Gps??
 

Hi all I am looking at getting a GPS for my XT for a trip around Europe next year, has anyone got any experiences and advice they would like to share the TomTom Rider with Europe maps looks good?? All advice will be greatly received.

I have a Tomtom Rider 2 Europe on my GoldWing GL1200 and I'm very happy with it. It is good value for money. In the box you get a "RAM mount" mounting kit and a bluetooth headset that works fine.
It does not have all the extra functions a Garmin has (and that I won't use anyway) but it is very easy to use and a lot cheaper then a Garmin Zumo.

In my trip report of my trip to Denmark this summer, I have pictures and you can read how I used it. (Jan Krijtenburg homepage (Travel pages))

This weekend I want to buy an extra mounting kit to use it on my BMW F650GS too.

One disadvantage of the TomTom Rider 2, as opposed to the Rider 1, is that you need to take off part of the mount when you leave the bike, otherwise it will get robbed, as it's easily removed. The European maps are very good. I use them at street level in London all the time (at least I did until last week, when my bike got nicked), and they work a treat. The European map is 2GB in size, so it has decent detail all over. There are occasional mapping errors, like turns that have been closed off, etc, but generally good.

Hey buddy.

I use a garmin 2610 on my XT600. Its fully waterproof with a large colour screen and touch screen.

I used the RAM mount with a Touratech braket. Garmin do a motorcycle power lead for it too.

Good thing about the 2610 is that it takes CF cards so its indefinately expandable.

Iv fitted the whole of Europe and South America on a 2GB card.

Smellybiker sells "wanderlust" which is a collection of world maps for £25

The maps are compatible with garmin mapsource !!

Pick one up on ebay for £150

I suppose you'll get as many answers as there are gps systems ;-)

At the HU meeting in the UK in June this year there were two presentations on Garmin and TomTom Rider respectively. The vote was clearly for Garmin - last not least because the customer support for TomTom seems to be crap. Even when the guy presenting the TomTom explained that he would be talking about his experience at an international travellers' meeting they just didn't bother. Now, this is referring to TomTom UK.

Since the difference in price between the TomTom Rider and the Zumo 550 isn't that big, my decision was for the latter. Touchscreen, 2 GB Sd card, detailed maps for the whole of Europe, a mount for bike AND cars included, easy programming on the device and even easier per computer make it a good buy.

Hans

Will the Zumo take Wanderlust mapping and would it be suitable for South America and Africa etc ???

Cheers for all the posts I will have a look at the Garmin and TomTom I must admit I have used the garmin handheld systems while hiking and they were great.

Upload non Garmin maps
 

I'm afraid Garmin doesn't offer special maps for South America. Re Latin America they've got maps for Brazil, Mexico. Otherwise there is still the world map as a choice.

Since the Zumo can upload other maps you shouldn't have a problem finding something suitable. I haven't used this option yet, but will test it shortly.

At least in rural areas in South America I didn't miss a GPS (couple of years ago), since there aren't as many roads to get lost as we are confronted with in Europe ;-)

Hans

TomTom
 

Hi, I've been using a TomTom rider 1 for the past year (bought the last one from my local Maplins) and I'm well happy with it. They made a mistake of marketing it as TomTom europe but when you open the box all you have is the UK maps, when you contact Maplins customer services they send you the european maps free -bargain. I've used it on my Harley for the past year and even that hasn't managed to shake it to bits, a good bit of kit. Awkward to fit on a Harley as the bars are 1" diameter as opposed to the normal 7/8". Can be blue toothed to an Autocom Intercom and works very well. I also bought the car kit and have used it in my 4 x 4 with the earpiece provided, again worked well. Ed.:thumbup1:

I have Tomtom software on my XDA orbit mobile phone, and its very good. I was a proponent for one device does all, and this comes pretty much as close as you will get.

However I have always been a fan of the Etrex series, as they are so dual purpose and now that they do street level mapping I am keeping my eye out for one. Currently I am using the predecessor to the Streetpilot 2610, mentioned above, the Streetpilot III which is a good GPS, really comes into its own offroad.

The main difference between garmins and Tomtoms, is where there is no road, the tomtom's fall off the planet, whilst the Garmins are a genuine mapping device and continue to give you useful information.

The Etrex series doesnt have voice prompts, a bit frustrating. So maybe consider the Garmin GPS 60Csx or the Vista, the Etrex top dog.

Make sure you get a GPS with an expandable memory cards.

Anyway you choose it, remember to get the RAM mounts, theyre great and the touratech brackets are awesome.

Cheers G