I currently have the Garmin 2655 (non-bike) and it does not smoothly integrate with the HD Ride Planner routes. It can't distinguish the difference between a way point and a destination. So, when you have a route with a bunch of way points, you get separate little destination to destination routes in the GPS that are not linked together.

So..... I want to get a new GPS that can be used smoothly with the ride planner software, but I am not spending $500 on a Zumo. Any suggestions?

Also, is there a different ride planner software that would be better to use?

 

If I remember correctly, the trick with the HD Ride Planner for use with a Garmin is to NOT use waypoints, instead use Locations in the planner, they then should be downloaded as stops in the Garmin. I'm pretty sure that's worked for me in the past with a regular non-motorcycle Garmin. Haven't tried it lately, so my memory is a little foggy.

I also use/like Microsoft Streets & Trips... new versions are not being produced anymore, but the later versions still work great, and the resulting gpx file works well with Garmin also. What I like about S&T, it gives you a detailed summary of miles, time, fuel cost, time at stops, etc.

 

Waypoints work fine for me using the HD ride planner and garmin (via points in the garmin)

 

I use the Garmin Nuvi 40LM. I've used that one for years and it's great and works very well with the Ride Planner.

 

You don't want them to all be separate locations, otherwise each leg will be a a new trip causing confusion with starting and ending.

The best way, is to make them locations (just like like you mention) in ride planner.
Then when you are happy with the route, click on each location other than the beginning and ending and convert them to way points.
In other words, you will have a start location and an ending location with multiple way points in between.
Then you transfer the route to your Garmin.

The trick is getting the right number of way points mapped out to force your route to stay on target when you send it to your Garmin.



Yep, they work just fine for me too.
I am using a Garmin 1450, not a motorcycle specific unit.

 

Like other's have said, the trick is to make sure that in ride planner, you actually have them set as way points and not as a location. If you right click on the location, there will be an option to set it as a way point. The way points are little white dots versus the flag looking icons.

Also, you might want to give Tyre a shot. It's free and pretty easy to use. I like it much better than Ride Planner.