I was in Indianapolis for MotoGP two years ago when I stashed my Garmin Zumo 550 in a saddlebag while Rich Nathan and I hung out at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
When we returned to our bikes at the end of the day and I re-mounted the GPS, I found it wasn’t working. I spent the next several hours trying to troubleshoot the problem, mindful that I was riding to the Colorado high country next and I didn’t relish doing it without the GPS and its incorporated XM satellite radio.
I decided to bite the bullet and order a new Zumo 550 from Amazon.com with next day delivery and took advantage of the hospitality of Jim and Lauri Shillings to crash at their rural Crawfordsville until the UPS truck showed up with my new Zumo.
It worked perfectly in the old Zumo cradle and recognized the XM receiver right away, entertaining and guiding me through the next week and 3,000+ miles.
Based on advice from other Zumo 550 users, I installed a new battery and the old unit sprang to life again.
I already had a lifetime subscription for map updates for the old Zumo, so I put the new unit on the shelf and went back to the old one, thinking the new GPS might come in handy someday.
Flash forward to this month when our cash flow became a problem. The luxury of having a Zumo 550 in reserve has become something I can’t afford, so I put the new unit on the Ebay auction block. It closed last night slightly higher than my $450 reserve price, so off it goes to a BMW K1200RS rider in California when the post office reopens Tuesday morning.
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