Tales Of Zumo

[BonusVFR]

It is raining in San Diego and I thought I would pass on some impressions on my new Zumo 550. Santa delivered my first GPS. The same woman who released me from driving her home from Arizona so I could tour AZ, bought me a Zumo without prompting and really no coaching.

So I am going from this -

To this –

While I have used a few GPS units in rental cars over the years my last real experience with a GPS device was on a destroyer in the Indian and Pacific Oceans a few years ago. There were no cameras then so I do not have a picture. My God!!!

Modern GPS units sure beat the hell out of a sextant, but for some occult reason I have not been an early adopter for my cars and motorcycles.

I have been looking at GPS units suitable for bikes for years and I was particularly enthralled with the potential or hype about the Zumo. I even made the journey to Laguna Seca and the Garmin booth last year, along with about two million of my best friends, in part to see the first public unveiling at the GP.

I must have seen these global units on the way to the Garmin booth. Latest display technology! :unsure: :goofy:

Too bad I forgot my dual pane display instruments.

The following key factors pushed me towards the Zumo:

1. I had two significant VFR rides last year (Sierras and AZ) and both times I could have used some navigational aid ie missed turns or had to reroute because of screw-ups.

2. My Verizon Cell GPS during my AZ experience was less than satisfactory.

3. The Zumo is waterproof, the right size and seemed perfect for both the VFR and the Big One.

4. The mounting kit adopted the RAM system, which I have on both bikes, plus it has a mount for my truck.

5. It uses voice directions and has a MP3 player which saves on precious cockpit space.

6. The Zumo is bundled with a trip planning package called Mapsource plus I could also use Streets and Trips, which I have been using for years to map out my adventures.

7. The Zumo has a battery which means I can evaluate routes and make adjustments etc while sitting in a restaurant. I find this very helpful as I often thrash out mid course corrections with my riding buddies during rest stops. With Zumo you can get an almost instant miles/time to go read out to properly consider your options.

8. And lastly it has the latest SIRF chip, which increases its sensitivity and responsiveness including those times when you are eating a greasy hamburger in a dump with a roof alongside the road in the sticks.

Ten days ago, I rode from San Diego to Borrego Springs to test routing with the Zumo. As I was primarily interested in measuring the Zumo performance, I took the "other" bike as the Zumo was installed into the sound system and I had integrated my Bluetooth phone as well.

Despite my initial difficulty, I used Mapsource to plan the route and down loaded the route into my Zumo. I had ver 2.5 of the Zumo OS loaded at the time. There have been two software upgrades since my trip. Wow they must really care!

Next installment Trip observations.

Edited May 23, 2007 by BonusVFR

[Earthshake]

Where on the bike did you tap into to get power to the unit? Does the software show the little bitty county roads since I mostly ride in the middle of nowheres twisties? Thanks!

I use the Garmin power hookup that came with the Zumo. It's fused and connects direct to the battery, but I don't have any other electrifarkles. If I did I would go with the Blue Sea fuse box (or something similar) that has been written about recently.

Standard map on the Zumo (CN North America NT v.8) seems very good for road coverage. However, as with all software packages it will not show new roads or recently reconstructed interchanges that have been built in the last two or three years. I have not done any dualsporting with it so I can't comment on FS roads, trails, etc. I have also loaded the eastern US topo map onto an SD card which I use more for work that takes me into remote areas in the Appalachian mountains. It would be good for hiking and similar activities if you are comfortable reading drainage featuers and topographic prominences rather than roads. It seems to have pretty good coverage on less travelled roads, but it is an older software package without support, so it is what it is.

I am very pleased so far. :thumbsup:

[BonusVFR]

Part two

First some miscellaneous ramblings and a brief description of route planning and the software that comes with the Zumo.

The easiest way to load a route is to build it directly with the Zumo. It is pretty simple to figure out but it does take some time. Before you go too far though, I would register your unit and download the latest firmware for the Zumo. Otherwise you may have some problems interfacing with Mapsource (discussed below) down the line. Since Santa delivered, I have upgraded the Zumo software 3 times (2.5, 3.0 and 3.1). These updates included undocumented features (some people call them bugs) and suprisingly number of feature updates. :thumbsup:

The other Garmin way is to build a route using Mapsource. This is confusing right from the beginning as City Navigator NT version 8 (in big print) is included with the Zumo package. Turns out Mapsource is the software interface/tool to (trip and waypoint management) organize/control the latest maps which are found in the City Navigator DVD.

Fortunately, Mapsource is also included on the DVD disk but you have to read the small print to find it is there. As stated above, you do not need to load Mapsource onto your PC to use the Zumo. And for Pete sakes DO NOT throw away the yellow sheet with the Unlock code for Mapsource that comes in the box.

Note DVD not CD that was my second problem. My old computer has a CD but not a DVD. Fortunately, I figured this out on my own before Garmin Tech support told me I was an idiot.

But before you download waypoints/routes to the Zumo you need to update the Mapsource product too.

Once you are ready to get your route to the Zumo, there is a menu button on the Mapsource tool bar to send routes/waypoints to the device (Zumo). Right in the middle of the tool bar below you can also see a similiar button so you can download logs so you review your trips on Mapsource when you get back.

This is one of the views of what it looks like when you load the route into the Zumo. Note the flags on the screen which are waypoints, which in this case forced my route to 94 which runs parallel to Interstate 8.

But there is no need to download maps to the Zumo, as City Navigator v8 is already loaded onto the Zumo. Do not load more maps onto the Zumo as you will fill up the drive. Perhaps you will load topo maps in the future but you do not need to do it right away.

Mapsource is not a friendly as Streets and Trips but I do not want to whine tooooo much till I give it a chance.

This brings me to the third way to load routes into the Zumo ie using third party software say, for example, Microsoft’s Street and Trips. This is not discussed in the Zumo manuals (latest one online the one shipped is already obsolete) but is described, you guessed it, on the Internet. This is how you do it.

Build your route in Street and Trips using no more than 10 waypoints.

Import your Street and Trips file into the this shareware program

GPS Utility and save the file as a GPX extension. You can handle more the 10 waypoints but you have to pay for it.

Copy the GPX file into the Garmin/GPX directory on either the Zumo or the SD card. Remember to “Safely Remove Hardware” first before disconnecting your USB Zumo.

When the Zumo prompts you just import the route into the unit.

One final route on building routes. Before you are done make sure it looks the same after it uploads into your Zumo. Some of the settings in the Zumo may change your route when you upload it. For example you may have fastest driving time set as your default in your Zumo and your route may be on a backroad, which may drive the uploaded route to change.

The solution is to look at it after it is uploaded and if you need to add waypoints to force the route on certain roads. Pretty simple really once you have screwed it up a few times. I had to do the same thing all the time when I was planning routes on Streets and Trips even before I had a GPS.

Sorry about the above but I had to learn all of this the hard way.

<_<

Edited March 1, 2007 by BonusVFR

[BonusVFR]

Part Three

Another shot of the Ram Mount with the medium ram bar.

On the Wing, I have two RAM balls on the left grip, so I can add another accessory ie a camera in this case. I may do this on the VFR too. Of course you can always add another ball to the right grip but operating the equipment would be a pain - unless you have cruise.

You can just see the Ram Mount Ball attached to the forward bolts on the tank. Many of you have done this modification on your VFRs and this turns out to be great place to mount the Zumo.

Here is the Zumo on the tank ram ball again with a medium ram bar. The medium extender is needed again to clear the tank bag and also to allow access to the Powerlet socket in the stem. The screen of the Zumo shows one of the new views available with release 3.0/3.1. Compass and altitude along with GPS accuracy are there to see. None of the VFR instruments are blocked with this rig.

To be frank there is not a lot of difference in left hand movement required from the grip to the handlebar mount or the tank mounted Zumo. You can see from these photos that it would be easy to access with the left hand. Most of the time I use the touch screen but I do use the hard buttons on the left. For sound I either plug the Zumo right into my Goldwing sound system via a 3.5 jack or just plug some ipod type earplugs/speakers or my IMC helmet speakers direct into the Zumo when I am on the VFR. You are good to go as long as your earbuds/speakers have a 3.5mm plug.

Some folks do not realize that there are in effect two volume settings. One is the basically a balance between the relative vol of the navigation and MP3, this is controlled from the tool menu. The stock setting give a slight bias to the vol of the navigation prompts. The major volume control is the third hard button on the left.

Next on the road with the Zumo

Edited February 28, 2007 by BonusVFR

[BonusVFR]

I forgot to mention that probably the best source on the web for Zumo info is:

Zumo Only URL

[BonusVFR]

Part Four - Now about my field trip to Borrego with the Zumo.

I met up with some buddies to escort me East from San Diego. As we never plan where our breakfast stop till the gas is in the tank, I did not have our feeding hole cranked into the Zumo. As soon as we veered off route the route to Borrego towards breakfast, Mr Zumo starting recalculating and trying to get me back on track.

This may get tiresome especially when you following somebody else and not following backseat driving orders from the Zumo. Perhaps you have experienced this from your SO. Of course, I have not but I have heard about the phenomena. But fortunately, you can do something about the Zumo case, if not the latter.

Regardless if you want the shut the lady off, just touch the MENU screen (bottom center of screen and then hit STOP. You stop following the route but you still know where you are.

See … I am on a small side road close to the freeway here.

Normally, the Zumo screen looks like this when a route or destination is loaded. This is the basic navigation screen and the key for me is the next "Turn In" on the bottom right corner of the Zumo. This tells you far to go before the next turn and provides automatic voice prompts as well.

Please note that I was not speeding in these shots!

If you miss the voice prompts along the way you just have to touch that “Turn In†on the screen and the Zumo gives you an updated voice prompt and the distance to turn. This prompt includes the name of the street you are looking for. This is fantastic and this is what I needed most on my recent VFR rides in the Sierras and AZ. :thumbsup:

If you want to review all your turns just touch the bar on top of the screen in this case “Left on Lyons Valley Rdâ€

Here are the usual suspects after Breakfast. Normally there is another 5th Gen VFR with us. That is as far as they went this trip. Instead of my VFR, I have been riding my Wing a lot this season. Not sure why - maybe because it was the coldest Jan in 40 years in San Diego and the electric grips on the Wing.

I found my other 5th Gen buddy “riding at Lagunaâ€. Did I mention the racing was great?

Notwithstanding yet another Indian Gaming casino stop in San Diego for breakfast and despite the “French Pancakesâ€, I was able to reload my route to Borrego. Takes about 15 seconds.

When I restarted my route, the Zumo picked up my next waypoint/via point (still not sure what it is called) and prompted me correctly along my preferred route to the desert and on to Borrego.

More on the road next

[BonusVFR]

...................................Obviously this thing isn't as great as I originally thought. . . it clearly shows you riding a 6th gen (note the dual, underseat exhaust). :lol:

This one is just worth posting again. I'd follow their directions any day! :thumbsup:

Now on a serious note, my Garmin C330 screen looks the same and it sounds like it functions the same. How are you getting the voice prompts into your helmet?

I am hoping the new RED icon is better and does not have the extra weight of the second exhaust :thumbsup:

OK - Here he is again???????????

The voice prompts and the MP3/etc come out of the MC mount female plug. Here is a picture of a standard type earbud plugged into the 3.5 jack. My IMC headset also works with this jack. On the Wing I just plug my Aux input male 3.5mm plug into the same place.

Once you do it once you never forget! Right! :thumbsup:

The covered jack above the 3.5 is for a 2.5mm plug typical of headsets for cell phones etc.

The Zumo itself actually has no sound output. Only the MC and car mounts have sound output jacks.

Edited March 1, 2007 by BonusVFR

[BonusVFR]

On the Road - Part Five

Some of the biggest complaints about the Zumo from the GPS Nazis (that is what I call them) are that you can not see your actual track (not route - but where you have been) on the screen and there is no altitude reading. Both of these complaints were addressed by the latest software upgrade ie 3.X.

Most of the criticism has come from people who do not own one. Kind of like VTEC, I guess. The number one complaint by far is “the Zumo†keeps trying to get you to your final destination†by recalculating the route when you stray far from the designated route. I will talk about this more with my wrap up.

Anyway here is one of the upgrades, the altitude screen, which you can easily see by using the page hard button on left side of the Zumo. It is the third one. Or you can just hit the motorcycle icon on the main screen which gives you position and altitude. You can also save your current position as well if you want it for recall later. This is great if you want to mark a location you want to visit again.

BTW Garmin now has a Red Motorcycle icon which I will upload in the future.

Now to the track issue. After my overnight in Borrego, I returned the next day. Subsequently, I loaded ver 3.0 of the OS. One of the items touted with the update is “Added option to display track log on mapâ€. I was able to DISPLAY THE TRACK LOG ON MAP despite that I have been using ver 2.5 on the Borrego trip. You can now see the track log displayed while you are navigating.

Here is the track of my breakfast stop North of Interstate 8 at a new Indian Gaming Casino. If you zoom in on the Zumo you can see the tiny road to the Casino as well.

It is easy to activate the feature in the tools menu.

This is how you "show" the trip log and make it visible on the map.

You can now see the track log displayed while you are navigating. I guess this means that ‘breadcrumbs†are finally here and you can retrace a route if needed by following the track? This is the track from the entire trip.

To the East you can see some of the track is not shown. I experienced Black Death on my Zumo (ver 2.5 loaded then) for about 30 miles till I figured out how to reset in Agua Caliente. Black Death is when the screen goes eh….black. This was the first and only time my Zumo has crapped out.

I am certainly no expert but I attribute this loss of the track data due to the intense vibration I experienced while passing these Fill in the Blank just North of Octotillo. :lurk:

This is where I reset the Zumo. Resetting is simple if you know how to do it but the instructions were in my trunk under some camping junk. The Agua Caliente Springs campground is on a poorly maintained loop south of the store where I stopped. I headed North once I left the store. By the way this is a good look at the level of the road detail available on the Zumo.

Next Borrego or Bust :goofy:

[BonusVFR]

Thanks very much for the description of how Garmin has addressed the complaints. I noted your description of the complainants being similar to vtec critics.

What does the Zumo do if you go into the blank areas between the known roads? (I accept you won't be doing that with the Wing).

Is Cape Town somewhere up there by Santa Barbara. God you have to love the Internet!

I think Garmin has done a remarkable job of putting out changes to the Zumo. 3 changes since my wife delivered it in a sled, which is tough going BTW in San Diego. Having worked at two software companies, I know what a challege it is to update software. I am impressed.

Now to your question..........

Here is an example of the sum total of my dirt experience, since I crashed hard on my 250 motocross bike way back in the day.

So take everything I say with a grain of salt I mean dirt.

I think the Garmin engineers/marketers were talking to mostly street riders when they crafted the Zumo specs. Much bigger market and they seemed to have hit the basics pretty well. But the Zumo does have off road capabilities.

First there are dirt roads on the Zumo maps but several have been loading Topo maps onto their Zumo for better dirt road info. I have to say the best guys on hard core GPS dirt capabilities are found on the GPS thread on advrider.com . Some of those would use less than complimentary terms to describe the Zumo's off road capabilities. Somehow, my VFR would get the same rap on the dirt! Never mind my Wing. What a surprise!

Near my house there is a road, Proctor Valley, which turns to dirt for miles just north of the lake. You can see how it looks but I could have given you more detail.

When you go to the Off Road mode on the Zumo you get a screen like this. Here I am navigating through my neighborhood direct to a point. I imagine I was on a plain with elephants or tigers or something. Do you have those things in Santa Barbara. Keep in mind that I am in my office now on the 2nd floor with a heavy tile roof. But you asked. And another thing none of the so called dirt GPS machines could get a fix like this except maybe the 60x version which has the Sirf chip too.

Here I am headed off road to Point 004.

You touch the arrow on the bottom right and you see this. This tells me – boy you have to go left a little to get to you destination in about 3 miles. The off road screen has a direction arrow unlike the regular compass screen.

Does this diatribe help?

Edited March 1, 2007 by BonusVFR

[Dutchy]

Is Cape Town somewhere up there by Santa Barbara. God you have to love the Internet!

Judging by this, geography taught in US schools is somewhat euh lacking? :blink:

(Hint: most of the current american citizens descent from people that originated from some other place on the globe, hence the names of your towns originate from somewhere else. Be gratefull, because the native american (can I say Indian?) "this is where the eagle soars high in the sky" is a pretty long name for a town...)

:goofy:

to stay -somewhat- on topic, this is what I use for GPS on the bike:

iPAQ pocketPC in rugged case

I slide it in the tankbag and only fire her up (TOMTOM software) if I'm lost or need to find a petrol station/restaurant.

Thing is, I ride my motorcycle whereever the wind takes me, wanting to get lost (but having some way of making it back..)

[BonusVFR]

Wrap up – Part Seven

I forgot to mention to find my way home from Borrego, I just touched “Go Home”. ET never had it so easy.

But you could just as easily return to a "Favorites" or "Recently Found" location. This would be handy on a trip and you wanted to return to a motel or campground.

Lesson Learned:

1. Whether you are downloading routes from Street and Trips or Mapsource, always review the route after it has been processed by your Zumo. You may have to modify the route by adding more waypoints in the source PC program. Alternatively, you can modify routes on the Zumo by adding/removing points to include your destination or end point.

Also check your Navigation preferences in the Zumo Tools Menu to ensure your route generation is in accordance with your real wishes ie faster versus shortest, vehicle type, avoidances (U turn, Highway, Toll, Trafffic, unpaved roads etc).

2. Of course, the Zumo is not fool proof. So for Gosh sake never utter these fateful words- “Maps, I don’t need no stinking maps.”

3. I have found that sometimes when you add a waypoint such as a town, Mapsource/Street and Trips may drive you off the actual route to find the geographic center of the town. This may in fact be off the main highway no matter how small the village/hamlet is. As I result I find I am using actual streets or intersections often to drive the route to avoid algorithm driven detours.

4. Keep your eyes out of the cockpit and on the road – Zumo is great but watch where you are going. The aural alerts do most of the work so don’t focus on the screen!

5. Despite the complaints from many of the GPS purists in this, I find the recalc issue a red herring. Again “the Zumo” keeps trying to get you to your final destination” by recalculating the route when you stray far from the designated route. I just touch "stop" on my Zumo when I screw around and purposely go off route. Then I just reload the route and it directs me to my next waypoint. Never lost a route yet.

6. I find since my overnights are often loops that I make one route for the two days. With the Zumo that works but is not optimum way to program the machine. My rule of thumb is one day-one route. That way you will always have the Zumo cue you to how far and what time your day will end. In other words load a separate route for each day on the road.

This way the "Arrival" time is accurate for where you are going that evening. Add it is remarkably accurate too!

This screen gives you the whole route and miles to as well as time.

You may want to go to Borrego because of my lame post but beware. The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) will close a portion of 78 near Scissors Crossing and in the vicinity of the San Felipe Creek Bridge (about 12 miles east of Julian).

http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist11/news/2007news...07-78Bridge.doc

The plan calls for closing the highway in both directions at that location from Monday, March 12 through mid-afternoon on Friday, March 23. THIS means all the RVs, Trucks will going down and up Montezuma grade in that period. Watch the center line and slow down!

Interestingly enough this is prime Vintage Motorcycle and flower viewing. Be safe.

A few photos from previous years. I think this is an Indian (European name or "Eagle soars high in the sky").

Looking down into Borrego with flowers

Montezuma Grade with switchbacks galore.

Thank you and in summary the Zumo works for me. I hope you found this overview helpful. :goofy:

Next stop “Run the Ridges” of our Green Land Tennessee? :goofy: At least on my Zumo MP3 – what a route! Did I mention the MP3 player? :thumbsup:

Edited March 2, 2007 by BonusVFR

[BonusVFR]

Nice write-up man, you're really making me want a Zumo. I have a question for you. I'm not advocating talking on a phone while riding, but, you actualdo have that capability with this thing right? As long as you have a bluetooth phone and a headset that I guess would plug into the Zumo. Like I said, I'm not promoting cell phone use while riding but I think that can be really convenient to just be able to pull over real quick and use the phone without having to dig it out of your bags. Is there a cell phone interface where you can dial from the Zumo?

I am not a cell phone guy. But, I had an epiphany about 6 weeks ago about this whole cell phone issue. My cell moment came when I was the first on a scene when a R6 rider hit a tree. Taking off all your gear to check to see if you have a cell does not save time and maybe could have cost more. Eventually when more assistance arrived, I had to ride to where I thought I had a cell. Fortunately I did (after I took off my gear again) and I still made the first 911 call. He will be ok (after months of therapy and a helicopter ride out of the hills).

There are lots of different ways to rig the phone up to the Zumo. For both bikes I will activate the Bluetooth on my phone. You can put your phone anywhere: jacket, bike pocket, tankbag as there are no wires involved. Lots of neat things happen immediately when the phone links to the Zumo via bluetooth. I really did not have to configure anything it just happens.

First you find out/see even if you have a cell which is nice especially if you run in the mountains often. Secondly you see/hear when somebody calls and have the option to accept or.........You also have your complete phone address book on the zumo. You dial direct from the Zumo using the touch screen, it also has a neat feature to call home (that ET thing again). There are more things available: missed calls and all the rest but those are the highlights.

On the VFR I do not have immediate plans to talk thru the zumo/phone (need a hard wire or Bluetooth mic for that). I will however know already if I have a cell before I pull over and will also know if somebody important called before I do so.

On the Wing, I can talk now through my regular headset mike which is hardwired into my stock sound system and the Zumo. The Razor bike forum has a bluetooth section as well. There are just too many options here: bluetooth helmet, autocom, starcom, bluetooth only, phone or mp3 or nav or all, etc etc etc to give you good advice without the particulars.

http://razorbiker.com/zumo/viewforum.php?f=4

I think I read on a forum that some guys are using it for bike to bike thru their Zumos. I think I will stick to FRS/GMRS for the moment as cells are not realiable in the MTs/remote areas.

Edited March 5, 2007 by BonusVFR

[BonusVFR]

just curious. now that you've figured some of the ins and outs of the unit, do you find it useful? i've never found it difficult to navigate with a map, and generally rely on word of mouth or strangers for details on good roads.

seems like it provides a lot of useful information about trip, distances, etc. but requires a lot of input from the user, especially when riding.

thanx for sharing.

I do find the Zumo very useful especially on trips to unfamiliar terrain. :thumbsup: Maps are still almost a necessity I fear. You need the big picture and the map format is comfortable to most. But this is what maps can not do.

Tell exactly when the next turn is coming up which prompts you to look for it. This takes no interaction it is on the main screen.

And I really like the screen which tells you how far to your final destination for the day. No questions - the answer is right there with just a few touches.

I need the help. For example, you pull out of small town enroute to a turnoff miles away. All of sudden you get distracted by traffic or pray tell the view and you fail to note the exact mileage to your next turn. Maybe you failed on your last stop to note precisely when the next turn is - you just know it is up the road a bit. I used to mark each turn with the route number and the mileage to it on my windshield but that is a lot of work. And if you failed to note your trip odometer this technique fails.

All it takes is one truck blocking your view and you can miss the turn/route sign. Maybe the marker is under a tree in the shade and you missed it trying to get the perfect line. Or maybe you were picking your way through a pack of cages and were just too focused or forgot to look around for signs.

Unfortunately, I have missed several turns especially in the backcountry. With the Zumo the distance to turn and arrival time is always there so you are prompted to look for the turn. Plus the beatiful lady is telling you heads up idiot!

You can and will still get input from the locals but now you can figure out exactly the mileage to determine the feasibility of a detour. How often have you heard - oh it is just up the road a bit - don't exactly know how far and be careful because the road is not marked well. <_<

[Guest Ikazuchi]

Have you GPS guys checked this site out?

http://www.sundaymorningrides.com/

Seems like a pretty cool way to get and share ride routes.

[BonusVFR]

Have you GPS guys checked this site out?

http://www.sundaymorningrides.com/

Seems like a pretty cool way to get and share ride routes.

Will take me a while to figure it all out.

Most of the trip maps, I have downloaded, have been in Streets and Trips format. That way you can play with it to suit your requirements.

One thing for sure if someone sends me a ride I will want to look at it first on Streets and Trips or Mapsource. Then I will import to the Zumo. The PC programs are just better suited to planning I think for a whole bunch of reasons: screen size, keyboard and performance.

I can see bringing a debugged route to share with a fellow Zumo rider on a trip though. It would be nice to be talking/listening from the same script just once. But you would still have the unannounced detours to see something or other. :thumbsup:

Edited March 7, 2007 by BonusVFR

[BonusVFR]

I have had a few questions about the RAM mount at the forward edge of tank.

Here is a picture of both RAM mounts, the RAM handlebar mount packaged with the ZUMO and the RAM ball forward of the tank.

With regard to the RAM mount forward of the tank, I used RAM-B-231Z part # and installed it without using the Zinc U bolt. This install has often been discussed on VFRD. Thanks again VFRD.

RAM 231 link - Any RAM dealer will have this part.

http://65.102.174.116/rammount/productdeta...mber=RAM-B-231Z[/url]

I fitted the RAM mount over the existing tank flange, which secures the leading edge of the tank. I purchased slightly longer bolts than the stock ones to secure the RAM mount over the flange.

The RAM ball Installed forward of the tank

[BonusVFR]

Wiring a switched auxiliary fuse block.

I finally got around to the permanent setup as regards wiring the Zumo. As mentioned previously, I prefer not to wire appliances directly to the battery. I want my accessories to be switched. The basic reason is that I have a severe case of CRS, which ultimately leads to inter alia battery failure.

For the VFR, my solution is another Garmin Power cord running to an auxiliary fuse block hooked to a relay triggered by my license plate light. But the first thing has to be the fuse block install.

I choose the 6 pole Blue Sea Fuse terminal. They have been several “how to†posts on VFRD about this particular fuse block. Besides the Bluesea rig, I looked at aftermarket blocks from Electrical connection, Aerostich/Centech and your basic box sold by NAPA etc.

I finally opted for the Bluesea because of its size, ruggedness, obvious marine/water suitability, an integrated negative bus and that both ATO or ATC blade fuses are acceptable.

http://bluesea.com/category/5/21/products/5025

First, I mounted auxiliary fuse block from Bluesea. Note that I have both ATO and ATC fuses installed.

Note I do not have any devices hooked into the fuse box here except my powerlet plug input which has its own fuse already and you can not really see here.

The basic wiring instructions came from a website I was referred to. This is the best resource I have found to wire a relay and fuse box so that your accessories are switched.

http://www.canyonchasers.net/shop/generic/relay.php

A picture is worth a thousand words particularly mine so here is the critical wiring diagram.

http://www.canyonchasers.net/shop/generic/...agram-final.jpg

To collect the miscellaneous 14 & 18 gauge wire and connectors, I shopped at Aerostich and auto parts stores but later I found out you can get everything you need at Walmart and less expensively too.

The wiring diagram calls for a 4 pole Relay but Aerostich sent me a 5 pole. Their tech support said don’t sweat it and ignore the center pole 87A. Pray tell what the other pole does. Probably another manual switch function or something.

http://www.aerostich.com/catalog/US/12V-40...ay-p-18316.html

This relay is pretty small which allowed it to fit nicely on the right side of the bike tucked underneath the sub frame. There was a handy plastic tab sticking out from the VFR pan so I just bolted the relay to that.

Warning don't be alarmed - I have not cleaned up the wiring with tie downs etc.

Thanks again to VFRD, I was able to find the wiring diagram for my 5th Gen. To get the switched “Low Current 12 Volts input from deviceâ€, I choose the license plate light. I used a T-Connector to tie into the Brown 12V input wire and attached that to a wire to run back to pole/pin 85.

This may date me a bit but if you run moon shine at night you could just as easily plug right into the hot lead (brown wire) for the license plate light. The relay would work and your plate would be dark and Robert Mitchum would be proud.

Thunder Road

Next step is to wire the Garmin Power Plug but that is a piece of cake now that the hard part is done.

Edited March 17, 2007 by BonusVFR

[Dutchy]

Came accross a very robust, low cost navigation tool for the globe-trotting motorcyclist.

From now on you will have the entire world at your command!

Mounts on the forward controls, RAM mount is optional.

:P

[tok tokkie]

Wow, this gizmo is really cool. I got the TomTom rider a year ago and love it, but it doesn't have the trip log / bread crumb feature that most GPS units have and that would be cool to have a record of all the places you've been.

Earlier I showed the track as it is shown on the Zumo. This is how the Zumo depicts your actual track (not planned route) as I left Agua Caliente on a back country road towards Borrego. As I said before you can leave this track on the Zumo if you like – maybe you are retracing your route for instance.

Below is an example of what it looks like when you download the tracks (actually where you rode) from a trip to your PC. They load right into Mapsource and you can really dissect each trip.

Here is the first leg of my return trip from Borrego to San Diego. The track record includes 46 points of information for the 2.6 miles from my camp site to the gas station in Borrego, which was my first stop.

About 8 different pieces of info are collected for each point i.e. altitude, direction, coordinates, time, speed, etc. You could play with this for a long time to include making altitude profiles, avg speeds for legs and the list goes on.

In the first picture the color of the unused roads is not very distinct from the background:

1. Is it possible to select other color combinations?

2. Have you found it difficult to see under any cirumstances?

[BonusVFR]

Came accross a very robust, low cost navigation tool for the globe-trotting motorcyclist.

From now on you will have the entire world at your command!

Mounts on the forward controls, RAM mount is optional.

:P

I could have used this Nav aid on my last trip looks like it is easy to fold the page so to speak. You have to rig an internal light for night use of course.

Seems like, I have always been in a rut and stuck with the Mercator projection format.

But now with the Zumo, I just feel like you could substitute the word “Maps†in this famous clip and pretty much say it all. Bogie would be proud in the Sierra Madre.

http://www.moviediva.com/MD_root/MDimages/badges.wav :thumbsup: :beer:

[BonusVFR]

Wow, this gizmo is really cool. I got the TomTom rider a year ago and love it, but it doesn't have the trip log / bread crumb feature that most GPS units have and that would be cool to have a record of all the places you've been.

Earlier I showed the track as it is shown on the Zumo. This is how the Zumo depicts your actual track (not planned route) as I left Agua Caliente on a back country road towards Borrego. As I said before you can leave this track on the Zumo if you like – maybe you are retracing your route for instance.

Below is an example of what it looks like when you download the tracks (actually where you rode) from a trip to your PC. They load right into Mapsource and you can really dissect each trip.

Here is the first leg of my return trip from Borrego to San Diego. The track record includes 46 points of information for the 2.6 miles from my camp site to the gas station in Borrego, which was my first stop.

About 8 different pieces of info are collected for each point i.e. altitude, direction, coordinates, time, speed, etc. You could play with this for a long time to include making altitude profiles, avg speeds for legs and the list goes on.

In the first picture the color of the unused roads is not very distinct from the background:

1. Is it possible to select other color combinations?

2. Have you found it difficult to see under any cirumstances?

As far I can figure out there are no other possible color combinations. Although the colors chg at night. Not sure there is a way to upload different color combos from Mapsource but am not keen to do that just yet. You know the law of unintended consequences!

Color Mode on this screenshot just switches from Day/Night or Auto mode. Brightness obviously makes things clearer and may help with the contrast to make the colors jump out a little more.

You can also change the level of detail of the maps but this does not change the colors other than to hide some roads/names that would otherwise appear. Most of the screen shots of the Zumo in this post were taken with screen at the stock brightness settings and with the level of detail set at Normal. Normal detail is the middle setting.

I find the screen adequate as regards my ability to see it. But in direct sunlight it does wash out a bit. As I said before, this was with the factory brightness settings. Subsequently, I have upped the brightness level.

My slip-on sunglass may be factor too as the polarized lenses sometimes makes it seem as there is a sheen on the road and may appear to screw up my Zumo a touch too. I am looking at upgrading my sun glass technology.

The bottom line is that the screen size and clarity work for me. I believe it is one of the best touch screens available. Some would argue that the Garmin marine unit (ie 276/376/378/478) screens without the touch capability are superior.

Here is a screen comparison with a Winger favorite the iWay 500 (see Jon, a GPS aficionado, at goldwinggadgets.com), also a touch screen. Pretty close although the iWay is probably just too big for the VFR.

[VFR4Lee]

Let me know when this thing comes down closer to $299.

Looks like a fun toy, but that's all it would probably be to me. :D

[BonusVFR]

Let me know when this thing comes down closer to $299.

Looks like a fun toy, but that's all it would probably be to me. :D

Exactly just like my VFR. :wacko:

The biggest return will be on my multi day trips in unfamiliar terrain. Took 3 long trips on the VFR last year and this works.

Now think of the trip reports that this thing can generate.

For instance here is is my log out of Borrego on Mapsource. Ok but just OK

But when you auto load it into Mapsource and then Google Earth you get this -

Now mind you it was probably before the recent rains when they shot this Satellite photo and the campground was a little greener and packed but you can really see where I was. I will not have to steal any more of Sebspeeds pictures for my trip reports.

Edited March 22, 2007 by BonusVFR

[V4 Rosso]

Nice feature of Google Earth is that you can replay the track log. Load the track in GE, go to options->touring and set camera tilt angle to 70deg & camera range to 3000 feet & speed about 100. Now select the track path and press the play button. You'll get a birds-eye view of your trip.

Here you can donwload a 3MiB rough video sample of how this looks like in GE: http://www.sendbigfiles.com/download.php?id=AD4D07A91

With wingdb you can convert a mapsource route to a track to get a preview in GE, it's more accurate than a track-log. OK, this may not be very usefull, but it's kinda nice though :D

Now think of the trip reports that this thing can generate.

For instance here is is my log out of Borrego on Mapsource. Ok but just OK

The tracklog is also usefull for when you want the location of where you took a particular photo during your trip. With software like gpscorrelate you can add the coordinates to the exif data of your digital pictures. The exif data of a digital camera has the date and time the picture was taken, gpscorrelate (or similar program) compares that to the data of the tracklog and adds the location to the exif data of the photo. Other software can extract this data from the photo and use e.g. Google Earth to pinpoint the location. Just make sure the time and date settings of your camera matches that of your gps (there are even cameras with builtin gps).

edit: new link for GE video sample.

Edited March 22, 2007 by V4 Rosso

[BonusVFR]

I will be playing with GE more. Thanks Rosso. :thumbsup:

The track log on Google Earth using the auto export feature of Zumo/Mapsource is a fantastic way to document your trip. It is not perfect as there are errors in GPS, which occasionally locate you off the road. Incidentally tree cover does not seem to bother Zumo reception like many of the older GPS units. There is no break in the track despite this road literally being in the trees quite a bit.

This is Banner Grade coming from the East to Julian, CA. By the way if you have not figured it out by the picture below, Banner is an incredible MC road. :rolleyes: If you blow this up or look closely you can see that had some bad corners (rhythm as the other Rossi fellow would say) and went over the cliff a few times.

Edited to add - the jagged nature of the track is more evident in the corners as only a limited number of points are recorded so the track is drawn to connect the "dots". In this leg there were some recorded 670 points in about 55 miles.

Edited March 22, 2007 by BonusVFR