Am I Wrong?

[Dr Gil]

Ok then...

 

Backstory: I've always been a "gas station map" kinda guy. I ride a Moto Guzzi and this has carried over to the "give me a tach and a full tank of gas and I'm happy...I don't need nothin' else" kinda attitude. Ok, so I added a clock to the dash because I'm a wee bit anal retentive and I use the bike to commute.

 

So enter reality. I find myself getting lost a lot lately and not in the "good" sense. I don't know if it's just that I'm getting older and this is one of those side effects that no one talks about or if it's that I've simply lived in the sticks for too long and "big cities" confuse me. I have actually been know to spend (no exaggeration) "HOURS" looking for an address in the pouring rain in the Bay Area (S.F.). :crazy:

 

So I bought a GPS. Garmin 2610's, long the workhorse of the motorcycling community have gone out of production and can be had "refurbished at the factory" for $300 U.S. or less.

 

So I contacted RAM mounts, asked for suggestions and this is what they have come up with...

 

The new mount:

 

 

With the Garmin 2610:

 

 

...is this wrong? Am I violating some sort of basic Guzzi ideology? Or do I simply have to go buy a new Norge and simply get on with my life? What do you guys/gals think?

[richard100t]

Dont worry, you're pretty normal for a v11 guy Gil. I've seen more than one gps on a Lemans. One fellow I think has a gps & a satellite radio on his. Remember the one who dies with the most toys wins!

[Tracey]

I say ride on, your a lucky man to be able!

It's a big world out their, even the best get lost once in a while.

I knowingly break the purists rules of Guzziology with geat zest. Make that bike yours and enjoy it to your standards...

Ride on man, Ride on!

[Tom M]

It's your bike, do what suits YOU and anyone who doesn't like it can pound sand!

 

 

PS What's the toggle switch for?

[todd haven]

PS What's the toggle switch for?

 

It opens the door to the Bat Cave...

 

Looks good, Gil.

[Guest ratchethack]

It's your bike, do what suits YOU and anyone who doesn't like it can pound sand!

Wot Tom said. Gil, d'you mean to suggest that wot the likes o' THIS Forum would say about wot's "politically correct" (so to speak) to have (or not to have) on your beloved Le Mans would cause you to remove something that you consider a valued asset?!?!?

 

And if the Philistines all got together and voted, and said the overwhelming consensus is that your beloved Le Mans is the wrong color , wot then?!?!

[Dr Gil]

It's your bike, do what suits YOU and anyone who doesn't like it can pound sand!

 

 

PS What's the toggle switch for?

 

 

Ah, heated grips...I live where it gets cold.

 

I'd forgotten about that mod, I'm such a sport-touring wuss.

[Guzzirider]

I used to be a map reading luddite but have discovered that GPS = more time riding and less time stuck on the roadside reading maps and asking one toothed banjo playing strangers wearing denim dungarees which way to go!

 

I use a RAM mount too, mounted in a similar position but on the left clip on.

 

Guy

[Orson]

I used to be a map reading luddite but have discovered that GPS = more time riding and less time stuck on the roadside reading maps and asking one toothed banjo playing strangers wearing denim dungarees which way to go!

you make that sound like a bad thing

[Alex-Corsa]

 

...is this wrong? Am I violating some sort of basic Guzzi ideology? Or do I simply have to go buy a new Norge and simply get on with my life? What do you guys/gals think?

 

If that works convenient for you then it is OK.

Same goes for GPS, I use my PDA with a Navigon thing, it is helpfull on calculating the route and I switch it on when I need some info.

Had saved me tenths of hours when I wanted to find some address in an unknown city,

[Zoom Zoom]

Having replaced my clip ons with the Mototec bars, I ended up with those two extra holes. I used one of them, using RAM parts, to connect a Touratech locking mount in black anodised. It locates my Quest pretty much centered over the tripple clamp. I have done much traveling with a GPS in the lasy several years. I still keep an atlas on the bike, but the GPS does all the work. I won't leave home without it!

 

Zoom Zoom,

John Henry

[Admin Jaap]

BLASPHEMY!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just kidding... If you think you need it who cares what others think?

[KiloSjon]

A GPS on a LeMans is a musthave, if you do not have one, you are sooooo behind us early adaptors, and everyone that says otherwise doesn't quite understand the power of the Guzzi Positioning System...

 

I have my Garmin Quest positioned slightly different, but that wouldn't work for a 2610 since it is more heavy... I think it is a great tour-enhancer, but it reduces the cool-factor of your bike (as all practical helpful stuff does, but hey, who cares?)

[Greg Field]

I had a Garmin V on my Eldo years ago. What I learned from that was, if you want to really get lost or take twice as long to get there and not see a damn thing but a GPS screen, follow the GPS route.

 

In the years since, I've ridden with dozens of GPS users. In every case, it turned them into myopic moles whose primary view of the world was as a trace on their GPS screen and who had to be rescued by me, whose head was up and looking around and paying attention to which way I was going. The same guys who rail about soccer moms distracted by cell phones ride a motorcycle while totally engrossed with the GPS display. In my opinion, GPS and motorcycles are a bad match and I will not follow anyone who is using one again.

 

I see the same thing when I am out in the mountains hunting: Guys afraid to take a step away from their truck without one and unwilling to go wherever the signal is blocked. And in the deep woods and mountains, where you need GPS most is exactly where you are unlikely to be able to get a signal. I've had three of the damn things and am completly underwhelmed at their paltry utility. They're just a crutch that almost no one needs.

[docc]

I'm sure pleased to see this discussion opening up. And not just the technical aspects ( mounting etc) but the aesthetic, the philosophy. And scariest of all, the potential effects on riding ability.

 

I ride with a group of spirited and experienced sport-tourers every autumn for a three day intense weekend. ( rather, they let me come along.)

 

This year the invitation is to lead a segment of the ride. So, I've been shopping GPS units and mounts ( the Garmin Zumo looks the stuff).

 

Yet, every pilot knows "keep your eyes outside the cabin." It concerns me to be taxing my skill set on this ride, lead the group on top of that and be looking between the triple clamps.

 

I've watched the ride leader develop his routing skill with the GPS and must say it's amazing to follow this guy around hundreds of miles of unknown, unmarked backroads in such seamless fashion. Even with half the group running GPS there have been times when we would huddle up beside the road and study the atlases to get us back on track.

 

Just as a cell phone is not a tool box or first aid kit, the GPS is no substitute for a sense of place and direction.

 

I think DrG's addition is the perfect tool for his needs. These things will take you to an address in the city like a New York cabbie that speaks little english.