Received my Garmin Zumo 450 on a Tuesday and promptly unpacked it. My first impression was "This is different". Hope I didn't waste my hard earned cash for this gadget. I connected the Zumo to the computer and checked for updates. One was available so I downloaded it.
Next I attached the supplied RAM mount to my BMW R1150GS and hardwired the dc cord to an appropriate place. The first couple of days of commuting to work with this GPS I noted my likes and dislikes of this Zumo. At this point the dislikes far outweighed the likes. Hope I didn't make a mistake with this purchase.
The weekend came and I took a long trip through the Adirondacks of NY, the Green mountains of VT and the Berkshires of MA for a distance of 800 miles total for the weekend. By the time the weekend was complete my dislikes with this machine was down to two. The first dislike was fuel stops in rural communities does not display. When in Long Lake, NY it says my closest option for a fuel stop was 22 miles north in Tupper Lake when there were two well-established fuel points in that community. I also experienced this throughout my travels through rural America in the northeast.
The second dislike is the nut that holds the RAM arm. RAM makes a key locking nut that will prevent someone from walking off with your GPS. This item can be purchased separately.
Now for some of my likes:
1. Touch Pad is very nice and easy to maneuver through the various pages.
2. The Garmin Security Lock, when activated prevents someone from using the GPS unless they have the PIN or is at a predetermined location of your choosing.
3. The ability to recalculate your route should you want to deviate from it and go exploring.
4. Waterproof.
5. The RAM mount comes with this unit.
6. Nothing optional that is needed with this unit.
7. The ability to accept Points of Interest. There are free POI's available from the Internet or you can commercially purchase them for your unit.
8. Comes with a carrying case.
9. Large display suitable for the motorcyclist.

It's been a few years since I have updated my GPS. My previous model was the Garmin eMap. The ZUMO 450 is not designed to go hiking and is rather bulky to carry in your hand. The internal lithium battery life of four hours isn't practical to carry on long hiking trips. Garmin's literature states "this unit was designed for a motorcycle by a motorcyclist" and now I believe it. If you are serious about having navigation on your motorcycle the Garmin Zumo deserves some consideration. I have no regrets and feel that I have made a wise choice.

I had been looking at the Zumo for quite some time before I finally decided to purchase it. I had been using a Magellan Meridian Color with a bike mount on my Harley. It did turn by turn but had no auto-rerouting and the routing was extremely SLOW (like I had passed the next turn before it registered it).

After scoping out EBay for a couple of weeks I found it more feasible to purchase my 450 on Amazon. The price was pretty close to the EBay listings that I was watching and the shipping was a STEAL (Only $10 and some change for overnight - most of the ones on EBay were $25-40 for overnight).

I got the unit and it installed on the bike in a snap! The RAM mounting system is awesome. They really thought this through when they packaged the unit. Everything you need is all there in the box.

I don't have the hardwire hooked up yet as I am waiting on an adapter for my AUX switch on my Ultra Electra Glide. I connected the hardwire to a cigarette lighter adapter and ran it to a converter to charge the Zumo. One note on this is that the unit will only charge in the motorcycle cradle if it is turned on (handy if you hot wire it to the bike and don't want it draining your battery to charge).

When I received the unit it was showing 2 bars on the battery. This gave me about 3 and a half hours of life (much better than the Meridian which only gave 1 and a half to 2 hours with full brightness on - this was the only way I could half see it on the bike).

I ordered a Auto cradle and auto charger also - these work great - the auto cradle actually has an integrated speaker so you can use it in the vehicle and get the voice prompts without hooking it to anything else.

Performance is awesome - I get a full GPS fix in my garage (something the Meridian could NEVER do). Programming is really easy and the Navigator software installed is every bit as good as the Magellan software I used.

The screen is easy to read and follow - even in direct bright sunlight (again a major problem with the Meridian)

With the RAM mount on the handlebars the unit is rock stable. No shake or problems (Impressive on a Harley with aftermarket exhaust!)

I HIGHLY recommend this unit. If you have been debating it - make the move and get it!

I looked at the 550 with Bluetooth, XM, etc but the extra cost and with having to purchase a seperate XM antennae (about $200 more dollars for this alone)made me decide to stick with my MyFi and get the 450.

You won't be disappointed!

I bought the Zumo 450 a month ago and promptly mounted it to my 2003 Goldwing. The supplied RAM mount is excellent and provides for a variety of mounting positions. Wiring was made simple by Honda, as there is a fused auxiliary power supply under the left cubby.
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br /The Zumo is exceptionally intuitive and easy to use. I played around with the unit for about a week while commuting to and from work. Then the fun began. I took a trip on the motorcycle from Seattle, WA to Blandon, PA and back. All told the trip was 7,000 miles. We did a ton of sight seeing during the trip, and thanks to the Zumo we had no stress about going anywhere we wanted to go.
br /
br /With confidence, we rode into and around Chicago and Philadelphia. We took back roads out of Glacier National Park that we would never have seen had it not been for the Zumo directing us there.
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br /Only had two issues with the Zumo while on the trip. The first one was that the unit froze up and would not turn on once. I followed the manual's instructions for resetting the unit (press the + and Power buttons at the same time) and I was off and running again. The second issue was that while in Philadelphia the Zumo told us to make a left turn when the street was a one-way street for traffic in the other direction. No big deal, just went an extra block and the Zumo immediately recalculated the route.
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br /
br /The Zumo has a ton of great features. The ones that I used the most on the trip were;
br /
br /Knowing my actual speed vs. what my speedo was reading.
br /Altitude readings were fun!
br /Knowing how many miles were had left for the route in a given day.
br /Finding the nearest Hotels.
br /Finding the nearest Starbucks!
br /Finding the nearest gas station.
br /
br /This thing has a bunch more features that I did not use much, but I am sure that I will get around to them soon. Going on another 1000 mile trip next weekend!
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br /I am completely satisfied with this unit and would highly recommend it!
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After hearing good things about the Zumo product line from Garmin and owning another Garmin GPS unit I purchased the 450 model because I did not need all the features and the expense of the 550. First off there is no owners manual in the box only a "quick start" card and a cd containing a pdf manual which does not print on standard size paper. This doesn't work out so well if your on the road without a laptop to view the manual. The unit does seem to be well built and installation was pretty simple on my 2002 Gold Wing since I already had power for a previously installed GPS III and a mounting bracket on the bike. Once the cradle that comes with the unit is assembled and the power cable connected to the cradle (by tiny screws), attaching it to the bike was a snap but once the cable is connected to the bike power source the cradle assembly must remain attached to the bike since the power cable is screwed to it. On the GPS III I could unplug the cable from the rear and loosen the mounting arm and tale the whole unit off the bike just leaving the cable in place. The unit itself attaches to the cradle with a multi-pin connector on the bottom and small clamping device at the top with security screw that takes a special small screw driver that's supplied. This makes it very unhandy to just pop the unit off for a quick lunch or rest stop. Also,the little screwdriver they supply is stupidly designed. They instruct you to attach it to your key chain via the hole at the top but if you do this to turn the security screw you have to turn your whole key chain and keys because it doesn't swivel at the top. For me that includes the big key fob for locking and unlocking the Gold Wing's luggage. Dumb design. OK now for operation: Programing routes via computer or the touch screen was no problem and was actually pretty easy. It took a little investigation before I figured how to copy routes to a SD card on the computer and then put the card in the Zumo and upload them to the unit. It's easier to upload routes via the supplied usb cable. Again pretty hard to do if you don't have a laptop on the road. BUT the biggest problem I had was that on my first 750 mile trip this Labor Day weekend the unit quit working after 500 miles. It's "deader than a door nail". Made a rest stop on the way home and shut the unit off and when I went to leave it would not restart. It does not work off the bike power nor the internal (4 hr) battery. By the way the only way you can charge the internal battery is from the bike power cable and I think it also charges when attached to the computer via the usb cable. Anyway another rider on the trip said that a friend of his had the same problem with his Zumo and he had to return it and they sent a complete new unit. Hopefully they will do the same for me but I did not expect this from Garmin (or any other gps of this class) since I have used my GPS III for years on my motorcycles and bicycle without a problem. This is a unit specifically designed for motorcycle use and it it very disappointing to have it fail so quickly. I hope it is not a Zumo-wide flaw.
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br /OK I just read Chad K's review below and the manual and did the "power +" buttons reboot and the unit is up and running again. But why did it quit in the first place??? Would have been nice to have the manual on the road but my laptop won't fit in my trunk!

I was looking for a mobil GPS unit that I could use on my bike, car or when exploring unknown ground on foot. Doing some research and reading the reviews on Amazon.com the Zumo 450 seemed to be the right choice. Out of the box it has everything you need to install it on your motorcycle. I believe in manuals and read through it, however, if you among those who can't wait for the hands-on approach the Zumo 450 is very intuative to use. For my first trip I actually used it in my car. For that I had also ordered the Garmin automotive mount (010-10860-00) together with the 12-Volt Vehicle adapter (010-10747-03). The automotive mount has a built-in speaker that alows the Zumo 450 to read the turning instructions back to you. Although the little speaker is not great, the mount comes with an audio output (as well as a mic input) which allows you to connect the automotive mount to your car stereo. I have a simple car stereo with a tape deck where I use one of those tape casette adapters with audio connector to connect the Zumo 450 to my car stereo. Throw some MP3s on a optional SD card (the type that is used in many compact digital camareas), insert it into your Zumo and you can listen to music and the turnig instructions of the Zumo at the same time (the Zumo pauses the music like it's much more expensive built-in cousins when giving instructions). I tested it out last weekend on a 500+mile trip to unknown territory. In the past I would be "armed" with Mapquest printouts which can become sometimes a challange in heavy traffic when reading printouts and paying attention to the moving sourroundings at the same time. I can gladly say those days are over (although I don't believe in using a GPS because one doesn't know how to read a (paper) map).

The installation on the bike is straightforward, with running the wire for the electric hookup of the Zumo (included) took me the longest. I was amazed about the vibration free display. A big difference to what I get from the mirrors on my KLR at higher rpms. Although the included mount for the motorcycle has audio in and output as well as a USB connector I will not use them on the bike as the Zumo will be a visuell guide for me only. The Zumo comes here really handy when navigating in areas you don't know as it lets you concentrate on traffic and keeping an eye on those car drivers who are too busy to otherwise notice a biker.

Last but not least the built-in battery of the Zumo is supposed to last for up to 4 hours (I haven't tested the batteries capacity yet) in those instances when you're exploring places on foot. The battery recharges once you connect it back to your auto or bike mount.

In terms of the software that comes with the Zumo it allows you to plan trips ahead of time using MapSource (included). Mapsource works along with Google. However, the version of MapSource that came with the package did not recognize the Zumo properly which prevented up and downloads of routes, maps, waypoints to and from the Zumo. Downloading the latest version of MapSource from Garmin's website fixed that problem. So if you want to plan a ride this is one way you can do it.

I definitely don't regret bying the Zumo 450 and can only recommend it.

I bought the Zumo 450 for use on a recent motorcycle trip through Europe (Italy, Switzerland and France) I bought the Euro data base, which seemed quite pricey at $240, but I it turned out to be the best investment of the entire trip. The Zumo worked perfectly, although some of the route building methods seemed a little qwirky (it may also be that I spent no time learning it before the trip and everything was done virtually on the bike). Without the Zumo on this trip, I would likely still be wondering around Europe lost in the crazy traffic. The data base gave use the tinniest of roads and a great view of the Alps. We learned to trust it completely - just follow the purple line and all will be well. You have to be careful though if you ask it to give you the shortest route, it will indeed be the shortest regardless of the type or size of road. We saw some pretty interesting sights in Switzerland this way. But shortest doesn't mean fastest. We learned to use the 'via' function to drag and select our map points to control the route - then just press go and enjoy. Reception was instant and alway solid even in torrential rain and thick clouds, it even worked all the way through most of the tunnels except the Mont Blanc tunnel (7 miles !) I did get a look at the screen of a TomTom in a taxi at one point during the trip and think I like how TomTom depicts things like round-abouts better. The only criticism was the at very congested intersections or freeway ramps, the Zumo shows the turn at the geographic intersection which might still say 200meters ahead, but in fact you need to be in the right lane and already exiting right now, the lane lines require a bit of study and learning. Garmin might want to re-examine how they depict tightly spaced ramps and converging roads. But if you miss a turn, no worries, the Zumo was quick to recalculate and tell you what to do (U turn or turn later, etc.) Overall it worked excellent and you can trust Garmin. We did 2000Km overall and we all agreed that it saved us an entire day of reading maps and trying to figure out which way to go (we never read a street sign the entire trip). One of the coolest things was that we used a travel guide to select some hotels, the guide had a small map of the town showing the hotel locations, so we were able to zoom the Zumo into the destination point to show street detail, we could identify the street corner we wanted from the map and then tap the screen and select it as a destination point - hit GO and have fun. The same worked for making short runs to points off the original route. The screen allows you to drag around with your finger to find the place you want to go, tap to select it as a destination or 'via' point and press GO. Pretty cool. It even has boat and train ferry routes. We once ended up at lakeside dock with 20Km to go on the trip and the purple line just went out into the water. We thought Zumo had hosed us, but a ferry boat came around the corner and voila! You mount the holder semi-permanently to the bike - it would be difficult to move it bike to bike without multiple holders (the holder is u-bolted to the handlebar and hardwired to the bike's battery). But the Zumo itself snaps securely on and off in 1 second so you can take it inside and do programming or route planning running on its internal battery. It works well inside off-line without signal working just from the data base. We referenced maps at night because they are easy to lay out and plan, then selected points in the Zumo - but you could do an entire trip without any paper map whatsoever. Overall 4 stars - one deduct just because how the congested roadway software depiction is done - we sometimes stopped at the apex of a multiple ramp convergence to be sure we were about to get the right one. A lot of this will be mitigated with practice and use, but it could have been a bit more clear I think. Nothing is perfect. Go for it. JS

I had a Garmin 2610 for several years and mounted it in my cars, my Goldwing, my Suzuki, etc. The 2610 is NOT an ideal motorcycle GPS but is great for a car because of its remote.
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br /On the other hand, the Zumo is really convenient for both types of vehicles. The Zumo is my first experience with a 3-D, what-you're-pointing-at-is-up display; after a couple thousand miles I've grown to like it. I'm not sure that the Zumo has auto-zoom, but whatever it is doing is far superior to the auto-zoom on the 2610 (which frequently showed me a quarter of the continental United States...like I need that on a motorcycle!)
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br /All of the features of the Zumo have a design center of a bike rider with 3 season gloves on. I like that!
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br /Compared to the 2610, you lose some options, some extra data, etc., but overall I do not miss that stuff a bit.
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br /Yes, the 450 compared to the 550 requires some extra purchases (automobile components) but it is $200 less expensive at this point.
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br /I just got back from a 1300 mile drive (in a car) to California from Portland. On the return, I plugged my portable XM radio into my car's AUX input instead of the Zumo (which I had done on the outbound) with the 2GB SD car I had loaded up with tunes. Well, at 5:15 am, I just about drove up the sidewalk when the Zumo spoke to me without the benefit of an audio input to the car's system. Garmin does not do a very good job of marketing the fact that the car mount INCLUDES a speaker on it, so no audio connection is needed to the car (although the output is provided!).
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br /NOW, my complaint...on this return car trip from the north Bay area, the Zumo went belly up somewhere just south of Shasta City. Why??? Dunno. Fortunately, it had already directed me through a fairly tortuous route through Napa Sonoma counties (in the dark, with fog, yuck). On the road, I tried every CPR technique (even reading the manual on my laptop during the lunch break) but to no avail. Once home, where the tools are, I got out my metric allen wrenches, removed the battery, counted to 30, put the battery back in, and all was swell. Guess what little tool is going into the Zumo's carrying case???
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br /Except for this lapse in firmware which seems unrecoverable without a hard repowering/rebooting, I like the Zumo 450 a lot. Would I go for the 550? Well maybe...maybe not. The Bluetooth thingy is OK, but using it means you spend mega bucks rather than $4 for an audio cord. Fit a BT earpiece into my helmet?? RUNUTS?
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br /Indeed, the internal memory holds the entire USA and every 2-bit Denny's along the way!!! You put in an optional SD car for the ability to play music.
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br /OH YEAH - ONLY .MP3 files area supported. Bummer for other formats.

I bought the Garmin Zumo 450 as my first GPS. I had contemplated getting a GPS for years. I've always been a `map guy' and was reluctant to make the leap to GPS. I had plans for a few motorcycle trips this year and saw the Zumo line. I also had a car trip through France planned and when I realized I could buy a France map card for the Zumo, that sealed the deal. I've used the 450 on three motorcycle trips already and just got back from France. The Zumo was a real nice addition. Apart from the navigation, it is handy for looking up places. When in Indy for the F1 race, I wanted to find a bookstore...looked it up in the Zumo. Wanted to see a movie...looked it up in the Zumo and it gave the telephone number so I could call for movie times. The France map card worked great...helping me navigate the maze of Paris and the countryside. I still recommend using a map to cross check. On the downside, I wish the Zumo had elevation. Also, since the added features of the 550 (Bluetooth, etc.) didn't appeal to me, I got the 450. Well, the 550 comes with a car mount which I would have appreciated. Probably would get the 550 the second time around. Bottom line, it is a nice tool. Easy to use, in the car or on the bike.

I too, highly recommend this unit.

Very intuitive and easy to use and even more so if you take a quick look at the manual. Fast re-routing, and extremely close GPS resolution - especially in WAAS mode. Good database of gas, food and other facilities.

The included mapping software allows creation of routes on your PC and upload to the Zumo. Data can also be downloaded from the Zumo allowing a visual representation of your ride either of graph form or through Google Earth.

Installation was a breeze on my Honda ST1300 using only the mounting hardware provided with the Zumo. No extra parts were required. The included RAM mount provides an very stable, vibration-free platform.

Unless you really MUST have XM and Bluetooth, the 450 will do the job for you quite nicely.

Very easy to use, easy to mount. Best feature is the database that stores such things nearest places to eat and type of food, gas stations, parks, movie theaters...basically anything you can imagine. You can easily pick the place you want to go to, and the Zumo takes you there. VERY COOL!!! It's very easy to create routes on the computer and way points...even easier downloading them to your Zumo.

The 450 is a great product with wonderful features too many to mention here. I have used it on a 800 mile motorcycle trip and it performed admirably. It's user friendly as long as a new user is not technically challenged. The visibility in bright sun light is surprisingly good. I could go on and on about the Zumo and I recommend it highly. Is it perfect? Probably not. Nothing is. It does come close, IMHO. You noticed that I rated it 4 stars. That's where the 'but' comes in.......If I had to do it over again, I would skip the 450 and go directly to the 550 and pay the additional money. Here's why.....for the kind of money spent, I decided to also use it in the car. To be able to do that, I had to purchase a car mount and power cord. By the time I added the costs for those items, I could nearly have paid the price difference between the 450 and 550. The 550 comes with the car mount and has some additional features such as Text To Voice (it will announce a turn by saying 'turn left on Main Street' instead of just saying 'turn left') and Blue Tooth capable.
br /Bottom line is this, if you don't care about the additional features (which I didn't think I did) and you don't think you'll be using it in your car, get the 450. If you intend to use it in a car as well as your motorcycle, pay the difference and get the 550. In any event, I don't think you'll be disappointed with either unit.
br /I absolutely love my Zumo.

I purchased the 450. It arrived on time, but...
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br /The unit was used, there were scratches on it, the parts were simply thrown into the box. Amazon was trying to charge me for a new unit but shipped a used device in an unsealed box, in clearly used condition.
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br /Buyer beware.

Garmin Zumo 450 Portable GPS Motorcycle Navigator
br /I am finding the Zumo 450 very intuitive and friendly to use. I cannot say the same for the Garmin City Navigator NT. If you like to do trial and error for hours, this is your game. Personally, I like to be led through several scenarios prior to going to and index to discover what I want the product to do for me. The program and informaton seems to be very fine. The tutorial is seriously lacking to non-existant.

I just purchased my Zumo and it works great. I recently took it on a trip in which I was in Orlando, Boston and Denver on successive days. Mr. Garmin got me where I needed to go. The thing I like the best is if you take a "wrong" turn, the GPS just says "recalculating" and then comes up with a new route.
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br /So, why only 4 stars? A few minor points:
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br /1) GPS resolution isn't perfect so it is sometimes easy to take a wrong turn if you are dealing with a tangle of roads, overpasses and things all very close together. I ran into one of those in Boston. The GPS re-routed me after I missed the turn, so it only cost me a minute or so.
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br /2) Garmin has one kind of power cord plug for recharging the unit from an outlet, another for running from the motorcycle mount and yet another kind of plug for the automobile mount. Why not have just one kind of plug? Is Garmin trying to please their shareholders by being able to sell 4 kinds of rechargers for the same unit? Same with the car mount. If they took the same kind of power cord, then I could just use the motorcycle mount in the car by purchasing a suction cup from RAM mount. Different plugs require different mounts, so they got me for another $100 bucks for a car mount and adaptors.
br /
br /3) Unit itself doesn't have audio output. Must put into either the motorcycle or car mount for audio output.
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br /4) Pictures on company website are too small to be able to tell what you need to buy in the way of plugs and cords. Descriptions are terse and vague. On the plus side, they responded within a day to my email asking for clarification.
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br /5) Two ways of purchasing additional maps. On DVD or on SD cards. Not clear from website what this means or why you would choose one over the other. Had to ask via email. Explanation is that DVD requires you to delete the US map to make room for the Europe map while SD card just plugs in. Bottom line is that you need to be aggressive and ask via email what all the vague stuff on the Garmin website means. Otherwise prepare for disappointment.
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br /These things are just minor quirks. Overall, awesome way to travel. My anxiety level over travel in unfamiliar cities just went waaaaaaay down.
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Pros: Ready to go right out of the box so learning curve is very short.
br /Basemap upgrade(Garmin price $70) available for FREE when registering product. Motorcycle mount is very versatile for any brand m/c. Excellent interface with communication system. Touch screen works easily with gloved fingers.
br /Cons: No power cord or mount for use in auto. Must be purchased extra.
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br /This unit is great for the price if you do not need bluetooth or XM capability,

Expensive, but I really like it over the TomTom that I have in my car. Great GPS for motorcycles. I would recommend this unit to anyone.

I had a Garmin Pilot 3 gps which was ok with limited capabilities. Then a Garmin 5, more features but very disappointing, lots of errors, almost turned me off Garmin. Decided to buy the Garmin Zumo 450 and coupled it with motorcycle speakers from Uniqcycle. This system is great for sound, road directions, accuracy and quick recalculations. The built in MP3 player categorizes your music for ease of use. This GPS is easy to use and very visible while riding. The gps unit is waterproof as are the speakers. Here's a plug for the speakers, no distortion at high sound levels. I'm glad I decided to stick with the Garmin unit made especially for motorcycles. Special note: if you wire the speaker amp and the garmin unit to your motorcycle, chances are you will need a "ground loop isolator" device to eliminate the hum in the speakers that connecting the two to the same power source creates. It's $20 but does the job.

This GPS is easy to use with it's touch screen. Finding fuel or a place to stay is a snap. It has however just shut off a time or two when I have punched "find fuel." That causes a delay of more than a few minutes and I have to watch the road as well as figure out what went wrong with it. This is a design flaw I think as I am not the only one who has experienced this anoying querk. The softwear that comes with this GPS is pretty good and makes planning a trip half the fun. Learning the softwear can be a patience tester. Directions for using it (the softwear) are not very good. Once one figures it out, its not bad.

My husband and I have used this for maps as well as hunting resturants and ATM machines. We have used every feature and he has used it on his motorcycle. It is compact and easy to use. I love using it for short trips to see where it will take us and reroute us, I don't think we will ever get lost again, get product Zumo.
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I used my Zumo 450 for the first time recently. I took a 2000 mile road trip through Florida. The device is awesome to say the least. It is a very powerful tool for touring on a bike. I love the MP3 player. It has very high quality sound.
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br /My favorite feature is the glove friendly interface. I can totally manipulate the Zumo with heavy riding gloves on. The touch screen control is "da bomb!"
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br /The route calculation are very good though not perfect. However if you are lost this little gem will get you where you want to go and will do it quick! The database is very good. It has 6 million motels, restaurants, stores, theaters, auto parts, dealers etc. The unit will not only guide you to any of these points but provides the adress and phone number so if you'd like to call ahead.
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br /I highly recommend this unit for anyone serious about touring on a motorcycle. It is easily and safely manipulated even while riding.

First off let me say the GARMIN ZUMO 450 GPS is GREAT and everything i wanted for my TRIUMPH SPRINT ST MOTORCYCLE, and with the addition of a 4GB SD card i carry over 800 road tunes with me and always know where im going or where im at, but this review is not about GARMIN, everyone knows there reputation of quality and technical support of GPS systems, this is about AMAZON who delivered speedy service and stood good for a mistake they made in there listing and description of the item of what it came with, although it was just one of the reasons i chose amazon to purchase this product along with there great price, this extra accessory made up my mind and made it a better deal than anyone else had, so when i recieved my garmin the extra accessory wasnt in the box, when i called amazon's customer support about the issue and they seen there listing was wrong they stood good for there mistake and sent me the missing accessory at no-charge with next day delivery, now that is customer service from a great company, thank you AMAZON, and for all thats reading this review and looking at the GARMIN ZUMO 450 and mainly if your a bike rider, get you one......you will love it! thanx a million AMAZON and GARMIN and see ya on the road!

Excellent unit which is very intuitive to operate. My only suggestion would be a modification of power cord (place the fuse near unit) which would facilitate cutting to exact length needed.

I have been pleased with the performance of the Zumo 450. It's cheaper than the 550 model. I don't need bluetooth. The only annoyance is that some of the points of interest, and even road changes are out of date by perhaps a couple of years.

I purchased my Garmin Zumo 450 through the Amazon web page. The supplier was Beach Camera in New Jersey. The advertisement on the Amazon page stated that the Zumo 450 included an automotive mount as well as a motorcycle mount. This was the determining factor in my decision to select this particular product. The Zumo arrived in good time and on a Saturday which gave me free time to explore it's functions and features. I discovered that the automotive mount was not in the shipment. The following Monday, I contacted Beach Camera, and spoke with a customer service supervisor (Mark Kess). Mark explained that an error had been made in the advertisement on the Amazon page and that the automotive mount was only included in the Zumo 550 instead of the 450. His original position was that Amazon was the party to contact. To make a long story short, Mark agreed to ship the Automotive mount (a $75.00 item) at no charge to me. I picked it up today at the Fed Ex depot and I am very pleased with the product. I am also pleased with Beach Camera for accepting responsibility to a customer even though the error was not necessarily theirs. Thank you Mark and Beach Camera for a job well done. I highly recommend this company.

This is an amazing piece of equipment and we are very pleased with it. We have found however that it is somewhat out of date. Several places in our area have not been in the location stated for 5 years or more so that needs to be updated. Also, there have been a couple of routes that we are actually familiar with that the directions given were really the long way around. I would like to confirm though that we have complete confidence the Zumo will get us where we want to go even if it is the long way sometimes. We would also like to see more attachments readily available ie: earphones or speaker attachments. We had to do some searching for those is local stores.

If you're looking for a GPS for your motorcycle, look no further then the Garmin zumo 450. Installation was a breeze using the included mounting brackets and power cable. I was done in less then an hour. I only wish they provided the optional security lock in the package, which I did buy. The unit works so well, I even bought the car kit (windshield mount and power adapter). Highly recommended.

This is a pretty good device all around. Its durable, easy to use for someone even in gloves, and it can be used in conjunction with Harley Davidson.com's ride planner to plan your route.
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br /2 Problems I have with it:
br /1) Don't think it can be used as a GPS for both bike and car. It has a weird plug-in for the mount that gives it power (the only way to power the thing and use it at the same time is to power through the mount) and Garmin doesn't sell a car adapter with that end. Also, they don't sell anything that can mount it to the window of your car. It would be so easy for Garmin to make these things, but they obviously want you to own GPS's for as many things as they can get you to buy them for, regardless of the overwhelmingly high price.
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br /2) If you want to be able to just hear it tell you where to go and not mess with putting in the wires to power it up, also out of luck! It requires power to use the audio functions. So you better resign yourself to getting this thing installed if you don't feel comfortable wiring your own bike.
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br /Those two things get fixed, and I'd think it was PERFECT!

I bought the Zumo 450 the day before going on a 1700 mile trip from Dover DE to the Great Smokey Mountains in North Carolina. During the trip I got rained on and exposed to near freezing temperatures. I choose this over the 550 based on cost over function (I didn't need bluetooth or XM).
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br /Pros:
br /Reliable information to destination including routes, times, and travel data.
br /Ease of use even with gloves.
br /Good mounting system and pretty easy to power from my motorcycle.
br /Good battery life.
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br /Cons:
br /You have to use the base to plug anything except a USB chord into the unit and I didn't try driving with this unit hooked to a computer yet so I can't speak for that capability.
br /Garmin does not make a car power cord with a cigarette adaptor that will fit the base. The only options are to drop another $100 on a car base or modify a motorcycle power chord.
br /It doesn't seem like it would have been very difficult to make this unit a great multi-vehicle unit but greed got into Garmins way.
br /The onboard maps don't include recently reconfigured traffic patterns (watch out around Washington D.C.)
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br /In the end I would recommend this unit for motorcyclists as it delivers me where I wanted to go and provided some interesting information along the way.

It worked great for two weeks. I was just over the "learning curve" when the unit developed a problem. I've had to send it back to Garmin for warranty work. Everything worked fine except when you typed in a street address and hit the "Done" it would power itself off. Support techs at Garmin spent quite a long time with me on the phone trying to solve the problem but I had to settle sending the unit back for warranty repair.
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br /I think the unit is great. I especially like the MP3 playing my favorite tunes through my bike speakers (UniqueCyle). I also enjoyed downloading planned routes for our SCRC chapter rides. I liked the idea of knowing the route via the Garmin rather than relying on someone else. I can't wait to get it back. It's a great unit for the money if you don't need the Bluetooth. I would give it 5 stars except for the fact that I had to send it back for the warranty work.

Very well laid out. Ample amplification for sound. But would it be soooo difficult to offer a home plug-in charging accessory? Perhaps making it standard issue since the unit is shipped partially charged. And product description on my 450 failed to disclose it came with a in-line power wire for the unit to the bike. (sent seperate ordered one back)

First of all installation really was quick and easy with the included hardware. I just needed a small screwdriver and a hex wrench from my toolbox to complete installation.
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br /Something I didn't pay attention to when deciding which model to get: apparently the Zumo 550 also comes with everything you need to mount the unit in a vehicle if you want; for the 450 you have to buy the suction mount and cigarrete lighter cord separately. Adding to the confusion, as stated by several other reviewers, Amazon's descriptions for the accessories are all wrong. However the part numbers given by Tom S below are indeed the correct parts you need to order to install in a vehicle, and the box you get in the mail says they are for the Zumo, even though Amazon says they're for anything but Zumos.

I did a lot of leg work before choosing this item, including talking to owners of it. I'm glad I purchased it. It does all that I had expected and more. It truly has a unique ease of use, and doesn't need the cradle unless charging or mounted for long drives.
br /As with other reviews, it would have been nice to have an automotive cigarette lighter attachment, but the main value of this unit was for my Motorcycle and it does all I need it to. The RAM mounting makes for quick work to install on my bike, and I was off and riding.
br /Jim

bought as a christmas present for my dad and it was exactly what he wanted. Perfect for his Harley and he also bought the cradle for the car. Something I didn't realize, you can actually load music pictures onto it. VERY NICE!

Very nice product has most roads, could have altimiter other options but works very well

I had the misfortune to try another online store for this purchase when they called to confirm I had to ask if it was in english it was in Japaneese only! I went to amazon because of the reputation and was surprised at the price and how quickly the order arrived. The Zumo is a wonderfull product and lives up to and exceeds evey statement made about it. I am planning a trip to Alaska and this is a crutial tool to get me there. buy with confidence with Amazon.

I replaced my Garmin 2610 with this newer GPS. What an improvement. Great map view and lots of motorcycle touring specific information. Glad I upgraded. Highly recommend to any biker, especially touring scooters.

This gps does just what it promised - take me from point A to point B as swiftly as possible!
br /Easy to use, even with gloves, and all the extras you would need are there (hungry? it will show you where you can go eat! Sleepy? A hotel just around the corner!)
br /A definite 'must have' for people like me who have no clue about directions driving in the USA...

The shipping from Amazon was great, it showed the same day that they said it would. The Zumo 450 is exactly what I was looking for. A GPS made for a motorcycle. It was easy to mount and the GPS does everything I wanted in a GPS plus more.

I have no problems with my Zumo 450. It is a little difficult to put addresses in, because it won't let you enter the entire address. That is a minor problem, and I have been able invariably to overcome it.
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br /Great idea for a motorcycle rider. I wish, however, that they made a BMW compatible handlebar mount. The mount that comes with mounts it on my R1200RT center of the handlebars. I'd perfer it use the same mount as the gazillion dollar BMW GPS setup. Can't have everything, I guess. I use it in both my car and on my bike. It's not perfect (no sound in the car) but it works as it is supposed to and helps with navigation.

I purchased this unit to replace an older Garmin device on my motorcycle and used it on a cross country trip. It is pretty much bullet proof, rugged, waterproof. I didn't need all the extra features of the 550 (already have an XM radio, don't use Bluetooth) so I went for the 450. The gauge screens are quite useful and my favorite feature is the fuel gauge, which is easily reset after filling the gas tank. It is also easy to change route calculations on the fly when doing mental fuel stop calculations to see if the next city beyond is attainable. The touch screen works well with motorcycle gloves as advertised. And, of course, the GPS speedometer is more accurate than vehicle speedos, so I rely on it totally, rather than having to do the mental calculation off the bike display, "let's see, it says 70 mph but I'm really going 66." The security locking screw provides low level security and some peace of mind, but I wouldn't leave the unit on the bike overnight. Someone can still cut the wire and unscrew the RAM mount, making off with the unit.
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br /The reason I gave it less than full stars is the audio connection. Here, I have to reference my older GPS solution, a Garmin iQue 3600 PDA. The iQue has an MP3 player with more than adequate audio output to drive headsets or the 3.5 mm stereo input to the Autocom bike audio system. At full volume setting, the Zumo audio is barely detectable. I'm sure Garmin had some technical reason, but the audio output level of the Zumo just doesn't cut it. The various bike forums talk about some $85 adaptor solution, or purchasing a Radio Shack MP3 headphone amplifier. From my viewpoint as an engineer, Garmin, for whatever reason, left out a $0.25 audio integrated circuit chip that would have easily remedied this, Instead, we are left to forage the online lists for a patchwork solution to a poor design.

Garmin Zumo 450 Portable GPS Motorcycle Navigator
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br /A friend of mine has the Zumo 550, but I didn't want the XM Radio so I picked the Zumo 450. I have used it for over 7000 miles and am very glad that I have it. I take pictures on the road and being able to import them into the Zumo and then to a seperate SD card is a real plus. I don't have speakers hooked up to this Zumo yet so I don't know what the sound is like, but you can play MP3's through it. The screen is viewable in all but the most intense sunlight, the buttons on screen are large enough so that when you are riding and want to type on the screen to find something it is very simple.
br /The low gas feature is very nice also. You set the mileage that you can go on a tank of gas and it warns you 30 miles prior to that mileage. When you do get that warning, you just touch the fuel pump icon and the GPS gives you a list of the closest gas stations. The key to this is that you must have it on all the time when you are riding. I found that the speedo on my bike was off by 3-7 MPH, so I go by the speed shown on the GPS.
br /Installation was a 5 minute job. The longest part of the installation was lifting the gas tank up to run the wire to the battery.
br /The lock device leaves a little to be desired, but it works. I won't go into detail on that here, because it is a mechanical type lock and I don't want some thief to find out how to steal them. The good part about the theft deterent is that you can set a security point that the GPS will recognize as your home location so that if you forget your lock code, you can take it to your home location and it will unlock.
br /If your Zumo is stolen and the theif doesn't know the code or your home location they will have to send the unit to Garmin to be unlocked and it will be sent back to you.

The Garmin Zumo 450 was easy to install. I installed it directly into the extra power wires located in my bike's headlight. The gps mount is very stable and with the power plugged into the headlight power, the Zumo turns on and off when I turn the bike on or off. I just used it through a hard rainstorm last weekend and it was perfectly fine. The display is nice and bright for any conditions I've encountered so far. If you don't need audible directions or bluetooth connections, then this gps is perfect.

The Zuno 450 is well thought out. The human interface is the best I have used but not quite all there. I found some of the access a bit confusing. Obtaining the current latitude and logititude was not quite as easy as I would thought of. Also playing with the log (bread crums) was a bit hard to get through the first time.
br /Some wishes for the Zumo. Since the Honda VFR is famous for unreliable regulator rectifiers, I would like a way to display the voltage. I would like the audio volume to be raised or lowered as a function of the speed; motorcycles do tend to get noisy, being out there in the air.
br /Mounting on my Y2K Honda VFR was simple (thanks to ram mount).
br /Overall, I am pleased with the Zumo. The display is good, still a bit hard to read in direct sunlight. Controls are easy to get to. Even the touch screen with a gloved hand.

The Zumo 450 itself is great, but the manual and help for MapSource are not as good as they should be. I've made a lot of mistakes trying to set up routes, and will probably make more. Since I am in Minnesota, in some of the coldest weather that we've had in several years, the Zumo 450 can't be tested on the bike. I got a mount and a power cord for our cars, and have just started testing. Yesterday was the first route test, and it didn't work very well -- somehow, I had loaded an inverted/reversed route. It kept telling me to go back home! And it was right, for the route I had actually loaded. So, now, I have to rethink what did, and come up with a different approach. -- JHWorden

I've been kicking around the idea of getting a GPS unit for the motorcycle for a couple of years and finally decided to take the plunge.
br /I only wish I'd puchased it sooner. The Zumo is fairly easy to wire to the bike and the mounting system is superb. The day after I mounted it we went on a long weekend trip, so it got a good test. The unit performed flawlessly and was very easy to use. We ran through some heavy rain the first morning and I can attest to the fact that the Zumo is waterproof! The routing is easy and with a few tips from friends I became very adept at setting destinations with multiple waypoints.
br /Several friends have adapted automobile units for the bikes, but with the first raindrop they panic. Not having that worry is worth the extra cost, along with the glove-friendly controls.. I will have to purchase a car mount, but with the price I got on Amazon, I'm still money ahead.
br /Definitely a solid unit.

Had the Zumo for 2 weeks now. Took a trip in the car ( I spliced a cigarette lighter adapter to end of power cord), everything worked for 2 days, 3rd nite Zumo told me to drive a 2 mile loop to head back to where I started before actually getting me on my way to a hotel it found. After that, no weird stuff for another day......then it runs me down 3 miles of gravel backroads to get to a winery that is less than 1/4 mile from an Interstate off-ramp (Interstate was part of route, too!). Get home, Zumo sits for a week, then it won't power up. Plug in pc cable to charge it (didn't think it should need it), nothing. Nothing in the owners manual about removing battery to "reset" device, found that on Garmin tech site. It worked, wish I had that handy tip a little sooner. 2 days later, all ok. This is my first GPS, don't know if the nav quirks are typical. POI's are pretty handy, found food and motels along the way. Curious what will happpen when I go for a cycle trip and don't have laptop w/ wifi for back-up.

Very pleased with this item. Does exactly as it describes and is all in one. Perfect for motorcycles. Some initial issues with the software freezing, but latest updates seems to have fixed that.

The Zuom 450 is a great product and works easily and intuitivly. However, the model being sold through Amazon has out of date maps which are hard to update. I have not yet been able to get this update working as yet and the download takes a very long time. The other problem is that it send you the most direct route and uses interstate highways when ever possible. This is ok for most travelers but motorcyclists often are looking for the less traveled route and the senic route and the route which is the most fun to ride. This is dificult to do with the Zumo 450.

This unit is rock solid in the weather and easy to read the screen in all conditions as promised, great for motorcycles. My only complaint is that I was surprised to find the box and unit without the protectective plastic with the back of the unit cardboard scuffed from shipping. Garmin assured me that this unit was still considered "new" but I have to think it was a return of some kind. Either way, Garmin assured me it would be under the full warranty. In the end, I tested it under Washington/Oregon rainstorms while navigating the coast fot four days and it worked flawless as a GPS, although the motel list was quite out of date!

Great product for my motorcycle. Availability and delivery excellent. No follow-up by pushy salesperson to try and sell me accessories. Will buy from Amazon again.

I waited a long time to buy a GPS for my Valkyrie Interstate. Lots of guys in my clubs had them but I wasn't putting together routes or anything but just riding in the group or tailgunning. Then a friend got one for his Interstate. When I asked him how he was going to hear it he said that it plugs right into the Auxillary port on the radio and you hear it thru your headset. So I searched for the best price and found it on Amazon.com. Takes a little know-how to install the wiring but not difficult with a basic understanding. Now I have a GREAT GPS and I can listen to all of my MP3 tunes thru the built in MP3 player in the ZUMO. Couldn't be happier. Ride leaders attach the route file to our forum notifications and I can download it to my 450 and know in advance where all of the turns are going to be. One of the best toys I have.

I love this GPS unit. It is the first one I have owned and I am most impressed with how easy Garmin made everything about it.
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br /I installed it on my bike in 20 minutes using only the tools included in my bikes tool kit. After that it was guiding me to my destination, never having read the manual.
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br /You can use it without having to take your gloves off while riding if you need to find fuel, food, etc. (Although, for safety and liability reasons, the manual recommends you don't.) I haven't had a problem with it in the rain and the screen is easily viewed even in bright sunlight.
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br /The included RAM mount holds it securely and can even be locked for those time you want to walk away from your bike and not completely disassemble it.
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br /It is easy to navigate and find points of interest. The included software is out of date but the update is available for free by logging onto the Garmin website.
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br /I would recommend the 450 to all my biker friends.

this GPS is delivered with the old map program installed and it takes countless hours to download and install the new maps. After that it seems to be very user frendly.

I am going to write a quick review. I first would like to mention that I have seen many Nav systems over the years. Way back when I was part of developing the portable Nav systems for in the car. This unit is nice and functions as described. The POIs are great and routes well ... but ... the user interface is not good. They don't display importan information and the menu system is hard to navigate through. They strongly lack in this area, I would recommend you try one in a local store first or consider some of the other models such as Mio Technology, iNav Corp, etc.
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br /Sorry the review is so short but I hope this helps you in making your decision ... the point consider trying the interface or be aware there are better ones out there. All in all its a little over prices for what you get.
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I am sorry that I cannot give a review just yet. Waiting for the good weather to come in so I can use it on my Golswing and have not had a chance to use it in my cat as of yet.

Caution..., Product price is good and advertised as new, but I received a previously used Zumo missing a part. When I contacted Customer Service however, they were very cooperative and immediately shipped what appears to be a new, not previously used Zumo. Very suprised with Amazon. Thought it would be better experience as this was my first order with them. Bottomline: I should not have had to go through that hassle.