I have also seen two motorcycles that have the Garmin model 176 or 176C (colour) mounted on them.

If you do NOT need auto-routing information (meaning, to have the GPS choose the route for you and advise you of when to turn left and right), then by far the best unit to consider purchasing is either the 176 or 176C, as Jay suggests in his post above.

These two units were designed primarily for marine use, and they offer the user much more control over the display on the screen - for example, to have compass heading displayed, to view the map from different perspectives, etc. For 'off road' (dual sport or pure off road work, like crossing deserts) the 176 or 176C would be a far better (and less expensive) choice than the StreetPilot III. In my case, riding a ST1100, I am almost always on streets or roads, this is why I chose the StreetPilot III.

StreetPilot = fantastic for 'streets'. 176 or 176C = fantastic for 'navigation'.

Note that the 176 and 176C will also display the same street information as the StreetPilot III, if you load the appropriate cartographic data into it. They just don't have the auto route creation capability. Note also that auto route creation ability is only available in Canada, the US, and Western Europe. So if you will not be spending your time in these three areas, there is no advantage at all to buying the StreetPilot III.

[This message has been edited by PanEuropean (edited 08 February 2002).]