Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[1abastarsmda]

On my way to meet up for the GTG in Maggie Valley, I was stopped for gas in WV.  I decided to try out a different setting on my Garmin...Avoid Highways or Toll Roads or whatever that one is.  I left the gas station and my Garmin took me on an adventure that lasted about 3 hrs that took me from one back road to another and finally put me on a 1 lane partially paved road that was more like a long tunnel through the trees.  It was a winding mountain road that would surely compete with the Dragon.  For about 30 miles, I kept thinking that this road is going to end somewhere, and I was afraid to stop and try to turn around for fear a tribe of Pygmies might come out of the woods.  When I finally came back to a normal road, I had netted 2 miles from my starting point and it turned out to be a total wash when I ended up at the same gas station changing back my settings after 3 hrs.  Once I changed the settings back, I was only about 1 mile from the interstate highway that I needed to be on.

I have had many occasions where my Garmin has told me to turn on roads when there are no roads anywhere in sight.  That's not really a problem with the Garmin unit itself, but rather some incorrect mappings that the unit relies upon.  Luckily, it will always recalculate and still get you to where you are going even when you pass up the imaginery roads that don't exist.

[J-Carr]

I know that's the theory, Bungy - and sometimes (but hardly ever!) it works. Maybe it's because our European maps are different, but several times I've been say 100 miles away from home, stuck in the CD and calculated the route.  When it says you can start, change the CD for a music one, set off on the route, and not deviate, when it starts saying please insert the CD again; even though the road is exactly the one, unchanged, it's directed you down.  What also doesn't help of course is the maps are years out of date, and the MoCo have made no updates available - even if it did reliably work as you say (and yes, occasionally I've seen it do that!) as soon as you come to a changed bit of road, it hasn't a clue.

You have to ask - how hard would it have been to stick an SD Card reader on the thing to load the maps from, without you having to keep swapping CDs... 

Jim

The reason it hardley ever works is the fudge factor between the maps and reality and the +/- of GPS itself.  And minor changes in road configuration due to construction.  Any time you're traveling and the unit thinks you've left the route it wants you to be on it requires the CD to be reinserted.  Even if it's only for a second.  So it's not likely to ever work in reality without the CD in place.  If you need to use it, the odds are you are on a long enough jaunt to need gas.  As soon as you ask it for food or fuel you need the disk.  If you stop without asking it, you need the disk.

Since XM pi$$ed me off so badly with poor customer service last year I refuse to ever pay them another dime.  So I started using the CD player to put mix MP3's in and I went back to my old Quest and velcro'd it the handlebar using the car mount with the sction cup removed and just plugged the power adapter speaker into the cig lighter.  And then when any one looked at it I explained how this was the flagship Harley and look at the quality equipment it comes with...

Ride Safe,
JC

[Eqcons]

The reason it hardley ever works is the fudge factor between the maps and reality and the +/- of GPS itself.  And minor changes in road configuration due to construction.  Any time you're traveling and the unit thinks you've left the route it wants you to be on it requires the CD to be reinserted.  Even if it's only for a second.  So it's not likely to ever work in reality without the CD in place.  If you need to use it, the odds are you are on a long enough jaunt to need gas.  As soon as you ask it for food or fuel you need the disk.  If you stop without asking it, you need the disk.

Yup, exactly so, JC. 

I say again, how hard would it have been for them to stick an SD card slot on the unit..... 

Jim

[J-Carr]

Yup, exactly so, JC. 

I say again, how hard would it have been for them to stick an SD card slot on the unit..... 

Jim

Not all that hard, but it would require a major IC board redesign to handle to different software data input devices.  Since the rest of the technoloy in that unit is about 6 years out of date (it was new five years ago right?) I guess the MoCo feels that they should wait until they come out with a completely redesigned unit.  Kinda like waiting for a watercooled engine in a touring bike... 

It would be sooo easy to mount an aftermarket DVD based pop out touch screen GPS/radio/video system into that space.  But I use the CB and Intercom all the time.  One of these days I'm gonna have to give some serious consideration to modifying a J&M CB unit to hide somewhere other then on the handle bar and make a real electronics package for my bike.

Ride Safe,
JC

[Eqcons]

Not all that hard, but it would require a major IC board redesign to handle to different software data input devices.  Since the rest of the technoloy in that unit is about 6 years out of date (it was new five years ago right?) I guess the MoCo feels that they should wait until they come out with a completely redesigned unit. 

Yes, but SD Card - for GPS as well as cameras, was hardly new then, and that WAS the redesign! A little more thought would have made it so much better.....  Even sufficient NVRAM to load the Map data from an entire CD at a time...... After all, it really is a great design, with the modular approach, for Intercom, AM/FM Radio, CD, MP3, GPS, CB, XM (in North America), and Bluetooth (such a shame they discontinued that!), with space reserved (according to the wiring diagram) for future devices, and user upgradable firmware. And it all integrates so beautifully into bike's hand controls....

It's all-in-all a fantastic unit, with very few shortcomings - shame the GPS is one of them, but even so, it's better than no GPS at all.

Jim

[aktung]

FYI--- In about 45-60 days the unit featured on the mid year black se will be available for all SE bIKES.I do not know yet what it will cost but it will replace the current dash pad with a mount integrated for a 660 series GPS. Expect the cost to be about $139.95.

[Diamondback]

 

I'm ready.