least the plug) to use it. And it is quite long... I'm afraid that my foot would hit it. And most (if not all) the Garmin units with traffic contain the antenna within the cigarette lighter power cord, making the connection a bit of a challenge. I don't want to connect directly to the battery because then I would always have to remember to turn the unit off when I park. I need a connection point controlled by the ignition switch.

So now I'm (reluctantly) looking for a way to get a "deal" on the BMW unit or at least on the mounting kit with wiring.

If the Zumo kept on discharging the battery, it sounds like it was connected DIRECTLY to the battery and that he kept forgetting to turn off the GPS when he parked. That's why I want to find an ignition controlled connection point.

I've heard Cambus (or Canbus) mentioned before... What is it?

Yes, it sure is starting to seem like their extras are really expensive and that we're pretty much tied into them. Heck, even the accessory plug outlet is proprietary.

Eldor: My 660 is wired direct to the battery and when I switch the bike off the Garmin auto switches off after 30 secs but it asks if I want to keep it on. Has done so on all my bikes, guess it knows it is on external power.

I was refering to the bikes small accessory socket which Garmin supply the correct sized plug for but it is a pain to use.

Lastly there is a can bus socket near the headstock for the BMW Garmin.

Lots of my BMW friends use the 660 wired direct to the battery and some use the Touratech lockable mount, google it, which costs a fortune but I simply remove my 660 at each stop as I use the supplied bike mount.

I have used Garmin on Bikes for at least 10 years all directly wired to the battery and never suffered battery drain only wallet drain.

Eldor:I mislead you. My 660 auto shuts down when I remove it from the cradle so it is stays switched on when mounted in the cradle unless turned off. Because I always remove it I see it auto shut down.

Gee, great idea!

Do you know where I can get some bike-compatible map holders?

Eldor: I did not buy the BMW one as the premium, here in the UK, is excessive for little benefit. I believe the BMW unit is secure but suggest you double check with the dealer or website.

I wonder if you can get the BMW mount on e-bay or thru' some other circuitive route? Maybe a breakers yard off an insurance reck?