I accept that the dedicated Garmin and TomTom motorcycle satnavs are either loved (by a few) or hated (by many) and as modern technology moves on, more and more people are looking at alternatives. Whilst not a technophobe, I do not get on with electronics easily so tend to shy away from ‘new stuff’ but there is one function the Garmin (and route planners like MyRouteApp) offer that things like Apple Carplay and Android auto don’t (for now), the ability to create your own route. Several years ago, I started with a Garmin Zumo 395 and progressed to the Zumo XT, which I eventually learned to use effectively (with help ). It seemed a natural progression, to move to the XT2with its better screen and surely easy to use now I’ve got my head around Basecamp. Urm, that’ll be no then The XT2 is not supported by Basecamp, Garmin want you to use its all new, all singing, all dancing app TREAD. Although Basecamp will tell you it doesn’t support the XT2, I found you can still drag and drop a saved Basecamp .gpx file if you use a Windows device like my desktop PC. To the point of my post, living with the XT2, or should that be fighting with the XT2 as it frustrates you at every turn. Using TREAD as a route planning tool is pretty straight forward except there is no PC version of it so (if you are me) you are stuck with an iPad screen or, heaven forbid, a phone screen to do your planning on The TREAD app and your XT2 are connected by Bluetooth and a simple ‘sync’ transfers your route. Want to share a route ? Easy, email a .gpx file as an attachment to your mate and use TREAD to share it with the XT2. Urm, try and transfer a number of .gpx routes in a single file and the XT2 goes into melt down mode and you get a ‘cannot calculate route’ message when you try and launch a route Another thing to note, the XT2 wants a constant connection with TREAD so you can use its array of add ons (like live traffic and weather updates) which will drain your phone in a couple of hours if it’s not plugged into an external power supply. During our recent trip, I was fortunate enough to be riding with a friend who thought the issue was an interesting challenge and eventually had to factory reset it, load the individual routes and disable the TREAD connection. I’ll figure it out, eventually and on balance, the XT2 displayed a more followable (if that is a real word) route on a map, compared to the 2 other solutions being used by the 2 chaps who organised our trip. If you have the patience and perseverance, I still think the XT2 is probably the better option ……… for the moment Andy PS - I understand the most recent BMW software update for their own motorcycle (Garmin based) satnav, has totally screwed the ability to transfer a route from Basecamp. Our route complier was not/is not best pleased
Great little review, I'm sure it will be helpful. Just wanted to point out you can use MyRouteApp on a Apple Carplay screen and without an internet connection if you want.
There is a separate thread discussing the best carplay heads for a motorcycle, which I have followed with interest but it’s a step too far for my level of competence …….. and I’m not one for paying subscriptions when I can get by for free Andy
Had a few Garmin satnav's & the last purchase Zumo 595 really dropped the ball on screen-brightness. Couldn't dream of spending further money on their brand unless I see there kit in person now. Have they even aligned to telling us how many nit's the screen has??
I'm afraid I don't know what a 'nit' is but the XT2 has a screen resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels. In practice, I find the screen brightness more than adequate in all weather conditions except full, midday sun from above and behind my head. I don't run full screen brightness though. Andy
I’ve found my XT (not XT2) and MRA combination to be pretty good. I really like MRA and compared with Basecamp it’s a dream to use. I bought a lifetime Gold subscription when it was on special offer. I know what you mean about subscriptions (I hate them normally) but I don’t mind paying a one off fee for software. I’ve also used MRA navigation with Apple car play in both my own car and a hire car in the USA pretty successfully.
XT User here. I've been making do with using Google Maps and Maps to GPX, which has done me fine for the fialry local trips (150 miles max) I've been doing. Would I benefit from giving My Route App a try? I like to plot my route out on my iMac using the big screen and then transfer to the XT.
I’ve just ordered the XT and it’s due to be delivered tomorrow. Having just read the review above I have no clue what any of it means
As a long term Garmin evangelist, from the days of Mapsource (the predecessor of Basecamp) and their StreetPilot 2720 to the XT and Basecamp and then MRA. I encouraged and helped many to use Garmin. No more though, moved over to the full MRA solution with life time subs to the Gold Planner and Navigation Next over a year ago and haven't regretted it once. Tried an Android Auto panel but that wasn't a success, down to the panel. Will try an alternative for next year. MRA offers a pretty seamless transition between planning and navigating, the routes are reliable and don't wind up recalculating half way through a route. Any diversion off a route recalcs to the next point but still shows the original route too. Planning is so much more intuitive plus you get the likes of Michelin Maps, Google Maps and Streetview all built into the planner.
It depends how you create your routes. I use MRA to create a route when I’m touring on my Mac at home. Pick the start and finish and then use waypoints (or shaping points) to drag the route to the roads I want to ride. You can use the Michelin maps overlay to pick roads with the green ‘scenic route’. You can also use Google street view to check junctions, roads, restaurants etc. Make sure you add waypoints carefully. Make your start just down the road from the actual start and add them a few 100 metres after each major junction. This way it won’t try and loop you back to the start and will make sure you take the road you want to use. Once you have the route the way you want you can use the phone App to download the route (.gpx 1.0 route and track). Then send this file to Garmin Drive. It will sync with the Zumo when it’s turned on. I then make the ‘track’ visible at all times (in a bright colour) this means you can see the actual route you plotted and if the Garmin recalculates you can choose to ignore it. Then load up the route and check that it matches the track. If it’s gone way off route go back to the computer and add a few extra waypoints before exporting it again. You can download a trial version of MRA to see if you like it before buying or subscribing. The MRA website has lots of very good tutorials and a helpful forum.
As @Bumpkin says using the actual navigation app is in many ways a better option as it takes out the annoying Garmin ‘recalculation’ which is what normally screws things up. Also learn how the ‘skip waypoint’ option works!
Thanks @Twin4me very useful - I want to keep using my XT as I'm fairly happy with it, and having paid for it just over a year ago I was hoping to use it throughout the tenure of my current MTS after done the install - rather than remove it and fit a carplay screen instead. I notice that MRA is now Carplay compatible which will work with my 2020 BMW 3 Series. I've become increasingly unhappy with Waze, so perhaps paying for MRA will kill two birds with one stone. I will mull it over the next couple of days.
MRA. Routes can be downloaded to Garmin, but can also be downloaded to tomtom app on phone. Route remains the same… Just need the ever essential waypoints. Checked this out a year or two back in Spain. Two different Garmin units and my phone. Worked spot on, as long as you transferred routes using the relevant garmin/tomtom export. Not sure how Garmin have gotten away with it as a so called ‘dedicated’ navigation unit/system for so many years tbh.
There are some free online training sessions just been launched for MRA if anyone is interested. https://academy.myrouteapp.com/mraelearning/ Not 100% if these are in English though!
I can’t be arsed spending hours planning routes, life is too short. I use the trip planner on the XT2, shove half a dozen villages in, then set the unit to the second most extreme adventurous route, and have been down some fantastic scenic roads, with not a lot of traffic.
Half the fun for me is in the planning, maybe I should try relaxing and just going with the flow... then there's the inner control freak that screams NOOO!
