I'am after a satnav system with europe maps and the two best choices seem to be the tom tom rider2 system and the garmin 550, has anybody had any experience with either system?                                                                                                                                                                             

Hi mate I have a zumo 500. Haven't seen the tomtom rider 2.   The garmin comes with an sd card slot for mp3's and blue tooth. Also has pc software for route making and downloading to unit. Very tough as ive dropped the unit from a meter and hardly scratched it. Works well but you've really gotta watch the roads it tries to send you down if you dont use a preprepared route. Hope this helps.                                                                                                                                                                              

Hi GS1150 Ive got a garmin zumo 550-cant fault it and er um what else can I say? Oh its bloody expensive! Seriously though the general consensus amongst the big mileage types I asked before I bought mine was that the zumo has it. Cheers from iggypup   ps shop around as prices vary[dont buy it from Halfords]                                                                                                                                                                             

higs1150 go to( my new cheap motorcycle satnav) tom tom rider 2 with free blue tooth head set 299.99 dont know if offer is still on                                                                                                                                                                             

Can't speak for either model, but I have been using sat nav on the bikes for 5 years now and a little over 100,000 miles in USA, Japan, most of europe and of course here.  Th Garmin units are all I've used on the bikes.  Started with an e-map then a street pilot, then the SP3 and now using the BMW Motorrad nav 2 (Garmin).  Wouldn't use any other brand.  I have systems in the cars that are not Garmin and they are nowhere near as good.

Fair enough Garmin system it is , thx for your input. next trip will be over to valencia for the Gp with my two sportsbike riding mates in tow, i'll have them converted to a proper bike by the end of the tour!                                                                                                                                                                             

I had a GS1150 adventure for a year but only got to put 5000 miles on it.  Got an offer I couldn't refuse for it and used the cash for furniture for my place in Spain.  Will probably get something similar again for my African trip.                                                                                                                                                                             

Garmin definitely. and i bought mine 2 weeks ago from the UK   Let me know if you want details, i spent a long time shopping around.  Delivery was really fast international!                                                                                                                                                                             

Garmin does seem to be able to find places better than tomtom, accoriding to my mate who isnt on this forum but has used both.   Tomtom is notorious for sending you off the fastest route onto the back lanes as it is just a bit shorter!  And also i found that in the car when i have been using tomtom and not been able to find the place, blokey has found it on co-pilot.   When we did the bike440, I mapquested CMC in Nottingham and pulled off the motorway at that junction. TomTom tooks us the long way round to find dealers, took usback onto the motorway southbound then through the town centre and back up north to the dealer.  Grrrrrrrrrrrrr!                                                                                                                                                                             

garmin. in my experience for both bikes and the cage. it talks you to straight                                                                                                                                                                             

Apparently Garmin use the better mapping, I've got the 2650 and while out in Morocco met some Czechs with the Zumo 550 and they were very happy with it. If you don't uncheck the 'tracks' box Garmins can take you unintentionally green laning!                                                                                                                                                                             

I have had my garmin iQue for about four years now, its a pda too and i cant bear to go anywhere without it, Its showerproof and sicks to the clocks fine. However being older it does not have the bluetooth or full waterproofing.........may be time to upgrade!

I have the Garmin Zumo 550 - had it almost a year now - took me to Brno MotoGP in Czech Republic last year and to the camp sites I found on maps in France and Germany. Just press home from wherever you are and it takes you. Just watch out for off the beaten track roads. Would recommend it to anyone. Plays music too and the bluetooth phone facility is brilliant, (I have it linked to Scala Teamrider) the first time I answered a call, my son-in-law who was calling, did not realise I was riding.

how do you find the scala steve? Whats sound quality like for music.  I will use mine mainly for music, and i use earfones at the moment.  The occassional call would be nice, but priority is music.  Does it give good sound/bass quality? Thanks                                                                                                                                                                             

The Scala is fine for directions and phone but I not sure it would give the sound/bass you are looking for Matt and I don't know if you can alter it. The Scala only has volume control and I've not worked out if you can adjust the bass on the Garmin.

yea u cant adjust it on the garmin, but with good earphones the garmin works perfectly.  Sounds ace.  I know with the flat earpads on helmet kits u dont get much bass (Cos of the shape of the pads - no depth to them).   Shame cos i really wanna be able to make calls too. Especially when i go back to the UK this time and will need to speak to people as im trying to find them                                                                                                                                                                             

I have the TomTom Rider (v1). Never had any problems with it apprt from spark erosion on the contacts but that has been fixed on the V2 device. I have used my tomtom in bith the car and the bike and used it for work and it allways got me to where i wanted to go.   I have an Auticom fitted to my bike and autocom can supply a blutooth dongle that will connect to your sat nav. I find that the headsets supplied with motorbike sat navs perform poorly.   I was cahtting with my local BMW service department about the Garmin satnav. The biggest complaint he has had over the Garmin  is that the audio level is a bit low.                                                                                                                                                                             

bit low?  I can't turn it up to full cos its too loud! lol.  Seriously.   Theres 10 bars, and i like LOUD music.  I can only get it to 7 or 8, then my ears are buzzing when i turn it off.  It's REALLY loud.   If ur using bluetooth headsets though, then sound quality and volume are going to be determined by the headset and not the garmin.  I use headfones and it's amazing quality                                                                                                                                                                             

I have a TomTom Rider v1, very good but there are problems with quality of parts. The GPS excellent build quality, the mount is a pood design uses aweak tiny Allen key to do it up and not enough joints to adjust just right, the wire to connect the cradle to the battery was a joke.   My reason for choosing the TomTom over Garmin at the time was good write ups (Ride magazine etc) and the fact every thing was in the box, bike mount, cradle, wire, blue-tooth earpiece and mike while the Garmin gave you just the GPS and you had to match up lots of parts to make it work on a bike, the one box solution did it for me.   Main problems with using the TomTom are poor screen, it's effected by bright light ( I couldn't mount the screen vertically enough the limit of cheep mount) the POI for petrol stations are way out of date. There are or were 6 petrol stations near me, 2 are now small supermarkets (one for over 15 years), 2 more are closed, 1 is open and the other isn't there on the GPS anyway, if that is in my local area how can I trust the rest in a emergency low fuel situation.   Sound quality is good but I am using a Nolan N103 helmet and it's blue-tooth N_COM system.   Some of my faults with the v1 are now fixed with the v2 better arm mount now a RAM mount, new blue-tooth helmet earpiece (given a good review in a magazine a while back). It seems to me TomTom have out sourced some of there weak points of the v1 from other manufacturers.                                                                                                                                                                                  

Tom Rider V2 is plenty good for all the basics and has many nifty features. Unlike the Zumo, Tom comes with a bluetooth headset included. Great for simple navigation.   Zumo is more for the geek-ish advanced function types who want very fancy extra features, lots of music and everything to be interconnected.   Beyond that, it's all down to personal tastes and how much cash you have. They both get you from A to B via any other letters you want to chuck in!!!