If you want to try something different, http://www.tyretotravel.com/ works great for me and is a free app. I have an ancient TomTom and will share maps with a riding buddy who has a Garmin. Sometimes I use the HD Ride Planner and download to the Tyre app. Whatever you're comfortable with.

 

I use rideplanner as well and discovered using the waypoints as well. One glitch though, if I remember correctly, is you are limited to the number of waypoints on a route.

 

OK - this is timely because I was thinking about getting a 665 - how do you guys like it? Is it durable? One of my ride buddies said you shake the crap out of it when you mount it on the fairing with the HD mount, and it breaks...you guys have any experience to offer? Its a clean looking install.

 

Yep, I learned that a few years ago. I enter all of the Hot Rod Power Tour routes into my Garmin using ride planner just as you describe.
Followed the listed route perfectly.

Ride Planner works!

 

That is true. I can't remember the exact number.
But it really only affects you when you have a longer fairly complex route planned.

When that happened to me on one trip, I broke the days drive up into "before lunch and after lunch", since I knew the exact spot we were stopping for lunch.

 

Base Camp is nice, but difficult to use. Needed if you want to download a route you rode using the Garmin 660/665 tracks, then save to GPX file. I used to use the HD Ride Planner and it's a great program but has limitations on number of waypoints (I think it's 20). Tyre as I quoted, is my all time favorite to use. Has a limitation of 1000 waypoints per file. Try a few different programs and see which you like.

 

I use Garmin Basecamp. I'm happy with it. Granted it had a learning curve (for me anyway never having used route planning software of any kind) and the instructions two years ago when I started using it left something to be desired. But I've found the improvements that Garmin makes every year have made it better and easier to use.

 

Wow, OK so now I've tried HD Planner again using the waypoints (thanks jlj6t), and it seems to be exporting the entire route now, way cool!

I also started messing around with BaseCamp after watching the videos on how to use it, and that's pretty awesome also! I don't know what the hell to use now - haha!

 

Stupid dup post... sorry.

 

+1 on tyre and hd ride planner
I use both.
I browse routes that others have posted on ride planner and either export them directly to my garmin or i copy into tyre and modify it.
I find tyre easier to use for new routes. Tried to use mapsource( old garmin software) but never got the hang of it. Basecamp is newer version that came with my new zumo. Havent played with that yet.

Btw, even though the hd roadtech is the same unit as the regular zumo 660/665, the zumo 660/665 WONT work with hd' NIM.