When planning routes I use ITN Converter (free ware) and/or MapSource.

When done, I save the route file in gpx format in this folder on my Garmin device or SD card: Garmin/GPX. From there you can import the route into your Zumo device.

Tip:

Always zoom in to check if the via point is at the good side of the road!

Don't put the via points at but a few hundred yards over the intersection (see image below via point #7).



You'll find some of my routes over here:

https://www.hdforums.com/forum/9318484-post77.html

https://www.hdforums.com/forum/hdfor...pean-tour.html

If you have any questions on the use of MapSource or ITN Converter just shoot me a PM and I'd be glad to help you.

 

I agree with FXD2003Rider and using waypoints beyond an intersection as I've experienced some issues with a point that mysteriously snapped to a place I didn't want (or expect) when navigating through complicated intersections.

I'm sure for most who have manually created a route and upload it to the GPS has been told to "turn here", then told to turn around because a point was somehow placed from an intersection. When I use HD Ride Planner I always zoom in on each waypoint to make sure they are ON the route.

Lastly, make sure you have a good idea of the general route so if the GPS tells you to turn from a route you'll have a good idea if its right or not.

 

Just back from my first long ride (4 days and about 1000 miles) with my RoadTech Zumo 660. I was the ride captain. I planned the ride on Ride Planner. So, here are some thoughts:

1. First, The potential is pretty amazing. In concept, the Zumo gives a rider access to GPS navigation with voice prompts, music (using a micro sd card), and hands free access to a telephone (using a third party BOMM). I have HD CB. Those 4 things together make for tremendous ability to plan and lead a ride.

2. Sadly, the reality is not yet equivalent to the potential. Its all very glitchy and imperfect. Harley and Garmin could do a much better job, informing us what this stuff does do, does not do, and how to do it. ...and they could do a much better job working together on this project. Can you say support! Black eyes for our beloved HD and for Garmin as well, for now. But, in the end, the Zumo led us through a great ride through Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and back to GA.

3. The Zumo itself (I spent $650 for the zumo and approximately a Gazillion Dollars to install with integration. I use a large dealer in a big city, and they do not know how to install the stuff or what its limitations are - well, they do now, I guess. Apparently, they do not get much more help from Garmin or HD, than the rest of us. They, too, were frustrated.):

A. It shuts down spontaneously. (Fixable with a hard re-boot. Press the lower right corner of the screen while holding the power button until it starts re-boot). It sometimes just does it. It had been working fine blue toothed to my Android cell phone, but when I tried to use with Route guidance, the Zumo shut down every 10 seconds or so. (no solution yet). I had to ride without phone calls. I know, phone calls. Really? I am more stressed without them than with them. That's my problem. Some of you share my problem -- and you know who you are!

B. When giving me voice prompts for route guidance, it sometimes spontaneously opened the mic on the Zumo (not the helmet mic) so it over-rode voice prompts and music. The mic would close after a time. Just annoying and frustrating.

4. Ride Planner. Well, its easy to use, and fun and helpful to share the routes with those you will be riding with. The frustration comes when you want to get those routes out of Ride Planner and into the RoadTech Zumo. If you were naive, and I was, you might be led to think that Ride Planner was made to work with Zumo. You might expect that when Ride Planner suggests, it will automatically detect your Zumo or other Garmin device and download your route that you would then find your route in your Zumo. More likely, you will find that the route you enjoyed making has now been converted into a separate route for every "location" you entered as a way point while planning your route. Example, my Day 1 had 15 waypoints (locations) and Zumo converted to 14 separate routes. A bit tedious (impossible) to actually use.

Help? Good luck. It was at this point in my planning that I realized the Ride Planner web site offers NO SUPPORT. Apparently, HD offers no help, at all, other than the useless information they posted in the help section. Useless? Yes! Because it assumes the stuff works. It does not.

So, I called Garmin. 2 hours to speak to a live human being. As soon as I mentioned Ride Planner, the "help desk" promptly explained that Garmin does not support Ride Planner. Ride Planner is HD's site. Duh! Well, seeing it would be like that, I asked Helpguy if he had ever used Ride Planner. He had not. I asked him to navigate (get it?) to the web site and use my login information to log in to my route planning. To his credit, he did. My Zumo came with two software programs, Base Camp and Road Trip. I use a MAC and Helpguy told me to use Base Camp. Its different from the software that came with my 550 (several years ago), but it works after a little exploration. Again, not much in the way of instruction or direction from Garmin on the software. But, ultimately, Garmin was helpful. They walked me through Base Camp and fixing my routes that would not load properly into the Zumo.

5. Zumo/Base Camp. The darn thing just does not get that you really wanted to avoid those highways and take remote, twisty, beautiful backroads that are not the quickest way to get from point A to Point B. You must convince the software. It will override all of your planning and put you on an interstate highway, unless you force the issue. You must insert via points on the roads you want to use to make sure you use those roads and end up where you intend. Also, it appears you might avoid the whole issue of Zumo converting your Ride Planner route to many routes by using a function in Ride Planner that lets you enter your waypoints as locations, but then convert them to waypoints, before trying to download into Zumo. I sure wish someone told me that.

The trip was a success and all is well that ends well.

I like gadgets and I am not afraid to play with them until I bend them to my will. If you are more squeamish, Ride Planner and Zumo are not for you. If, you just expect them to work as advertised, they do not. If you expect fast and reliable support, it is not available. If you are persistent, the stuff will work and really is quite amazing.

Overall, as I said above, I think this effort to jointly market Zumo and Ride Planner gives both HD and Garmin black eyes. The stuff needs serious attention. Its glitchy, inadequately supported, expensive, and frustrating. After being on the market for several years, I would not have thought this was "bleeding edge" technology. But, it hurt!

If you like this post or have additional comments, or fixes, please reply.

 

I use garmin map source to do my routing. the map source cd comes in the box with garmin. You will have to go to garmin's website to unlock it. When I put waypoints in place for mapping my route I then right mouse click on the waypoints and then delete them. Most of the time u can delete them and it won't change your route. If it changes your route the click undo and leave that particular waypoint. I delete them so I don't have them showing up all the time and telling me to exit off and then get back on the road. Maps our is easy to use and deleting the way points once u connect your route makes it work wonderfully when u load the route onto your gps. I map all my routes ahead of time on map source and delete all the waypoints I can and then i load the route onto my gps. Right mouse clicking and deleting the waypoints is key to keeping your route clean. Map source will load the complete mapped route onto your gps and it won't be broken into segments.