GARMEN ZUMO GPS
by Ian
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The Garmen Zumo is a $1500-00 motorcycle specific GPS. GPS OZ in Sydney, who had also kindly loaded our grid references, provided it. Brian from GPS OZ is a 4WD nut as it turns out and he knows most of the happy trails this country has to offer. He is an engaging adventurer who was more than happy to get on board with the BIKE ME! adventures. Additionally if you buy from GPS OZ, Brian will download every school zone, fixed speed camera and red light camera known to man so that the Zumo will warn you as you approach these hazards and tell you your comparative speed. A good reason to talk to Brian I would say.
The Zumo is made for motorcycles, which is unheard of in any other brand I looked at. They may exist, but not on my web space. It has a handlebar mount that uses a simple U-bolt and two wires, one red and one black to hook up to your battery. Take half an hour to mount this and you are ready.
I purposely did no preparation on this unit prior to the trip to test out its self-promoted simplicity. The simple mount to the Transalp did nothing to prove otherwise and one press of the obvious power button had me engaged.
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The Zumo is made for motorcycles... |
The Zumo is glove friendly and designed for left-hand operation to keep the throttle in play at all times. It is waterproof and has a large enough screen to be legible at speed or at rough, if you get my drift. Even the vehicle image is of a motorbike rider so that for one gets my vote.
You can turn it into your own iPod by downloading your favourite music and a simple 3mm earpiece will give you an audible ride. I personally didn't use the earpiece because I found it uncomfortable and knew it would garrotte me if I fell awkwardly which was very much on the cards.
It was as marketed, simple to use and had I read the instructions could have got much more out of it. The mapping was 'game console' quality and clearly designed for the geographically bankrupt. Without the sound, which I consider a distraction from living, its colourful screen proved very inviting compared to some of the other options on tour, which were agricultural by comparison.
On the one occasion we had three GPS giving us three different options for the same reference point, the Zumo was right. The others I think were heading for a special place cleared by a serial killer because there just was no road. Either that or they thought we were in the helicopter.
Finally, as I blasted to my new home in Melbourne, my enthusiasm to disregard an amber light was quickly sorted by the red light camera warning. Of course I would never run a red light, but in this town, the red light cameras are also speed cameras and after three days of mental and physical torture, one' reason can be a tad testy.
If your better half wants to bemoan the $1500 price tag, mention the optional car kit. It might just get you over the line or at least save you a few points on your licence after a tiring day.
