[Oddball]

Actually if you want a new bike and you enjoy being frustrated to near death then the New Boom is the way to go. If you're on a busy open highway with a million signs telling you where you are then it works pretty well. Pick a back road and enjoy the excitement of being directed into a pine tree thicket across a culvert as you scream " Rushmore"! Of course I'm not being fair, it tells me every time I plot a course that some parts are not verified. Like the road in front if my house is not verified. The latest map update for the "best motorcycle infotainment" system in the world is Q2-2013. I can understand that and don't necessarily disagree with the dates but it's full of holes and I didn't expect that for amount the system adds to the bike. The radio sucks big time. For two grand it's a joke and we've been had. I was so interested in the feel of the bike I paid little attention to the sound. I knew it was weak compared to my Eglide but again I was taking them at their word and during my road test I paid too little attention to the GPS and sadly the radio. I love riding the bike but for what I paid I would have stayed with the other bike until they fixed the mess. I did do an update to the system firmware. Easy enough. NOTE: A firmware free update is not a map update. In 2035 when Naviextras updates to new version 2013 Q3 you'll have to pay $155 dollars to update the maps. Given its so sorry no one is expected to update. If you've ever owned a Honda automobile with GPS you can relate to how sorry the mapping is. Something for you to note- 1-map updates aren't free, 2-the radio design leaves little room for upgrades other than HD or Rokker expensive offerings. I did the magic box and 100 watt per channel amp and infinity speakers. The dynamics logarithm built into the head unit is nasty. Even with my setup music sounds terrible 50mph and up. I've added a klockwerks shield. It doesn't help with the sound issues. If you like talk radio or news, for some reason that is fairly clear. Most ideas state to add amps and have the dealer program the unit 3- it freezes every now and then. Just pull over and turn the bike off for a minute and that usually fixes it. 4- Bluetooth does NOT sync with headphones, just your phone. 5- text received by the unit cannot be seen or heard while moving- wasted effort really. 6- each time you power up it takes a good thirty seconds for it to become operational. 7- it syncs well with your phone and charges it via usb.
When I analyze all of the don't s' and the one or two do's it's clear this was all about up grading you to a 2 grand option that's useless until you spend another 2 grand. Just my ouch speaking. Hope it helps.


Sent from Motorcycle.com Free App

 

[Oddball]

Zumo 590 outputs to headsets via Bluetooth while Bluetooth receiving from a phone to stream music and even a pandora app. I've got that on my wife's bike now. I don't know if you'd call it a head unit but for intent and purposes it's doing the same thing. Doesn't matter what you call it, it's capable and does it well. It receives Bluetooth and transmits simultaneously. And I'll add syncs with the phone while playing music with a Garmin app that allows weather and Traffic data to be shown on the screen. I know it's silly but I expected HD to top that with a box that is 10 times larger in footprint than the 590 and cost over twice as much. The Zumo doesn't have power amps and speaker output by any stretch of the imagination but above 60mph it is much like the Boom- you just look at it cause you dang sure can't hear it.


Sent from Motorcycle.com Free App

 

[Oddball]

I highlighted the bold part of your statement here. If you have a CVO, there will be two free map updates..... if they ever update them.:surprise:

I forgot, you're right, both counts!!


Sent from Motorcycle.com Free App

 

[Oddball]

Electronically, your Zumo is more like your phone than your head unit. My point is just to look at all of the head units in your cars, trucks, boats, both stock and aftermarket. Does ANYONE have one that syncs through headphones? ANYBODY?

I think it's just bad expectation management to expect that Harley Davidson is going to lead the market on anything. If Harley Davidson had a head unit with that capability, they would be leading not only the motorcycle market, but the car receiver market as a whole. HD lags the market in everything they do. It's their business strategy. Always has been.


Sent from Motorcycle.com Free App

I do not disagree with your argument. I submit that the technology is overwhelmingly available and a very simple platform brings it to market. The '16's are out and the technology HD brought to market was available in 2004. If we expect less then we'll surely get it. I'm telling them too with every questionnaire I receive from them. They have no excuses.


Sent from Motorcycle.com Free App

 

[Oddball]

Nope. They work for me.


Sent from Motorcycle.com Free App

 

[Oddball]

This is all new tech stuff for Harley, barely two years and they are already uploading firmware updates. That alone is a big plus. Many professional camera companies for example, update rarely. Have you followed the history of this technology? Garmin gave up updating many older systems, or charged a substantial fee, and several older units still have to pay before they went to lifetime updates. Relax, give it a break, or wait another couple years before you finance your next ride.

I havent found enough flaws to bitch about yet, except the set up which is a pita. My GPS works fine so far after set up. Maybe I'm not expecting enough.... ?

You're probably right, but I expect technology to advance. No one buys a new computer or phone and expects to go backwards. It's just unacceptable. Regardless, it's not expecting too much to have at least eight year old technology on a new bike. Apple or Samsung wouldn't get away with it. They could put a little less in marketing and more in tech and maybe we'd be talking about how useful it is about now. I'm not asking anyone to expect something on my provocation. The original thread was about someone wanting to upgrade from 2011. You made the right suggestion in waiting a couple of years. I wish I had. I wrote a check for the last three bikes. Maybe I should have financed the 15 ( the 14 softail digital odometer works as expected ) and I could have felt like I was paying for something as it evolved.


Sent from Motorcycle.com Free App