USA Garmin and Trakmaps

[Se7enOfMine]

Hey everyone,

Newbie here so be gentle.

I think the answer is yes, but, am a bit new to this world so wanted to make sure.

I am in Canada. I have a Garmin Drive 51 USA LM. It only has USA maps loaded. I dont believe it's 'locked' .. just bought it in the USA for when we travel there.

I want to make sure that, if i buy trakmaps, it will load on this gps. Only reason for asking is the USA only thing. I believe i can load Canada maps on it by purchasing them (though i have never tried). I checked trakmaps and this model is compatible.

Anywho, just looking for a wee spot of guidance before i make the purchase. I fully realize its unlikely none of yiu work for Garmin nor trakmaps, just hoping your experience in this area might shed some light is all

Thanks in advance.
Se7en

 

[ateick]

Hey Se7en. You will be fine with a USA only maps device. When you load the Trakmaps onto the device you will actually be turning off any other maps. Trakmaps runs all by itself and doesn't rely on any other maps.

The current Garmin I run is a Nuvi 65 USA LM.

 

[Se7enOfMine]

Heya Ateick. Awesome. I figured as much but, ya know, horses mouth n all that

I just acquired a 2007 Venture GT. Picking it up in a few days. Cant wait to ride it. Gotta figure out where and how to hook up said GPS but i suspect it will be pretty obvious haha

 

[Se7enOfMine]

Oh, and, thank you

 

[earthling]

Hey everyone,

Newbie here so be gentle.

I think the answer is yes, but, am a bit new to this world so wanted to make sure.

I am in Canada. I have a Garmin Drive 51 USA LM. It only has USA maps loaded. I dont believe it's 'locked' .. just bought it in the USA for when we travel there.

I want to make sure that, if i buy trakmaps, it will load on this gps. Only reason for asking is the USA only thing. I believe i can load Canada maps on it by purchasing them (though i have never tried). I checked trakmaps and this model is compatible.

Anywho, just looking for a wee spot of guidance before i make the purchase. I fully realize its unlikely none of yiu work for Garmin nor trakmaps, just hoping your experience in this area might shed some light is all

Thanks in advance.
Se7en

For the most part you can just use the ontario go snowmobiling app. While I do carry a GPs it typically is turned off and sitting the rear compartment as I have the phone for reference.

 

[Se7enOfMine]

For the most part you can just use the ontario go snowmobiling app. While I do carry a GPs it typically is turned off and sitting the rear compartment as I have the phone for reference.

This is true. But how do you keep your phone warm enough? Im ok with a gps .. $150 gps that i got 6 years ago. But a $1000 cellphone? Eeesh.

 

[earthling]

This is true. But how do you keep your phone warm enough? Im ok with a gps .. $150 gps that i got 6 years ago. But a $1000 cellphone? Eeesh.

I don't take it out of my pocket unless I get to an intersection. I used to ride with the GPS but it really isn't that necessary unless you are going boondocking somewhere.

 

[ateick]

I would find it hard to not ride with a GPS now. I find it so useful knowing time, direction, when a next trail is coming that we have to turn at, how long is this straight stretch, etc.. Having your travel history display as well is super helpful coming back across a lake for example at night after a day of riding when it has snowed and tracks aren't as visible anymore.

 

[Se7enOfMine]

So long post coming.

Grew up on sleds as a kid. Grandpa always had 3 or 4 old beaters. Once he got a bit older we stopped. I was around 18. Last year, i biught a used 96 Doo 583, after not having been on a sled in 25 years. I still got it but its olllllld iron. Anywho, i mostly did rides around my area, under 100km. One to get used to riding again and two, i was doing what earthling suggested .. using the go app, pulling it out of my pocket, etc. It got annoying really quick. This is mostly why i wanted to go with a gps.

Now i got, as mentioned, the '07 Venture. It was my uncle's dad's. Super good shape. 7000 kilometers. Hadnt been ridden in 5 years. So he's fixing it up a bit. Cleaning the gas tank, replaced fuel pumps, cleaning carbs, etc. I should have it in a few days. So i figured since i already had a gps kicking around, seemed like a good idea since i really want to go for a few 250+ km rides. Our family has a cottage about that distance away and id love to drive there, spend a night, then home the next. I mapped the route and there are a LOTof turns. No way i wanna pull my phone out that often haha

So thats my story. I just gotta figure out what plug(s) are available to plug into for charging. Then figure out how/where to mount. The ram mount site is way confusing.

 

[ateick]

It's a slippery slope Se7en. It starts with an inexpensive sled that gets you back onto the snow and then you're hooked and are spending 9 months of the year wishing it was snowing and thinking of what the next ride might be. Lol. Been there. Similar story. Grew up on sleds that we spent more time fixing than riding. Went away from the sport at end of high school. 6 years or so ago I bought a 2002 Doo MXZ 700 off one of my staff. After an engine rebuild on that after a season bought a Viper then bought a Poo. No more room in garage so had to sell the Doo. At least I got Covid pricing for it.

Enjoy the new ride. That'll be a great tourer. Ram mounts are the way to go once you figure out a configuration.

Cheers

 

[Se7enOfMine]

It's a slippery slope Se7en. It starts with an inexpensive sled that gets you back onto the snow and then you're hooked and are spending 9 months of the year wishing it was snowing and thinking of what the next ride might be. Lol. Been there. Similar story. Grew up on sleds that we spent more time fixing than riding. Went away from the sport at end of high school. 6 years or so ago I bought a 2002 Doo MXZ 700 off one of my staff. After an engine rebuild on that after a season bought a Viper then bought a Poo. No more room in garage so had to sell the Doo. At least I got Covid pricing for it.

Enjoy the new ride. That'll be a great tourer. Ram mounts are the way to go once you figure out a configuration.

Cheers

Ohhhh I know all about it. My wife was convincing me to sell the Doo. But Im all "yeah, but, if you wanna gooooo" and "if my dad wants to come with" and "it's old and it's not costing much so why not just keeep iiiiiit?" haha On top of THAT, besides the GPS thing, I'm looking at:

- getting a finger throttle for the Yamaha. Having issues tracking down the exact one for this model. Most of them seem to be for left hand, which I dont want. Want to keep it on the right.

- also looking to get a bluetooth communication system. I go with my wee lad a lot (he's 6) and he likes to chat. So its a constant "tap tap tap" on the leg/shoulder, then stop, then helmet open, blah blah. Having this where he can just chat and we dont have to stop constantly will be awesome. Dont know ANYTHING about these things so gotta do a bunch of research on that. I dont need anything fancy. No one else in my life, other than MAYBE my dad (who is 70) would even consider going out. So only something simple for the little fella.

As for the ram mount, yeah, everything I have read is that is 100% the way to go. I just need to get the sled here to figure out the best place to put it then I can figure out what model to get n all that.

Don't even have the damn thing yet I'm already wanting to spend eleventy dollars. haha Slippery slope indeed, good sir

 

[ateick]

A good inexpensive set of communicators are the Lexin B4FM from Amazon. Couple hundred bucks for a pair. My son and I use them from sled to sled. Battery lasts all day in all temps. Can leave it in intercom mode the whole time meaning you don't have to push a button -- just talk back and forth.

 

[maim]

So long post coming.

Grew up on sleds as a kid. Grandpa always had 3 or 4 old beaters. Once he got a bit older we stopped. I was around 18. Last year, i biught a used 96 Doo 583, after not having been on a sled in 25 years. I still got it but its olllllld iron. Anywho, i mostly did rides around my area, under 100km. One to get used to riding again and two, i was doing what earthling suggested .. using the go app, pulling it out of my pocket, etc. It got annoying really quick. This is mostly why i wanted to go with a gps.

Now i got, as mentioned, the '07 Venture. It was my uncle's dad's. Super good shape. 7000 kilometers. Hadnt been ridden in 5 years. So he's fixing it up a bit. Cleaning the gas tank, replaced fuel pumps, cleaning carbs, etc. I should have it in a few days. So i figured since i already had a gps kicking around, seemed like a good idea since i really want to go for a few 250+ km rides. Our family has a cottage about that distance away and id love to drive there, spend a night, then home the next. I mapped the route and there are a LOTof turns. No way i wanna pull my phone out that often haha

So thats my story. I just gotta figure out what plug(s) are available to plug into for charging. Then figure out how/where to mount. The ram mount site is way confusing.

rockmeister at http://www.yamaheater.com/ is the man to contact about a power supply from your sled for your gps/phone/visor heater. i have charged my i phone at -40 in my windsheild bag on my apex for the last 7 years. comes out fully charged and working. i have run my gps on the ram mount ball on the same sled at the same time with my visor plugged into it with no issues.

 

[Se7enOfMine]

@ateick wow, thats awesome. Definitely affordable. Its nice that its scalable so if my wife wants to go with us and we have two sleds, I can just add a receiver. Thanks a bunch man.

@maim ooooo thats fantastic. Seems super simple. Definitely gonna reach out to rockmeister. I'll admit to not being overly technical. If its as simple as plugging into a wiring hardness, ACES. If I gotta start splicing wires, I might ask for some help from a family member haha Im just not good at this stuff. Im sure I could figure it out .. Im not an idiot. Id just be nervous to start farting around under the hood and f'n up something then Im in worse shape. Fingers crossed for plug n play.

Gotta say .. there is a crap mound of info on this site and y'all are super cool and friendly. It's much appreciated!