Zumo User Forums

New XT2 user, trying to get to grips with it before a weeks holiday in the Lake District.
Bought MyRouteApp but was having issues so deleted everything and for now only using the Tread app on my Android phone.
One step at a time...

Hi @m326. Welcome the forum from North Carolina, USA. This is the right place for help and advice.

Welcome to the forum, m326.

You'll find, despite the warnings, that Garmin's Basecamp works perfectly well with the XT2. A bit of a learning curve but worth it, IMHO.

Thanks all, I will give BaseCamp a go

Hi from West Yorkshire - where the hedges have petrified into dry stone walls.

XT2. Yes - Use Basecamp to create routes - and find out how to create a track from your route.
Display the track and the route together (route is on top of track so it is hidden most of the time - then if there is any recalculation, the track will be revealed and it reveals your original planned route.

I have some suggestions.

1. If you have connected your XT2 to the Tread App, then get rid of the app on your phone and reset your XT2 to its initial settings. You will have to repair your phone to the XT2 - but do not respond to any requests to set up Tread.
2. When you send routes to the XT2 , send them to the SD card, not internal storage. (SD Card / Garmin / GPX folder.
3. Make sure your XT2 has the identical maps to the one that you installed for Basecamp - Make sure Basecamp has them as the current map. Recalculate your routes before sending.
4. In Basecamp Edit -> Options -> Device Transfer -> Untick all Boxes -> Apply to all devices.
5. In Basecamp, for the motorcycle profile, select Faster time. Do not select any avoidances - except those for which you have a perfect match available on the XT2. Set the XT2 to be the same. (I set none on both).
6. Create a track for each of your routes and save those to the XT2 SD Card
7. When all of your routes are finalised and in the XT2, load each one and select Spanner / Copy Route. Save it with a slightly different Name (eg Copy - Honister Pass). Use the copy route to navigate instead of the original.

Return to Motorcycling after a long lay off ? New to the Lake District ?

Cross HardKnott Pass off your to-do list. Really. I'll expand on that if you wish. If it's on your list you won't want to take any notice. But I'm happy to share my reasons. No - I didn't fall off. I managed it perfectly OK. But it certainly wasn't skill. It was luck.

If you want some good touring roads in and around the Lake District, I can probably help. The Lake district is a good day out for me.

To explain the above numbered list jfheath wrote:

1. If the XT2 is connected to the Tread App, it seems to keep all of the Via Points in position, but changes the route in between - regardless of the shaping points - which are either moved or replaced with new ones. Whatever - from my observations and tests the route has been altered, and it seems to happen when the route is synchronised via Tread with the Explore database. It doesn't do this if the XT2 is not allowed to synch with the Explore Database.
2. GPX files that are sent to internal storage (either placed manually, or transferred by BC) seem to be altered by the XT2 on transfer and/or on import. If you import the waypoints, tracks and routes - they do not remain available to import again - should you delete them. It seems that tracks and waypoints are unavailable after the first import. Routes may be available from temp.gpx - but temp.gpx gets overwritten when you reconnect to Basecamp and transfer more data. The XT2 does not alter any data that is saved to the SD card in this way - it is always available to import again if you wish.
3. The Zumos somehow know what map was used to create the route. If a different map was used from the one that is installed on the XT2 - then it recalculates the route. This can take between 30 secs to a minute for each route. The XT2 always says that it is calculating - but that is simply processing the files - eg saving the routes, tracks and waypoints in the correct places. This takes (say) 10 seconds.
4. If you leave some of the options ticked then the route may be altered (eg shaping points removed), or the route recalculated by the XT2. (Although It is always a good idea to place shaping points in such a way that any recalculation is unlikely to affect the roads taken).
5. None of the info about avoidances is sent from Basecamp to the XT2. So no point in having any set. Use shaping points to avoid ferries, avoid motorways etc. The XT2 will honour those - providing Tread is not linked through your phone.
6. Having a track placed in the same collection as your route, and making the collection visible - will display the track under the route. I make my tracks black (and I have altered a theme file to make them a bit wider than the route). If the route recalculates, then the black track, marking where the orignal route went, becomes very visible.
7. The XT2 and the XT display some very odd behaviour with imported routes under certain circumstances. Paricularly if you deviate from the route that really requires you to go back tot he road that you have left. In my tests, this behaviour has never happened for routes that have been built on the XT itself. Making a copy of the route fools the XT2 to think it is a 'saved' route from the XT2 - and it seems to prevent the problem from happening.

Hello and many thanks for the detailed reply, I don't have enough time to get to grips with BC before leaving, busy day tomorrow - but I'll be sure to take up your suggestions upon my return. Garmin needs to catch up on the software side for sure.

Many, many moons ago my last bike was a Yamaha XS850 but ill health meant I stopped riding. I'm back on 2 wheels again and already got the upgrade / new bike bug. New to the Lake District, staying a week near Holmrook & plan on have a few days out on the bike before visiting family near Crook then a boring ride back home. HardKnott was on my mind, watched a few YT videos of it (bigger bikes seem to have the most trouble) but was concerned about the state of the road surfaces, not too good I hear.. and my bikes rear wheel has a lot of mass (CVT) to contend with. Your comments have helped me make my mind up, plan B it is then.

Many thanks again for taking the time to reply.