I realize that most folks on this board have a deeper appreciation for the functionality added to the Zumo 550 than I currently do. I thought that I should lob my contrasting perspective out there just to keep things interesting.
I have used both the Quest and the Conquest for a number of years, and the Conquest does a great job meeting my needs. Choosing between a sub compact unit with a battery life that will get you through 2 days of riding, or a full size unit with satellite radio, MP3, image viewing/slideshow, Bluetooth, and basic weather functions is easy; the big unit’s added value does not exceed the overhead required to drive functionality that I’ll seldom if ever use.
I bring the Conquest with me occasionally when traveling on business, if it looks like personal navigation might be useful. The Conquest is small enough for you to forget that you are carrying in your shirt pocket. This together with the incredible battery life allows you to leave it powered up in your pocket for quick access in a Cab, Bus or on foot if necessary. It will not maintain a strong signal in your pocket, but it does a good job against the window of a Bus, or from the back seat of a Cab. A few years back I took my Wife’s Heritage on a 3,000 road trip through Gettysburg, PA. Her machine doesn’t have a GPS mount, so I stuck the auto windshield mount to her windshield and ran the Conquest without power; I simply recharged the unit every second day.
Relative to the Quest, I haven’t noticed issues with slow operation or refresh speed. I understand that the Conquest has twice the memory of the Quest II, 2 GB, in order to speed up the refresh of the display.
I like the cleanliness of the mount; fairing holes and all. I continue to use it even after experiencing trouble with them on my Road Glide. I ran a fairing mount about 10k miles last season on a FLHX without issue; although I am still somewhat concerned about the mount’s durability. You can run this mount on a batwing CVO if you remove the “padded dash” and find a couple of plugs to fill the holes. If you later remove the GPS fairing mount, you can reinstall the dash pad, and it will cover the GPS mount holes.
If the Zumo was capable of plotting an optimal route through or around bad weather I would pick one up, but the monthly on the weather subscription would have to make sense for pleasure use.
JMHO - djkak