Navigator VI on sale

PoorUB said:

I will agree that if you like all the integration with the motorcycle, bluetooth for music/phone connection the the Nav VI is a good GPS.

As far as the "casual user", use a GPS everyday, I drive 40,000 miles a year and I find a simple off the shelf Garmin suits me just fine. I don't even use all the options my cheap Garmin offers. All I want in a GPS is how far to the next town and how to get there.
Years ago when I bought my first GPS I bought into all the extras and spent the time to get everything to work through Bluetooth and I found I never used it. I don't even use voice instructions.
As for multi day trips I go on a couple one or two week trips a year.
I have fooled around with my Nav VI on my RT and I see what it does, but don't really see the need.

Click to expand...

Those are all valid points and highlight that we all have different likes/dislikes, wants/needs, etc.

To me PoorUB, I'd think you were much more in the "someone just wanting to use the basic features" category than the "casual user" area.

I use a Garmin Drive 50LMT and an older Nuvi-58 for when I'm using rental cars etc., and they work fine. As has been said, they're about 25%-33% the cost of the Nav-VI and do a ton of stuff (most of what the Nav-VI does except integration, etc.).

I worked my way up on the motorcycle GPS side of things from an old Garmin StreetPilot 2730 that was bought in 2006 to a Zumo 390, Nav-V, and now the Nav-VI. I've sold my previous units as I upgraded so that the actual net purchase price wasn't much more than buying a new high-end automotive GPS.

For me, I use my bike in all weather including long days in heavy rain, frost to slight snow, etc. I used an automotive GPS on a bike years ago but had it fail after a day of heavy rain. After that, I've always gone with a GPS with a good IPX rating so I don't lose another to rain. I have since lost a Motorola VHF radio to rain (supposedly waterproof) while my Garmin motorcycle-specific GPS with an IPX7 rating continued to work without issue. Like I say, we each want slightly to widely different things from our gear and it is great that we have so much more choice now.

I have ridden in heavy rain and will pull a baggie over the GPS, or just toss it in the top case as with rain on my glasses and the face shield I can't see squat anyway, at least fine detail.

I know there are riders that want the Bluetooth to mate with headsets and so on, so it is probably the way to go for them.

Same with me, my vision is weak for detail (unfortunately even when visibility is great).
When the weather is bad and overall visibility is at its worst, and I'm trying to navigate in an unfamiliar area at night, in the rain, I feel that motorcyclists are at there most vulnerable. That is when my motorcycle-specific GPS earns its premium pricing. A very small price for me to pay to be at my safest that I can be when the risks to my wellbeing are at their highest.
That is absolutely not the time to be reducing one's chances of being safe.
Many riders will never ride in those conditions or have the luxury of being able to adjust their schedules so they don't have the same needs/wants as I do.
In June I did 10k on 2-wheels through just about the entire Appalachians as well as the Selkirk Mountains in British Columbia and the Cascade Mountains in Washington State. If I'd hadn't been able to ride in heavy downpours with good, visible GPS, I wouldn't have been able to do those rides and meet my work obligations.
Don't know how many years of riding I've got left so I'm trying to make sure I maximize what I have now. ;-)

Sent from my SM-G960W using Tapatalk

AlanColes said:

Same with me, my vision is weak for detail (unfortunately even when visibility is great).
When the weather is bad and overall visibility is at its worst, and I'm trying to navigate in an unfamiliar area at night, in the rain, I feel that motorcyclists are at there most vulnerable. That is when my motorcycle-specific GPS earns its premium pricing. A very small price for me to pay to be at my safest that I can be when the risks to my wellbeing are at their highest.
That is absolutely not the time to be reducing one's chances of being safe.
Many riders will never ride in those conditions or have the luxury of being able to adjust their schedules so they don't have the same needs/wants as I do.
In June I did 10k on 2-wheels through just about the entire Appalachians as well as the Selkirk Mountains in British Columbia and the Cascade Mountains in Washington State. If I'd hadn't been able to ride in heavy downpours with good, visible GPS, I wouldn't have been able to do those rides and meet my work obligations.
Don't know how many years of riding I've got left so I'm trying to make sure I maximize what I have now. ;-)

Sent from my SM-G960W using Tapatalk

Click to expand...

Could not agree more. My first GPS was a TomTom One that I used on my 1150GS. It worked fine but was not waterproof so I did the baggie thing. I soon came to the same conclusion as you .... in rain or even heavy rain is when I need my waterproof GPS the most and trying to see the screen through a baggie was just adding more risk than I wanted to take. That was when I bought my first motorcycle GPS a Zumo 450. Worked great until i moved up to a Nav and was able to sell the 450 for a decent price.