I have a '16 Level 3 GW. No CB. I have had 2 Harley's and now this GW. I have never used any comms on any bike. I am now thinking of easing into the comms world. I have a Zumo 550 off of my last Harley. So here is my question:
If I was to install my Zumo 550 onto the Wing, would I be able to download music on a card and play the music through the corded headset (that I don't have yet). What other advantages would I have using the Zumo 550? I would have to have the Zumo 550 updated for sure. What cords/cable would I need to play the music through the headset?
You would need to talk to Jonathan Jambor @ Kennedy Technology, 785-505-0242. He can help you make sense of this and maybe he will have what you need. He was able to fix me up a couple years ago.
I don't have A 550 I have a 665 so I can tell you how I use mine. You will need a motorcycle cradle for your 550 so you can use the audio out to the aux in on the bike ( you will need a ground loop isolator ) . If you are like a lot of people you can activate the xm service with a gxm 30 antenna or you can use your memory card and play your mp3's the unit will stop playing music and give you your turn by turn directions. You can also use the bluetooth but you will need a edsets mic splitter http://www.edsets.com/products_search.php?search_string=mic+splitter&category_id=0 . All in all it's real simple to hookup and you have almost all you need right into your bike and at your finger tips.... Good luck with your decision and of course if you have any questions please just ask.
The 550 comes with the mounting hardware an wiring needed for the MC. Under the left pocket is the audio input port. Connect the output from the 550
to this input port and you are finished with that part. Now if you want to play the audio through your MC speakers, select this feature on the bike console.
If you want to hear the audio through a headset, get a J&M Headset and coiled cord from Sierra Electronics. That is all that is needed...
There are several ways to do this. Some have been mentioned above. I have never tried them.
I have a Zumo 550 (sort of retired) and a Zumo 665 on my 2015 wing.
Here is what I know and will most probably work easily for you. The only down side is you will need to mount the Zumo on your bike and run some wires. Mine is mounted on the left handle bars, I will add a picture later.
Besides getting the mount, the following is most probably the simplest way but only gets you audio out of the Zumo to the bike's system.
As I remember it, the Zumo 550 wiring harness is sort of long and a bit bulky but you should be able coil it up and run the power to the left storage box and, if you have the auxiliary input cable connector there, connect the Zumo's audio output to the auxiliary audio input. you will need a male to male 3.5mm stereo audio cable to do this.
You will also need to put a 12vdc cigarette power connector on your Zumo's power input to plug the unit into the power connection in the left storage box.
This configuration will get the Zumo's audio output to the bike's audio system and you could use the bike's speakers to listen.
What you be able to do is hear the audio output on the bike audio system but you would not be able to use the Zumo's telephone interface.
If you wanted to use the Zumo's XM antenna, you could mount it and hear the XM audio through the bike's audio.
I cannot give you information on what you will need to wire in your helmet, since I use an Autocom system for helmet audio and communications with the Goldwing's audio.
If you have any specific questions, I will be happy to answer them but the above will easily connect the Zumo's audio to the bike's audio.
Oh, the audio input connector in the left storage box was an optional install. Its a simple install but it was on option on my bike which I had installed when I purchased it.
The above will allow you to get the Zumo's audio, navigation instructions, music, audio books, into the bike's audio.
If you only want to get the music, there is a USB connection in the trunk that you could plug a USB drive, with your songs stored on it, into the bike's audio.
I just checked the and the most recent map update for the 550 is 2019.11. If your Zumo has lifetime maps, you should be able to install the new maps. There was an issue with the 2019.10 map release so avoid that one.
The only potential drawback to the map install is limitations on the 550's storage. I have not updated the maps on my 550 in a few months. I can give it a try and tell you what I had to do to make it work.
You will need to install Garmin Express on your computer to do the map updates.
The above will allow you to get the Zumo's audio, navigation instructions, music, audio books, into the bike's audio.
If you only want to get the music, there is a USB connection in the trunk that you could plug a USB drive, with your songs stored on it, into the bike's audio.
I didn't bother installing my Zumo550 when I when to my 2014.
Usb stick plugged into the trunk port lets the music be managed using the handlebar controls. Select songs or folders, skip, repeat etc.
About 35 or 40 hours of music in less than 4 GB of space.
IIRC, the bike can handle a usb stick of up to about 64GB.
I don't recall the capacity, but I don't think my zumo held that much.
My 2002 is set-up with the 550 using a ball mount/clutch reservoir accessory. The Honda provided patch cord connects the Zumo to the audio in port of the bike under the left pocket. I use a 5 DIN to mini stereo female adaptor and my ear buds are the most excellent Etymotic Research noise excluding type. Updating is a good thing, but not necessary for MP3 use. You also have Bluetooth via the 550.
Chris at PalmDR will update and repair your 550 for you at a very reasonable price.
He can also add memory so you can store the entire map update onboard if you want -
Then you can use the SD card for music and plug through the AUX cord into the interface-
Or use the USB instead for MP3 players -
I have 2 Zumo 550's I have had PalmDR re-do for me- they both work perfectly
I just wanted to archive this information somewhere and since this has the title Zumo 550 it seems to be a good choice. I know it might be somewhere else on this site but did not see it in a quick look.
Here is how to update the maps on a Zumo 550 with lifetime maps. It requires an SD Card (I used an 8 gig card) and access to a computer with Garmin Express loaded and two USB connections so you can connect both the Zumo and the 8 gig card.
You connect the Zumo (I took the SD Card out of mine) and the 8 gig card (freshly formatted in FAT 32) to the computer and copy all the files from the Zumo's memory to the SD Card. In essence cloning the Zumo's internal memory.
You now eject your Zumo 550 from the computer, leaving the SD Card connected.
Once done, you can launch Garmin Express with the SD Card still installed and it will see it as your Zumo 550.
It will ask if you want to update maps (if new maps are available) and you just tell it to go ahead (well you actually have to use the mouse)
In about two or so hours, the new maps will be updated to the SD Card.
Now you have to do the following in the Garmin Folder on the SD Card
Rename the map files (in the Garmin Folder) from gmapprom.img, gmapprom.gma and gmapprom.unl to gmapsupp.img, gmapsupp,gma and gmapsupp.unl. You will need to do this after Express has finished installing the map on the SD. The map files must remain in the \Garmin folder on the SD card.
I then deleted all the other folders (except the Garmin Folder) from the SD Card, ejected the SD Card from my computer and put it into my Zumo 550.
Start your 550 and the maps will be downloaded or should I say, linked, to your device.
I just did this and now have the 2019.10 maps for North America on my device (lower 49). I am now going to go back to the SD Card and put the Audible and MP3 folders back on the card and re-load the music I had there.
It is not that hard to install an 8 or 16 Gig. SD card into your Zumo 550, as I did, and it will easily handle 3 or 4 map updates. When space is filled, just delete 1 or 2 of the older maps. They still do map updates for the Zumo 550 and that is great as I still use it on my Wing.
Ok, I did not delete anything off the Zumo after I did the update. I don't trust myself to delete any files (from the Zumo itself) since their recovery might be difficult because all of the files might not be visible (there is a way around this but i have not made it work for me).
Therefore, I cannot answer you question. Since the files don't really cause problems, my recommendation is that it is not broke, don't fix it.
I've got the 2019.2 maps, all of North America, on 8gb sd cards for both of my Zumo 550's and they show up on the Map Info screen along with the 2018.x partial, which is what fit before. All appears to be good as far as that goes and I probably will be fine with that.
The problem(?) I have is that I have to use Map Updater to get the maps on the sd card. Garmin Express will only allow me to update the partial, Canada + border states and I can't see any way to select anything else. I know I had other choices before, like maybe Eastern, Western or Southern United States and the Canada + border states. It seems like I should be able to use Garmin Express and Garmin Express still thinks I need to update.
Think I figured it out. The maps have become so big that Canada+ border states is all that will fit on the device. So, if I first install Canada + border states, using Garmin Express, on the SD card, I then have the option of changing maps and putting All of North America on it.
If Canada +border states gets to big to fit the device...I think we're screwed!
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