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Taking off the Garmin

1K views 15 replies 7 participants last post by  Peter Goldwing 
#1 ·
So my bike had a Garmin Zumo when I bought it. It's mounted on a Ram mount on the left handlebar clutch handle perch.
I never cared for GPS, and while I use Google maps when traveling for work, I've never been lost on a Goldwing. Taken some roads that I didn't mean to take, but I'm still not lost !!!

So I wanted to take the Garmin off , but keep it for a just in case. Would I be safe to just tuck the wires back in the handlebar and leave them connected wherever they connect to?
That way if I ever wanted to use it the wires are there ?
I plan to use the Ram mount for a cup holder.
 
#5 ·
Yeah GPS is my first choice when I want to get lost.

Now my new insurance has given me a GPS tracker for my car. On one trip it showed me accelerate from 1 mph to 138 mph while making a U-turn, then running up to 154 mph in about 100 yards and making another U-turn, still holding the 154 mph.

The insurance people said they think it was an error of some kind. :?

Anyway, I don't care for GPS.
 
#8 ·
I use the GPS all the time - whether or not I need directions. It's great to get an idea of what's coming up on the road: sweeping curve or sharp switchback turn, blind intersection at the apex, etc. Also use the speed display as often as I use the bike's (or the car's/motorhome's) speedometer.
 
#9 ·
There is one sure fire method to make sure that a GPS gets scrambled and seems unable to take you on the most logical route.


That is to turn it ON while you are moving after it has been OFF for several days and you enter an address to go to BEFORE it can get locked in solid....


The ephemeris in it is totally off, and it can't get locked in perfectly like it should.
I have noticed this many times when my GPS wants me to go north, when I know that I must go south.....


the simple fix, is to turn it off, come to a full stop, allow it to find the satellites again, and then enter the address all over as a brand new search.... that fixes it for me 99% of the time.


I always wait for the GPS to get locked onto the current location before I start out on a trip and need to use it.
 
#14 ·
When we did the Eastern Oregon trip this summer the GARMIN was very useful and kept us on track. Each road on this trip was carefully chosen. Nearly all of them were a combination of back country and Forest Service roads. Many were poorly marked and not shown on the printed maps we had. Our planning was to keep the traveling between 180-240 miles. These routes were laid out in Google MyMaps and then uploaded into the GARMIN. It seemed like everyday I stopped the group because we had missed a turn. The GARMIN was always right. On the flip side, the trip was pretty much locked in and we followed the plan. One of the riders in the group wanted to deviate and repeat what was a great section of road. In the end he broke off to about half a day and we met up at the hotel that night.
I believe the trip was better because of the careful planning and having the GARMIN. We were able to stay on course even at the expense of missing some unplanned areas. I have experienced many GARMIN induced round about ways on car trips. This was the first time I used MyMaps and loaded the into the GARMIN. It worked great and I wouldn't do it any other way.
 
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