Member Contributer zupatun Posted June 5, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted June 5, 2015 Been reading on alternatives to the motorcycle specific Zumo GPS and TomTom GPS units. I was less than pleased with the reliability, ability to make routes, load routes and the routing capability of my old Zumo (I think I had a 350). I liked that it played mp3's and the touch screen worked with gloves, but it left my wife and I lost at times, and would spontaneously reset or re-rout itself at various times. Also I couln't easily load a new track and get a rout to come up reliably--much less re-rout on the fly et cetera... It wasn't a horrible GPS--there are others that REALLY suck, but for the price tag I was non plussed. I certainly won't spend the 50% MORE for a new Zumo--I think the $600-$700 for a motorcycle specific GPS is outrageous...so I've been using my iphone and android phone with some success. However, these are not a panacea and it isn't easy to add new routes et cetera either. Also, it wants to chuck through data and it is a general headache... So, I 've been digging around. A couple folks on the ST1300 US forum have an opinion on this unit: http://www.st-owners.com/forums/showthread.php?134842-Setting-Up-A-Chinavasion-Rage-GPS/page1 S'here's the deal. I got this Chinese made GPS (LINK) from AliExpress for $85. That's just bonkers. To me it is worth a try. I have read and the dealers will honor the 1 year warranty --- people, if they have gotten bad units, have been sent a new one with minimal issues. Reports on reliability are at least as good at Zumo et al. THIS is NOT a turnkey solution...buy it and now you have at least an hour's worth of work to do...to load the right maps and software to get from point a to point B... Here are the Spec's: 4.3" Touchscreen waterproof Motorcycle GPS Navigation NAV Bluetooth Connect Internal 8GB Product Description All Terrain means no pain, no gain as this GPS is made to embrace most elements that it may encounter, this is the motorcycle GPS navigation system. This Motorcycle GPS navigation system (that can be used with cars as well) consists of a 4.3 inch touch screen which provides a user friendly interface as well as two power cables to be connected either to a car cigarette lighter port or a motorcycle battery. Also in the gps nav package is a suction mount to place this GPS on your windscreen or a mounting bracket to connect to the handles of your motorcycle for better viewing when hitting the highway. This GPS has a waterproof rating of IPX7 meaning that it can be immersed for up to 30 minutes at a depth of up to 1 meter. Which means it should handle any rain or snow, and should survive falling into a creek or shallow river making it ideal in them all terrain conditions if out on your motorcycle and you are exposed to the elements of Mother Nature. You can store data directly onto this motorcycle navigation unit as it has 8GB of internal memoryas well as the ability to have an additional storage of up to 16GB via the built-in micro SD card port. This well rounded GPS navigator also has Bluetooth connectivity that allows hands-free also with echo-cancellation therefore making it safer to use as you can concentrate on the road ahead. Available in our warehouse now, order yours now and start making your life just a little bit easier. Direct from the best source in electronic rear view mirrors and parking accessories, Specification: OS Version: Win CE 6.0 CPU: MSTAR 2531 RAM: 128MB Bluetooth Waterproof Rating: IPX7 Speaker Power Source: Rechargeable Li-Polymer Battery or Car Cigarette Charger or Car/Motorcycle Battery Power Battery Size: 1500mAh Usage Time: 2 to 3 Hours Languages: English,French,German,Italian,Spanish,Russian,Romana,Finnish,Polish Hungarian,Portuguese GPS: Frequency: 800MHz Signal Channels: 22 Hot Startup Time: 2s Warm Startup Time: 32s Cold Startup Time: 35s Voice: 120decibel (MAX) GPS Module: High Sensitivity Receiver Built-in Antenn Display: Display Size: 4.3 Inch Display Resolution: 480x272 Aspect Ratio: 16:9 Resistive Touch Display Memory: Internal: 8GB Micro SD Card up to 16GB Port: 3.5mm Audio Out Port Micro SD Card Slot Mini USB Port DC IN Package include: 1x Motorcycle GPS Navigator 1x Mounting Bracket 1x Suction Mount 1x Cradle 1x USB Cable 1x Car Adapter 1x Power Cable 1x User Manual English Note: This model is compatible with most brands of GPS software - however hardware specific software such as Garmin may not run on this unit. As the wholesaler, we provide the GPS-enabled hardware only, not the software. we provides no warranty or customer support regarding GPS software. we cannot provide downloads / links / advice regarding GPS software. Any software installation you undertake should be performed or supervised by a professional. Some of the folks in the UK and on the Dutch forum websites use this freeware to do routing: http://www.tyretotravel.com And the Dutch folks have created some custom skins that make the every day use of the GPS box much easier to use for motorcyclists called IGO Primo "Our forum is unfortunately in Dutch so it might be hard to understand, but you should get the main idea if you use Google translate on the following link: http://www.motor-forum.nl/forum/list...Edition-1.html" This GPS is the kind that you have to either buy or load maps you already own (or source free maps) onto it and it will start using them. There's a bunch of info on how to do this on the ST1300 website link above. I'm going to try it. You CAN find the Rage or Peaklife version of this GPS with software and maps already installed, but it will cost abour 50% to 100% more... I'll post when it comes in and how the process goes. Wish me luck. Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer zupatun Posted June 23, 2015 Author Member Contributer Share Posted June 23, 2015 Update: This arrived about 10 days after I ordered it (Not too shabby for free shipping). The included hardware is pretty substantial including everything required to connect it to your bike and use it in your car—but for a motorcycle you may want to modify or use a different way to attach it to a RAM mount (I am just getting there) One guy on the Kawasaki Versys site thinks this is more comparable to the $600 Garmin Zumo motorcycle GPS than the cheap GPS units you see discounted to $100. The only thing missing is an AC charger although you could use one of those cigarette lighter sockets that plugs in the wall. You can plug your USB into a charger and it will charge fine. IT WILL NOT CHARGE FROM THE USB CORD PLUGGED INTO YOUR COMPUTER/CAR WHILE IT IS TURNED ON. So, don’t expect it to re-charge while it is plugged in and running (or at least that’s what I’ve seen so far in the car). The big issue with this unit is you have to provide your own navigation software and maps. The GPS system uses Windows CE 6.0 as its operating system—this is good, because most of the in-car GPS systems and many other portable systems that aren’t Garmin or TOMTOM use this software and therefore it can be modified by people and see continuous improvement. However, you do have to either source the software elsewhere – such as purchasing an SD card with NavteQ Maps and an Navigation software like IGO 8 or IGO Primo—some people source maps and software off of Torrent websites like Piratebay or Android-Zone (http://android-zone.ws/topic/1-igo-world-maps-fbl-fda-fpa-fsp-ftr-hnr-3dl-3dc-poi-dem/) et al…but I don’t suggest that’s the easiest or safest way to do it (nor legal YMMV and at your own risk). If you purchase the SD card online from somewhere like this - http://www.gpsmapstore.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=IGO+PRIMO (I have no affiliation) they will ship it to you with everything you need to get started—it is pretty simple… If you can get past this issue – that you have to load the maps and the navigation software, it is a really great deal for a motorcycle GPS (that is shock proof, water proof and comes with 2 cradles as well as two power supply cables, one for the bike and one for the car. There is nothing else required to use it on both your bike and in your car, but.... if you’re not at least a little bit computer savvy or are expecting the simplicity of a plug and play experience don't buy this unit. Basically if you download the software and maps as RAR files (compressed file like a zip file). You then extract them on your computer. When you extract the software from the RAR file it forms a directory tree with all the included files in the right place except the map and poi (point of interest files). The map and poi files included with the map data (downloaded separately) then have to be copied into the MAP and POI directories. There’s a great tutorial here on post #47 that goes into gory detail: http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=697456&page=4 You then just plug your GPS unit into the computer and copy the Navigation software over to the software's root directory. You copy the Map files onto the SD card into the correct folders. If you buy the SD card its is just a matter of copying files to the Root directory and the Map files to a Micro SD [maximum 16MB] card and insert the card into the GPS. Additionally, there is the ability to change the look of the IGO Navigation software. A motorcycle forum in the Netherlands has changed the graphical user interface and menus and mapping/routing options to best suit motorcyclists. They even changed some of the buttons to make it easier to use with gloves et al…this is called a “skin”…the link to the newest software that you copy to the IGO folder in the root directory is on a thread here look at posts #78 and #79: http://www.st-owners.com/forums/showthread.php?134842-Setting-Up-A-Chinavasion-Rage-GPS/page8 The guy who started the thread is super nice and the ST-owners forum is a great website—similar minded folks who are passionate about riding…so I got some questions answered when my IGO Primo skin was all in Dutch! He got me to the right menu and I changed the language to English…Like I said if you are not willing to work through a couple small issues (took me an hour or so total after installing to get it set up for use in the car) you probably should do something else. I used it on the way to and back from work in the cage - and it routed me (not necessarily obvious) the typical routes for a similar setup in my old Garmin Zumo. Visibility is slightly worse than my old Zumo--but I will add a non-blare sheet to this and it wil help. BTW the skin from the folks on the Netherlands site includes a color pallete that is easier to see in sunlight than the "standard" IGO software settings...AND you can choose profiles to bob between moto specific setup and cage specific setup. Next I will tackle making routes, importing them onto and using them on my Chinavasion 4.3” GPS…will report back. Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artpongs Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 Awesome. Been researching moto specific GPS and it seems Garmin and Tom Tom are the only 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer zupatun Posted June 23, 2015 Author Member Contributer Share Posted June 23, 2015 This is DEFINITELY IPX7 waterproof. Others on the ST1300-owners forum have been using a verison of this since 2011...there are 5"+ screen versions too for more like $140...I got the 4.7" version because I hate to give up real-estate in my cockpit. The larger versions use IGO8 rather than IGO Primo... BTW when mine came in I did notice that it had IGO Primo already loaded on the root directory!!! I forgot to mention that. Even though I acquired the IGO Primo software, I didn't need to...the Alibaba retailer shipped mine with it already loaded. I did load the new moto specific "skin" software from the Netherlands forum and the NavteQ maps...and it works just fine. Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Kel Posted June 23, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted June 23, 2015 I installed MioPocket on an old Magellan for kicks to see if I could do it. It was pretty cool. It used the maps that were on it but you could use other maps(TomTom etc). I was able to watch movies, play games, use an e-book reader plus a ton more, it basically turns your GPS into a Palm Pilot. Yes, modern phones do all that now but it was cool at time. My GPS wasn't weather proof so not that great on a bike. There are lots of people writing Win Ce stuff for devices. Check out MioPocket and see what people are saying and doing with their GPS's here. http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=136798 What types of programs does MioPocket come with? "MioPocket comes with just about everything that you might want: three media players (video and audio, nearly all popular formats, including MP3, WMA, AAC, OGG, MP4, H.264/AVC, WMV, MOV, DivX, XviD and more), four e-book readers, multiple dictionaries (including English to 5 languages), dozens of games, two image viewers, two paint programs, MS Office document viewers, text editors, handwritten note-taking apps, four general GPS plotting/mapping apps (good for geocaching), three different appointments/tasks apps, internet apps, registry editors, task managers/switchers, file managers, a contacts app, a calculator, a unit converter, an alarm clock and more (all free/shareware). See the Readme file for a full list. Note: MioPocket does not come with MioMap, iGo, Garmin, TomTom or any other commercial navigation software. Icons are included for them, but not the programs, themselves (since they are not free)." Comes with the following... 6.1 Included applications TCPMP Media Player (MP4, H.264, AVI, WMV, DivX, Xvid, MOV, FLC, MP3, WMA, OGG+ video/music player)Nitrogen (MP3/WMA/M4A/OGG music player)Microsoft Windows Media Player (MP3/WMA music player)AlReader (book reader)uBook (book reader, comes with Webster micro dictionary)MobiPocket (book reader, comes with Trivopaedia)Microsoft Reader (comes with Encarta Pocket Dictionary)MMCE (image viewer)XnView Pocket (image viewer)Pocket Picture (paint)Pocket Paint (paint)KeepRecordin (dictation recorder)JB Piano (piano)Pocket Clanger Theremin (synthesizer)MDict (dictionary reader)Microsoft Transcriber (handwriting recognition)Microsoft Image Viewer (image viewer)Microsoft Word Viewer (.doc viewer)Microsoft Excel Viewer (.xls viewer)Microsoft PowerPoint Viewer (.ppt viewer)Microsoft WordPad (similar to Windows' WordPad)Foxit Reader (PDF viewer)Pocket Notepad (similar to Windows' Notepad)SpreadCE (spreadsheet writer)TecAce cePIMS (Contacts, Calendar, Tasks)CE Agenda (appointments manager)Appointments (appointments manager)ListPro (list manager)PIM Booster (personal information manager)HandWallet (finance software)MoneyGoesAway (personal finances manager)Touch Notes (handwritten note-taker)Calc98SE (scientific calculator)1-Calc (3-in-1 calculator, unit converter and tip calculator)Opera Mini (web browser)Internet Explorer (web browser)Skyfire (web browser)Remote Desktop Connection (remote desktop controller)nPOP (e-mail)PocketGPS-Map (mapping)BeeLineGPS (mapping/plotting/geocaching)Metro (public transport routing)GSFinder (file manager/browser)FileManCE (file manager/browser)Total/CE Commander (file manager/browser)TreeSize Mobile (file size viewer)PHM Registry Editor (registry editor w/ search)TRE Registry Editor (registry editor w/ exporting)iTask Manager (simple task manager)Task Manager (advanced task manager)WR-Tools ResInfo (system information utility)BananaPC (task switcher)vSnap (screen capture utility)JOTKBD (full-size keyboard)DeClock (alarm clock)Pocket RAR (zipping utility)Microsoft .NET Compact Framework 3.5 (application API)Java (application API)Flash Player (Flash video/animation player)GAPI (graphics API)PocketNav (task switcher)SirfTech (GPS utility)Tascal Search (search utility)World Clock (world time clock)Various small utilities 6.2 Included games SolitairePatiences (three versions of solitaire)GameBox (8 games in one)PipesMinesweeperBattleshipChess Genius (demo, but functional)TetrisWinPokerNankin (Mahjong variant)Skinz SudokuSokobanAquellaBallShiftChain ReactionHexaVirusTangled BugsZuma (shareware)Bejeweled 2 (shareware)Pentagon (new form of solitaire)Shift Left (new form of solitaire)GoMoku (also known as Naughts and Crosses)Memory (also known as Concentration)Ms. ParkMan (Ms. Pac-Man clone, shareware)LodeRunner (shareware)Peg SolitaireDotsBubbletsMastermindRubik CubeRubik DiscFreeCellPocket UnoTraffic Jam3210BinaryBlackjackConnect 4CrosswordsDuck HuntFlash ChessMahjongMissile Strike (Missile Command clone)PongRoyal PokerSpider SolitaireSudoku Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer zupatun Posted June 29, 2015 Author Member Contributer Share Posted June 29, 2015 interesting... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer zupatun Posted June 30, 2015 Author Member Contributer Share Posted June 30, 2015 My son is actually using it to drive to South Carolina and back. I will get a report from him tonght.I used it over the weekend...went from Virginia to the suburbs of Ohio (again in the cage with the family). It took similar routes (with similar settings) as my Verizon GPS ...which seems to work great. Next week I plan on putting in routes and seeing how well that works. My experiences on the older Zumo has been less than thrilling - so it probably can't be worse than that!... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer zupatun Posted September 27, 2015 Author Member Contributer Share Posted September 27, 2015 Update for everyone. I attended WDGAH #19 this fall in West Lebanon NH the second weekend in Sept. The Rage GPS I bought was loaded with maps via torrent download instructions via the ST1300 forums owners specific thread, I then downloaded the .gpx routes from wDGAH.org website (Thanks as always Bob B. and Routmeister and the current maintainer Mark). I convert the routes to waypoints (like a Google Earth waypoint file). Then you have to save to the gps. ONce in the right folder in the gps the GPS renames the files to the same name as the first waypoint...All I did was open the route, and "SAVE AS" and I can rename the route to the correct title. If you do one route at a time its easy to do this. Next, load the route into the GPS and check the "in-betweens" of the route and make sure your original route has enought waypoints and the correct GPS settings to replicate your google maps/earth route. Most of the time this is OK ...unless you unchecked something like "no tolls" or "unpaved routes" and it wants to use those as a shortcut. Otherwise the gps did admirably. I get bluetooth instructions over my Uclear earphones...and the screen is readable in everything but bright direct sunlight...at the angle I had it. Not perfect, but for ~$85 US shipped...you really cant nock it...!!! Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Rush2112 Posted September 27, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted September 27, 2015 Pretty cool... I need a new bike GPS since I used my CCGPS as thigh armor during TMAC... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Rush2112 Posted September 28, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted September 28, 2015 Item on the link comes up as "Sorry, this item is no longer available!" ... price for same unit is up to ~$115 on AliExpress from other vendors Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer zupatun Posted September 28, 2015 Author Member Contributer Share Posted September 28, 2015 Item on the link comes up as "Sorry, this item is no longer available!" ... price for same unit is up to ~$115 on AliExpress from other vendors Yeah, I am a prettyy good internet scrounger...let me take a look. Found a larger one, 4.5" diag screen for ~90 and free shipping. always search for "motorcycle gps" http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Free-Shipping-4-3-GPS-navigator-motorcycle-gps-navigator-4-3-inch-motorcycle-bicycle-waterproof-GPS/1851504048.html?spm=2114.01020208.3.159.yjnAfi&ws_ab_test=201556_1,201527_1_71_72_73_74_75,201409_2 My 3.5" one is now $88 plus $16 shipping...no longer free shipping here: http://www.aliexpress.com/item/3-5-inch-motorcycle-gps-navigation-320-240-resolution-128m-ram-4GB-nandflash-wince-6-0/32371522840.html?spm=2114.01020208.3.2.jDKEkX&ws_ab_test=201556_1,201527_1_71_72_73_74_75,201409_2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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