Looking for a Motorcycle GPS, what would you guys recommend?

regder said:
I love my trusty Garmin 2720, including one 2820, I'm currently on my fourth. The software and user interface has yet to be beaten by others and Garmin itself. Update the maps to the latest, and you're good to go. Crazy to think it's ten years old now.

Had a Garmin 660 for a bit a few years back, no advantages worth the huge price increase over the 2720, and some disadvantages that drove me insane.
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ah, yes, the street pilot series. When Navigation and routing accuracy was more important than fancy graphics and other crap stuff in on the GPS system - ;-) I know the Zumo 550 is a popular system with the old time GPS users that hold it value as it was a trusted unit.

In any case I use my GPS mainly to indicate what kind of roads are coming up rather than actual routing, so my 6XX does ok. Though I must say I do like the ease of mounting it on the bike(s) over the years
 
corpse said:
I planning on doing a lot of long trips and want to buy a motorcycle gps, What do you guys recommend?

Ive read reviews and top 10's but they seem to choose different ones for the winners.

Long battery life would be nice so i don't have to wire anything in, but maybe this shouldn't be a priority and i should wire it up? Just want to make sure its easy to use and plan my route easily.
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Is 36 hours on 2xAA batteries long enough?

Garmin eTrex 20 is what I use.
 
Use any cheap Android phone/phablet/small tablet with a real GPS chip (no sim card or data connection required), download the free Here app, download whatever maps you want for offline use, done. Use this to power it from the bike (good spot to wire it into is headlight wires) and use this for a mount. Depending on bike, hollow steering stem, etc. you might be able to just use this kit:

[video=youtube;mbq-broqIzs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbq-broqIzs[/video]

Carry a few non-lubricated condoms in the trunk (not just cause the *****es love it).
 
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johnscruiser said:
Use any cheap Android phone/phablet/small tablet with a real GPS chip (no sim card or data connection required), download the free Here app, download whatever maps you want for offline use, done. Use this to power it from the bike (good spot to wire it into is headlight wires) and use this for a mount. Depending on bike, hollow steering stem, etc. you might be able to just use this kit:

[video=youtube;mbq-broqIzs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbq-broqIzs[/video]

Carry a few non-lubricated condoms in the trunk (not just cause the *****es love it).
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unreadable in direct sunlight and battery life sucks since the OP asked for a wireless solution.
 
so you guys are saying wired is better since not many gps' have good battery life, and to get one with the non reflective screen.
4.3" seems to be the size most choose
I'm going to get one with traffic, since I use my bike to commute as well.
I dont have a headset, but i want to get one for bike to bike communication and music - so i dont think i need blue tooth or mp3

that should help narrow it down... so what about these headsets? if i get one for rider to rider comms, does everyone have to have the same one or the same brand or does it all just have to run the same frequency?
 
Bored on this Sunday morning so started looking at GPS options. One of the features I use most often on my Garmin 2720 is the "Detour By Road" function, you can tell the GPS that you don't want to take the 401, but still get to wherever as quickly as possibly. Surprisingly, Garmin has a page that lists which devices have this function. Besides the prehistoric Streetpilot series (ten year old tech now), the only other moto GPS's that have it are the current Zumo series, 350/390/590. That's crazy

https://support.garmin.com/support/...caseId={eba16ad0-e56b-11df-ea12-000000000000}
 
Yeah, I'd like to pre program to avoid the 401 always. Seems like such an obvious feature to have.
Sent from my Nokia Lumia 625 Windows Phone using Tapatalk
 
corpse said:
so you guys are saying wired is better since not many gps' have good battery life, and to get one with the non reflective screen.
4.3" seems to be the size most choose
I'm going to get one with traffic, since I use my bike to commute as well.
I dont have a headset, but i want to get one for bike to bike communication and music - so i dont think i need blue tooth or mp3

that should help narrow it down... so what about these headsets? if i get one for rider to rider comms, does everyone have to have the same one or the same brand or does it all just have to run the same frequency?
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Definitely go wired, do you really want to rely on battery life? Even if the life is good, what happens when you forget to charge it?

I wouldn't worry too much about size of the screen, the resolution sucks on all of them.

Look further into traffic. From what I've heard, info is very spotty for Canada, US is better. There's also a monthly subscription fee. Things may have changed, just something to look into.
 
I have a garmin in my truck, for traffic i just had to buy the special power cable, no monthly fee... but its a 50/50 shot, sometimes it warns me before i hit traffic, other times it tells me after 10min of sitting in traffic. I wouldnt pay for the monthly sub, but id buy the special cable, its better than nothing in my books.
 
Traffic is usually predictable for commuting. I thought about replacing my 2720 but I don't need a GPS to tell me avoid the 401 mon-fri 730am-7pm.
 
I start work at 6:30am so its more for accidents for me
 
Does anyone here know how quickly traffic on a GPS is updated? I think the Waze app on phones is pretty good for that
 
OP - hard wired is the way to go. Last thing you need on a trip is an extra charger and an extra item to charge at night. Wiring is really trivial I believe.

matthew said:
Does anyone here know how quickly traffic on a GPS is updated? I think the Waze app on phones is pretty good for that
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Google Maps is practically live.

Google Maps > Waze, in my experience.

I use it so often and its route suggestions and ETA predictions never stop to amaze me. It's magical.
 
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matthew said:
Does anyone here know how quickly traffic on a GPS is updated? I think the Waze app on phones is pretty good for that
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With the free Here app you can adjust the traffic data refresh rate. Set to 60 seconds it sucks up a bit of data but I believe it pulls it from google maps so it's very current.
 
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