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Best place to buy a Garmin ?

ultracyclist

New member
In the opinion of this group, where is the best place to buy a Garmin GPS?

What is a realistic price to pay for the gps unit, oem mounts?
 
what you want now is Garmin Montana 600, if you don't need a camera.
most folks have a phone with camera on top of carrying a camera too. why spend extra $$$ for camera option Montana 650, T for topo maps loaded

note maps don't come with Montana or cradle. only use rugged Garmin mount (w/power) and Ram mount kit to fit to motorcycle. $58

then if you want to use Montana in car, need a suction cup mount with speaker to work in car. due to sealed nature of Montana, no built in speaker, only beeps.

GPS city ...about $460 for Montana 600, on sale about $400. lots of open source maps, but you will still need City Navigator ($65) for USA for address search to work.

open source maps weakness is lack of fine details for search to work. not all maps are routeable.

do your homework on $$$ ... changes by day
$460 + $58 + $65 = $583 + shipping is minimum budget to get a Montana 600 up and running on your bike


DSC09635.jpg
 
GARMIN Zumo 660 @ Amazon for $649.99.

Currently in stock, with full accessory package.

Tiger GPS used to be competitive, but sells for same price and presently out-of-stock.
 
Try GPS City and GPS Central.

It's pretty hard to answer the question regarding price, since so much depends on what you're interested in. I had a Garmin GPSMAP 276C since 2005, but recently bought a Garmin Montana 600 to replace it. I got it during a Black Friday sale (at GPS Central) for $399. To that I added $75 for City Navigator North America maps on DVD and $35 for Garmin's rugged mount (a great mount, especially for the price). If you're looking for Bluetooth and music etc., the Montana's not for you. If, however, you're looking for a versatile navigator that's very customizable and has a good display, give it a closer look. GPS City has quite a few videos explaining its features etc.
 
I would start with local dealers such as Cyclenutz.
I try to avoid BigBox businesses if I can, in order to keep the "Little guy/gal" in the game.
 
Zumo is an excellent unit that's been out for awhile. generally in the world of electronics ... things move on with new advancements.

very seldom will a brand new model not be substantially better than an older version that's been out for some time.

brand new models also have bugs that's been worked out on older units. witness what's going on with all the new beta O/S getting released for Montana.

Montana's AMP rugged powered cradle is leaps better than anything prior.
Lots of GPS have died in the rain due to USB power connectors letting in moisture.
 
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If you're not a brand snob, you're best deal on a Zumo 660 or 665 is from Surdyke motorsports for the Harley Davidson Zumo Road Tech Zumo 660/665. Not only are their prices ridiculous they often have free shipping deals and if you send them an e-mail, like I did, and ask nicely, they'll usually ship for $11. Not only is it the EXACT same thing as a Garmin Zumo 66X series GPS, it comes with a 2 year factory warranty instead of 1 year for the Garmin 66X series GPS. The downside? If you have a hardware problem you have to take it to a Harley dealer for service. They ultimately ship it to Garmin so I don't know what that's all about. Also, if you go to Amazon, you can get a Mack extended warranty for GPS up to $999 for about $25 that starts when the factory warranty ends giving you five years of warranty for $25. A good deal as far as I'm concerned.

Just checked the Surdyke website. Looks like the prices are up to standard prices at $617/$759. The same thing happened to me when I was ready to purchase and within a couple weeks they were back down. If you're not in a hurry watch their site, or get on their mailing list, and watch for the price drop.

Surdyke Website. Type GPS in the search box and select KEYWORD search
 
If you're not a brand snob, you're best deal on a Zumo 660 or 665 is from Surdyke motorsports for the Harley Davidson Zumo Road Tech Zumo 660/665. Not only are their prices ridiculous they often have free shipping deals and if you send them an e-mail, like I did, and ask nicely, they'll usually ship for $11. Not only is it the EXACT same thing as a Garmin Zumo 66X series GPS, it comes with a 2 year factory warranty instead of 1 year for the Garmin 66X series GPS. The downside? If you have a hardware problem you have to take it to a Harley dealer for service. They ultimately ship it to Garmin so I don't know what that's all about. Also, if you go to Amazon, you can get a Mack extended warranty for GPS up to $999 for about $25 that starts when the factory warranty ends giving you five years of warranty for $25. A good deal as far as I'm concerned.

Just checked the Surdyke website. Looks like the prices are up to standard prices at $617/$759. The same thing happened to me when I was ready to purchase and within a couple weeks they were back down. If you're not in a hurry watch their site, or get on their mailing list, and watch for the price drop.

Surdyke Website. Type GPS in the search box and select KEYWORD search

Zumo has been out for five years, a good run. Montana is the next generation. why would anyone not want the latest technology for about the same $$.
 
Zumo has been out for five years, a good run. Montana is the next generation. why would anyone not want the latest technology for about the same $$.

Honestly, I have both and for road routing it's the zumo all the way. The montana firmware is still getting tweaked and it has issues with routes. Even with the latest beta it doesn't handle out and back type routes. Meaning routes that cross itself or use a common road both coming and returning. The zumo handles those just fine. My montana is just fine for my dual sport riding, but I wouldn't recommend it to a new gps user or someone that primarily rides on the road.
 
Zumo has been out for five years, a good run. Montana is the next generation. why would anyone not want the latest technology for about the same $$.


I will pay MORE and stay with the 276C/376C/478 units, and their 10 year old technology.
 
Rei

http://www.rei.com/search?cat=4500001_GPS&jxBrand=Garmin&hist=cat%2C4500001_GPS%3AGPS^jxBrand%2CGarmin

If you're buying a non-motorcycle specific GPS, REI is the place to get it, as they offer life-time replacement should it break.

I know this, because I'm on my second Garmin GPS MAP 60csx. My first unit developed a leak and water entered the housing while kayaking, ruining the unit.

REI replaced my several years older unit with the latest and greatest version at no cost.

If you're a member, you'll also get a member dividend on your purchase of approximately 10% of the price of the unit.

REI also offers free shipping if you have the unit shipped to your closest REI store.

By the way, the life-time guarantee applies to everything REI sells - jackets, tents, stoves, skis, bikes, kayaks, etc. A life-time no quibble warranty on everything they sell is a huge reason to buy outdoor gear and equipment from REI.
 
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