R1200GS Forum banner
1 - 18 of 18 Posts
GPX should be a universal file format. The problems I've seen before is some apps (usually smartphone apps) do not support all of the same functions as are possible in the GPX files. I've never had the Nav VI have trouble with a GPX file.
 
Generally, when people have trouble loading a GPX file in Basecamp or their GPS it's because it includes routes (vs tracks) that do not use the same base map. Make sure Basecamp and you GPS are in sync on which map version you're using and then import your GPX file from the other source into Basecamp. You can then correct any errors or make changes you want before loading on the GPS.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Hogges
Generally, when people have trouble loading a GPX file in Basecamp or their GPS it's because it includes routes (vs tracks) that do not use the same base map. Make sure Basecamp and you GPS are in sync on which map version you're using and then import your GPX file from the other source into Basecamp. You can then correct any errors or make changes you want before loading on the GPS.
Exactly how I do it. I also want to mention that GPX files can include routes and tracks. If a GPX file only includes tracks (such as the official BDR files), and folks expect to see new routes in Trip Planner, it may seem like nothing was uploaded, when in fact there are new tracks in the respective app. The GPS doesn’t prompt the user to alert about new tracks found. They have to manually be made visible. Many folks I ride with struggle with the distinction between routes and tracks.
 
Exactly how I do it. I also want to mention that GPX files can include routes and tracks. If a GPX file only includes tracks (such as the official BDR files), and folks expect to see new routes in Trip Planner, it may seem like nothing was uploaded, when in fact there are new tracks in the respective app. The GPS doesn’t prompt the user to alert about new tracks found. They have to manually be made visible. Many folks I ride with struggle with the distinction between routes and tracks.

I’d like to like this post twice.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Hogges
I download the .gpx TRACKS to my desktop. Plug in my Nav6. Drag the file right into my Nav6 and drop it. Done! No Basecamp involved.
Unplug your NAV six and go to the apps, open up tracks and select a color for your track and click the box that says show on map. Then back out of there you now have a color line on your map that you can ride to and from or on to your hearts desire. You will not get turn by turn directions thank goodness.
 
I download the .gpx TRACKS to my desktop. Plug in my Nav6. Drag the file right into my Nav6 and drop it. Done! No Basecamp involved.
Unplug your NAV six and go to the apps, open up tracks and select a color for your track and click the box that says show on map. Then back out of there you now have a color line on your map that you can ride to and from or on to your hearts desire. You will not get turn by turn directions thank goodness.
Tracks are indeed nice because they are bulletproof, unchanging, map independent, no whining if you change your mind etc. Sometimes that's all I use. The reason why I often add a route in addition to the track (never in place of!) is so that I get more advance notice for upcoming turns, especially if I am leading a group of riders where sudden hard braking would be bad idea. With tracks it's sometimes not easy to see how soon exactly a turn is coming up, because the zoom level might have changed. In those situations it's nice to have a bit of advance notice along with distance and road name announcement via bluetooth headset. When I do this then Basecamp is a necessity to ensure that the route doesn't have any points which fall just outside of the intended route and would result in a u-turn. If you use a random route from someone else, created on a different map, without your own postprocessing, then such hiccups are almost guaranteed and lead to frustration.
 
Every big adventure I've ever taken has been on guidance by tracks. The Trans America Trail, Colorado BDR, Mid-Atlantic BDR, SouthEast Adventure Trail, and many many more all by following the blue line track on my GPS. Now, I also include a number of custom POIs like places I really want to see along the way; I'll usually include one for the start of the track so no matter where I am I can navigate to it to get started. For some adventures it's been handy to have scoped out camp grounds along the track and sprinkled them in the file.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Scurvy
I download the .gpx TRACKS to my desktop. Plug in my Nav6. Drag the file right into my Nav6 and drop it. Done! No Basecamp involved.
Unplug your NAV six and go to the apps, open up tracks and select a color for your track and click the box that says show on map. Then back out of there you now have a color line on your map that you can ride to and from or on to your hearts desire. You will not get turn by turn directions thank goodness.
Hey Zubb, real quick, when my Nav6 is plugged in, there's 14 files diff folders, is there a specific folder you need to drop it in, or no need to put it in any folder? Thanks!!!
 
Hey Zubb, real quick, when my Nav6 is plugged in, there's 14 files diff folders, is there a specific folder you need to drop it in, or no need to put it in any folder? Thanks!!!
GREAT question. I used to worry about that very question. I'm sure there are smarter folks than me that have superior methods ... but here's what I do as it's dead simple and it works for my purposes. Note: I am on Mac computers. Windows results may or may not apply.

I of course have my file finder open on the screen (not at the full screen though).
I just grab the .gpx file on the screen and drag it onto the Nav6 showing in the finder. I do not drop it into subfiles down the "file tree". I drop it literally on top of the Garmin. It will find its own happy place to live inside it.
I highly doubt this is the most organized way to do this. Would enjoy thoughts from the group on a better way to organize larger batches of files (like specifically on the SD card).

I keep and run a couple of dozen tracks and 3 BDRs in the Garmin this way, so there is quite a bit of memory available for this. Only once in the past few years have I run out of memory, but ... it was fine. It forced me to grab my Nav off the bike and sit around going through my tracks and deleting ones I didn't need on it. I could always go back to the laptop in the future and add them back if needed. Forced housecleaning so to speak.
* It also helps free up a lot of memory if you go to files like "COBDR" for example and unclick the "show on map" box if you obviously aren't running the BDR or aren't in that part of the country.

My method is not the cleanest simplest way to do this, I am sure. However, it's dead simple and works for me.

Make sure in your Garmin unit Settings that you've turned off auto re-routing!
 
By the way, I use REVER (pro) for all my track building. There are many great apps out there but I prefer REVER pro because it's dead simple to build my trip segments on my beautiful 32" screen in my comfy home office. When I'm done with my track building, I just click the download button to my desktop and download the TRACK (not the route) to my desktop. And continue as stated above.
The benefit to me is dead simplicity and ease. Fantastic ability to create tracks on and off-road as my tracks are usually 50/50, ... and... (drumroll please) .. they are magically already on my phone's Rever app. So I have a backup with me already should the NAV6 decide to famously crap out while I'm somewhere in the middle of Baja!! :rolleyes:

Any "routing" I want is done on the bike. For example, someone in the group is always asking how far it is to the next turn-off, or to the pavement, or to lunch stop or gas. So I can scroll the Garmin to the restaurant, for example, drop a pin and save it. Then tell Gamin to go to that place and it will navigate you to it with turn by turn and also show you how far to your next turn. Right over the top of the tracks on your screen.
Caution: you may or may not need to drop a POI along your route to keep it from routing you off your track.

Disclaimer: I'm sure there are better methods. I however will never ever again open BaseCamp. It is the devil's software designed to trigger bouts of insanity and heavy binge drinking. A Pox upon those that designed it and dropped in on an unwary public!
 
By the way, I use REVER (pro) for all my track building. There are many great apps out there but I prefer REVER pro because it's dead simple to build my trip segments on my beautiful 32" screen in my comfy home office. When I'm done with my track building, I just click the download button to my desktop and download the TRACK (not the route) to my desktop. And continue as stated above.
The benefit to me is dead simplicity and ease. Fantastic ability to create tracks on and off-road as my tracks are usually 50/50, ... and... (drumroll please) .. they are magically already on my phone's Rever app. So I have a backup with me already should the NAV6 decide to famously crap out while I'm somewhere in the middle of Baja!! :rolleyes:

Any "routing" I want is done on the bike. For example, someone in the group is always asking how far it is to the next turn-off, or to the pavement, or to lunch stop or gas. So I can scroll the Garmin to the restaurant, for example, drop a pin and save it. Then tell Gamin to go to that place and it will navigate you to it with turn by turn and also show you how far to your next turn. Right over the top of the tracks on your screen.
Caution: you may or may not need to drop a POI along your route to keep it from routing you off your track.

Disclaimer: I'm sure there are better methods. I however will never ever again open BaseCamp. It is the devil's software designed to trigger bouts of insanity and heavy binge drinking. A Pox upon those that designed it and dropped in on an unwary public!
Thanks a ton Zubb for all this additional information! I'm taking a short overnighter tomorrow, so fingers crossed I won't have any issues! All the best!
 
Thanks a ton Zubb for all this additional information! I'm taking a short overnighter tomorrow, so fingers crossed I won't have any issues! All the best!
. So the route loaded fine, turned off re-routing, and low and behold, my NAV6 over-rode my route, and instead routed me the fastest. And as you eluded to Zubb, with Basecamp being garbage to learn, this has become frustrating to no end.
 
. So the route loaded fine, turned off re-routing, and low and behold, my NAV6 over-rode my route, and instead routed me the fastest. And as you eluded to Zubb, with Basecamp being garbage to learn, this has become frustrating to no end.
No no no do not load a route. Load a track. A track is a static line that you must pay attention to riding on, with no turn by turn instruction.
 
. So the route loaded fine, turned off re-routing, and low and behold, my NAV6 over-rode my route, and instead routed me the fastest. And as you eluded to Zubb, with Basecamp being garbage to learn, this has become frustrating to no end.
You have to either have the Nav6 set to all the same routing preferences or you have to put in a sufficient number of shaping points that all routing modes (fastest, curvy, shorter) will give you the same route. You can actually change the routing mode in Basecamp to see if it shifts. If it does, add more shaping points. If you add enough shaping points, you'll get the route you want no matter what.

One way to do that is to duplicate the route in Basecamp (temporarily), set the duplicate to a different routing mode, and set it to a different color. Once you do that, the deviations become obvious.

And I want turn-by-turn directions. I don't want to have to look at my screen the whole time, I want to keep my eyes on the road. That said, I'm new the GS world (coming from a GTL), so I may have a different perspective when it comes to off-pavement riding once I get more into that.

For the first few months of using Basecamp, I hated it. It is an archaic interface. But, once you learn it, you'll realize there is nothing as powerful as Basecamp. I've tried dozens of alternatives and all of them are deficient in some way. Most (maybe all) of them are prettier and easier to use but they all simply fall short in capabilities. I've now been using Basecamp for 6 years with over 50,000 thousand miles of planned routes and I hope they never stop updating maps for it.
 
Disclaimer: I'm sure there are better methods. I however will never ever again open BaseCamp. It is the devil's software designed to trigger bouts of insanity and heavy binge drinking. A Pox upon those that designed it and dropped in on an unwary public!
I feel that way about Windoze in general. Were it not recognized as an OS, it would be categorized as a virus. 🐧
 
Discussion starter · #17 ·
Thanks for all the tips and help for getting the GPX files into the Nav 6
So far I've ran a few 4-5 hour routes that was shared form the Cali-moto app. all attempts were accurate and able to complete a route..except for 2 that the route creator tweaked and didn't get notified in time.. and forced the Nav 6 to recalculate numerous times...after deviating from the "detour".. it was right back on track after enduring numerous Uturn notices for about 30 min.
And so far only a few little niggles- sometimes the Nav won't start navigating, sometimes it would just stop navigating
but with a restart of the route gets you back on track... and lastly I didn't understand the question "navigate to start or end of route".... Now it's understood...lol
Minor glitches with a solution, have to say so far seems reliable.
 
GPX files should be saved in the GPX folder but in reality this is just so humans can locate them easily. The Garmin should locate it where ever it ends up. I know it works if you save it to the root but I've never played with saving it to any other subfolder.

Curiously on my Nav VI, the GPX folder, in the internal memory is at the root, ie. /GPX, while on the microSD memory card it's under the garmin folder, ie /garmin/GPX. I never created those folders so I guess that's the way Basecamp works as that is where it loads my routes and tracks.

BTW if you can see the file structure or in other words access the file system, you can transfer your GPX files directly from any device. I have done so from my Android phone, using a usb cable and I would guess the same could be done from iOS.
 
1 - 18 of 18 Posts