Help with custom routes on Nuvi 2555LMT

Actually it does. You'll see if you right click a point in a route in BaseCamp then if it's not a shaping or 'do not alert' point you can select to make it so by choosing the option that says "Don't alert on arrival (shaping point)".

As for bypassing that is the whole point of the shaping points. Nuvis with the latest version of trip planner, that is those from 2013 models onwards, will ignore shaping points if you bypass them, whereas if they are via points your nuvi will insist you visit it.

Routes in general then should generally use shaping points unless you specifically want to visit them.

Please also note I'm not suggesting routes should be exported as direct point to point routes. There is no need to do that, certainly I've never needed to.

OK, I see a pattern here. Out in the middle of the California Desert mapping with BC on the computer, I just clicked nine times or so to make a snaky road route. Some of the clicks coincided with Garmin POIs and some did not. I was not even aware that I was clicking on a POI at the third trip point, the first occurence. The POI coordinate clicks ended up in the Nuvi 56 as Destinations, but the non-POI clicks along the roads ended up as Shaping Points in the Nuvi 56. There is a certain logic to this, but it may not be the best way to create a route for a Harley unless the maps are perfect and the rider has no inclination to ever leave the center of the route line for a little side trip.

So, once again it would seem that when using BC to create a route for a gps device, such as most Nuvis with no capability to disable automatic recalculation, care should perhaps be taken to create multiple named Waypoints before even starting to create the routes in BC from those Waypoints. Either way, the Nuvi 56 can save your bacon - 'or Hog' - out on the road by use of (Edit>Change Route >Skip) options. Whether it is wise to do so when moving is a personal choice.

@gjhai

I've now had a good look at the route you sent me, both on BaseCamp and my nuvi. I can see you've inserted ample shaping points and my nuvi follows your route perfectly, so it's difficult to know what happened.

The only way I can get my nuvi to do the left turn you described in Cleveland is by restarting the trip and selecting the end rather than the start point. Since you've only inserted shaping rather than via points all the shaping points would be ignored.

On such a long route I'd certainly consider inserting a couple of via points, particularly as you said you stopped for breakfast after leaving the hotel. It's quite possible looking at your trip that your only choice after breakfast would have been to select the end point, is that what you did? If so it explains everything.

That isn't what I did. When I go to start the route I'm prompted for the next destination. Each of the shaping points is listed to select from; I seleced SW Old Chattanooga Pike & US 11.

Then I have no idea why your GPS did what it did, nor can I see how you restarted your route at a shaping point as that option isn't offered on mine.

Mine lists the shaping points for all of the routes I've entered. It may be because I've been careful to put each one at a named intersection (if not, the 2555 announces them regardless of the setting in BaseCamp). I guess before I try another ride I'll split the route I want to ride into 2 half loops, and if it tries to short circuit the loop I'll change to riding the half loops.

I thank you for the time you've spent trying to help with this.

Well I used your route but it still didn't happen for me. Splitting the route may work for you but I'd also ensure you have some proper via points towards the 'top end' of the loop, that should be sufficient to ensure you are taken there.

Incidentally mine also lists all your shaping points in the trip but when I did a 'go to' I only got the choice I was expecting to get, your start and finish points. Light bulb moment! I forgot you had a 2555. Shaping points aren't honoured on the 2012 models or the earlier ones so all your points will be via points so of course you can select them.

I just tried using the simulator, but it is pretty much worthless. It only wants to simulate point to point and not the route. When I start the simulation it prompts to pick the next destination and then runs a simulation from the previous via point to that destination.