Jim

I have both City Nav and the Topo24K loaded on my Montana, in addition to other maps, so I can just switch between them as needed.

The nice thing about City Navigator is that all the trails (and by default the roads) are routable. So, you want to go to Bar10 with Crawdaddy, you say that is your destination and it will automatically route you there via not only roads, but trails. You don't necessarily need specific tracks laid out ahead of time. Would be a real handy feature if you were broken/hurt/etc and you wanted the fastest way to a paved road. Just touch the paved road and tell the Garmin to get you there and it will via roads AND trails. Like I said, there was huge increase in offload trails in CN from 2011 to 2013.

Bagster, I'd recommend Garmin City Navigator North American NT. It is amazing what Garmin has done with CN over the last few years. I recommend it over the Garmin Topo 24K versions also. It is so much more detailed than in even 2011 CN. It is in most places even more detailed than the 24K Topos. I have both 2011 and 2013 CN and the coverage of Baja is dramatically improved. With 2013 CN, my Montana will give me turn by turn all the way to Mike's Sky Ranch. CN 2011 barely had the trails. If it is that good in Baja, imagine how good it is here in the US. I use CN for off road nav over Topo 24K. I have the entire US coverage for Topo 24K, and while I have the West loaded on my Montana as a backup, I exclusively use CN 2013. I'm sure the 2015 is much better. And I'm a Mac guy too.

Used the REI Half Dome 2 Plus on my trip to Prudhoe. Awesome, light, and big enough to keep all my gear that wasn't in my panniers in the tent when it rained, and still have plenty of room for me. Wife and I use it for light weight (read: non-car) camping.

Thanks for the tip. Mine is bent real bad and the plastic cover came off. Glad I saw this today.

I found two savings accounts that total about $100. From almost 40 years ago. They were joint savings accounts with both my parents.

Johnny, I agree, and wasn't taking your post out of context. Rather I was refuting that nowadays, with the exponential use of GPS, that everyone will/should know how to use GPS and that those types of problems should be gone. I agree they should, but aren't! Most people use GPS with addresses, not with coordinates like we do. It is amazing the number of people in LEO roles that don't know how to convert between the formats is more my take. Similar to what you experience with your rides. Here is a great webinar (not that I would expect anyone here to participate, except GIS geeks like me) on location standards that is dealing with the same issues we discuss, but rather in urban environment. Just illustrating that these problems are all over the place.

This shouldn't "usually" be a problem for anyone on the receiving end of a 911 or medical emergency call.... they should ALL know how to convert, or know what type of Lat/Lon your giving them as long as you read it to them correctly. If not, they need to be replaced by someone who DOES know... I mean, GPSs are used all over the world, by travelers and alike. Those types of problems, should be gone by now. ...in my opinion anyway. Unfortunately Paul is more right than wrong. As much as you would think that these problems are gone, I can't tell you how many times in the last two years I've read about (and know people in military SAR that have experienced) screw-ups do to simple translation errors. Seem like most of the confusion seems to lie in local law-enforcement that, while they know how to operate a GPS, don't always know about the differences in formats. Spot doesn't send 911 hits to the USAF SAR Rescue Coordination Center in Florida, but rather initially contact the Spot owner, and then local law enforcement. Hence, where most coordinates are "lost in translation". And the general public is also far behind on these translation issues and few know how to translate from one format to the other. I would challenge you to find a buddy, plop down a location in one format and ask him to format it to another. I bet over 90% would look at you with a look of confusion on their face. There is no one standard amongst military SAR, local SAR, local law enforcement, Spot owners, etc. That is the reason I have shown and tested my wife with the different formats. As soon as she gets a 911 hit, she knows to use a converter and give both types of coordinates to anyone looking for me. Here is an example. A number of people have come close to losing their lives due to simple, stupid mistakes (not theirs) in formatting simple location information.

I agree that it may work, but why even spend $14 when you can just download a copy and be using it within 15 min? I don't see why you would want to pay for a hacked version as opposed to just downloading it in 10 min.

Yes you could, and most likely would be out $14. Once City Nav has been unlocked to a gps unit, it can only be used on that specific unit for the rest of time. I've wasted at least two versions of CN before I learned that lesson after moving from a 60CSX to a Montana. The listing kinda says, but not really, that it's been unlocked. If you are going this route, you might as well just download cracked versions on the web. Much easier, quicker, cheaper and simpler to do. And another reason to get 24K Topo? It isn't locked to any gps. When you buy a new unit, the maps can transfer. Now, I will say the for many, if your spend an equal amount of time using the gps on the road, I'd recommend CN over Topo. That being said, you need to realize the limitations of both.

You don't need City Nav in order to route off-road. The Garmin 24K Topo maps route by themselves. I would recommend the Topo maps, as they not only have all the trails, but also major roads. City Nav has tons of dirt and trails that would route, but the cost is pretty significant. But I agree, you could just ride with the Kug!

I own a PLB. Bought it for my solo riding up to Canada a few years ago and my trip to Prudhoe Bay last summer as a backup to my Spot. You have to understand there are many differences between these two devices. The PLB will activate the SARSAT system that is monitored by USAF and activates DoD/DHS search and rescue. Also, most PLBs, in addition to sending out your GPS location via the SARSAT system, they also transmit on 121.5 MHz, which is the air distress frequency used by aviation. The great thing about that is that any aircraft (military and civilian, even small Cessnas and choppers) with the most basic of navigation devices, can home in on your location. This is a wonderful feature that will greatly enhance your survivability and quickness of finding you. Spot has a private response center that will notify local authorities. Much different response systems. If it were life and death, or severe injury and time were of the essence, I would go with PLB without thinking twice. I would also activate Spot, but I've heard way to many stories of local yokels not knowing how to find a GPS location.

I prefer the Acerbis Koerta. Has worked awesome for the times I've needed it. I bought it after reading about Tim Hall's crash in Dakar where he said it saved his life. If you want an awesome read, read this "ride report". You won't be unimpressed by this guys stones.

I use the "show new content" to see what has been posted since I logged in last. Now, there used to be a "mark all as read" button in the upper right hand of the page. Any idea where that is now?

Best mirrors I've had. Great protection too. I have about 1500 street miles on mine and still love them.

Oh lord, don't feed the ego! :-)

Not much to add to this thread, but was amazed this weekend by my Yaesu FT-270. Dug it out of my box of bike stuff looking for something else. Last time I used it was two years ago, when I pulled into the Orleans in Vegas finishing the 2011 LAB2V with Crawdaddy, Strega and FakeName. Used it all day riding in from Barstow, turned it off and threw it in the truck after finishing. So, I turned it on yesterday, and the battery was still had a charge. Wanted to see how long it would last, and it was still on when I went to bed, after being on for eight hours. This thing hasn't seen a charger or been turned on in two years and the battery still had enough charge for another days ride! Pretty impressed.

WSBK was this past weekend. It is amazing how loud the bikes can be. I'm about four miles from the track, as the crow flies, and I can hear the races.

2014 schedule Looks like just Austin and Indy next year.

I guess the used value of my WR250R racks and saddlebags will be going up in the future! Sad news though. Both the racks and bags are top flight gear. Love all the Wolfman products I have.

And if you know how to use torrents, you can download everyone of the Garmin Topo 24K maps. Just Google what you want you'll find them on many torrent sites. The Topos don't lock to your GPS like CN does, so there is no activation for them. They are about 4GB each, and it takes six of them to cover the entire US, but if you get just the West version, it has CA, NV, OR and WA.

After doing an trip to Prudhoe this summer with the Montana, I'm never going back to the 60/62 series. I bought a second locking AMPS mount for the WRR. The Montana is worth every penny I paid for it! My 60CSX will soon be listed for sale!

Might just have to bring the WRR out of retirement for this ride. Very nicely done Strega!!

I've bought the REI Half Dome 2 Plus a couple of years ago and love it. Kept me bone dry in an all night rain in Canada over a couple of nights. Big enough to have two vestibules, and my wife and I have used it with two of the Big Agnes Park bags (wide ones), and still had room for our shoes and boots. For a single person bike camping, it is nice to have a lot of room, yet it packs down to about the size of a soccer ball in a compression sack, including the fly. I caught it on sale for $160, but it normally is a little more

Can you find it under the accumulated dust? Throw in some moisture from damp Monterey and that dust turns to concrete!