I have yet to find the ideal GPS that is perfect for my needs but the Garmin GPSmap 60Csx nearly fits the bill for me.
It's robust, waterproof and reasonably small. The aerial is better than many so position acquisition is rapid and it copes very well on sunken, tree covered lanes.
After you smash the garmin mount, buy the Ram version or, if you’re really flush, the TT locking one. I have a little lanyard on my unit, tied onto the handlebars just in case.

The only problem I have had is that sometimes, after a big off, the SD card gets dislodged and you loose the map until you take out the card, blow on it and put it back.
(I’m sure the blowing bit is really important J )
Good points are; you can use it in the p*ssing rain with gloves on (try that with a smart phone). When it’s clarted in mud you can wash it off under the tap. When you drop it, it seems to bounce quite well without damage.

As one of the other posters said, redundancy is important. All your eggs in one basket ?, I don’t think so.
I have my Map60, paper map and silva compass for navigation and also quite like the old fashioned route card.
I have a smart phone but also a cheap dumb phone in reserve.

Disagree with everything said here.... but won't bother continuing, clearly your experiences with Garmin have been a world apart from mine, I certainly couldn't be bothered downloading half a dozen programs to get a mediocre GPS device.

Forgot to mention, with Garmin and Mapsource, no internet connection is required to plan your routes on the move.

Safe Riding.

Some interesting divergence of opinion about garmin service standards, but those views are based on experiences at opposite sides of the world - could it be that the garmin backup is variable, depending where you are based?

Also, it seems that if a gps unit is purchased in the far east then it has to be returned there for any service needs; is this a policy elsewhere? If a unit is bought in, say, the States or Europe does it have to go back there for warranty claims? I guess so, going by other types of consumer products.

Yep, the robustness of mobile smart phones remains an issue; I remember a few years ago the ordinary mob phones came in a few different rubber-coated "waterproof" styles, marketed as phones for the building site for instance, but I don't see smart phones like this.

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Dave

I have taken a look at this website but I don't have a smart phone right now.
The site is impressive in what "it says it does on the tin" & and I can see why this is serious competition for those selling stand alone GPS.
It is early days in this field of technology and I always try to avoid being the beta tester!!

Smart phones (a name recently referred to elsewhere as a misnomer and they are better called mobile computers that happen to have a telephone capability) could usefully have a thread all of their own somewhere in here (but where based on their extreme versatility???)

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Dave

I am not clear how that works out.
Reading, for instance, feedback about the 60CX model of Garmin it indicates that a USB connection to a computer is needed to change over the map in use - all that stuff about only one IMG file in use at any one time.

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Dave

Nice review!
Some models seem to have the SD card behind the battery compartment cover; in this case how does the "open ended" SD card slot stand up to that pissing rain riding day? Say 5+ hours of lashing rain combined with turbulence from the wind shield.

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Dave

I've no Idea what a 60X model is.. but motorcycle specific units have all the mapping programmed into them, thus a custom route can be created on the move, though it's a bit long winded.

A good solution would be to put Mapsource onto one of those little notebook thingies.. and use that. (I don't)

As said, no internet connection needed once it's set up..

Absolutely ,, only fools in all things ,, especially in finance ,, would put all the eggs in one basket.

I put all the eggs ,, only into my wife and daughter.

This is how I do it.
I use my Android S2,, soon to change for S3, which is between the Galaxy Note and S2 in size,,as my main HUBB,, on and off line maps ,, huge resources to make sure my Garmin doesn't screw me as it often has.

Then I carry a tank ,, a HP notebook, that has traveled in my pannier, you can throw it and still works...6x10 inches,,,through thick and thin. All the URLs laid out easy to find, with great info we have here ,,

Then I have the old sam sung slide 3g phone for buying and using local USIMs,,

At the bottom is my ugly Garmin 755T with OSM world map (Another gripe I have,, under system ,,language,, keyboard ,, you will find Flemish to Slovenian ,, heaven sake ,, Slovenian,, but on purpose they have deleted Korean ,, why? They can sell Montana in Korea for USD 900 bucks, with Korean keyboard!)

I power these and a pair great Kuryakin speakers through my heated jacket outlet, which I have installed three of them in case one blows fuse in the middle of the blizzard.

I get live voice over the speaker,, and music suspends during the announcement ,, and with bluetooh headset,, I only take the incoming calls.

As you can see ,, I have spread out my eggs ,, but the rotten egg is at the bottom..

1) Lovely Galaxy S2 screen with my custom routes and colebatch's way points, which I have moderated. on Locus APP
2) My Eggs
3) Ram water proof box
4) Speakers and a cigar lighter so I can light up ,, while cruising. Notice cruising? That's Harley for you.
5) Power source
6) Soon EU rules dictate ,, I carry extinguisher and the triangle. X Reflector only wear it in the rain over my John Galliano rain coat !
Love you Garmin heads ,, regardless of our differences.

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These are very light actually ,,
Extinguisher is 30 cm high by 5cm diameter ,, triangle weights less than 150 Grams ,, and lays down flat at the bottom.
Oh ,, Last year ,, a friends's Harley, while fueling burned total,, new gas station did not yet have the extinguishers by the pump as required,, and the novice attendant over filled it and the engine was very hot. No explosion just fire ,, we had to drag it away on it's sides away from the pump. Gas station ended up paying USD 32,000 for the bike. Since their insurance didn't cover negligence.

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I second that ,, WA ,,!

Continuing my reading in the HUBB about Garmins, I found this thread which has some good stuff from the point of view of those in 4x4s:-
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...inefield-57224

Along the way it also happens to comment on Tom Tom

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Dave

Just been re-reading this thread and you have obviously been upset by Garmin.
What also comes across is that that you might be a bit crap at managing your PC. The Program Files/Garmin directory on mine is only 122mb and that includes Basecamp, POI Loader, USB drivers and Web updater. My Program Data/Garmin dir is only 192k !

I install my maps to a separate drive. Only shortcut placeholders exist on the C drive.

Using a USB socket on a motorcycle is just asking for trouble. The 755T is a car unit, not designed for motorcycles, much less a Harley
Will you PDA fair any better?

Its probably not VFM in many peoples eye's, (it is in mine), but the Montana series is great. I use it on the dirt bike, the road bike, the car and have even been walking with it. Battery life is excellent and has AA capability as backup. Not cheap though.

Fills all the need of a GPS that I have. Maybe you really need a Sat Nav

Cheers,
John

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Nostradamus Ate My Hamster

In that case I can tell you I did just that and bought a used Nuvi for 80 quid for a ride to Morocco and it worked fine, both with gloves, tucked behind the screen in pelting motorway rain and on the piste resting on a bit of tank foam as the Garmin mount would not have been up to it.
Slimmer than a Zumo and a fraction of the price. I also used my 76csx for route logging but the Nuvi (with Olaf for Morocco) added up to great VFM.

Chris S

That Nuvi sounds like VFM to me!

I had read something about the 76 model earlier - probably somewhere else because I was under the impression that it was aimed at marine applications (it is "fully waterproof" - but that needs definition - and it floats if immersed).
Garmin GPSMap 76CSX Consumer Opinion and Feedback
So, why use two Garmins? A genuine question because I have come across this tendency, again elsewhere (often it is because more than one is owned anyway, usually a later model that was purchased as an update to an earlier, obsolete model).

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Dave

Hi Dave,
I dont think my 76 would last long in the water - its not a serious marine unit but good for non-motor powered activities where you go slow enough to be able to read it. If I am sea paddling for example I'd always put it in a bag.
These IP ratings are rather loosely used IMO.

I took 2 to Mk because I know my 76 has to capacity to do the job (logging routes for Morocco II book).

The Nuvi was a last minute experiment and a way of viewing Olaf (a free Morocco piste map 100 x better than garmin base map) on a wider screen. For that it was so much better than the 76 - and it was great in naving around cities too. Also, my 76 is playing up after many years hard use. The Nuvi may have worked as a back up logger and was cheap enough to lose/break. Nice and slim and survived that trip - I am very pleased with it. For plain moto travel with no logging required I would take that.

C

PS (just passed by this on ebay)