More goodies for a long-haul
 

When I bought the BMW this spring it came with a Magellen GPS half-ass mounted to the dash....which was clipped to a socket type slot and it was ALWAYS hanging to one side or the other


http://www.troybaker.com/bmw/rt/rt015.jpg

I hated that crap....but didn't have the dough for a new GPS.

Well I scored a decent used Garmin 450 from fleabay but NOW I needed to mount it. I HAD mounted my ipod to the mirror mounts on my grips using one of these:

http://www.techmounts.com/uploads/pr...00_mounted.jpg

...and that worked OK... but it was sort of in the way

So I found the BMR accessory shelf and got the GPS mount to go with it

Whoo hooo!! everything is out of the way now, and in it's place



http://www.troybaker.com/bmw/rt/rt060.jpg


Also ordered some Police bike light mount brackets and got some inexpensive driving/fog lights for deer spotting while I had the dash all tore appart.



http://www.troybaker.com/bmw/rt/rt062.jpg


http://www.troybaker.com/bmw/rt/rt063.jpg

Now I can spot those bastards hiding on the sides of the road

But now....couple the lights with the Police bag lids (see this pic for difference in standard and police lids) if I wear all black everyone slows to a crawl when I pull up behind them :lol:

Nice...however....I can't un-see it now

that looks like the Zumo 550, I guess the 450 looks the same.

God I *heart* my Zumo 550. Definitely one of the best purchases I have made for my Beemer. Bluetooth to my phone so I know who's calling and has my contacts in it, it's my mp3 player, hooked into the starcom1. Amazing piece of technology.

What size card did you go too? 2 gig now and I've got maybe 25 songs on it maxed out.

wtf size songs are you putting on it to kill a 2 gig card with 25 songs? Or is that the on board memory that you killed? Yeah, you can barely fit the map on the zumo, so there is no room for mp3 files.

I had an extra 8 gig card lying around, so that is what I use.

This is a very very important lesson that you need to learn right now.

in your MP3 folder on your card, don't put all your songs in one folder. It will take two years to load up the songs. Put a maximum of 15 songs in seperate folders.

For example I have L:\MP3\ empty

L:\MP3\MISC 1\ - has 15 songs in it
L:\MP3\MISC 2\ - has 15 songs in it
and so on.

I don't know why, but for some reason if I put all my songs in one directory the damn thing freaks out and takes 15 mins to start playing songs. This way, it only takes 30 seconds or so. It won't do mapping unless it's done loading either.

Damn..THATS good to know!

Thanks

Also...what speaker/mic are you using? Starcoms?

I've got the spare Autocom system for the bike I bought from Brian before he died....but not the helmet setup...debating on buying their speaker/mic setup JUST for rider/passenger communications

I went with Starcom1 Digital because they are a little bit cheaper than Autocom equilavent and their cables. It doesn't really matter which one because they are both about the same as far as quality and you can get two way radios, so you can talk to starcoms or autocoms. Since you already got autocom, just buy a headset and cable to hook up the zumo.

looks good! I kinda like that mirror mount thing... what is that?

It's pretty neat. I chucked the stem and just use the arm and craddle now for the iPod on the shelf

http://www.techmounts.com/

I smell another winter mod

Thanks for the link man!

I believe ram mounts, make the mirror replacements as well.

They go in the tankbag...just in case

maps don't play mp3's or bluetooth to your phone and so you can see who's calling. I like maps for back ups though. Garmin doesn't like a lot of places I go.

I try not to look over the wall of the stall at the urinal so I wouldn't know :lol:

I mostly don't use the navigation too much on road. I use it offroad more and the routes are programmed in. It's real easy to get lost fast if you go out on some trails here without it.

Meh... too much of a distraction... I will never use my GPS on my bike... tried it, hated it, fuck it. Plus, getting lost and finding that road you'd never have otherwise known is part of the adventure, correct?

I want a zumo BAD!

The adventure is going somewhere random, and hitting direct route, takes you through some wierd roads

And also purposely jumping off the route when you see a winding road on the GPS and tracking your course so you can later follow the same route

Ding ding ding

I love GPS on a bike, My Goldwing Came with Garmin built on board and I use a Magellan Crossover on the Busa the B-King and in my pickup. But I will add that Whern I travel I bring maps. I just got back from a Loop starting in NH and running out through PA down to WV then our to Western MD up though NY and back to the house in NH on the Goldwing (about 1400 miles) More then a few times the GPS wanted to route me through places I didn't want to go. so checking the routing against maps the resetting mid points on the GPS made it a far more pleasant ride.That was possible only cause I had the maps with me.

I carry a really small progressive insurance 50 state map in my saddle bag. But then I also carry a larger hog membership north america map. It is really sweet, has decent detail and lists every HD & buell dealership in north america. Tommymac saw this last weekend. Free as part of my hog membership.

You get that when you join the BMWOA (BMW owners Association...same as HOG) along with a huge "telephone book" with the names and numbers of all the willing members who want to help. And it depends on what KIND of help, as to the level of detail given. You get a little tent symbol next to your name if you're willing to host a member overnight (hotel) or a wrench if you're just willing to help a broken down bike...etc

Pretty neat.

When you buy the BMW GPS (which is a Garmin Zumo) it comes pre-programed with the location of every BMW dealer in the US as well.

With the price of regular japanese cruisers and sportbikes now creaping closer to $20k the "COST of ownership" associated with the BMW and Harleys starts looking more appealing. Especially with networking tools these.

I've never used it on the bike but just bought a new one and may have it in the tankbag just in case in the future.

You are absolutely correct about "finding that road you'd never have otherwise known"...I've done this before and thought man...what a cool road and I didn't even know it was there...actually happened this past weekend when out riding.

Now when in the car and out of town I love the GPS. On my recent trip to San Francisco and the surrounding areas it kicked azz since I had never been there or ever driven in California at all. I set the hotel as home base and it rocked.

Your absolutely correct Caster. People will figure out that the cost of the premium bikes like BMW & HD are at a higher mark for a reason.

And I have been told about the BMW owners group name list. Pretty cool I think. HOG doesn't do that but I don't think finding HD owners and dealership is hard either.

I carry my BMWMOA members list with me at all times. I am also in it. Pretty cool to have access to that sort of help network.

Oh it is very cool! And I'm sure very helpfull as well.

Troy, did you buy that BMW new? How do you like it thus far?

I don't know if you guys have thought about using your phones built in gps?

I have a google maps app. It uses my phones gps and loads on the fly. Maps are current and updated as you go. It tracks your position fairly accurately and is free to download.

For my own needs, it beats buying a dedicated gps.

I have garmin and google maps on my phone, the dedicated gps is much nicer imo. I don't have to worry about destroying my phone and the Zumo is waterproof, so I don't have any worries in the rain. Plus it's glove friendly where as my phone hates gloves.

I'm with trip. My sprint navigation and google maps. While great have their limits while riding. I can't do shit with my roller ball (blackberry) when its in my tank bag map pocket and I have gloves on. That being said... on a patch of straight highway I have pulled it out to F with my pandora radio...

No

Got it back in may.......flew to south florida and picked it up........rode it 833 miles in 12 hrs home and was floored how easy it was. I INTENEDED to do it in 2 days, but it chewed up the miles (245 at a time between fillups) and just made the trip a blast

I've put 5000 miles on it so far and absolutely love it!

For a big bike it's VERY fast and agile!

COG is VERY low, and rev’s are limited to 6500 but once you learn how to shift and steer with your hips, you get really good quick

The boxers are very nice bikes, they definitely surprise you with how maneuverable they are.

Do you keep a globe in there too?

Not usually...