I've read about many-a-roadie putting countless miles on trips. Anyone using a GPS? If so, what brand? I've seen some "motorcycle specific" GPS models out there and am surprised that the salesperson doesn't bring along a finance officer with the sales pitch. The weather proof models are thru the roof! Anyone using a motorcyle specific model that is down to earth in price? $200.00 to $300.00 would be nice rather than $800.00 to $1200.00

If you find one let me know! Been shopping since I got the R* and never found one under $650. I did carry a friends one time and just put it in my backpack whenever I stopped or if the weather got lousy. Just don't leave it on in the sandwich bag. It got a little warm for that!

I use a Nuvi 360, it's not waterproof but then it seems it never rains here anymore so it's no biggie. Ram-mount makes a new waterproof box I'm thinking about getting which will solve that problem anyhow. I agree with the outrageous prices on the bike specific ones, my Nuvi was about $275 and it has all the bells and whistles (plus some I don't even know about yet) but isn't marketed for bikes. My advice is search the web for deals, I got mine for much less than you'd pay at a big box store. Oh yeah, and don't get one with an internal hard drive since it can't handle the vibrations of the bike.

Although not made for a Bike, I bought a TomTom. Then put a third party motorcycle mount on the bike. For about 300 bucks it works fine. Went to Sturgis last year using it with no problems. Stopped an put it up a couple of times when it started raining. Vibration did not affect it like I thought it would. And the darn things are getting cheaper all the time. Definitely a fun gadget for the directionally challenged.

Two guys I ride with bought reconditioned Garmins off eBay and Ram mounts for their bikes at about 1/2 the retail cost. Two years later, they're still working just fine and will be guiding us through New England and Canada this year.

Even ayt 1/2, GPS isn't in my budget yet.

The reconditioned ones don't work in Canada.

Doc

i use a garmin nuvi 360 as well...i am still lookin for a good way to mount it without a windshield but in the mean time it has a headphone jack and it tells you the street names as you turn...i highly recommend this gps or that you consider any gps that says the street name you are turning on and has a headphone jack so you can just leave it in your pocket

I've been watching the Zumo 550 The price moves around daily it went as high as $629.
to as low as $420 Today it $489 at this site
http://www.techondigital.com/product.asp?productid=zumo550

This unit seems to have all the bells and whistles

I bought the new Tom Tom Rider 2nd Edition GPS made specifically for motorcycles. It comes with a unit which attaches to your helmet so that you can hear the direction. While it's a good device, here are my issues with it:

1 - It is Blue Tooth compatible with certain cellphones. Before you kick out some cash for the unit, I would call TomTom to find out if it's compatible with yours. I have a Sprint phone so the TomTom is not Bluetooth compatible. If your phone is compatible, you can take calls while riding--send out text messages. You dial on the console. (Now before anyone starts belly-aching about the safety of this--obviously you would pull off to the side of the rode). You can even set the unit so that you won't receive calls while the bike is in motion.

2 - It's extremely difficult to view the screen while the sun is shining. I'm going to check around to see if there's anything to cover this defect.

3 - TomTom offers tons of extra features for the gadget. If you're really into high tech stuff--you'll love it but you have to subscribe to the services.

4 - I shopped around and got the unit for $560. That is still high but this is the latest, revised model.

The pro's are just that pro:

1 - It's made specifically for bikes. You can type while wearing gloves.

2 - It's water proof;

3 - U can easily adjust the sound--which sticks into your helmet and can still hear at 60+ MPH;

4 - Cool features like, you can set it to warn you if you go over a set speed limit. I have it ring me if I go over 60 MPH;

5 - Plug and Play is pretty simple;

6 - You can back up the unit on your P.C.;

7 - It automatically finds you. A lot of GPS units takes time to locate your positions. My Garmin takes about 3 -4 minutes to find me;

8 - Maps are already preloaded;

9 - It's easy to assemble on your handlebars;

10 - I believe you get 8 hours of life time from a charge.

I compared it to other "motorcycle" GPS units and for me--this was the perfect model. My complaints are really no big deal but I really would love to par it with my cell phone.

cheers!

There have been some problems reported about people picking up viruses on their PC's from downloads on the Tom-Tom website. You might want to be aware of that.