I am sorry about the extremely long post but let me do some venting and relay a story about the new Garmin Zumo 350 LM. In early October, my Garmin NUVI that I have had for about 8 years finally crapped out. I figured that I am getting older and that life is short, so why not splurge on a unit specifically for a motorcycle. On October 8th, I ordered a Zumo 350lm. I paid the extra shipping to get it here fast because I wanted to use it for an upcoming trip to Daytona Beach for Biketoberfest. It arrived on October 10 and I installed it on my motorcycle on October 15th.
While on the trip, I noticed that the battery was low, even though the unit was in the cradle. I discovered that there was 5.3 volts getting to the pin on the charger, but the unit would not charge. After returning home, I discovered that the unit would charge from the computer as well as from the 12 volt car charger that plugs into the back of the unit.
On October 23rd, I contacted customer support and was advised that there was supposed to be between 12 and 14 volts getting to the pin on the cradle charger. I advised the customer service rep that the NUVI only sent 5 volts to the GPS unit. Again, I was told that the power cable was bad and that a new one would be sent.
The new power cable arrived on October 26th. The Garmin sticker on the power cable transformer box states that the output is rated at between 4.9 and 5.5 volts. To be sure that it was not, in fact, a bad power cable, I hooked up the new power cable to the motorcycle. The unit would still not charge from the cradle.
On October 28, I again e-mailed customer service and advised them of all of the above. Here is the response that I received:
We apologize for any inconveince this has caused, but would be glad to assist you. Since the motorcycle mount is not permanently attached to the cable, and is not a powered mount like our other zumo's there could really only be two issues. Either the cables are shorting and going back due to the installation on the bike, or a mechanical issue with the device. Would it be possible for you to take the bike into a wiring specialist to ensure all the wiring is correct? If not, we can set up another RMA (Return Material Authorization) to exchange the device.
Please let us know if you have any additional questions.

With Best Regards,
Angelique L.
Product Support Specialist
Garmin International
I wasn’t really sure what their definition of a “wiring specialist” was, but I have a friend who is an electrical engineer, so I figured that was close enough. He was out of town, so he was not able to check the wiring until November the 3rd. Amazingly enough, I had wired the cradle correctly so it appeared that there was a problem with the unit itself.
I again contacted customer service via e-mail, gave them the update, and asked what I needed to do. Here was the response:
Thank you for contacting Garmin International.
I have created a Return Material Authorization (RMA) request for your zumo 350. Please ship back the device
and all of the accessories that came with the device.
Please send your device and all of the accessories into:
Garmin International
1200 E. 151st Street
RMA # ZW 49110595
Dock Door #24
Olathe, KS 66062
Please send the device and all of the accessories, we will not require you to send in your proof of purchase, please check to make sure any SD cards are removed from the device before shipment.
Since this repair is covered under warranty the only charge to you will be the shipping of the unit to us. You will receive your replacement device 10-14 business days after we have received your device in our facility.
We will update your account registration for you if the device is exchanged in most scenarios. If this cannot be done automatically, you may need to log into your myGarmin account where your device was previously registered. On this page you will be prompted that your device has recently been exchanged. Follow the prompts to register your replacement device and transfer over any downloads that were associated with your previous device.

Thank you.
With Best Regards,
Dayna P
Product Support Specialist
Automotive Team
Garmin International

After reading this, I was livid. Here is my response:
Let me get this straight. I spent $700.00 plus shipping on a GPS unit. Then I spent approximately 2 hours mounting the power cable and cradle on the motorcycle because it requires the gas tank to be removed to run the wires. Then, when I discover that the unit is not charging in the cradle, I am told by your customer service that the power cable is bad so a new one would be sent. When that does not fix the problem, I am asked to have the wires checked by a “wiring specialist” . I am finally able to get that done and it is discovered that there is a problem with the GPS unit itself.
Now, you expect me to take the motorcycle back apart to remove a power cable and cradle that are working fine so that I can send them back to you. Just so that you can send me another GPS unit that I then have to disassemble the motorcycle AGAIN to mount the cradle and power cable. AND I get to pay the shipping for this privilege as well.
If I have to spend all that time disassembling the motorcycle to return the accessories for a bad GPS unit, in addition to having to pay the shipping, is it possible just to get the cost of the GPS unit refunded? The time and expense involved in removing the power cable and cradle, just to have to put it back on, simply isn’t worth the trouble.
I haven't heard back from them yet today, but I'll keep y'all posted.

 

Your experience with Garmin sounds like it was not very pleasant. I have a Gamrin ZUMO 650 on my bike with the charger wiring connected through the accessory switch on my RKC.

I checked the Garmin specs and I see what is getting you confused. From their Specs:

"Power supplied to device power cable should be capable of up 12 V (typical) and up to 1 A. zūmo device power consumption is 5 V; 2 A."

The wiring to the ZUMO is in fact 12V, and th 5.5A indicates it draws 5.5 Amps of current. I am not sure why they have 5V there, and it is confusing for sure. However, any stepdown in voltage would happen inside the unit I suspect. Their tech writers dropped the ball on the specs on the web.

Therefore, if you did measure 5.5 volts at the end of the bike power wiring, there is a problem with your wiring. Are you wired through any switch as with the RK accessory swiitch?

IF you use volt meter at the plug where it goes sinto the ZUMO and you
read 12 volts then the unit is bad assuming the wiring makes a good conection to the mount and the ZUMO seats well in the mount. Would plug in the mount without the ZUMO and try to measure voltage at the contacts for the ZUMO on the mount. Be careful not to short anything.

You can get a very cheap vollt meter at Radio Shack for a few bucks. It is a handy thing to have.

Sorry you had such a bad experience. It sounds like a great unit.

Wiring expert sends..

 

Looking at the Garmin site I see that the power cable for the Zumo 350 has a transformer.
So the output to the cradle will be whatever the transformer supplies 5 volts in this case.
https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=113583
This is a long shot but are you sure you have the fused wire on the harness hooked to the positive lead on the bike? it could be a polarity issue.

 

Thanks for the replies! I was aware of the transformer and, as I had noted, the 5.3 volts was within the 4.9-5.5 volts that the sticker on the transformer stated for the output. Yes, we did check for polarity issues and none were discovered.

Speaking of polarity issues, just for the FYI column, while my friend did not open up the Zumo because it would have voided the warranty, he has opened my Nuvi on several occasions. He told me that there was polarity protection on the circuit board in the Nuvi and he imagined that there was one on the Zumo as well. He stated that it was pretty much the industry standard.

Giving credit where due, Garmin has agreed to replace just the GPS unit, meaning I will not have to pull the power cable and cradle from the bike. They also agreed to pay the shipping. I guess it pays to raise enough hell.

 

Thanks for posting, I intend to get this model myself.
How is the overall operation of the unit, besides the charging issue?

 

I've been checking into these as well and noticed that Costco has began to carry the motorcycle versions. Though pretty much the same price I've seen elsewhere, I thought returns through Coscto may be easier.

 

Don't waste your time with emails. I have had a couple issues with Garmin and called. (913) 397-8200. They are programmed into my phone. Never had a problem that was not resolved in a timely manner. I was once in your position where I NEEDED the unit ASAP. I paid for the new unit and was reimbursed once they received the defective unit. I have the Zumo 660 so curious about the 350. Keep us posted.

 

I also have my Garmin wired into the accy switch on my RK. Easiest way.
My 350LM has been working flawlessly. Tell Garmin to just send you the unit and keep the power cable this way you don't have to take anything apart.

 

Having used Garmin GPS units in the USCG for years, I have always regarded them as the best.......until now. I bought the lifetime map upgrades two years ago because I travel a lot. The last time I did an upgrade was a huge mistake. When the upgrade started, I received a message saying that I didn't have enough memory for the upgrade and that I had to select a smaller region other than North America. I am now limited to the eastern half of the US for entering destinations. The unit no longer recognizes any states west of the Mississippi River. The maps are there. I just can't enter the states. Also, they have changed their algorithms to where routing appears to be random. Choosing the shortest distance doesn't mean the that's the routing I will get. Faster time is the same. Sometime the faster time choice routes me 60 miles further. I am really disgusted with Garmin at this point because I am required to buy a new unit to be able to upgrade the entire continental U.S. maps. And the new routing algorithms suck. I am close to being done with Garmin. They have taken a dependable navigation system with a great user interface and turned it to crap.

 

You can install all the maps to your Zumo, if you know how.
Do a search on this issue, but here is one of the ways to install maps to Zumo.