Tomtom POS rant

[DRxBMW]

For all of you prospective GPS buyers, stay FAR away from Tomtom products.

My Rider cradle broke in half the other day. Ha, TT has NO warranty protection,charging cradle or even a non charging holder/RAM compatible cradle to replace it. I might add this cradle was close to $80.00 new.

Asshole at customer service told me to look for one in a retail setting. Yeah right, first of all NOT many retailers handle MC specific units and WHY would they stock a hard to unload cradle from the get go. If anyone should have one be the manufacture. Or at least offer a solution !

What's amazing to me, TT does have a holder but lacked the foresight to include RAM diamond mount ball plate holes. Two bolt,universal DIN specs,just about every mount in the industry has them as standard. Absolutely worthless as a motorcycle mount, read TT designers must smoke crack in the lab.

Piss poor engineering on the TT cradle, one did NOT need a rocket science brain to figure out the failure point. OEM charging cradle has had problems from day 1. Real REASON TT took it off the market.

Granted, I did use the Rider for light dual sport/off road but still the unit was NEVER abused per say.

RAM cradles/mounts have a lifetime guarantee. You shoot them a pic of the broken product, they mail you a new one, NO questions asked. When I inquired at RAM why they did NOT offer a Rider cradle,answer was TT balked at that idea.

My main bitch is, if you going to market a motorcycle GPS, test it. This also applies to Garmin, as the contact pins on the Zumo cradle are causing grief within the hard core rider fraternity. At least Garmin offers a NO charge Zumo cradle for replacement, enough said.

Thought crossed my mind to fabricate a DIY cradle out of aluminum stock but far easier time/money wise to simply buy another GPS instead. NON TT !!!!!

TT is piece of shit,rant over ________________.

Meeting with motobricker Ocelot Saturday, as he is wrenching on a BMW nearby to the abode. I promised him some Pa paper forestry maps,easier to ride down than mail.

Plus, I promised a guy to help clean up flood damage at his cabin. Be a good excuse to duck out of work for a couple of hours.

[BobZ(IL)]

Nice rant......I have a TT with articulated suction cup mount. A little black racer tape holds it securely to the  plastic handlebar cover on my '93 LT.

[frogy]

I suction my TT to the tach.,do'nt use it going to a Rally anyways.And I know rpms by "seat of pants".

[Skeezer]

Mounted My Suction mount disc on the right hand storage compartment lid. it's out of the way and I can see 95 % of the screen unless I am turning left. I've suctioned the mount to both Speedo and Tach even the windshiel in the Lowered position. Seems to work fine. But I don't have alot of road time on this GPS.

[frankenduck]

Still using my TT Rider one on my RS with the TT handlebar mount.

[scruffer1]

I use a tomtom rider GPS, handlebar mounted, clearly visible, easy to dick around with while riding and the mount, (up till now anyway) has given no trouble at all.  The bracketry holding it in place seems strong enough to do the job although it is not set up to charge constantly I have a charging wire mounted and stored close by so I can plug it in as required.  The graphics are good and I have both New Zealand and Australian roads stored on it.

I like it, but I.K.B.A applies.

Mark,
Godzone.

[Rick G]

I use a tomtom rider GPS, handlebar mounted, clearly visible, easy to dick around with while riding and the mount, (up till now anyway) has given no trouble at all.  The bracketry holding it in place seems strong enough to do the job although it is not set up to charge constantly I have a charging wire mounted and stored close by so I can plug it in as required.  The graphics are good and I have both New Zealand and Australian roads stored on it.

I like it, but I.K.B.A applies.

Mark,
Godzone.

If you got our roads over there then fix the f@$%^# potholes :hehehe

[DRxBMW]

  The bracketry holding it in place seems strong enough to do the job although it is not set up to charge constantly I have a charging wire mounted and stored close by so I can plug it in as required.  The graphics are good and I have both New Zealand and Australian roads stored on it.

I like it, but I.K.B.A applies.

Mark,
Godzone.

The bracket plastic part will fatigue and break given enough sun exposure.   BTDT, I'll snap some pics tomorrow to show the weak point.

When it starts to wiggle like a loose tooth, be ready to catch it going down the road. Piss poor engineering from the get go.

A 12 V cigar style outlet/plug for permanent power is the way to go. Hardwire or simply whip up an adapter pictured below.



If anyone wants a FREE TT Rider 1 with the broken bracket ping me. All you LT owners could cobble something in the fairing that would work OK. 

Garmin is the KING of GPS, TT's custom waypoint routing is absolutely pathetic in comparison.

[CubPilot]

I'd be up for the Rider, I have one that has a bad screen.   Parts are tough to find.  PM me.

[DRxBMW]

I use a tomtom rider GPS, handlebar mounted, clearly visible, easy to dick around with while riding and the mount, (up till now anyway) has given no trouble at all.  The bracketry holding it in place seems strong enough to do the job although it is not set up to charge constantly I have a charging wire mounted and stored close by so I can plug it in as required. 
Mark,
Godzone.

Remember, I told you so, ______ it will BREAK !

Below pics are proof of the weak engineering.

Granted there was some mild off road use but still. POS, enough said.

[frankenduck]

I have several of the mounts and not a sinlge one has broken.

25k on the RS.
30k on the LT.
And the one on my K75 has been on several bikes so it's got some miles on it as well.

[BobZ(IL)]

Generally not a big fan of GPS (we still do too many turnarounds). But my el-cheapo TT taped on to the left side  handlebar works well especially as a speedometer and ETA estimator.

The cost of some mounting systems exceed what I paid for the unit.

[DRxBMW]

Generally not a big fan of GPS (we still do too many turnarounds). But my el-cheapo TT taped on to the left side  handlebar works well especially as a speedometer and ETA estimator.

The cost of some mounting systems exceed what I paid for the unit.

Ya, if your going to market a MC specific GPS unit, TEST it ! 

Riding cohort has a Tourtech mount, ___ NICE but over $300.