Guest Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 The only thing you need to be careful of is that it does show some dirt roads. Not cool on the vfr. Until recently, I was not aware that that would be a serious problem. Near Gallop, NM, I took an interesting looking road which turned to gravel. That didn't seem to be much of a problem 'til I decided to turn around. I picked a rather large intersection to make a U turn. Because the gravel was coarse, the intersection not smooth, and the ground not level, I was afraid to make a U turn in the normal way, so I crept at a crawling speed using my boots, which kept slipping on the gravel. Applying just the right amount of power was difficult since insufficient power wouldn't move the bike and too much would cause the bike to go over a bump suddenly into very loose gravel. Somehow I did manage to get turned around without dropping the bike, but I never again want to have to turn around on loose gravel. So I can see that it could be a problem for a GPS to direct one onto a gravel road or to encounter a gravel detour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest matt_c Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 My Murano has GPS Navigation system from the factory, I rarely use it for what its intended, but it is neat to see the road names of all the roads that you are traveling on and the ones around you. Occasionally I will pan around the map and figure out where roads go that I have never been down. If you do a lot of traveling to places where you have never been or dont know how to get there, then they are an invaluable tool. I however would recommend a hand held portable unit, nothing permanently mounted, because it would be nice to be able to take it into other vehicles, like boats and airplanes. My friend has a small hand held one and we use it to find dive sites in the ocean, to find our way around in the mountains, and when hunting, and he just used it lately to track where he was in flight on his way to PA. He could see exactly how fast the aircraft was moving and how fast it landed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 What other GPS's offer water resistance? I have a Garmin Street Pilot 2610. Garmin say it will keep out water. It has so far... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer tharkun Posted August 14, 2006 Member Contributer Share Posted August 14, 2006 I have a Garmin 376. I got it because of XM weather radar & other perks. I love it. Go to : Fred's Garmin eval for look at a Garmin GPS & motorcycle use. I use it in my car and on all 3 of my bikes (GL1800 and 2 VFRs) and love it. Best deal is the car kit with the mapping software. EIther way you need mapping software to really get benefits out of a GPS system IMHO. There are too many options, but do your research. I liked the Garmin 2600-2700 series, but the XM radio & WX Radar system sold me on the 376C. Also shop smart on-line. I saved hunderds of $$ playing one distributer off another, and watched for the specials, most of them weekly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Motor_Ref Posted August 14, 2006 Member Contributer Share Posted August 14, 2006 Until recently, I was not aware that that would be a serious problem.Near Gallop, NM, I took an interesting looking road which turned to gravel. That didn't seem to be much of a problem 'til I decided to turn around. I picked a rather large intersection to make a U turn. Because the gravel was coarse, the intersection not smooth, and the ground not level, I was afraid to make a U turn in the normal way, so I crept at a crawling speed using my boots, which kept slipping on the gravel. Applying just the right amount of power was difficult since insufficient power wouldn't move the bike and too much would cause the bike to go over a bump suddenly into very loose gravel. Somehow I did manage to get turned around without dropping the bike, but I never again want to have to turn around on loose gravel. So I can see that it could be a problem for a GPS to direct one onto a gravel road or to encounter a gravel detour. Theyt have a choice somewhere in their menus that will tell them not to take you off pavement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
house Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 The TomTom Rider was hit with a high pressure stream of water from all directions for about 30 minutes and survived (according to their site,) while the garmin units are submerged to 1 meter for 30 minutes. I got caught last week in the pouring rain for about 20 minutes (and stuck in school traffic as well.) My TomTom Rider is just fine.... My cell phone (which was in my mesh jacket) did not fair as well. I'm pretty satisfied with the Rider... but use a Scala Rider bluetooth headset with it instead of the factory bluetooth headseat included. Garmin has a new unit coming out in Oct. that I may upgrade to... but it costs 1K... so a different price range. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 Anyone hear anything about the Pioneer AVIC-S1 GPS Portable Navigation unit? Saw a demo at the store and it looked good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Motor_Ref Posted August 17, 2006 Member Contributer Share Posted August 17, 2006 I was looking at the Tom Tom Rider for the waterresistant feature along with the others. What other GPS's offer waterresistance? Garmin claims that their stuff is good for several feet under water for about 30 minutes or something like that. I doubt rain would be a problem. Of course, if your bike is six feet under water for 30 minutes, you will have other things to worry about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 I have a Garmin Quest, it's great! It's not distracting; after I put in my destination, I never push the buttons again. You can customize 4 fields to the right of the map to display whatever information you want. I have mine set to cardinal heading, distance to next, accuracy of GPS and my speed. It only takes a glance to get an update on when I'll need to turn, so I can just enjoy the ride. At night the backlighting turns on whenever there is an alert. It does not glare at night and is easy to read at all times. I highly recommend it... waterproof too! I have not tried the tom-tom rider. My friend has a Tom-Tom in his car though, seems like a solid unit. The touch screen seems to be easier for riders I would think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 I'm using the Garmin Quest, great unit. I have it mounted via Ram mount on the throttle side handlebar. I've hooked up the power feed to the cradle on the Ram mount. I use a patch cable to link the GPS to a 12v volumn control audio mixer in the tank bag where I also combine MP3 player and radar detector...3 inputs and one output where I plug in my ear buds. I set the music at an acceptable volumn and set the radar detector and the GPS a couple of notches higher so when they go off they come in over the music. I can raise the entire audio level of the whole setup using the volumn control on the audio mixer. :music: I can listen to music, never get lost, and not worry about speeding tickets (to much) all at the same time. The only thing missing is the latte. B) PG. PS: If anybody is interested in the audio mixer you can find it here: http://www.electric-avenues.com/amplirider.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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