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Old December 27th, 2008, 01:18 AM   #1
Alex
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Any GPS junkies here?

As a confirmed techno-weenie (or geek for short), I've had GPS on my bikes ever since the handheld ones got inexpensive almost 10 years ago. I've owned quite a few since, the count's well into double digits if you count the ones installed in our cars. I posted up how I installed our Garmin GPS60Cx onto our ninjette right here. I use the gadgets to load waypoints and routes in ahead of time; it really helps whether I'm leading a ride or just following along. In the first case it means I'm less likely to lead the group astray; in the second case it means I have zero stress about keeping up and I can stop whenever I like, knowing I'll always know how to make it to the destination or next rest point.

After each ride, I load up the track to my computer and store it for future use. GPS files have become standardized in the past few years, and they can all be expressed as GPX files. These files can then be downloaded by almost anyone with a GPS, and loaded into their own gadgets for their own use.

So far I haven't posted much (or any) GPS-related stuff onto this board because I wasn't sure if there was an audience. If there are other GPS-junkies out there, speak up and let me know if you'd like more GPS-related features on this board (a separate sub-forum for routes could be one example). Anyone else using their GPS to do neat things on a motorcycle?
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Old December 27th, 2008, 01:39 AM   #2
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My girlfriend got one for christmas and I was playing with it and it got me thinking of how useful it would be on my bike. It was much easier to use than I thought.

Good thread idea and I'm curious how other people use/like theirs.
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Old December 27th, 2008, 01:41 AM   #3
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Also, do you think you could post another pic of how it's mounted on the 250? That first picture in the link in a little hard to make out.
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Old December 27th, 2008, 09:11 AM   #4
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My husband has one installed on the ZX14, we've used it a couple of times. They can come in pretty handy.
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Old December 27th, 2008, 10:25 AM   #5
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I had asked my dad, who rides a Vstrom, for a GPS for Christmas... he fell through
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Old December 27th, 2008, 10:43 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NJD022588 View Post
Also, do you think you could post another pic of how it's mounted on the 250?
Sure, next time I have the 250 outside in the sun I'll take some clearer shots of how it's mounted. It's nothing too exotic, it's just this mount:

http://www.cycoactive.com/ram/ram60.shtml

with the u-bolt wrapped around the left handlebar just inboard of the grip.

I save pretty much every GPS track after a ride, if I haven't been on those roads before. They are all stored in a single file back at the computer, so they can be overlayed onto a single map like this:

All GPS Tracks.jpg

I've got a couple dozen rides this year to still add to this map, but you get the gist. The GPS also came in very handy when Ann and I did our Europe m/c trip awhile back. We didn't need to follow the planned route exactly, and could turn off and explore whatever we wanted, knowing we'd still be able to find the next lunch stop or other sightseeing area. We became a bit like the Pied Piper and were pulling another 3 or 4 bikes along just about everywhere, which did take some of the load off of the official guides.
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Old December 27th, 2008, 11:00 AM   #7
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I have two Garmin GPS units on our boat. I like Garmin because of the incredible factory support a customer gets. I remember when the Y2K thing hit several years ago, owners of Magellan, Northstar, and Trimble, had to send their units back to the factory for an expensive reprogramming. Mind you that Trimble and Northstar cost thousands. My wife called Garmin at their 800 number and asked what we should do since our two units were down. The tech told her to save the waypoints on paper, and then gave her a key sequence she could enter into the unit. The tech also told her to leave the unit on after executing the key sequence and that the GPS would reeducate itself in about a half an hour. I dropped a Garmin 50 (1991 vintage) and sent it to Garmin. They replaced the case and programmed in their latest program.-That was all done at no charge. This spring I will need to replace the electronics on our boat. We plan to go all Garmin.
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Old December 27th, 2008, 11:04 AM   #8
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Are there any specific models that y'all would recommend for using on our bikes that don't cost and arm and a leg?
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Old December 27th, 2008, 11:06 AM   #9
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I agree, Alex, Garmin does have some great customer service, and that's the same brand that almost all of ours have been as well. They aren't perfect, with software bugs from time to time (which they fix over time), and hardware issues (broken battery contacts, in the case of our GPS60's). But if you have an issue there's always someone to talk to pretty quickly, and if you need something fixed more often than not you just send it to them, they fix it, and send it right back for no charge.
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Old December 27th, 2008, 11:08 AM   #10
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I found this one on Best Buy, but I really don't know what I'm doing - this is sadly one of those areas where I'm clueless
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1140392383432
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Old December 27th, 2008, 11:36 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by noche_caliente View Post
Are there any specific models that y'all would recommend for using on our bikes that don't cost and arm and a leg?
I guess it depends on how one values their arm and leg, but the good news is that no matter what type you get, they are less expensive than they've ever been. Right now we own two, both Garmins, a Zumo 550 and a GPS60Cx. The Zumo 550 can be found for about $500 (maybe a little less now), and the 60Cx is an older model, but can be found for about $270. The Zumo is motorcycle-specific, and comes with all of the mounting gear you need to put it on a bike; you need to pick that stuff up separately with the 60Cx, and you also need to buy a mapset separately with the 60Cx, so the price gets closer to the Zumo.

Here are some of the things that I think are important when choosing a GPS for a bike:

- Does it run on 12V power natively, or does it need an adapter?
Many Garmin units do run on 12V, which means hooking them up to a bike can be as easy as running a wire straight to the battery. You will want to hardwire the GPS, so you can keep the backlight on continuously while it's on the bike. Especially at night, when a GPS might be particularly useful. With its internal batteries, no GPS will be able to run with a backlight on for more than 2-3 hours at most. (though some can run 12-18 hrs without backlight, good for hiking, etc). If it doesn't run on 12V, it will still likely come with a cigarette lighter adapter. The problem is that the transformer to step the 12V down to 5V is sometimes in that adapter, so you need to use it and can't just strip the wires. Cigarette plugs aren't very durable or vibration-resistant, so it becomes a common failure point. (That's why most moto-accessories use the BMW-style/powerlet type plug instead)
- How many maps can it hold?
At this point, memory is so inexpensive that I wouldn't buy a GPS unless it could hold the full detailed maps of the entire US at a time. The Zumo can, and the 60Cx can (with a 2 GB microSD card plugged into it). Almost all modern GPS's have this feature, so there's no reason to go without it now and have to load different map areas as you travel.
- What maps does it come with?
Some units, like the Zumos and much of the Nuvi line, come with the full US detailed maps on board and ready to go. Often they include the full maps to load to your computer so you can create routes with them, but sometimes that is extra. Some units, like the 60Cx series, come with just a high-level basemap, and all detailed maps need to be purchased separately and loaded to the device. The basemap will have major highways and town names in it so you can get from town to town, but it doesn't have any actual street addresses to route to, and has no streets smaller than the major highways included.
- How durable is it? Is it waterproof?
The ones designed for outdoor use or even motorcycle use are more vibration resistant, typically more water-resistant, and are even more drop-resistant. Well, they still get dropped the same as any other, but they are more likely to survive the drop and keep working.
- How big is the screen? Is it in color? Is it readable for me? Is it readable in sunlight?
This is a preference. Larger screen may be better, as long as you have space for it, but the larger it is the less handy the gadget is to carry around with you, and the more space it takes up in the cockpit.
- Are there motorcycle mounts available, or am I going to have to find a unique solution of my own?
http://www.ram-mount.com/ is the 1st place to check, and you can buy their stuff from a bunch of places; I have had good luck with http://www.cycoactive.com over the years.
- can it load and save tracks (even multiple tracks) easily?
Here, the hiking and all-purpose GPS's do well. Both the 60Cx and the Zumo have good capabilities. The Nuvi line, and in general most of the nav systems aimed for car navigation do not have these capabilities (or they are very limited). If you plan on being able to save tracks (and/or routes) from the internet, load them to the gadget and use them, or to save tracks from the gadget and look at them later, make sure your GPS can do that. It's these particular capabilities that I think folks assume their GPS will have, and are surprised to find out that it doesn't.
- can it "route" using the loaded maps? can it load routes created elsewhere and route using them?
If you're in San Francisco, and you want to get to Bakersfield, when you put in Bakersfield, can it route you using the maps to tell you which roads to go on and where to turn, all the way to your destination? Here's where some of the hiking/outdoors GPS's fall short for our purposes, and they can't route at all. Some of them can load maps, but all the maps can be used for is to see where you are right at one point on a map, they can't be used to actually route you along the road. Some of the more car-focused GPS's can route, but only to a single point (or a via point or two), and cannot route using a loaded route file.
- Does it have audio? Does it give street directions by voice?
Here you want to decide if this is important to you. If you're not going to run headphones to the GPS, or hook it to some type of communications system, then audio isn't particularly useful. If it beeps, that's more than enough. On a bike at speed, you're not going to hear anything anyway. Our 60Cx only has beeps for audio, the Zumo does have sophisticated audio out, speaks street names, and on our RT we have it wired to a Autocom system with in-helmet speakers.

That probably covers much of the thought process, though I'm sure I left some things out unintentionally. To get back to your first question, which specific models, here's what I'd suggest:

- If you have the $, can't go wrong with a Zumo 550. If you don't need bluetooth connectivity, MP3 capability, and a few other gadgety features, the Zumo 450 is almost as slick, and can save you $80 - $100. The Zumo does great double-duty as a car-navigator, and even comes with a suction cup mount to slap onto your car's windshield. (the 550 has that, confirm if the 450 does too)

- If you want the GPS to carry along for hiking or other outdoor activities, check out the Garmin 60Cx or CSx. They are almost identical, but the S version has an electronic compass and altimeter. The GPS chip itself does a passable job at those features, I own the Cx and have never wanted for the CSx. Garmin has come out with replacement models for the 60 series, they are called the Colorado. No first-hand experience with them, but they look to have a larger screen, and a simlar form factor to the 60's. With any of these models, you need to factor in the cost of the mapset, memory chip, and motorcycle mounting which all need to be purchased separately.
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Old December 27th, 2008, 11:44 AM   #12
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I found this one on Best Buy
Hi noche_caliente -

Nope, I wouldn't recommend the original Legend for a motorcycle. It has no routing capabilty, and it's not a color screen. While you can load a small amount of maps to it (8 MB only), that GPS can't route from one place to another. So if you enter in a waypoint for Seattle and say "take me there", it will mark a perfectly straight line to Seattle; it can't follow any roads. It's pretty much a hiking/outdoors only type GPS. That gadget would be useful to store tracks of rides, but there are much better solutions that can do the same thing and much more.

For any of the Garmin units, go directly to Garmin's site for the specs; they have a pretty comprehensive page for each unit that lays out what it can and can't do. Here's the one for the Legend:

https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=173#specsTab
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Old December 27th, 2008, 02:29 PM   #13
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One thing I've started doing recently with the GPS is to geocode my motorcycling photos. Since all digital cameras embed the time you took the pic right into the file itself (as long as you set the clock on the camera), you have some key info. And since the GPS is keeping track of where you were at what time, you now have everything you need as long as you save that track log.

So after you load your pictures to your computer, and the tracklog to your computer, you can use (free) programs like this, which automatically syncs up your pictures with your GPS track, and re-writes the picture file with the latitude/longitude/nearest town/maplink right into each picture file itself. Without doing much extra work, you'll always know exactly where each picture was taken. Many picture sites are starting to read that location data automatically, so the map links show up right below the picture. Here's a gallery from a ride I just went on yesterday, you can see the map link below each pic:
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Old December 27th, 2008, 03:08 PM   #14
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Alex, I`m with you 99.9%. You mentioned hard wiring directly to the battery. I did that on our boat, and the unit was unable to handle the surges. For example, the GPS was on and we needed to start the engine on the sailboat because the wind died. As you know, a diesel takes a few amps to crank over--so we get a power drop. Then the beast starts and a 160Amp alternator kicks in. The Garmin craps out. We solved the problem by putting a capacitor in line--took care of the fluctuations--no problem since that time. I don`t know whether that would apply to the more modern Zumo.
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Old December 27th, 2008, 05:46 PM   #15
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Hi Alex -

The power cables for the GPS going to the battery have a small 2A fuse inline, so if there were such a surge that would be enough to damage the GPS, the fuse would go before the GPS did. I've never blown that fuse on any of my bikes, though.

Here's a link to the cable that I have installed on the ninjette:

http://www.cycoactive.com/gps/powint.htm
Attached Images
File Type: jpg GC12V-lg.jpg (40.8 KB, 14 views)
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Old December 28th, 2008, 04:56 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NJD022588 View Post
Also, do you think you could post another pic of how it's mounted on the 250?
I was able to take a few more pics of the GPS setup on the Ninjette today:











All pics can be seen in full-res up in this gallery.
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Old December 28th, 2008, 06:47 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Alex View Post
One thing I've started doing recently with the GPS is to geocode my motorcycling photos. Since all digital cameras embed the time you took the pic right into the file itself (as long as you set the clock on the camera), you have some key info. And since the GPS is keeping track of where you were at what time, you now have everything you need as long as you save that track log.

So after you load your pictures to your computer, and the tracklog to your computer, you can use (free) programs like this, which automatically syncs up your pictures with your GPS track, and re-writes the picture file with the latitude/longitude/nearest town/maplink right into each picture file itself. Without doing much extra work, you'll always know exactly where each picture was taken. Many picture sites are starting to read that location data automatically, so the map links show up right below the picture. Here's a gallery from a ride I just went on yesterday, you can see the map link below each pic:
Holly cow! Why didn't I think of that!! Shoot and here I was sitting looking at pictures going.. where was this again!? When I should have looked at the time stamp!

Btb I have the Garmin Zumo 450 on Tyke. Zumo (as I have not so creatively named it) and I argue a lot though... Mainly when Someone (Phil) sets avoidances and forgets to take them off when he returns Zumo to me.
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Old December 30th, 2008, 12:03 AM   #18
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Haven't read the whole thread yet, but this is a topic I'm highly interested in, and learning more about.

Still have yet to upload my own trip, but just wanted to share with everyone a really cool site called Sunday Morning Rides which provides a place for you to upload and view your motorcycle trips.
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Old December 30th, 2008, 01:25 AM   #19
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Neat site, thx for the link!
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Old December 31st, 2008, 12:49 AM   #20
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Nice site!

It will be a few months before I get a GPS so I havent shopped around for them much yet. What factors/options cause some to have a monthly fee and others to not?
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Old December 31st, 2008, 12:57 AM   #21
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No GPS has a monthly fee. Things like OnStar for cars have monthly fees because of the cellular service that it requires to work. GPS satellites are free to use for anyone on the planet with a compatible receiver. (though there are different grades of mil-spec GPS that aren't available to the public)
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Old December 31st, 2008, 01:00 AM   #22
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We have had both Garmins and TomTom. Garmin is much easier and user friendly.
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Old December 31st, 2008, 01:42 AM   #23
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No GPS has a monthly fee. Things like OnStar for cars have monthly fees because of the cellular service that it requires to work. GPS satellites are free to use for anyone on the planet with a compatible receiver. (though there are different grades of mil-spec GPS that aren't available to the public)
I was just at Best Buy yesterday and both Garmin and TomTom had GPS's that had monthly fees (although may not have been required). These were the ~$600 models though. Maybe they hooked up to cell towers for live info.
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Old December 31st, 2008, 07:58 AM   #24
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If you could find a link, I'd appreciate it. GPS is free, so whatever they are selling for an additional monthly fee is a separate service of some kind. I wasn't aware of any Garmin units with any monthly fee, so I'd be pretty interested to learn more about them.

FWIW I just went through all the Garmin devices on bestbuy.com and couldn't find any with a monthly fee. I wondered if perhaps they were charging for real-time traffic updates, but they aren't, they provide the service free but you have to pay a decent chunk for the receiver itself. They do offer an XM radio attachment for some of their GPS units (including the Zumo), so there certainly would be an extra fee for a XM radio subscription if you purchase that attachment, but that's all I can really think of.

I don't have as much experience with the TomTom units, so I wasn't sure what they'd be charging extra for either. From their website, it looks like they do charge extra for some add-on features (of questionable value, IMO):

- $19.95/year for an updated list of fuel prices for nearby gas stations
- For TomTom traffic they don't charge a fee, but they require you to have a data-capable cell phone that it can link to (which would have a monthly cell bill of its own, naturally)
- $39.95/year Safety Camera location subscription (not offered in US, but is in Europe and elsewhere)
- additional charges for custom voices (Mr. T, for example)
- $15/year for an updated list of wi-fi hotspots by location
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Old December 31st, 2008, 11:18 AM   #25
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Traffic monitor is not free. That does have a seperate sign up and fees...
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Old December 31st, 2008, 11:26 AM   #26
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I think you're right. Confusingly, Garmin offers two traffic monitoring services. One of them through MSNDirect over the FM airwaves. That one is free, with the purchase of a Garmin unit that supports it. They also offer XM NavTraffic, which works through the XM satellite network. That one does have a subscription fee associated with it.

I haven't used either of them, so I'm not aware of the differences/pros/cons of each, or even how well either of them work to help you take different routes.

More info on Garmin's site right here.
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Old December 31st, 2008, 11:28 AM   #27
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I have never used them either.
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Old December 31st, 2008, 01:47 PM   #28
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Yeah I have no idea what that monthly fee was for. I'll look closer next time I'm at Best Buy. I just took a quick walk around the GPS area when I was there, but I'll be shopping around more in the near future.
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Old December 31st, 2008, 08:34 PM   #29
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We have never paid a monthly fee for either of these units.
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Old January 2nd, 2009, 09:49 AM   #30
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Here's a picture of my garmin quest mounted. If you look at the clutch perch there is a rubber cap, you can take the cap off and mount a ram ball on it. You do however have to re-thread it. You need a 3/28-16 tap cuz it's metric. The credit goes to hickman71 from ninja250.org though.

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Old January 2nd, 2009, 09:53 AM   #31
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That's a very clean looking mount, Alvin.
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Old January 6th, 2009, 05:44 PM   #32
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Surge on Garmin Zumo

My brand new Zumo craps out from time to time after starting the motorcycle. I have to pull the battery off the back of the unit to reset it. Solved by starting the bike first, then plugging in the Zumo...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Alex Allmayer Beck View Post
Alex, I`m with you 99.9%. You mentioned hard wiring directly to the battery. I did that on our boat, and the unit was unable to handle the surges. For example, the GPS was on and we needed to start the engine on the sailboat because the wind died. As you know, a diesel takes a few amps to crank over--so we get a power drop. Then the beast starts and a 160Amp alternator kicks in. The Garmin craps out. We solved the problem by putting a capacitor in line--took care of the fluctuations--no problem since that time. I don`t know whether that would apply to the more modern Zumo.
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Old January 6th, 2009, 06:05 PM   #33
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Doug -

First make sure you've got the latest firmware on the zumo. Use WebUpdater (can download it from Garmin's site), and don't stop updating until when you try to there's nothing left to update. There were some firmware revs that had some real stability problems.

Once you've got the firmware updated, then clean up all the electrical contacts. Get some dielectric grease. Take the battery pack off, rub some of that grease on the battery terminals and the zumo battery terminals, and reinstall the battery. Put some grease on the bottom terminals that attach to the bike mount, and put some on the pins on the bike mount as well.

At the end of all that, I think your shut-off problems will be a distant memory. (I had the same issue with the same Zumo, and all of the above cured it completely).
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Old January 6th, 2009, 06:18 PM   #34
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Like 'grease' grease? The stuff I use on the axles and such?

I last downloaded FW in November, but then it took a while for me to install the thing on my bike...I posted some pics on that other website. It looks pretty cool. I can't see the speedometer or the blinker indicator so well but most of the tach is visible and I know the bike so well now that I feel the RPMs anyway.

zumo2.jpg

I'm planning to pick your brain some about downloading and creating routes. The download seems straightforward enough...think I'll try that but I"m completely mystified as to how to create a route for a ride and load it into the GPS.


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Doug -

First make sure you've got the latest firmware on the zumo. Use WebUpdater (can download it from Garmin's site), and don't stop updating until when you try to there's nothing left to update. There were some firmware revs that had some real stability problems.

Once you've got the firmware updated, then clean up all the electrical contacts. Get some dielectric grease. Take the battery pack off, rub some of that grease on the battery terminals and the zumo battery terminals, and reinstall the battery. Put some grease on the bottom terminals that attach to the bike mount, and put some on the pins on the bike mount as well.

At the end of all that, I think your shut-off problems will be a distant memory. (I had the same issue with the same Zumo, and all of the above cured it completely).
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Old January 6th, 2009, 06:22 PM   #35
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Like 'grease' grease? The stuff I use on the axles and such?
Nope, like this:

8196.jpg

Any hardware store would have it for a couple bucks. It's good for electrical connections under vibration.
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Old January 6th, 2009, 06:24 PM   #36
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Doug -

Here's how I create a usable route on a computer and get it to a GPS (I posted it awhile back on another board):

Quote:
Originally Posted by Alex
Well, I think I've found the holy grail. Almost, at least. For years now I've tried a million different ways to create an electronic map for club rides, along with a loadable GPS file. Up until now, that usually meant doing duplicate work, and if you do a careful job at it, it will take hours to create both files. The typical process is to create a Microsoft Streets and Trips map for printing, then duplicate the effort in Garmin's Mapsource for the GPS. That could be shortened slightly by converting the waypoints on the S&T map, but it still took some time and tweaking on the Mapsource side.

Google, bless their hearts, have continued to upgrade their online mapping tools. And in its latest iteration, it has a better and easier interface than any of the standalone pc-based map tools. Which is amazing to me in a web app. Anyway, all you need to do is go to http://maps.google.com, enter in a starting and ending destination, and hit go. You'll have the blue line for your route. Then the neat part is you just drag parts of that blue line onto the roads that you want to use, zooming in and out as necessary, and it will immediately calculate the route using that waypoint and modify the blue line accordingly. It takes just a few minutes to finalize a great route from beginning to end. But the next trick is getting that information from the web app to something you can load on a GPS.

Enter GMaptoGPX. Go to that webpage and follow the instructions to add their bookmark to your toolbar. Though it should work on IE and Firefox, it tends to work better for me on Firefox. Once it is installed, you just go to your handy-dandy google map, and you hit the GMaptoGPX button in your toolbar, and it pops up some text. If you hit "Full", it populates the text with an extremely complete list of waypoints representing your route. All you need to do is copy that text, and save it as a .gpx file somewhere on your PC. And now you have a .gpx file of that route. In seconds. The hitch is that there may be thousands of waypoints, and some GPS's can only handle 500 waypoints per track or even only 50 waypoints per route. So just load the .gpx file into MapSource, and double-click on the track, hit filter, and you can filter down to 50 to 100 waypoints or so. To make the track into a route, you can use WinGDB (can be downloaded from here). Then once it is a route, you can re-open it in Mapsource and hit recalc, and the route will follow the roads exactly once again, and is simple enough to load right to a GPS.

In paragraph form this may seem clunky, but I assure you it has changed a 2 - 4 hr process into a < 10 minute process. Here it is in step-by-step form:
  1. Open firefox browser, go to maps.google.com. (If you don't have the GmapToGPX bookmark installed, do that first)
  2. Click "get directions" link. Enter starting and ending point, hit "get directions" button.
  3. Pull the route onto the roads that you want to go on, just like taffy. If you add a waypoint that you no longer want, just right-click on it and hit remove. Repeat until the route is right on the roads that you want.
  4. Right-click on "Link to this page" on the upper right to copy the link, and then paste/save said link somewhere else (text file, clip-board, email, anywhere). That link will let you come back to the full map any time later without redoing anything.
  5. Print the route right from Google; it has good printing options and is all one needs to navigate from a paper map.
  6. Hit the GMaptoGPX button. Once the textbox comes up, press "FULL".
  7. Copy all of the text in the textbox and paste it into a blank text document (Wordpad works great for this), and save it. Change the file suffix on the text document to .gpx.
  8. Open the .gpx file in Garmin Mapsource, confirm that the track is identical to your chosen route (but has thousands of points).
  9. Filter the track (double-click on the track name and choose "Filter"), and select a set number of points (100 seems to be a good option).
  10. Save the file as a GDB v2 file (not the default v3, since WinGDB can only deal with v2 files).
  11. Run WinGDB to convert the track to a route.
  12. Open the converted file in Mapsource again, and right-click on the route and select "recalculate". The calculated mileage should be very close to the google numbers.
  13. Sync your GPS with Mapsource, and make sure the route is on your GPS.
You're done. Spend the hours you saved in front of the tube with a beer in your hand. Either that or on motorcycle maintenance.

If anyone tries this and finds some shortcuts or corrections, just let me know so I can update this post.

- Alex
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Old January 6th, 2009, 06:37 PM   #37
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Oh Yeah! Now, I'm going to have to try that!

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Doug -

Here's how I create a usable route on a computer and get it to a GPS (I posted it awhile back on another board):
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Old January 6th, 2009, 10:02 PM   #38
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I am using my old Garmin Geko 201 in the map pocket of my tank bag to log rides but unfortunately the battery life of this little bugger is only about 6-8hrs... Buying a power adapter and routing a power plug - Well, I'll have to think about that. Don't know if it's worth it...



I am using LoadMyTracks for MacOS to load and save .kml/.gpx files. Works great.

The GPX conversion from Google Maps routes is a good tip! (Google Earth is able to export tracks to .kml but you cannot edit routes in Google Earth as opposed to Google Maps)
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Old January 12th, 2009, 08:57 AM   #39
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It seems that Google changed something, and now the GmaptoGPX output sometimes can't be read by MapSource. But there is a workaround. If you load the file to EasyGPS, then save it as GPX again, then MapSource can load it. Clunky, but least there is a workaround until things get fixed. EasyGPS is available right here (free):

http://www.easygps.com/

and I've also attached a zipped version of the application to this post as well.
Attached Files
File Type: zip SetupEasyGPS.zip (3.71 MB, 6 views)
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Old January 12th, 2009, 10:23 AM   #40
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Your so good to us Alex
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