Anyone Using A Garmin Zumo 350Lm?

[Wile E. Coyote]

I've been contemplating buying a satnav for forays out in the Westie and have seen this Garmin motorbike unit (think it might be new this year?). Looks really good (waterproof, daylight readable and designed for use whilst wearing gloves - yes, I know...), especially with the route planning software (http://www.garmin.com/uk/maps/trip-planning-software/basecamp/) that lets you see road elevations and OS map overlays.

Just wondered though if anyone had taken the plunge on one of these and, if so might be able to comment on:

Were you able to use/mod the bike bracket (I was thinking of fitting in front of passenger using the bar that runs behind the dash);

How good it is in use?

Does it accept Tyre route files?

Thanks in advance chaps!

[Mark (smokey mow)]

I've no experience of the bike models but have been using garmin sat-navs in the car for years so can answer a few of the questions

Were you able to use/mod the bike bracket (I was thinking of fitting in front of passenger using the bar that runs behind the dash);

Dunno, but why not use the suction mount rather than the bike bracket?

How good it is in use?

It looks like the same basic software interface as all the other garmin units so pretty easy and intuitive, FWIW i can use my cAr unit whilst wearing thin gloves.

Does it accept Tyre route

to run tyre files you need a unit that can read GPX files, it looks like this comes with the same trip planner app as the nuvi 2415 i use on all the essex blats so therefore it should be ok.

Personally though i think the Zumo 350LM is rather pricey for what it does and theres plenty of other cheeper automotive alternatives at half the price although not waterproof.

[Wile E. Coyote]

Thanks - useful stuff.

As for why the bike bracket, it looks like it eliminates trailing power cables (which the suction mount doesn't) so would be a neater install.

How do you get on with the 2415 in strong sunlight?

[frubpato?]

I use a zumo 220 on the bke and a quest in the Westfield - although hat is changing as I'm setting up a charge cradle for the iPhone . The 220 is good but needs a permanent live feed the battery doesn't last long on full brightness. haven't loaded TOPO maps on it but i reckon it would take them , however the screen size isn't huge for all that detail . They will work with gloves but tbh the only thing you will do with our gloves is magnify the screen, don't think of putting in a new postcode at the lights - its not accurate enough . Also tends to lose the signal in trees .

[Wile E. Coyote]

Thanks - that's also useful to know about the accuracy of the touch screen with gloves.

[Mark (smokey mow)]

How do you get on with the 2415 in strong sunlight?

No problems at all I guess it may be becuase in a car the unit is mounted with the screen vertically whereas on a bike it would be closer to horizontal and therefore reflecting the sun and the sky.

[Tom Frankland (T3OMF)]

Does the "Base Camp" SW include western Europe??

[Conehead]

I use the ZUMO 500 on the bike and the westy, it has some good features especially bluetooth so I can link my headsets with the satnav and phone and talk through the motorbike helmet.

The only down side i have to the zumo 500 is the speed camera setting it bleeps at you really loudly non stop drives me nuts. Also there is no way to turn it off as if you do it removes all speed camera notifications. Also as it is a bike the touch screen is alot less sensitive than the car ones

[adam1330]

I've got a Zumo 660, which I got to replace my old Quest, and it's been great. I bought a car suction kit to fit mine, and sold the bike mount on eBay for more than the suction kit cost me as well, so brought the price down a bit. Not using a helmet, the bluetooth stuff was of no use to me, and I wanted to be able to easily remove any trace of the sat-nav if I had to leave the car overnight whilst on holiday.

Don't know about the 350lm, but mine came with a program called Mapsource, so you can plan all your routes on your computer and upload them to your Garmin, this is why I have always had Garmins, no need for third party programs or having to input routes straight into the sat-nav.

I did baulk at the extra cost over a normal Garmin, but the fact it is waterproof has been a godsend, I'm sure I would have been stuck in the middle of Europe with a not working water damaged sat-nav several times by now!

[Tom Frankland (T3OMF)]

Im looking at getting a Garmin Nuvi 370T, does any one know if you can use some kind of SW to do route plans etc etc

[Mark (smokey mow)]

Im looking at getting a Garmin Nuvi 370T, does any one know if you can use some kind of SW to do route plans etc etc

It's an old discontinued product and it doesnt look like it has the trip planner app, so i doubt this would do anything other than A to B navigation.

[Tom Frankland (T3OMF)]

It's an old discontinued product and it doesnt look like it has the trip planner app, so i doubt this would do anything other than A to B navigation.

Cheers Mark :t-up:

That's will be why Amazon are saying it was £279.99 and their selling it for £129.99...

What are the new ones then??

[Mark (smokey mow)]

Cheers Mark :t-up:

That's will be why Amazon are saying it was £279.99 and their selling it for £129.99...

What are the new ones then??

The current direct comparison for that appears to be the Nuvi 2455LT

https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=401&pID=101885

[pistonbroke]

Ive been using one of these for years

It never lets me down

No probs with either button pushing , wiring , daylight viewing , beeping, batteries etc. etc.

http://www.az.co.uk/?nid=30&iid=9723

[Tom Frankland (T3OMF)]

Ive been using one of these for years

It never lets me down

No probs with either button pushing , wiring , daylight viewing , beeping, batteries etc. etc.

http://www.az.co.uk/...nid=30&iid=9723

:laugh: :laugh: You ever tried to use one of those while driving the Westy at 80mph......... sorry, I mean 70mph