Is $200 a good deal for a Zumo 450? | GTAMotorcycle.com

Is $200 a good deal for a Zumo 450?

Bikerider

Well-known member
I am in the market for a used Moto GPS and I found a Zumo 450 for $200. I don't know much about these units so I would appreciate a second opinion.

Thanks,
 
I think that's an older model so check whether updated maps are still supported on it. If they are and it comes with a power cradle that might not be too bad. If you want to go off-road or down fire roads etc though it might not be the best GPS.
 
I think that is a good deal, if it is in great shape. There were issues with that model (I have had 2 of them). The rubber buttons on the side will eventually wear out and fall off and they offer no fix other then replacing it with a refurb unit, which costs about $250... at least when I did it about 5 years ago.

They have an SD card slot so you can add more memory for the maps. I never had to and always had the entire N. America loaded on it. They are waterproof and work well.
 
For what it is worth:
Bought a used Garmin 2720 for $200, crapped out after 1 season, replaced with a used Garmin Zumo 550 for $200 and it died after 2 months of use. Of course tried all the suggested fixes for both
Done with buying used GPS units and just ordered a Tom Tom Rider and purchased the 3 year warranty for an extra $35.
 
Ended up picking it up for $180. Hopefully it lasts for a while. Where do I find the winding road feature?
 
The winding roads feature is not on the Zumo 450 He was referring to the Tom Tom Rider. Only the most recent Zumo models have this feature.

Unfortunately my Zumo 660 does not have it either.

Ended up picking it up for $180. Hopefully it lasts for a while. Where do I find the winding road feature?
 
Ended up picking it up for $180. Hopefully it lasts for a while. Where do I find the winding road feature?
Not a feature on any of the Garmin motorcycle GPS units I believe. You can load up Basecamp and install the maps on your Mac/PC. It is very easy to download routes and add to your gps from people's favorite rides, or to plot your own. This is the best offline solution where no other GPS app comes close.
 
Ended up picking it up for $180. Hopefully it lasts for a while. Where do I find the winding road feature?

I think its a good buy. The Garmin devices are a bit outdated, but they seem to work ok for what they do. (I use a Zumo 660) . I'm not sure how good the "winding roads" feature really is, as I've heard varied reports. Ive also been testing the alternatives ( HERE maps, coPilot, OSMAnd, and Sygic) on my Android phone and they have been good. HERE maps is the best alternative. The thing lacking in all of them is decent .gpx file support to load pre determined routes.

Check out www.zumoforums.com for a lot of information
 
Not a feature on any of the Garmin motorcycle GPS units I believe. You can load up Basecamp and install the maps on your Mac/PC. It is very easy to download routes and add to your gps from people's favorite rides, or to plot your own. This is the best offline solution where no other GPS app comes close.

The newer Garmin units (eg. 590, 390) have a 'twisty' ('curvy') roads feature.

If anyone is looking for a 'basic' motorcycle GPS, my Zumo 550 is for sale in the Classifieds section. I upgraded to the 590 when I picked up my new bike.
 
And the touch screen on this thing broke. Apparently a very common problem with the 450 / 550. I called Garmin and they referred me to a licensed repair center in Quebec (not happening). Looks like ill have to try and replace the digitizer myself.
 
And the touch screen on this thing broke. Apparently a very common problem with the 450 / 550. I called Garmin and they referred me to a licensed repair center in Quebec (not happening). Looks like ill have to try and replace the digitizer myself.

I think it is pretty easy to replace the digitizer, you can buy kits. He "repair" center in Quebec only replaces it with a refurb model, at least that is how they used to operate. When I had one of the side buttons fall out I wanted to fix and replace but Garmin informed me they do not have parts to fix that, so had to pay $250 just so I could get a .2 cent rubber piece replaced. My unit was always on the bike, rain or shine so I paid the crazy price to know I had it waterproof again, I then stopped using the buttons and only use the on screen touch buttons.
 
I think it is pretty easy to replace the digitizer, you can buy kits. He "repair" center in Quebec only replaces it with a refurb model, at least that is how they used to operate. When I had one of the side buttons fall out I wanted to fix and replace but Garmin informed me they do not have parts to fix that, so had to pay $250 just so I could get a .2 cent rubber piece replaced. My unit was always on the bike, rain or shine so I paid the crazy price to know I had it waterproof again, I then stopped using the buttons and only use the on screen touch buttons.

Replaced my digitizer twice.
Not too hard to do.
I no longer leave my GPS on the bike all the time as I think the sun is what's killing them.
So far, so good.
Note that I've had my 550 for over 7 years.
 

Back
Top Bottom