Garmin Zumo 550

Posted by T3 Online on Thu 25 Oct 2007

Biker's mate.

Maps and motorbikes make worse bedfellows than Cherie and Gordon; try leafing through a damp A-Z when you're blurring through a landscape at 110. Enter Garmin with a waterproof, glove-friendly, bar-mounted map...

The Zumo sits on your handlebars, hooking wirelessly to your Bluetooth-enabled helmet. Set routes with controls that are chunky enough to use easily with your left hand and move the map, without removing your gloves, using the touch-sensitive screen.

Satellites are found in seconds when you're standing still (it's less reliable if switched on while moving) and routing is very accurate. Text-to-speech means the names of the roads are spoken as well as turning instructions.

Full Euro mapping and umpteen points of interest guide you everywhere from the Bol d'Or superbike frenzy in France to the Little Chef in Feltham, while an SD card makes sharing routes easy with the rest of the gang. The volume buttons could be easier to use - your satnav needs to be L-O-U-D to drown out the heavy metal thunder of the motorway - but basically, it's the best biker's satnav system you can get.