Zumo 660 opinions please
Supporter
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 4,133
Likes: 147
From: Grays Creek, NC
I have a little different take on things than most of the opinions expressed so far. I liked my Zumo 660, but it was definitely NOT worth almost a grand, including fairing mount and interface module. Fortunately, I found mine on Ebay for about $350 used.
It suffers from a dozen small bugs that make it, in the end, not worth it. It's a touchscreen that works with gloves on. Great. Except it's fairly inaccurate, so you can never enter any text without correcting every fourth letter, which you'll typo. It automatically zooms in and out as you slow down and speed up. Great. Except it sometimes hangs for several seconds while it redraws the map in memory, so you'll miss important information like cross-street names while you wait for it to redraw. It has an interface module that allows it to announce instructions even when the radio or CD player are selected. Great. Except it also triggers the intercom while it does so, and at a louder volume, so those of us with helmet headsets get deafening wind noise along with it. (I eventually unplugged the interface module. Not sure whether it was a Harley or Garmin invention, but it truly sucked.) It has an audiobook reader app. Great. Except it only works with audible.com's proprietary encrypted format, so you CANNOT use it with common .mp3 audiobook files. It plays back MP3s as music files, though. Great. I was hoping for this to be a major feature, since the 700 MB capacity of the CD player was just too small, except the Zumo sometimes wouldn't recognize ANY of the MP3s on my 32 GB MicroSD card AT ALL, and took several restarts, followed by 10-15 minutes of music collection indexing, before it would play again.
I liked it, since I got it used at a discount. But I never loved it, never thought it was worth it, and when the 2014 Rushmores became available with all those problems gone... Garmin lost a map-buying customer forever. With my larger, more visually-appealing maps, flawless music playback, handlebar control integration and voice recognition, and one less device to **** with mounting/dismounting/securing at bathroom stops... the jealous little beeyotches can go right ahead and make fun of my "big-screen tv." I'm good.
It suffers from a dozen small bugs that make it, in the end, not worth it. It's a touchscreen that works with gloves on. Great. Except it's fairly inaccurate, so you can never enter any text without correcting every fourth letter, which you'll typo. It automatically zooms in and out as you slow down and speed up. Great. Except it sometimes hangs for several seconds while it redraws the map in memory, so you'll miss important information like cross-street names while you wait for it to redraw. It has an interface module that allows it to announce instructions even when the radio or CD player are selected. Great. Except it also triggers the intercom while it does so, and at a louder volume, so those of us with helmet headsets get deafening wind noise along with it. (I eventually unplugged the interface module. Not sure whether it was a Harley or Garmin invention, but it truly sucked.) It has an audiobook reader app. Great. Except it only works with audible.com's proprietary encrypted format, so you CANNOT use it with common .mp3 audiobook files. It plays back MP3s as music files, though. Great. I was hoping for this to be a major feature, since the 700 MB capacity of the CD player was just too small, except the Zumo sometimes wouldn't recognize ANY of the MP3s on my 32 GB MicroSD card AT ALL, and took several restarts, followed by 10-15 minutes of music collection indexing, before it would play again.
I liked it, since I got it used at a discount. But I never loved it, never thought it was worth it, and when the 2014 Rushmores became available with all those problems gone... Garmin lost a map-buying customer forever. With my larger, more visually-appealing maps, flawless music playback, handlebar control integration and voice recognition, and one less device to **** with mounting/dismounting/securing at bathroom stops... the jealous little beeyotches can go right ahead and make fun of my "big-screen tv." I'm good.
Mine use to hang until I freed up some memory by going into the GPS and deleting all the different languages except English. Also delete all the different text languages and all of the different help manual languages that are stored in the memory.
If you Google tips and tricks for the Garmin 660/665 you can find a ton of ways to improve our overly priced (no arguing that one) 660's.
Also in the tools there is a screen calibration, try doing it with glove on in the winter and then in the summer redo without?
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 2,590
Likes: 31
From: Western Illinois, land of bad roads, and corrupt politicians
A lot of the issues your having can be resolved if you update to the latest firmware, but not all of them.
Mine use to hang until I freed up some memory by going into the GPS and deleting all the different languages except English. Also delete all the different text languages and all of the different help manual languages that are stored in the memory.
If you Google tips and tricks for the Garmin 660/665 you can find a ton of ways to improve our overly priced (no arguing that one) 660's.
Also in the tools there is a screen calibration, try doing it with glove on in the winter and then in the summer redo without?
Mine use to hang until I freed up some memory by going into the GPS and deleting all the different languages except English. Also delete all the different text languages and all of the different help manual languages that are stored in the memory.
If you Google tips and tricks for the Garmin 660/665 you can find a ton of ways to improve our overly priced (no arguing that one) 660's.
Also in the tools there is a screen calibration, try doing it with glove on in the winter and then in the summer redo without?
You're not suppose to mess with the GPS while in motion to enter data. It's about as bright as texting while riding.
The voice volume can be changed while directions are being given with the handlebar control.
You can turn off auto zoom in settings.
MP3s play fine if you set up play lists instead of just dumping zillion MP3s in the root directory.
Maybe he didn't get a manual with his used GPS, or go here for help http://www.zumoforums.com/
Last edited by shooter5074; Jan 21, 2014 at 11:46 AM. Reason: 101 reasons why we kick ass in war and they're all EAGLES
Road Master
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 994
Likes: 45
From: North Carolina
I have had my 660 for about two years and have been very pleased with it. When in a new town it comes in handy for finding a place to eat.
I'm sure that it has more features than I am using. One thing I would recommend, is the interface and the fairing mount. With mounting on the fairing it is almost at eye level.
It started out on my SG, then moved with me to the Limited and now I switch it between my wife's TriGlide, my bike and my car. I would make no changes if I had to do it over.
I'm sure that it has more features than I am using. One thing I would recommend, is the interface and the fairing mount. With mounting on the fairing it is almost at eye level.
It started out on my SG, then moved with me to the Limited and now I switch it between my wife's TriGlide, my bike and my car. I would make no changes if I had to do it over.
Tourer
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 277
Likes: 1
You can, but then, surprise surprise, it no longer auto zooms. I wanted that to work WITHOUT the random freezing up for several seconds at a time.
Maybe he didn't get a manual with his used GPS, or go here for help http://www.zumoforums.com/
Yes, I personally put those bugs in it.
Or maybe you're just bitter that you had to pay full price for the privilege of living with them, so you mouth off on the internet to try to mask that bitterness?
I recommend upgrading to a 2014, as a better way to deal with the problems.
EDITED TO ADD: This was a Road Tech Zumo, with Harley firmware. These bugs were present with the latest Harley firmware available at the time I traded in the bike. It's possible that Garmin released newer, better firmware for the non-Harley-branded one, but supposedly those would not work with the Harley interface module. Indeed I might have done better with the Garmin-branded one, since the interface module was utter garbage anyway.
Last edited by .357 Magnum; Jan 21, 2014 at 12:15 PM.
Road Master
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 1,151
Likes: 14
From: Seattle
I recommend upgrading to a 2014, as a better way to deal with the problems.
EDITED TO ADD: This was a Road Tech Zumo, with Harley firmware. These bugs were present with the latest Harley firmware available at the time I traded in the bike. It's possible that Garmin released newer, better firmware for the non-Harley-branded one, but supposedly those would not work with the Harley interface module. Indeed I might have done better with the Garmin-branded one, since the interface module was utter garbage anyway.
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 2,590
Likes: 31
From: Western Illinois, land of bad roads, and corrupt politicians
Or maybe you're just bitter that you had to pay full price for the privilege of living with them, so you mouth off on the internet to try to mask that bitterness?
I recommend upgrading to a 2014, as a better way to deal with the problems.
EDITED TO ADD: This was a Road Tech Zumo, with Harley firmware. These bugs were present with the latest Harley firmware available at the time I traded in the bike. It's possible that Garmin released newer, better firmware for the non-Harley-branded one, but supposedly those would not work with the Harley interface module. Indeed I might have done better with the Garmin-branded one, since the interface module was utter garbage anyway.
I have 2 of them. One for me and one for my wife. BOTH of them perform flawlessly. Maybe that's why you got such a deal on yours. Could have been a defective unit that someone unloaded on you.
Last edited by shooter5074; Jan 21, 2014 at 12:55 PM.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 32,934
Likes: 36,032
From: Carlsbad, CA
I support all the above on the plus side. Mine is the HD version, with fairing mount. Very clean look. Dealer installed it, but did not hook up the cable properly to play music through the headset. From what I can tell, at least on my version, to do this you need to connect a mini audio plug into the front audio input on the HD radio. I have to pull the front fairing for some other work, so I'll take care of that then.
To those that say screw it I'll use my smart phone. Smart phones have the advantage that they always have the latest information, because the maps and POIs are always being downloaded. And there is the clincher!! If you are out in the never land with no cell service, you are screwed. Also, in heavily populated urban areas the updates can come late if not at all. I have had this experience using my cell phone for a GPS in a rental car several times. Now I bite the bullet and get NeverLost.
To those that say screw it I'll use my smart phone. Smart phones have the advantage that they always have the latest information, because the maps and POIs are always being downloaded. And there is the clincher!! If you are out in the never land with no cell service, you are screwed. Also, in heavily populated urban areas the updates can come late if not at all. I have had this experience using my cell phone for a GPS in a rental car several times. Now I bite the bullet and get NeverLost.
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Thread Starter
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Road Warrior
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 1,335
Likes: 5
From: CT
Like any good Winter hdforums thread, this one has gotten a bit snippy and personal. Nature of the beast(s). Anyway, the overwhelming majority of folks love it or at least like it a lot despite a few shortcomings. Thanks again folks for your input.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus
Road Master
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 876
Likes: 4
From: Waskom, TX
Who said anything about "while in motion?" It has buggy text entry even in the house. Do not put words into my mouth, and then presume to tell me how bright I am when you got it wrong.
And the wind noise changes with that voice volume. Why does the interface module activate the intercom/mic at all? That's a bug in the interface module.
You can, but then, surprise surprise, it no longer auto zooms. I wanted that to work WITHOUT the random freezing up for several seconds at a time.
No, they sure didn't. They still failed to read sometimes, and took a long time to reindex when the device finally recognized the card. (When this bug appears, you also cannot import routes from the MicroSD card. It is a MicroSD or filesystem bug, not a music bug.)
I did download the manual. It described how the device SHOULD work, if it didn't have all those bugs. But the bugs were still there.
Yes, I personally put those bugs in it.
Or maybe you're just bitter that you had to pay full price for the privilege of living with them, so you mouth off on the internet to try to mask that bitterness?
I recommend upgrading to a 2014, as a better way to deal with the problems.
EDITED TO ADD: This was a Road Tech Zumo, with Harley firmware. These bugs were present with the latest Harley firmware available at the time I traded in the bike. It's possible that Garmin released newer, better firmware for the non-Harley-branded one, but supposedly those would not work with the Harley interface module. Indeed I might have done better with the Garmin-branded one, since the interface module was utter garbage anyway.
And the wind noise changes with that voice volume. Why does the interface module activate the intercom/mic at all? That's a bug in the interface module.
You can, but then, surprise surprise, it no longer auto zooms. I wanted that to work WITHOUT the random freezing up for several seconds at a time.
No, they sure didn't. They still failed to read sometimes, and took a long time to reindex when the device finally recognized the card. (When this bug appears, you also cannot import routes from the MicroSD card. It is a MicroSD or filesystem bug, not a music bug.)
I did download the manual. It described how the device SHOULD work, if it didn't have all those bugs. But the bugs were still there.
Yes, I personally put those bugs in it.
Or maybe you're just bitter that you had to pay full price for the privilege of living with them, so you mouth off on the internet to try to mask that bitterness?
I recommend upgrading to a 2014, as a better way to deal with the problems.
EDITED TO ADD: This was a Road Tech Zumo, with Harley firmware. These bugs were present with the latest Harley firmware available at the time I traded in the bike. It's possible that Garmin released newer, better firmware for the non-Harley-branded one, but supposedly those would not work with the Harley interface module. Indeed I might have done better with the Garmin-branded one, since the interface module was utter garbage anyway.
1. Does NOT have buggy text entry, it works just fine. Large type mode is a little clunky since the keys are now so big that you can't get an entire QWERTY keyboard onscreen at once. Standard is hard to use while moving (but of course you don't do that anyway). Stopped, standard mode works great.
2. NA
3. NA
4. The latest firmware fixed the "not reading the mp3" error, and it only indexes the first time it finds a new microSD card in place. Also, put your mp3's in folders. The unit seems to work better with the files in folders with no more than 20 files in each one. I keep a little under 2,000 songs on the microSD card, and have no problems.
I'm not going address the smart ***. Hopefully, you now feel better.
I like the Garmin660. I had a car unit on my first bike and just didn't like it. The Zumo is expensive, I won't argue that. But worth it IMO. Kind of like a Harley!
