There is gear and there is getting the gears. Oy. I have read just about every bit-O-lit on GPS units. I want to equip my GS1200 Adv. with a good reliably and SIMPLE GPS unit but I gotta tell ya, after reading volume after volume of high tech mumbo jumbo I'm lost, which is probably why GPS units are good for people like me. Any suggestions as to which works best would be greatly appreciated. Keep in mind - I am a techno weenie. I like simple turn it on, turn it off, big buttons and simple destructions. I swear if Fisher Price made one I'd seriously consider it!

About to get lost. Actually, looking forward to getting lost...

Cheers,

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Ride Safe...Stu

what are you going to do with it? you can get autorouting GPSs with voice prompts and gas stations and hotels and such or you can get dead basic ones that give you a bearing and a big arrow to follow pointing to where you want to be.
ones not much use in mongolia and ones not much use in rush hour westminster

stand out from the crowd Stu, why dont you be the only GSer out there without a GPS on a flash rubber mounted touratech bracket?

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dave

oh, sorry mate, that really doesnt answer your question very well, does it.

ive had two GPSs on my bikes, both garmin, both using mapsource and city select software but very different.
the first one was a PDA type that was great in the car but a pain in the ass on a bike, it had a nice big screen but wasnt waterproof so had to go in a tankbag, which meant every time the map pocket touched the screen it went haywire.
the one i got now is a nice simple QUEST, a small screen and a little slow to type in commands but much less hassle than the IQUE was, and its waterproof so it just sits on a little bracket on the top yoke. the screen is small but glare proof so you can see it even in bright sunlight. battery life is 10hrs too so you dont even need to wire it in if you dont want to, although the voice prompts only come through the charger bracket so you might as well. (i have found riding a bike is too quick for the voice prompts to catch up, by the time it says "in 200 yards....."ive gone past the junction. so i dont bother with it now, just watch the screen)
oh, and i like it because its small enought to go hiking with too, if you load it with geo mapping instead of roads.

there are loads of units to choose from now, it seems to be the next "must have" accessory for motorists so you can get them everywhere.

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dave

I would like to sugest the Garmin gpsmap 60cs, or the csx version if you like brand new. It's small, very simple to use and you can find the older cs versions for cheap. Get Worldmap, load it and go! If you like more acuracy, you can get other map programs like Wanderlust? from www.smellybiker.com
The 60 takes up very little space, is very durable and you can get cheap cradels from RAM and nice shiny ones from touratech. If your not a techie, i would sugest a gps with mapping capabilities, pictures instead of numbers, you know

hi mrRon, thats funny i was going to recommend the 60CS because i like the rubber armour and general feeling of indestructability it has, but ive never used one so i didnt want anyone telling me theyre crap and thats what im full of!!

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dave

''---------stand out from the crowd Stu, why dont you be the only GSer out there without a GPS on a flash rubber mounted touratech bracket ? --- ""

ROFLMAO !!!!!!!!!!!

But anyway here is a link that might be useful .
GPS Central (Canada) 'GARMIN 60 series Comparison' Page

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Blessed are the cracked, for they let in the light. - Spike Milligan
"When you come to a fork in the road ,take it ! When you come to a spoon in the road ,take that also ."

I'm also puzzling over gps. I'm currently using an old point and shoot style Garmin (GPS11+) which gives lat/lon, speed and not much else and I want to replace it with something that'll work for two trips this year.

Trip 1 is UK thru Europe to Turkey so a pretty moving map style display a la TomTom rider would be great. I know there's a lot of stuff out there that would work for this trip but ...

Trip2 is UK to Mali next Dec. I've got a large collection of paper maps for this route and have played with calibrating one or two for use with Ozi Explorer. What I need is some information on what hardware I need to run Ozi Ex. (I'm on a bike so a laptop is out) and whether the same kit will be usable for trip 1. Anyone got this kind of setup working ?

You can use a PDA with OziexplorerCE .. note the CE addition.
You can get older russian maps for the trip2 off www.madmappers.com - Maps and other GIS for Africa and much much more .. look for raster maps .. russian and down load - alerady for OzieCE..

I'm using a Ipac 2195 .. has surviced abuse on the bike .. not water resistant - cover with glad wrap or in a tank bag .. I link it to a 60Cx .. so have two maps running .. one on the PDA the other on the GPs. Some people run the Ipac 1950 ? that too works .. you want an ARM processor to run the .ecw maps .. Problem with the PDA - screen will wash out in bright sunshine. Teh GPS is much better in sun.

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Regards Frank Warner
motorcycles BMW R80 G/S 1981, BMW K11LT 1993, BMW K75 G/S

Now I'm really confused but I kind of like the idea of being the only (c'mon there must be one more out there..) GSer without a 'you are here map' mounted in Titanium. Unfortunately I get lost at the drop of a hat, well except for riding on the Prairries - morning - warm back = must be going west... Thanks for all the info, I'll let you know what I end up with. Ever seen a GS with a sextant mounted on it? No batteries required. No buttons either. May the force be with me.

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Ride Safe...Stu

I have a Garmin ZUMO 550 which i got on eBay for $750 (retail $1050 or so). Made specifically for motorcycles. Big buttons so you can keep your gloves on. Lots of capability including bluetooth. see Zumo 550 Forum :: Index
Lakota
R1150 RT
F650 GS
You are not lost if you don't care where you are.

Another vote here for the Zummo 550 - as complicated or simple as you want to make it AND its especially designed for motorbikes.

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There are no simple ones. People say this one or that one is simple but it's just not true. At least not if you are a non-techie like me (and bloody lazy). I have had a Garmin 60C hard-wired and Ram-mounted to my bike for about two years. Great set-up, easy to remove, easy to use on the move etc. But I reckon I have learned to use about 10% of its capability. Took me six months to find the clock; still haven't quite got the hang of routing; the whole highway feature is a mystery; etc etc. Mostly I've found it useful for getting a basic direction reading so I can get out of unfamiliar towns and cities and back onto the highway. Very good for this.

Operating the gps is easier if you have the all the expensive software that makes operation easier. But who can afford it for all the different continents? And most of the places I have ridden don't have it anyway and I end up using Garmin's crappy Worldmap.

So...

If I were to spend a gazillion dollars all over again and set-up a gps on the bike I'd go for one at the cheap end of the range, has a big screen, and has the fewest features possible. Not particularly helpful I know, but then I'm not sure owning a gps for two years makes me qualified to advise just yet, if you get my drift.

Good luck
Brett