Great work Casper

 

The 550 also comes with a case for storage. I am not sure if the 450 does. Perhaps a 450 owner can weigh in on it. I always remove mine from the bike when I am not around and put it in the case. Very handy to have.

I went through the same decision between the 450 and 550 and bought the 550 based on the accessories that I knew at some point I knew I would buy anyway - the car mount and power adapters! I figured for 650 bucks I was going to use it in the car and the bike.

Regarding the Nuvi disturbance - I have a Nuvi 200w (wife's) and the Zumo 550. The Zumo is built for a motorcycle and has buttons on the outside edges of the screen that are easier to use when riding. There are also shortcuts on the Zumo that are not available on the nuvi, some using the external buttons as well as touch points on the screen.

I have logged a 3000 mile tripped with my Zumo and have used it for various rides throughout the last year. In total I have used it for over 8000 miles and have had it for almost a year. It was the best purchase I have ever made and would spend the money again.

You will be happy...

 

I am torn between the 450 and 550. I usually just get the best and blow the money but I'm trying to be smart about it and use the "fun fund" wisely. I have built in Nav in my car, my wife already has a Garmin c330 in her car, I wear a half helmet so I really don't see my bluetooth headset working very well with the noise etc, and if I go to xm (don't really plan too but...) I would probably buy the module for the HK Advanced Audio system on the bike (even though it is like $500). Any thoughts from the people who have a Zumo? Thanks.

 

Like I said, big difference between the 450 and 550 is Blue tooth and XM radio..also the car mount is included in the 550, about a 90.00 option from Garmin....
The biggest difference between the NUVI series and the ZUMO are as follows;
1. Waterproof
2. Motorcycle friendly
3. Able to download routes to Zumo, can;t with the Nuvi's
4. Mapsource program for installation on your PC
5. Zumo will hold 50 routes, Nuvi will hold NONE
6. Custom POIs ( you can download all the Harley dealers) as well as other POIs....

Buy what you want, but I feel waterproof is the most important issue....if you want to save a little green, go with a Garmin 2610 or 2720 street pilot....I've had both and they are good units...2610 you'll have to load the maps ( a 2gb CF card will hold all of US) and the 2720 is preloaded from Garmin with all US, also 2720 is text to speech ( means it says the street). Both waterproof and will hold 50 routes and 500 waypoints....

 

Thanks Casper I agree that for the bike the Zumo is definatly the way to go. I think the 450 will work for me but I will continue to think about it.

 

If you're serious about not using bluetooth or xm you might be satisfied with the 450. I don't have any experience with it, but would guess (you should probably check) that it'll hard wire to your radio for voice commands. Voice makes a world of difference in using GPS. The text to speech is selectable in the 550. You can elect not to use it with either the male or female voice & the commands will simply be "turn left in xxx feet, & turn left". You can also select text to speech in either male or female voice & the commands will be "turn left on ???? street/road in xxx feet". I've tried 'em all & having the street name makes things a lot easier. Listening to the text to speech mangle the pronunciation is a hoot.

I really like the bluetooth, but you're probably right about it not working with a half helmet. You might be able to wear ear buds, but that doesn't sound comfortable to me. I use an open face helmet, & above a certain speed wind noise makes hearing the commands difficult enough that their value lies in simply knowing the GPS wants my attention. Of course at those speeds I'm moving too fast to be making turns anyway. It's usually just "keep right or left" to stay with a highway split & shows well on the screen. I imagine a reasonably quiet full face helmet would be best, but I just can't bring myself to wear one.

 

I too am in the market for a GPS. It seems clear to me that the 550 is the "best" model, however is it still the best choice if I have no need for the Bluetooth, XM, or MP3 features?

 

I use a map. $0.00
Mount---$0.00
Adaptor--$0.00

Most of the time I don't know where I'm going anyway!

 

That's kind of a personal question that only you can answer for yourself. I like the size, configuration, screen, mounting options (although I went my own way), fuel gauge feature, ease of control, etc. of the Zumo. I'm fortunate & have time to spend on line reviewing features/specs from the manufacturers. I'm partial to Garmin, but there are a lot of choices in GPS & I only expect it to get better over the next few years.

 

Thanks to BG Weasel I was able to post the photos of the Zumo installed on my '04 RK Custom. (Thanks, Rick!) The Zumo tucks in behind the windshield pretty nicely, (although I suspect that if I remove the windshield I'll also remove the Zumo).

Like Jinks said, a lot of this stuff is personal - hell, a lot of what we do to our bike and why is personal.

In my case I do a lot of riding from one state to another. I've been turned around going through some city or another multiple times, and on occasion you can find yourself in the wrong part of town trying to figure out where the heck you are and how to get back to a highway. I've also ridden a lot of secondaries, missed exits, roads with multiple names to the same road, etc. etc., and as far as I'm cocerned the Zumo is a piece of safety gear. I hate getting turned around, and while I'm good with a map to un-screw the situation, I'mready to avoid it in the first place if possible.

Then too, uploading custom POIs makes life easier. I've downloaded the locations for all the Harley Dealerships in the US, Canada, and Mexico, and these pop up on the screen if I'm within 5 miles or so of the dealership. I've already had a battery crap out and needed to call for a tow somewhere near Buford, Georgia, while on a ride to Fort Benning, and if you need work done on your bike this lets you know where the nearest source of parts and tools are, and how to get there.

Then also it tells you when your tank is low - which most of us can figure out - but at the touch of a button it will also tell you every gas station within a set number of miles of where the bike is, and what type of station it is (if you use a gas card). If you have the antenna attached, it can also let you know when there is a traffic accident ahead of you on the highway and route you around it.

As far as I'm concerned the things are worth the effort to figure out, and if they keep me out of tight spots that I otherwise might have blundered into so much the better.

As in all things, your mileage may vary.



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