Modern Vespa

I can't believe we're in the second half of 2021, and Point Reyes is still the only place between Mill Valley and Fort Bragg with cell service.

I have 'maps for life' from Garmin - though the meaning of life is undefined.

This is exactly my situation. Thank you. On my old bike I travelled to a lot of places with no cell service and/or high roaming charges and was was pretty happy with my garmin just not so keen on the laptop interface. It was during the Mesozoic era (mapsource) I preloaded routes onto the gps etc. I was just wondering if there was a great phone app that would cover both.
For regular driving and avoiding anything I use Waze and am very happy.

As an aside for those of you with a garmin with hardwire, how did you wire the cradle ?? I don't want to power it directly from the battery ( I forget to close it and drain the battery) I want it to come on only when the ignition is on. I used to have it tapped into the headlight but that was not so good for night driving . I have the usb jack from scooterwest in the knee box can I just power it from there? Do you feed the wires through the handlebar ? Thanks E.

I decided to by a Zumo XT because I was spending a lot on the GTS HPE and wanted to maximize my enjoyment of it. I think of it as a ~3% tax on the scooter price to make my riding time more enjoyable.

It was a great decision. The Adventurous Routing is, IMO, excellent. I can jump on the scooter and go, without having to spend time in Google Maps adjusting waypoints and hoping the route sticks.

I'm getting it wired in during my 600 mile service next week.

There’s an unused alarm connector under the left inner legshield cover. Well, there was in 2010, anyway. It has an ignition-switched power line on it.

OMG. The US is a big country, not a compact little community like Europe. The state I'm in (just one of 50) would cover the area from Brittany to Poland, and the North Sea to Roma.

https://www.texasmonthly.com/the-daily-post/how-big-is-texas-compared-to-other-land-masses/

Europe has a population density of 143 people per square mile. North Dakota's is 11.

I will look at that.

For those of you with GPS connected

Can you show a photo or explain the wiring to the mount ?
Thanks E.

Going to look at a garmin zumo 396 this weekend. I have the scooterwest POWER PLUG POWER CABLE FOR 2015 attached to the usb port in the knee pad. Can I just splice into it to get the power for my GPS and then route it up through the mirror hole. ?

I just ran the cradle and cabling that came with the XT. It does connect directly to the battery, but I never walk away from my scooter without putting the garmin in my pocket or in its case. I paid enough for that garmin that I don't want it walking! Cables route through the handlebars, behind the glovebox and down to the battery enclosure.

Yes.

Thank you !!

I use neither Garmin, nor a phone mount on my bikes. I just don't enjoy looking at a screen while riding. I've used a Beeline Moto for a while, and for PTW use, I like it much.

For those using a Garmin gps and struggling with Basecamp software here is an excellent tutorial.
https://www.newenglandriders.org/learn-basecamp/
Basecamp is not intuitive, but if you commit enough time to learning and using it, it is very powerful / useful.

Thanks for that. I found Mapsource (the previous Garmin software) to be quite adequate for my needs, with all keyboard shortcuts off pat. But now it's superseded by Basecamp I've not yet bothered to do much more than find waypoints and destinations on the map, save them, and enter them into my Zumo which then finds the routes quite happily.

Luckily, most websites we use when out and about (iOverlander, Campendium etc) give lat/long coordinates, so obviating the need for any middleman as they can be directly entered.

I got one of these too, small screen with limited distractions while riding.

My Route App for route planning on the iPad, with its sister App on my iPhone for on bike navigation. The App loads off-line maps, and works well.

A few days before scooter cannonball 2021, I decided to double up on GPS. I got the Gaia app for my iPhone. I loaded GPX files on it and it is great. It does cost though. Around $35 which is worth it. I’ve already forgotten if that’s an annual fee for map use - seems like a lifetime ago that I loaded it onto my iPhone haha. But I used the Gaia app multiple times. Hikers & trail riders use it in remote areas - where it had great reviews- and I agree. It’s great in remote areas, all areas!

Anyway, many had theories for my electrical issues during SCBR. The electrical gremlins started day 1. Kraken’s team, Andy, had a theory that the iPhone gps app, running 24/7 & which heats up the iPhone….might have been the culprit (along with my Garmin Montana 680t & 2 helmet cameras plugged into the scoot running off the GT200 battery.

But it could have been the stator failing and just bad timing??

The GT200 is just sitting lifeless in my garage. As I’m back to work & busy again. I’ll eventually get around to getting the GT200 fixed & to diagnose a proper death report …..

Picked up a used 396 with all mounts for a decent price.
Will wire it up in the next while.
now just have to learn base camp. or find an alternative to plan my routes in gpx format.
I guess the clincher was last week riding in the rain just didn't feel comfortable with my phone in the cradle in the downpour (yes it was in waterproof bag)
If I forget the gps on the bike and someone takes it, it will be a shame. But to have my phone taken off the mount at a stop light or gas station would be terrible.

This is why i like my Supertech 😀

Generally though either i have memorised the route and/or pull over and check my phone occasionally (using the downloaded maps functionality of google maps)