Garmin zumo 550 Motorcycle Navigator

Customize your ride with zumo 550 Motorcycle Navigator, the rugged motorcycle navigator that's born to ride. Designed by bikers, zumo 550 Motorcycle Navigator's motorcycle-friendly features make it easy to operate while in the saddle. From back roads to rallies, its preloaded maps and high-end navigation features give you the freedom to go where you want. With optional XM subscriptions and an XM antenna, you can check the weather, move ahead of traffic and listen to the radio when you travel with zumo 550 Motorcycle Navigator. It is also compatible with Garmin's Tour Guide, a free utility that allows you to build and upload a database of POIs that are encoded with photos and MP3 files.

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• Reviewed by:

  12-09-07

  Duration of ownership: 1 Months

  Strengths: Excellent out of the box installiation. Recommend to all motorcycles.

  Weaknesses:None noted to date.

  Overall Evaluation: Easy to use. Navagates both on the land and on the ocean and in the woods. You cannot go wrong with this product. A must have for all. I have no complaints.

• Reviewed by: drewduffy1

  10-08-07

  Duration of ownership: 1 Months

  Strengths: easy to use even with my cold weather gloves on!

  Weaknesses:I don't have enough vacation time to ride more!

  Overall Evaluation: "I received my Zumo 550 in the mail on the day I was leaving for a five day motorcycle trip. I did not have time to read the instructions, only time to mount it and go! The unit was so simple to use I was an expert by the end of the day. I traveled 1900 total miles on this trip and the Zumo 550 became an invaluable tool! I used it in the mountains of North Carolina always expecting the unit to Not know where I was or loose satilites but that Never happened. The built in blooth tooth linked my cell phone and bluetooth headset and I was able to hear directions clearly! With the extra mount for my car, I am able to quickly move the unit from bike to car effortlessly. I look forward to adding the XM antenna to an already feature packed unit. I loaded my 2GB SD card and listened to my favorite music and also loaded pictures of the trip on the unit as well. Don't bother looking at any other units for your motorcycle, THIS IS IT!!" ****You must use a wireless(blue tooth) or wired earpiece to use this on a bike which I have seen a few people complain about but how else would you hear a GPS on a bike at highway speeds?? This also alows you to link your blue tooth phone as well.

• Reviewed by: on2wheels

  07-03-07

  Duration of ownership: 7 Days

  Strengths: Easy to set up and use. Portability between bike & cage is great! Overall functionality is great. Display is very readable.

  Weaknesses:Thumb screw on mounting bracket defeats the "security screw". Ability to create and download routes from PC needs to be improved. Universal mount not easy to use on BMW touring bike.

  Overall Evaluation: Overall the ease of use is very good. The kit includes the GPS, a motorcycle mount that can be configured 2 different ways, a car mount, and the software. Overall this package is very versatile and covers a wide range of uses. I've been very pleased with the unit. There are a few things that could be improved. Example, the motorcycle mount has an extension with a thumb screw that allows you to adjust the angle of the GPS unit. The thumb screw can be loosened, and the entire GPS unit can be removed from the bike. With this flaw, why put a security screw that keeps the GPS "locked" to the GPS mounting head? One defeats the other. I'd also like to see a better wiring pig tail on the motorcycle power cord. It's workable but very thin. It's been easy to learn the GPS software for the zumo, but the software included for the PC is not overly user friendly. I can adapt, but better user functionality would be better. Other mapping software is much friendlier. To correct one reviewer who said that there's no way to listen to the voice prompt's while on the bike, this info is not correct. The Zumo provides a 3.5 jack that can be hooked into helmet speakers or earphones. The jack is on the GPS mounting base, not the GPS itself. The universal mounts aren't all that universal. The handlebars on my BMW K1200GT don't have either space for the "U" bolt, or the clutch mounting set up that the 2nd adapter is for. I found a set up that will work, but have ordered a different version of the RAM mount that should integrate it better. My honda 600rr also does not have room for the "U" bolt adapter, but will most likely work with the clutch mount. Again, overall I'm very pleased with the zumo, and look forward to many more miles with it on both the bikes and the car.

• Reviewed by: mikepotter

  06-30-07

  Duration of ownership: 7 Days

  Strengths: Quick, easy to use, full of features, reliable.

  Weaknesses:Doesn't list as many surrounding street names on the map as I thought it would and you have to 'request directions to' points of interest instead of them just being listed on the map.

  Overall Evaluation: Love it! Just used it on a cross country drive and it really helps to keep me on track. The situational awareness is priceless. I never once missed an exit as I set it to 'alert' me of any turns. I haven't even explored a fraction of its functions and already love this GPS unit. I have used in dash units and this portable one seems to stack up to those just fine AND with some added features like the MP3 and Bluetooth.

• Reviewed by: Stubenville

  06-07-07

  Duration of ownership:

  Strengths: Fairly well thought through. Car cradle with speaker a nice bonus.

  Weaknesses:Software infuriatingly complex. Laughable security. Battery requires tools to replace.

  Overall Evaluation: I've had a Zumo 550 for about a week and my impression is favorable overall. I just keep thinking 'If only..." The software is badly written, with settings in odd places and necessary functions poorly implemented (example - to set the audio level for spoken directions you press a button with a 'musical note' icon, then a button with a 'speaker' icon from an array of other music controls which then displays a pair of volume controls, one for music, one for spoken commands. To get back to the map you hit a 'back' key twice which dumps you into the main screen and then you select the 'map' key, not the 'where to' key that you first got to the map with. Confused yet? There SHOULD be a 'return to map' button under the volume control. The included MapSource software for your PC is counterintuitive at best. The only nice thing I can say about it is that it makes the programming on the Zumo look brilliant.Garmin makes a big deal about their special locking screw to keep the Zumo from being stolen from the mount. They even include a special machined screwdriver with a screw on sleeve to put on your key ring. Nice touch. So why is the factory mount held together with a THUMBSCREW that anyone can undo? Okay, Garmin does include an option for a locking code, but it's not set by default and it's unlikely that a thief will give the GPS back when they can't unlock it.And, last the pronunciation of certain street names is hysterically bad. Okay, it's a computer and I expect 'Bala Cynwyd' to trip it up, but pronouncing 'Boot Road' like "buuuutrd" made me laugh out loud.

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