I love this product. I honestly, don't know what I would have done without it on a 9000 mile loop of the US that I made on my 2003 Harley in August of 2008. In addition to guiding my way through unknown wilderness without ever losing a signal even among the tall forests of Northern California and keeping me company one night when even truckers had the good sense to pull over rather than dare the desolate mountains (that were on fire!) at night, it was a great sense of comfort and help when trying to find lodging, and especially GAS!
That said, Garmin's not going to win any kudos for using maps that are at least 50 years out of date. I expected the maps that came with the unit to be a little more current for a new device, not to mention rather new technology. Maybe that's how they get their residuals on a product that is astonishingly free to use the GPS service. As, while firmware updates are free to download, map updates are rather pricy. Considering the accuracy of the included maps, I'm very reluctant to gamble that their latest (yearly?) update will be much better, even though they clearly have much room for improvement. I've found a number of major roads I frequently travel in NC and TN that were shifted or even layed over 20 years ago that aren't accurately recorded, some aren't even included. While it's kind of funny when the GPS shows you riding through pasteurs or even a lake alongside the road you're on, it's less cute when it detours you off a major highway, just to essentially cut the corner with a pair of exit ramps and re-emerge on the same road you just left.
But that's the least of the adventure that might lay ahead. In Wyoming it had me turn off a major highway that was hardly new itself, to climb a narrow, winding hillside, which was mapped perfectly, turn for turn, until I came to a dead end that the Garmin showed to keep on going. Looking over the gate at the end of this road that was only still open because of a seemingly little-used campsite at the top of the mountain, I couldn't even see any sign that a road had ever been there, just a steep dropoff and thick vegetation. If the road ever continued, it must have been closed off more than 50 years ago. Dodging deep potholes and large piles of both hard and fresh dung that had yet to be flattened, left by some animal I half-hoped not to encounter for fear that it would be a long time before the next passer-by (unless they have a Garmin GPS too), I made my way back to the road I was previously traveling where the Garmin quickly corrected itself.
That's one of the great things about a GPS, it quickly recalculates your route, if you miss a turn, hit a detour, or even if it's what messes you up and it warns about sharp curves in the road ahead. But, Wyoming was far from the only time I wondered if God was trying to tell me something (I'm not always the best listener) or maybe just trying to hold me up, as shortly after one such event in northern California, where the Garmin couldn't seem to get its bearing and then just as suddenly corrected itself, I rode up on a bike accident in the middle of nowhere that took several hours before emergency services were able to land a chopper to fly one of the riders to the nearest emergency center in Nevada. I wasn't much help; but I stuck around, just in case I was being called to lend a hand.
Of course, like anything I guess, it's a products problems that are most remembered, even something rather insignificant like a five mile detour just to have you turn around at the next major intersection and head back the way you came, when any business or smaller road along the way would have done just fine, all because you were facing the wrong way when you programmed in a new address. And, of course, there are things that aren't it's fault, like two different houses within 5 miles of each other outside Atlanta, that both have the exact same address - go figure. We sometimes tend to be overly quick to forget how dependable and helpful a thing has been before it has failed us. And many times did this GPS pull me out of a jam, find alternate routes when road construction had me baking in the hot sun, and helped me find a place to eat or lay my head when delays on the road held me up. More importantly it eased my worry that gas was within reach when my needle was hovering on empty. It also kept me from paying over $1 more per gallon at a station in the Southern California desert that seemed to prey on unsuspecting travelers who haven't seen a station in awhile and are unaware of their options just a couple miles ahead.
Being made to take the pounding and weather of riding, this GPS cost more than a standard model made solely for a car. Since I bought mine, you can now even get the same thing from Harley for nearly twice the price if you want it in black with an HD logo. But, if it's anything like their helmets, the premium is for the HD name more than any improvements, that and the lack of retailer discounting by Harley. By comparison the price of the original seems a bargain. This Zumo 550 has been through some blistering hot rides and some fairly cold weather too. It's been through rainstorms, windstorms, and over 10,000 miles on a Harley Fatboy that, while big and heavy, isn't really the smoothest riding bike for long treks. I even dropped the bike once when a strong gust caught me tired and unprepared in Yellowstone. And the GPS has fallen from the windshield to the floor of my truck several times when the car windshield adapter failed to stick due to dramatic changing temperatures and/or changing humidity outside during the course of the day (not to worry, the bike mount uses a handlebar clamp that won't budge, unless you adjust it, and licking the suction cup on the car windshield mount seems to do the trick too).
The elevation never had any effect on this GPS either. If memory serves, about 9000 feet above see level was the highest I climbed. Checking the elevation is a neat feature to have, in the Rockies especially. This thing has far too many features to mention, but ones that proved especially useful or interesting on my trip include: compass, current time, arrival time (constantly recalculated), fastest speed, average speed, current speed (accuracy varies depending on signal strength), non-blinding nighttime mode (automatically comes on at pre-set time, but can be disabled or adjusted manually), gas, restaurant, attraction, and lodging finder (includes phone numbers to check vacancy and rates beforehand). For a GPS designed for bikes, it surprisingly didn't include HD dealerships or service centers, though it did include such for most major car dealerships and service stations. So, Harley's tour guide with maps and dealer locations was still necessary when looking for service centers and helpful in plotting out where to go next, as I didn't really plan much over a day ahead during the month I was traveling. Also, maybe they did this to encourage pulling over instead of doing a search while riding (it's really easy to operate even while moving), but when looking for a hotel, the Garmin recalculates so often (searches for new options as your moving) that, after a mile or so, before you've had the chance to look through all of the previous search results, it searches again, which doesn't bring up any new options as the original results list options up to 100 miles away or more, but it does mean starting over at the beginning of the list, unless you pull off the road when you do your search).
I don't know how Garmin compares to other GPS units. At the time, TomTom was the only viable alternative I found for bikes; and it was getting a lot of negative reviews. This Garmin met my needs and aside from some quirky maps, far exceeded my expectations of how useful a GPS might be. I'm now sold on the technology and would recommend this particular unit to any rider venturing into unfamiliar territory. |
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"Tough, reliable, user-friendly design; really outdated maps; but proved invaluable on a 9000 mile, solo ride."
"Excelente Producto"