Product Description

We have a small range of motorcycle satellite navigation products for sale. The Garmin Zumo 400 Satellite Navigation System is a popular sat nav model. With glove-friendly left handed controls this waterproof sat nav is fantastic whilst riding your motorcycle

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #103106 in Consumer Electronics
• Brand: Garmin

Features

• Removable lithium-ion battery
• Preloaded maps for UK & Ireland
• Turn by turn voice guidance
• MP3 player and JPEG Picture Viewer
• Waterproof up to IEC 60529 IPX7 standards

Customer Reviews

Garmin Zumo 400 Sat Nav for motorbikes.
The Zumo is a rugged motorcycle sat nav system that has the usual faults with all Sat Navs but some good features for us bikers.

To deal with the 'usual faults' first. The 'shortest route' and 'fastest route' options will take you down some very interesting "roads". These will be about three feet wide and gravel strewn. Ewan and Charlie would think twice about some of the tracks in the Midlands that this has tried to take me down. You can however say you are driving a lorry, which may keep you off some of the really small roads.

Another fault, shared with my RAC sat nav that I had in the car-which was cheaper than the car mounting kit for the Zumo-is that it thinks I live around the corner, not on my road! For some reason Garmin don't seem to update the inbuilt maps and postcode directories.

The final problem is that the directions aren't always accurate. For instance when I travel North from where I live the roundabout in the next town is just described as a right turn, and at some T junctions you aren't told which direction to turn and you have to refer to the map.

Niggles aside the system is very functional. When plugged in to the holder the buttons automatically change to a 'glove friendly' size, and some critical yes/no options can be selected by the buttons on the side of the unit rather than aiming at the options on the screen. You can set the tank range of your bike into the unit, and while it is turned on it will count down and remind you to fill up. When the low fuel alert kicks in you can then set it to find a filling station, and the display gives distance and direction. Be warned though, that the filling stations aren't updated when they open or close.

By far the best function for me is the "memorise route" one. If you are out exploring [or lost] and stumble across a great road you can use the unit to memorise the route for next time. Unfortunately you can't turn the route around and go back in the reverse direction.

There are options to go 'off road' and then you get a compass heading to follow-with an on screen compass, the map can be replaced with a dashboard feature [although the sat nav speed will be at variance with how fast you are travelling] and a screen that gives altitiude data.

The one screen you don't get is a lattitude and longitude, which is a shame.

On the navigation screen you also have the chance to enter co-ordinates, so if you are looking for a point on an OS map, say the Cat and Fiddle, that doesn't appear in the index you can type in the grid reference and off you go.

What you won't get with the system is a carry case. You can use any old case though unless you want a branded one. What should come as standard, but doesn't, is the locking mount to stop someone simply cutting the power lead and undoing the cradle mount if you leave the unit on your bike.

Fitting the unit with the handlebar kit on an unfaired bike is easy enough and should take no longer than 15 minutes, depending how easy it is to get to your battery. It is possible to buy more power leads and mounting brackets if you have more than one bike, or a car adapter set-although it is often cheaper to buy a second system for a car than the extra mount.

Very handy and useful
These days, pretty much all smartphones are GPS enables but one cant use anything else on a motorbike effectively. I bought this last year for my SV650s - got the base unit fixed onto the handle (4 stars because I had to go to a mechanic to get that base unit soldered on - the kit that comes with it was NON-mountable). Also 4 stars cause initially it takes a few minutes to find the signals (esp. if in area covered with trees, etc).

Otherwise, once fixed on your bike and found the signals, its great. Changes the view (colours and brightness) accordingly to time of day which is useful when on a motorbike - therefore can easily see the display. Overall nice build quality and weatherproof so not to worried even in adverse weather conditions. Another good thing is that one does NOT need to take off the gloves to use it - convenient to use. Has a few additional features but never bothered to use them.