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GPS advice

General BS :bull: and other irrelevant chit-chat :kumbaya:
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Bucho
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GPS advice

Post by Bucho »

Howdy, I thought I'd ask some advice from the collective.

I have used a GPS but my experience IS pretty limited. Mostly just the one in my wife's car, where you plug in an address and follow the directions.

I'm interested in having one to use on my dirtbike. Following tracks out in the trackless wilderness and such.
I'm not a big tech/computer guy so I don't need or even want it to be able to do a bazillion other things.
My KTM for the most part has no battery so I thought it would simpler/easier for the GPS to have its own battery. So maybe I should be looking for a "hiking" type gps?

Anyway, any advice would be helpful.
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Re: GPS advice

Post by Bork »

I don't know much either, so I'll be listening :popcorn: But a buddy in Fl had one of these, & it was amazing how he logged routes into the thing. They used to be about $50.00 IIRC. Now for the price, the hand held GPS, looks like a better deal.
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Laoch
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Re: GPS advice

Post by Laoch »

I've used a couple different Garmin models over the years; hiking, hunting, riding, war fighting, etc.
I've always had good luck with Garmins- I still have three of them. I use an older 2610 on the KLX.
I use a really older etrex model on the XR4. No maps, but it points in the right direction.
The newer models have tons of features, topo maps, regular maps, route planning, all in a hand held size.
Have you checked other moto sites to see what riders are using?
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Bucho
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Re: GPS advice

Post by Bucho »

Thanks guys.

The new (or newish) Garmin etrex looks pretty good for what it gives and for the prices I've found.

Hopefully, Santa will bring me one and I can mess around with it this spring.

So by March be ready for the thread "How the frag do I use this GPS thing..."
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phoo
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Re: GPS advice

Post by phoo »

I had (can't find it) an eTrex Legend. I really liked it, kinda. I'm a big fan of my current GPS, the Garmin Nuvi 500 with topo maps. For dirt, it's fantastic. But they lie when they say it'll last 8 hours. For street, it'll get you where you're going but Garmin's choices in routing kind of suck. I got a refurb for $150 and I've been quite pleased with it. Also, if you remember, it was the GPS that broke my KTMs fall by hitting the giant rock first after I tossed my bike off that cliff at H&M. It still works great.

I won't embed the image because it'll be huge, but https://scontent-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos ... 4594_n.jpg is the tracks from our Greenridge ride a few months ago. I like this unit's ability to show me where I've been and where I'm going. I put it into "north up" mode and topo maps and I can wander to my heart's content. Also, it's waterproof and works using your left hand, while wearing gloves, in the rain, snow, and mud.


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Re: GPS advice

Post by BigBird »

Bucho wrote:Thanks guys.

The new (or newish) Garmin etrex looks pretty good for what it gives and for the prices I've found.

Hopefully, Santa will bring me one and I can mess around with it this spring.

So by March be ready for the thread "How the frag do I use this GPS thing..."
The etrex is quite good, capable, rugged and has long battery life.
The negatives compared to higher dollar units are small screen and not touch screen
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Re: GPS advice

Post by Bork »

phoo wrote:I had (can't find it) an eTrex Legend. I really liked it, kinda. I'm a big fan of my current GPS, the Garmin Nuvi 500 with topo maps. For dirt, it's fantastic. But they lie when they say it'll last 8 hours. For street, it'll get you where you're going but Garmin's choices in routing kind of suck. I got a refurb for $150 and I've been quite pleased with it. Also, if you remember, it was the GPS that broke my KTMs fall by hitting the giant rock first after I tossed my bike off that cliff at H&M. It still works great.

I won't embed the image because it'll be huge, but https://scontent-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos ... 4594_n.jpg is the tracks from our Greenridge ride a few months ago. I like this unit's ability to show me where I've been and where I'm going. I put it into "north up" mode and topo maps and I can wander to my heart's content. Also, it's waterproof and works using your left hand, while wearing gloves, in the rain, snow, and mud.



~Patrick
That's great info!! I'm going to get one to break my falls! :ride:
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Re: GPS advice

Post by YAMPOL »

Hi gang. This is my first post, but thought I would throw in my 2cents on this one. I use a Garmin 60CSx. It runs on two AA batteries and will last a couple days of hard use with batteries (maybe more). I have used this on my RZR for the last three years and now on my XT and also in the Jeep. I have the RZR hard wired and run off the RZR battery. On the XT it has worked great, and two AA's don't take up much room in the bag for spares. I am probably a little older than most of you and not a techie at all, but have no problem with this model. Rain, snow, cold, hot, dust, and all kinds of terrain and it is still fine. I got mine and all the RAM mounts from:http://www.gpscity.com/ Hope this is a help.

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Re: GPS advice

Post by BillyGoat »

I have an eTrex H, but frankly, I don't know why I bother. I don't know how to use it. I just turn it on and it really acts like a Startrek like speedo and odometer and a really sucky compass. I can download the "track" but it really seems useless. I hate editing the track to remove the "garbage". With huge finagling I can get it to overlay on a map but "so what"? I'm clueless how to make it be useful, like to create some kind of route that I could follow at a later time. I have no idea the difference between a route or track! WHythehell do they have to make it so complicated? The machine should just ask what you want it to do, then it should just DO IT. But I'm a curmudgeon.

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Re: GPS advice

Post by badguy »

I was going to post up a recommendation for the Garmin 60CSx like YAMPOL did, as it's worked great for me, but then I looked it up to see if it was still being made. There's a few on Amazon for over $600...no thanks. If you can find one for under $200 I think it's a great deal (waterproof, seems pretty tough so far, good battery life) but at that price I'd get a dedicated motorcycle GPS.
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