I've searched and seen plenty of threads about which mounts/wiring harness/etc is necessary to mount a brand x GPS on the bike. But, I have yet to find any long term results of using a GPS that is not motorcycle specific.
According to the propaganda, I mean ad language, only a GPS that is built specifically for a motorcycle will survive.
So my question for those of you who use GPS on their bike, have you noticed any problems from vibration/moisture/giant flying bugs that make it worth the roughly 400 extra dollars that a motorcycle only GPS costs?

 

Well, my results with my nuvi 500 have been very impressive. I paid $250 for it and it works great for me. I've had it for about 1 1/2 years and have power source hardwired into bike. Its waterproof (the put a bag or it or I'll take it off if it rains don't do it for me personally) and I put that to the test this last week. Was at Daytona Bike Week and went to Key West from there and ended up in a deluge for over an hour with steady rain for 3 hours. My shirt was soaked right through my raingear, GPS just kept on going like the little energizer bunny.

 

Personally I prefer my ZUMO 550. I use it in my car and on my bike.

I mounted the ZUMO mounting bracket to a chrome Kuryakun mounting bracket (p/n 1421):






and put it on my handlebar, which looks like this:




Some friends use their car GPS in a tank bag to protect it against moisture. It's more or less a cheap solution, however IMO there are some negative points to this solution:
- running out of (battery)power if not hooked up to the motorcycle power system
- view is not so clear and out of line of sight
- operating the GPS is difficult

FXD2003Rider

 

I can tell you that I have had 2 Garmins that were not sold as motorcycle devices that did not last more than a year and a half. After about a year they started losing signal frequently, then after a while they just stopped finding a signal all together.
Have a TomTom Rider now, not as easy as Garmin to create routes. I wish the Garmin Motorcycle unit was not so expensive.

 

Richard,

You should try TYRE to plan and load your routes into your TomTom Rider. Here's the link:

http://www.janboersma.nl/gett/index.php

Shoot me a PM if you need any help...

René

 

Thanks Renee

I have been using TYRE since I got the TomTom, I think I got the tip from a post of yours back then...lol
I can't tell you how many dirt roads I have been routed down even though I have the option to avoid Unpaved roads enabled.
It's just not very intuitive on the Rider...TYRE is pretty nice though.

 

Been using a Garmin 750 for 3 years with no problem at all..

 

Richard,

The max number of waypoints TomTom can handle is 48 and alway re-calculates importes routes! If you have planned a route which has > 48 waypoints, you have to cut the initial route into 2 or more sections of max 48 waypoints each.

Using TYRE, plan the entire route and save it as .itn file.
Now reload the entire route, delete waypoints > 49 and up; save this part as part1.itn.

Now reload the entire route and delete waypoints 1 - 48; save this part as part2.itn.

Connect your GPS to your computer and search for the itn folder.

Copy/paste the .itn files part 1 and part 2 into the itn folder in your TomTom (see images below).



René

 

I don't know if this helps or not but I have a cheep Garmin Nuvi 205w that I have had for a while now. You can buy the same one new for about a hundred bucks. I have the Ram mount for it and have never had a problem. The mount might help with the vibration a little. It is not water proof so if I get caught in the rain I take it off the mount and put it in an inside jacket pocket.

This has worked well for me but it is not as nice as one made for motorcycling. I think that for the price you can't go wrong, I feel I already got my moneys worth.

 

Thanks for all the info so far. I think I should be able to get away with using my Delphi car GPS as I don't really use it that much. But definitely keep all the input coming! :thumbs up: