Zumo 660, Scala Rider G4 and an Iphone 4s...

[stoinkythepig]

Seems like this should be about the ultimate setup, but it's not. My old LG crappy phone worked much better through the Zumo. I can't get the iphone to work reliably though this system. Aggravated... Anyone else have this setup? I'm tempted to sell the Zumo and just use the iphone with a GPS app.

[jasnmar]

I have G4s and an Android phone. So far I've not found a real need for a GPS of any sort. I'm sure at some point on a long distance trip I'll figure out why I need a GPS, but I haven't yet.

I've been on a number of phone calls from my bike where people weren't aware that I was even in a car. I use my phone for navigation, music, and obviously as a phones. I know a number of people who swear by their Zumos, but I don't have it figured out. :-/

[stoinkythepig]

Well, I solved the problems and am posting this for future reference. The Zumo required the latest SW upgrade from Garmin (R4.5.0, if memory serves). That sorted out issues between the iphone and the Zumo. The Scala G4 required the latest software upgrade (R3.0) from Cardo Systems. I also had to disable VOX on the G4. Seems to work great now.

[stoinkythepig]

I have G4s and an Android phone. So far I've not found a real need for a GPS of any sort. I'm sure at some point on a long distance trip I'll figure out why I need a GPS, but I haven't yet.

I've been on a number of phone calls from my bike where people weren't aware that I was even in a car. I use my phone for navigation, music, and obviously as a phones. I know a number of people who swear by their Zumos, but I don't have it figured out. :-/

I had the Zumo for a year before I had a smart phone.

[nhbubba]

I have the Scala G4, an iPhone4, but no BT capable GPS.

I was sold on the Scala after fiddling with a coworker's unit. The BT integration and control over the phone is what won me over. He has a Zumo 220 and an iphone and claims he can't get all three to cooperate. Something about the Garmin wanting to be a phone and the Scala only wanting to talk to one phone at a time. We speculated from the spec listings on the Garmin site that the 220 has an inferior BT setup than the upper end Zumos.

My Scala worked like crap out of the box. It paired with my phone okay, but then only worked sporadically when either the phone or the headset were powered off or anything. A firmware update (to 3.0) solved 98% of it.

After not using it for several months, the headset seems to not want to start music playback on my phone anymore. After they pair (when I turn the headset on) it connects to the phone correctly, but will not start playback. I have to start playback from the phone directly. Also pause has stopped working. It will pause the phone for about 20 seconds or so and then un-pause on its own. If you roll up next to me and I hear the first ~15-20 seconds of what you are saying to me, but nothing after that... this is why.

The voice control of the phone is meh. I don't know which device is responsible; the phone or the headset. But I get what I ask the phone for maybe 3/10 tries. Kinda shocks me when it works.

I occasionally accept calls while underway, but have only made 1 or 2. Callers either can't hear me at all, or claim they can't tell I'm on the bike.

I recently upgraded to a new lid. The headset fit better on my old HJC than it does on my new Scorpion. The boom mike is now very close to my chin, much closer than in the HJC. So fitment is YMMV.


I have a car Nuvi GPS mounted on the bike now. I love it for situational awareness and locating fun roads. Also for tracking trips. So far I am not regretting the fact that the GPS does not talk to me. Having a big green arrow flash on my dash has done enough to get the point across. Well enough to justify the huge cost savings over the Zumos.

[Cheese]

I know a number of people who swear by their Zumos, but I don't have it figured out. :-/

In a word, "routes". If you're sitting in your driveway and you want to do a 350 mile loop that ends in your driveway, what are you going to type into your smart phone, your home address? It's going to say, "You have arrived."