I have had quite a few questions regarding the zumo 550 but the one that seems to keep coming back around is the question about whether or not the zumo will recalculate a route that you load directly from the MapSource software to the unit.  Apparently, I have not been clear enough on this topic so this should take care of it.  I even brought visual aids.

1.  The first thing you will need to do is install the MapSource City Navigator program that came in the box.  This is a very simple process.  Once you are done with that, plug the zumo into the computer and open up MapSource. 

You can create the route inside of MapSource and customize it completely to your liking.  Once you have finished, the route will look something like this on the screen.  If you click on the image below, you can make it bigger so you can see things in more detail.  There are black squares along the pink route line.  Those are the via points that denote where the route will go.  Remember those points as I will reference them again later.

2.  You will need to transfer the route to the device by clicking "Transfer" and then "Send to Device".  This will put the route onto the zumo and then you can unplug the zumo from the computer.  It will tell you that new data was found and it will walk you through importing that route to the device.

3.  Once the route is on the zumo, tap on "Where To?" and then tap on "Routes" in the bottom right hand corner of the screen.  On the "Routes" Menu, you will see your route listed.

 

4. Tap on your route and you will be taken to a screen that has an option labeled "Map".  This is there so you can see the entire route on the screen to see the exact direction it will take.  On this map view, there are flags that denote the via points that were mentioned earlier.  You can look at these to make sure they are in the same place that they were on the MapSource program.
 

 

5.  To follow that route, tap on "Back" and then tap the large green button that says "GO!".  If you are not located at the point the route starts on, the device will route you to that point and then proceed with the route.  If you get off the route, the device will either re-calculate you to get you back to the route line or it will recalculate the route to the next Via Point in the route.

6.  If you would like to have more control over the route, instead of tapping on "GO!", you can tap on Edit and you will have many different options for the route.

 

7.  If you choose to manually reorder the route, this is what the screen will look like on the unit:
       

Any other questions?

Comments

[J.W.]

Hi Chet,
A question about the Zumo. It looks like a superb GPS for the motorcycle, but I and with me many other bikers in Europe, want to make our OWN disicion to recalculate the route or not. This automatic route recalculation makes the Zumo less interesting (compairing with TomTom Rider) and I hope your engineers will make a on/off feature for this shitty automatic recalculation. When they do, i'll suspect Zumo will be European motorcyclists # 1...
Regards,
J.W. from Holland (Europe)

[Bob]

Hi,

I often like to ride my motorcycle around in new areas, following my nose and impulses, rather than a pre-planned route. In this way, I discover new and enjoyable roads. On a Zumo, can I do that, and then save what I have done as a route? This is a very important ability to me.

Thanks!

Bob

[JV]

Does the zumo 550 have an audio jack, or do you just connect via bluetooth?

Thanks.

JV

[Les]

What is the capacity of the mp3 in the Zumo 550 ?

[Martin]

Chet, can you turn off automatic 'off route' recalculation and how much track log can the Zumo store?
Thanks, Martin

[Tom]

Hey Chet ... any word yet on shipping of the Zumo? Have mine on pre-order!

[Fred Champneys]

Do you have a date yet that the Zumo 550 will start shipping?

[Peter]

Hello Chet,

one question: if I understand correctly it is NOT possible to turn the automatic recalculation off ? (when you leave the route etc)

Thanks in advance
Peter

[Anders Persson]

Then it will store 50 of these routes in internal memory, plus that you can have a bank of routes on your card, and import those you like for the moment.
But how many viapoints can a route have?
It seems it's somewhere between 180 and 200, right?

Anders

[Anton]

....If you get off the route, the device will either re-calculate you to get you back to the route line or it will recalculate the route to the next Via Point in the route....

Which is it? Recalculate to the route line or go to the next via point?

Thanks!

[Tony Rave]

You wrote:
If you get off the route, the device will either re-calculate you to get you back to the route line or it will recalculate the route to the next Via Point in the route.

My question:
Can I switch OFF this apparently 'automatic' recalculation ?
Generally bikers do NOT wish the navigator to recalculate anything automatically. They drive back to the route 'manually' by observing the gps-map.

kind regards. Tony

[Kars]

So far so good. What will the Zumo do if you (for whatever reason)leave the carefully made route.

IE you have to stop to fill up your motorcycle or there is a deviation.

It is very important for most motorists that they can drive on the calculated route and that there will be no recalculation.

So the question in this: Can you choose to not recalculate if you leave the route for whatever reason and pick-up the route by yourself.

In many European forums I have read that that issue could withold many people that now have the 26xx, 27xx, 28xx to buy the Zumo.

[Phlippe Li]

Hello,

Thank-you for this information.

On the web site, when you compare the Zumo to a 2720 for example, it says that there is only one route on the zumo.

Can you transfer several routes from mapsource to the zumo? For example to prepare roadbooks for several days, not only for the day.

Another point that is missing for a motorcycle point of view : Is it possible to disable the automatic recalculation when off route?
Why tis is important : suppose you share a Road book with several friends. If you miss a turn, the unit will recalculate. So the others that may be quite far behind will no more share your road book as it is now diffent.

Thank you for your answers.
Regards

--
Philippe

Chet: Sorry about that. The Product Comparison has been changed to show the correct number of routes and via points.

[Harry]

Creating a route and transfering it seems very straightforward: can the route be saved for future use? How many pre-drawn routes can be saved? Can a current trip be tracked and saved?

I see that the owner's manual for the zumo has yet to be posted on the Garmin site: will that be coming soon? I would like to be able to study the manual and compare funtions with other Garmin units.