New user from NJ, USA

[LQQK_OUT]

On another note, I'm guessing that the data/maps that's installed on the GPS unit is different from the maps that get loaded on your PC. I have the latest maps installed on my PC and GPS unit and a few times I've come across situations where the map in the GPS unit seems more up to date than the map on the PC. For instance, the map on the PC shows a road and the GPS map does not.

I've not heard of that before, but that doesn't mean that its wrong. I thought that they were the same data, just organised as files slightly differently. You can alter the amount of detail that is shown on the Zumo screen - More, Normal, Less - and of course the detail changes as you szoom in and out. Settings->Map & vehicle ->Map detail - and in MAp Layers in the same place, you can turn other features on and off

You're correct. I've made a mistake. The issue (which is probably obvious to many people) is that Google maps is much more accurate than the Garmin GPS maps. I've come across a few roads that have been closed for years, Google maps shows no road, but Garmin maps does.

[Peobody]

The issue (which is probably obvious to many people) is that Google maps is much more accurate than the Garmin GPS maps. I've come across a few roads that have been closed for years, Google maps shows no road, but Garmin maps does.

I think it is common to use Google Maps as a secondary resource when creating a route. It is foolish not to. The Garmin provided maps are notoriously inaccurate, both in streets and POIs (I speak only about the U.S. ones). My route creation process is to create a route in Google Maps first, duplicate it in Basecamp, and then use Google Maps to verify the existence and location of every planned stop.

[LQQK_OUT]

The Garmin provided maps are notoriously inaccurate, both in streets and POIs (I speak only about the U.S. ones).

Yep! All my Garmin waypoints/POI that I use get updated in Basecamp with the GPS coordinates from Google maps.

[rbentnail]

I guess I'm one of the fools. I rarely use Google maps for anything other than a quick check for pavement.

[jfheath]

Count me amongst the fools too.
Except - when locating a hotel, I use street view because I need to know where I can park the bike - even if the coordinates are approximately right, it doesn't help if they mark the front of the hotel when the place to park is around the back. Especially in towns.
Also for entering a town in a foreign language. Gives me chance to spot the roadsigns and and translate the stuff that I really need to know.
Like 'Any motorcyclists beyond this point will be shot'.

But Google maps ? No, never for the satnav routes.

[Peobody]

Wow! I am very surprised by the response from @rbentnail and @jfheath about not using Google Maps. I first read the tip in the Basecamp tutorial from the newenglandriders.com website so started using the Basecamp/Google Maps combo from the outset. At first I was just using street view but it didn't take long to start seeing discrepancies between Google Maps and Garmin supplied maps.

Yep! All my Garmin waypoints/POI that I use get updated in Basecamp with the GPS coordinates from Google maps.

Thanks for this tip. I have been manually creating replacements for severely misplaced ones. Replacing coordinates will be easier.

[jfheath]

A lot if Basecamps points of interest that I have wanted have been incorrectly located. I use them, but then position them where I want them to be. I use them because the phone numbers and addresses are usually correct, and that info can be useful on the Zumo screen.
In some cases, hotels have been a couple of miles out of position.

Google s better for accuracy, I agree - but still not accurate enough for practical use as a lat/long coordinate t mark a destination.

Two examples from personal experience.

1. A place we used to enjoy visiting in Spain. Parador de Santo Dominigo de la Calzada.

Put that into Google, select maps and the location is mapped perfectly. Set it as a destination and the route ends a hundred yards to the north. The reason for this is that vehicles are restricted from entering the old town - unless there is a specific, permitted reason. There are two controlled ways in, and there are signposts. You can ride up to the hotel front, park ( for 10 minutes) , by which time the receptionist will have welcomed you and opened up the door to the underground garage).

So what you really need is to drive round street view following the signs for the parador, so that you can locate one of the two places where you can enter the old town. Then zoom in in the sign and translate what you have to do. Put that location into your sat nav.

I know it is a very specific example, but I have come across so many similar situations when using hotels in old towns, that I always use the same process. Find the location in Basecamp database. Place it as a waypoint flag on the map.
Find it on Google maps. Use street view to find where it really is. Use satellite view to find the car park and the entrance. Drive round street view to check the way in. Move my Basecamp point to the correct location.

2. Another excellent example was one that I came across in the town of Ely in the Uk. We had to meet someone for lunch in The Lamb Hotel. Check it out. The coordinates were spot on for the front of the hotel, but there is no street parking. The hotel has a small private car park behind it. The entrance is about 30 yards around the corner. But 'round the corner' on the motorcycle would mean turning the wrong way down a one way street. So from the front of the hotel you have to make a wide tour around the town in order to approach the hotel car park from the other direction. So its important to plot the hotel car park, not the hotel itself.

A couple of other examples i could think of Google now actually marked the car park, which is good. But I always check. Nothing is 100% reliable, and the last thing you need at the end of a long wet ride is to be thwarted by some fine detail like this.

[rbentnail]

I suppose it's significantly easier for us here in The States as we rarely deal with languages we don't speak. For extreme urban situations (downtown Philadelphia, PA is one example) I'll use Google Street View to preview locations but other than that I am not so exacting that I must know the 7 decimal coordinates of a site, gas station or restaurant. I rarely plan any stops other than where I'm meeting someone (and the location is well known anyway so not a big deal) or where I'm sleeping that night so I'll find it when I get there. If it's not where I expected it to be or (for instance) the weather's crappy I'll do a search preview on my phone b/c it's simply more accurate and up to date but otherwise I've found 99% of Base Camp's locations to be accurate for my needs. About the only other time I use Google maps is a link from another website- motels and general POIs particularly. Base Camp isn't updated enough and (at least for me) finding an specific address on a device is a PITA. For longer trips I'll take a laptop for BC access but most of the time it's a Google search and pick a point on the XT, modify the route a little and go.

[Peobody]

So much depends on the type of riding you do. The "on a whim" style may not be appropriate when long distance touring, two up, with a passenger whose tolerance for inconvenience, although extensive, has a limit.
Verizon claims to cover 98% of the U.S. Either I've spent a lot of time in the uncovered 2% or their claim is exaggerated. I have also been in many places where service existed but was inadequate to do an internet search or display Google Maps. Heck, I once took an off-interstate ride from North Carolina to Eureka Springs, Arkansas intending to use my phone for navigation and was caught off guard by the lack of cell service in much of rural Alabama, Mississippi, and Arkansas. Good thing I was carrying paper maps. That was the trip that convinced me to invest in a GPS.

[rbentnail]

We have very different riding needs, obviously. My home convinced me years ago to get a gps and not much has changed. I'm right on the edge of coverage- I can't make or receive calls if in my back yard. And sometimes not in the front yard either but that's pretty rare. Going southeast of me coverage is spotty at best for about 40 miles and even then it isn't consistent.