Garmin make some of the best motorcycle GPS units around, and the Garmin StreetPilot 2820 GPS navigation system is no exception.

It is the Garmin Zumo range of motorcycle GPS units that is probably the most well known of the Garmin range of GPS navigators that are specifically designed for motorbike use, but the Zumo’s are not the only dedicated motorbike GPS system that Garmin make. They do other Global Positioning navigators as well that are specifically designed to be mounted on a motorbike.

Of course the first thing to observe about a motorcycle GPS system is that it needs to be vibration and water proof. There’s no point in mounting a GPS unit on a handlebar unless it’s both. The Garmin StreetPiloot 2820 is just that, water and vibration proof, being specifically designed for motorcycle use.

The 2820 was based on the 2730 but has incorporated some extra, extremely useful features that add some hot functionality to the 2730 for the motorcyclist. Blue tooth technology is really standard these days, and the 2820 has it, so that audio can be directed to the ear under the helmet.

And a slightly bigger screen than the Zumo, always useful. A fine sunlight readable touch screen display and of course a MP3 player built in, which also seems to be pretty standard now.

Of course all US mapping is included with some 6 million points of interest, and who could utitize even a fraction of all that. You’d spend your whole life riding to see even a fraction of that, (and what’s wrong with spending your whole life riding)?

As you’d expect you get the choice of voice or screen display to navigate with, voice being essential for a motorcyclist. 2D or 3D viewing and text to speech as well, so you can get street names to your ear.

Use one of various possible traffic receivers for real time traffic information so you get to avoid those traffic jams that use up time and fuel. If you choose GXM 30 for your real time reports then

you can have satellite radio as well as your up to date traffic information through an XM traffic network receiver, though you need to buy this and subscribe.

Unlike the Zumo you don’t get configuragle icons and the picture viewer that I have talked about with the Zumo., and you don’t get the special lock which drastically reduced the risk of theft of your GPS. So make sure you don’t leave it lying on your handlebars where it may get lifted.

And it won’t accept data cards for additional memory unfortunately whereas the Zumo will take an SD card.

On the positive you get 2000 waypoints whereas the Zumo allows only 500. It will fit previous Garmin mounts and power cables.

Overall the Garmin StreetPilot 2820 is a top end high quality Garmin GPS navigator that will do the job for any motorcyclist. It has all the features you’d expect with a motorcycle GPS unit with the best that modern technology allows, and any motorcyclist who chooses one will be the proud owner of some of the best motorcycle navigation on the planet.

Here’s a great video preview of the Garmin Zumo 450 GPS.

The Garmin Zumo 450 GPS is a fine GPS unit. It doesn’t pack quite all the features of the Zumo 550, but then it doesn’t come with quite the same price tag.

Of course it all depends on what you want your GPS unit to do. Modern technology can design just about anything into a GPS, it’s all done by computer chips. But you’ve always got to ask yourself if there are some features of the top of the range model, in this case the Zumo 550, that you just don’t need?

Because of course less features means less cost, and if there’s something you don’t need why pay for it right?

So lets check out a direct comparison between the Garmin Zumo 450 GPS and the Zumo 550 GPS, and see what comes out.

The first thing you notice doing a direct comparison is that almost everything on the Zumo 550 GPS is available on the 450. Note I said “almost”. There are still some big differences, so lets see what they are.

Firstly the Zumo 450 doesn’t recognise and speak street names, whereas the 550 does. So the 450 will tell you to turn left in 500 feet, but the 550 will tell you to turn left in 500 feet to 1st Street. You get extra information from the 550 that may just make all the difference in particular situations. But how often will this matter? How often when you’re navigating will the street name matter? That’s up to you to decide.

Difference number 2. Do you require Bluetooth capability for hands free phone calls? If so the Zumo 550 motorcycle GPS gives it to you and the 450 doesn’t.

And the 550 has XM Navtraffic, the 450 doesn’t. This is a weather and radio service that is a subscription service that gives you details about accidents, road construction and weather-related traffic delays, and offers alternative routes. All useful, but at a cost.

But with the Garmin Zumo 450 you still get features like preloaded maps, ability to add maps as you wish, mp3 player, audio book player, picture viewer and much more.

And the Zumo 450 is somewhere around $200 cheaper than the Sumo 550, depending where you buy it.

So before you grab a Garmin Zumo 550 GPS navigator consider the alternatives, like the 450, and compare the features. You may well find that the differences between the 2 are not great, that you don’t need those extra features of the 550, and that you can save yourself $200 or so. It’s all up to you and your needs and wants. But do your homework on exactly what you want from your GPS navigator.

Then, once you’ve made some decisions on exactly which motorcycle GPS unit is best for you jump onto our website and buy one at the best prices around.

And while you’re here check out this video about the Garmin 450 Zumo GPS, it’s worth watching.

Mounting your GPS on your motorcycle.

There’s no doubt that mounting your GPS on your motorbike is a bit of a challenge. In the past when there were no dedicated motorcycle GPS mounts available we had to make do with what we could scrounge up or make ourselves, or adapt from other motorcycle mounts or auto mounts.

And of course back then there were no dedicated motorcycle GPS units either, so we had to use a GPS system from a car, or an adapted handheld or something like that.

However there are a few things that are unique to using a GPS unit on a motorcycle and none of these makeshift fixes did the job properly, and we had all sorts of problems with vibrations ruining our GPS units, or water, or just getting it pinched.

Fortunately GPS manufacturers like Garmin and Tom Tom came to the party and started to produce GPS systems that were motorcycle specific, and didn’t have the same problems that our makeshift methods resulted in in the past.

And equally fortunately these GPS manufacturers also included dedicated motorcycle GPS mounts with their GPS units so that we could mount our GPS on the handlebars and do it properly.

There are of course other places to mount a GPS, and I’ve seen mounts for GPS units and other things in places like mounting on the mirrors and on the fairings.

However as great companies like Garmin and Tom Tom are now providing us with great GPS systems like the Zumo 550 or the Tom Tom Rider 2nd edition, both complete with mounts, you can’t go past using the mounts they provide us.

So forget about some fancy mounting system, stick with the mounts made for the job and enjoy your motorcycle GPS mounted as it was intended.

And here’s an amusing little video we’ve come across recently about motorcycle GPS, enjoy.