I'm looking for a sat nav for my xtz but I'm not sure which one to go for. Is there such a thing as a unit that is good for road and off road use? Also have any of you managed to mount one on the bar above the speedo console? Pics would be great if you have any.

Although dated, the Garmin Zumo 550 is a very popular choice here in Australia. They are still available S/H but starting to become rare now.

I have one mounted on my XT660Z and it works well. However am considering upgrading to a Zumo 390LM with integrated TPMS (Tyre Pressure Monitoring).

Mine has City Navigator and Topo mapping installed....99% of the time City Navigator provides all the information I need.

Garmin Zumo GPS's come with mounting hardware.

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Great stuff I'll have look on ebay. I've ordered a holder for my waterproof phone for now but I want a dedicated gps for the bike eventually.

I have a zumo 550 and I've had it for about 6 or so years and an x forum member for near 5 years. main units still working ok but they have a common problem with the cradle as the charging pins weaken and then fail. this has happened twice with me. but every gps has it's problems.

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Plough on

I've had a Zumo 400 for the last 8 years and swear by it. A good coating of ACF50 on the pins works a treat and it is possible to replace the connector if you can track down the parts.

The Zumo 400 is limited to UK only. To get full European mapping you need to move up to the Zumo 500 or above.

I have a Ducati Monster as my 2nd bike and use the Zumo on it as a speedo as the standard instrument cluster is really hard to read in daylight.

Al.

After deciding to upgrade from a smaller unit, I decided on the Garmin Montana 600.
I also got a AMPS Rugged Mount that fits it (there is one with and one without electrical connections). Decided on the cheaper one that comes without electrical wires. The Montana 600 can go 16 hours on it's own Li-Ion battery or 22 hours on 3 AAA's. I intend fitting a USB socket on the Tenere for charging the unit.
The connection between the top bar and the AMPS Mount is a GPS handlebar mount with a rubber spacer to fit around the thin top bar.



This is what the setup with the Montana 600 looks like. I have the South African as well as the Australian Topo maps on it and have used it in both countries

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2014 XT660Z - Barrett pipe, DNA stage1.5, Barkbuster hand guards and handlebars, Pivot pegs, Teknik suspension, Guard-it engine protector combo, B&B rear rack, Trax topbox.

Hi I use a tomtom xxl 5 inch screen from the car at the moment it fits in a waterproof case which clamps to the bracing bar of the handlebars its ok but the mount wont quite fit on the gps bar above the clocks you need a ram mount type attachment I think touratec do a auxillary bar for the ten. When i get time I will be looking for a better mount for my car gps as looking down in traffic is not good!! When I used mine i had to keep stopping and studying the route while in bradford to find the road i wanted.

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XTz 660 tenere, adventure spec bash plate, main stand, skid marks tall screen, Oxford tail pack 36 litre. Kobra hand guards, Bigger cast footpegs, Zen overland luggage plate, USB power point, iridium spark plug, TKC80 f k60 R tyres, o2 and fuel Kev mods, DNA stage 2 filter. bark buster bar wieghts, Touratec side stand base and GPS mount. Led spot lights

I use a Zumo 550 and it's perfect for this application, though a bit long in the tooth now.

I did take a look at the newer offerings from Garmin, but they never really gave me anything over the Zumo. For such an old unit (must be close to 10 years old now), it's a testament to it's versatility that Garmin still support these. They still hold a good price on the 2nd hand market to.

I've had a few problems over the years (nine that I've had this unit), sometimes they can lock up, so you have to disconnect the battery to reset (lesson there was to carry the right sized allen key to remove the battery!), the touch screen went so I got a new one off eBay for a few quid, and last year in torrential rain the screen seal let in a pinprick of water (you'd be amazed how much chaos that caused!), but this was easily fixed to. Most of these things are covered on YouTube, so straightforward to perform.

Some of the features I really like on the Zumo is WAAS support, so your position is calculated by both GPS and land based augmentation systems. I also like the road / off road navigation facility and the easy at which you can create your route on a PC/Laptop then drop it effortlessly onto the Zumo. Repairs don't always mean the bin or specialist tools either.

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