Garmin Zuma 550 GPS

[rvbiker]

What are the opinions on the Gamin Zuma 550 GPS for motorcycles. It seems to have the bluetooth feature to link the unit to your cell phone and allows the audio to come over the bluetooth ear piece, which is a nice feature. I was wondering if it allows the unit to be voice programmed. I know Garmin has this feature on other units and would be real handy on the Zuma.

 

[MarkyG57]

Hi.

Up till now I've used the Garmin Quest, but I have heard good things about the kit your looking at but I thought it was called the Zumo 550?

Anyway, I was chatting with a biker last month on his:mikebike: BMW 1100 GS and he was raving about the Zumo, so can't say more than that.

M

 

[whitefox51]

There is no blue tooth hands free calling and there is no voice command feature. It does have topographical maps on it, altitude and compass features. And it also has a replaceable battery so if it runs out on a long ride you can pop in the reserve. All and all a really cool model. They are trying to make an all around model good for your car, bike and pedestrian. (I'm on the inside )

 

[rvbiker]

Mark - Thanks for the info. Your right, it is Zumo. That's what happens when you let you fingers to the talking.

whitfox51 - The battery feature is cool, but can it be hard wired to the bikes' 12 volt system?

The one feature it's missing is some kind of hood to shade the screen from the sun.

 

[codeblue]

Buddy just got the 550 a couple of weeks ago when it went on sale at BestBuy. He can't stop raving about it and it's features. Set up is easy and straight forward, and it comes with everything you'll need.

 

[KindredGhost]

Buddy just got the 550 a couple of weeks ago when it went on sale at BestBuy. He can't stop raving about it and it's features. Set up is easy and straight forward, and it comes with everything you'll need.

I don't suppose you know how much your buddy paid?

KG

 

[codeblue]

I believe it was a little over 500clams. Later he told me it was on sale even more for 495, unfortunately I was broke and could spare the cash for a 550. Reviews for the Zumo is better than the TomTom Rider.

 

[craig007]

I have the Zumo 550. The bluetooth will not pair with my phone (because my phone is old). Anyway, I don't want to take calls while riding anyway. I read about people using wireless headphones with it. But I heard that the Zumo does not do wireless in stereo. The best feature of the Zumo is the fact that it can hold 1000 MP3 tunes. I use it with wired noise isolating headbuds. I also love the fact that I can take any road to explore. When I get tired of lost, I hit "Go Home" and it shows and talks me home. I have it wired to the battery. It also has a car holder/charger so I can use it in my car too. It comes with software that allows you to plan trips. I really like it.

 

[timberwolf211]

Thats not bad cause the one from harley is like 875.

 

[agmom98]

What are the opinions on the Gamin Zuma 550 GPS for motorcycles. It seems to have the bluetooth feature to link the unit to your cell phone and allows the audio to come over the bluetooth ear piece, which is a nice feature. I was wondering if it allows the unit to be voice programmed. I know Garmin has this feature on other units and would be real handy on the Zuma.

I've been using the Zumo 550 for over a year and move it back and forth between my two motorcycles. I've put 40,000+ traveling miles on it since I got it, and now I can't take a trip without it.

It does have bluetooth capability and will connect to bluetooth headset (like a Scala Rider, which has a microphone) and to a bluetooth capable phone. If your phone has voice dialing, then you can voice dial if you're using a wired or bluetooth headset with mic. You can also look up a hotel on the Garmin while on the fly, and call the hotel to check on availability, if using a headset with mic. I find this very convenient, not while under way, but just sitting on the side of the road, without need to take off my helmet or pull out my cellphone. I just need to leave the phone turned on in my tankbag. I listen to XM radio (Zumo is XM capable, just need the optional transponder) and to MP3 music through a wired headset. I used to use the Scala Rider headset but battery life is not long enough for the kind of riding I do.

All in all, I'm very pleased and impressed with the unit. Yes it's pricey, but for that price you get motorcycle cradle with full motorcycle ram-mount hardware and fused wiring harness, plus the auto cradle with built-in speakers (really cool for hands-free phone calls!)

 

[rvbiker]

Craig007 / agmon98- I wear earplugs with my full face helmet. Will I have trouble hearing the voice commands from the GPS? The battery feature is cool but I’m glad it can be hard wired to the bike, what’s involved in removing it from the bike? Does it unhook form the harness or does the hole harness unhook from the bike?:thumbup:

 

[KindredGhost]

I have the Zumo 550. The bluetooth will not pair with my phone (because my phone is old). Anyway, I don't want to take calls while riding anyway. I read about people using wireless headphones with it. But I heard that the Zumo does not do wireless in stereo. The best feature of the Zumo is the fact that it can hold 1000 MP3 tunes. I use it with wired noise isolating headbuds. I also love the fact that I can take any road to explore. When I get tired of lost, I hit "Go Home" and it shows and talks me home. I have it wired to the battery. It also has a car holder/charger so I can use it in my car too. It comes with software that allows you to plan trips. I really like it.

Wow, what kind of headbuds are those? Throw a link up and help a brother out!

KG

 

[bluenova]

There is no blue tooth hands free calling

Not true. I have the Zumo 550 and Nokia 6280 and I can use voice dial with the headset and phone connected to the GPS. I think it depends on whether the phone supports voice dialing.

 

[bluenova]

Craig007 / agmon98- I wear earplugs with my full face helmet. Will I have trouble hearing the voice commands from the GPS? The battery feature is cool but I’m glad it can be hard wired to the bike, what’s involved in removing it from the bike? Does it unhook form the harness or does the hole harness unhook from the bike?:thumbup:

The Zumo does not have a built in speaker nor does the bike mount. The only speaker is on the car mount (included) so to hear the prompts on a bike you will need to buy either a wired or wireless headset (not included) which you will hear fine inside your helmet. I recommend the cardo scala headsets (which you will hear fine with earplugs).

To remove it from the bike you have to un-screw a little security screw with a special tool (included) I removed this special screw and put a normal one in (with a small grip on the head) as it was quite annoying to find the special tool all the time. After that it just clips off like a car GPS. The mount itself can also be easily removed from the ball clamp it's attached to, I remove the mount when I'm not using the GPS (commuting to work etc), it takes a couple of seconds to re-install.

The only issue I've had with the GPS is it would not turn on sometimes, after a few weeks of this one day it just wouldn't turn on at all. I got an return number from Garmin and sent it in, they sent me a new unit straight back. It was only necessary to send in the actual GPS not all the other parts which was great. Very friendly, very quick service.

 

[rvbiker]

bluenova - Thanks for the info:thumbup:, I’ll look into the cardo scala headsets you mentioned. I think wireless is the way to go and I think I’ll probably be putting a regular screw in the security mount as well.:rockon:

 

[craig007]

I use JVC marshmellow earbuds. The are have that squishy ear-plug type material. I usually ride with the volume setting at 2 bars (out of 10 I think). It is not loud. I can hear the voice commands just fine. I can hear most music fine too. (some songs are too soft and all I can hear is the base). Anyway, when I am doing straight highway riding, I may increase the volume to 3. Also, I don't use the screw thingy. I put a stick on velcro tab/strap onto the latch on the holder so I can take it off in 0.005 seconds flat. I commute with it, so I take it of when I get to work.

here is a link to the earbuds:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicat...&cm_mmc_o=TBBTkwCjCVyBpAgf mwzygtCjCVRqCjCVRq

they also come in normal colors (mine are blue)

 

[agmom98]

bluenova - , I’ll look into the cardo scala headsets you mentioned. I think wireless is the way to go and I think I’ll probably be putting a regular screw in the security mount as well.:rockon:

I have the Cardo Scala bluetooth headset, but no longer use it because of short battery life. If you plan to listen to MP3 or XM radio for more than 2 or 3 hours, the battery will run down. I found that the battery will last about a day and a half of riding when in standby, with the occasional GPS prompt, but it quickly runs down when receiving constant signal from the GPS, such as music. So I switched to some really good wired speakers that mount inside my helmet. This solves the battery problem and gives me stereo sound.

 

[agmom98]

I wear earplugs with my full face helmet. Will I have trouble hearing the voice commands from the GPS? The battery feature is cool but I’m glad it can be hard wired to the bike, what’s involved in removing it from the bike? Does it unhook form the harness or does the hole harness unhook from the bike?:thumbup:

BlueNova has you covered on these questions. I leave the cradle, XM transponder, and ram mount on the bike unless I'm staying in a really questionable area overnight. Otherwise, the Zumo lifts right out of the cradle after releasing the security screw (I also bought an aftermarket knurled thumbscrew to replace the futzy security screw).

 

[rpflyingtaz]

Any pictures installed on a FZ6

 

[rvbiker]

Do you have a link to the wired speakers that fit inside the helmet??