A number of us have the Garmin Zumo 550 motorcycle GPS.
At this point, these units are quite old but are entirely serviceable. There are, however, a serious of typical problems that occur including the buttons breaking loose and falling out, as they have on mine.

Recently a repair service was pointed out to me which does what appears to be pretty thorough repairs of these units.

I need a Motorcycle Specific GPS with European Maps for My Upcoming Italy Trip June 18. I've arranged to rent "a GPS" but the leader of the Group seems to think I will get something less.. and is insistent. 

 Problem is I'm a bit stretched on Cost already and I don't want to add another 5-6 hundred to the Tab.. Any Suggestions? 

I do OK with a "Car Type" GPS with the usual power issues and I will have a couple universal RAM Mounts with me..

Do you have a smart phone? I've seen a number of completely offline GPS apps mentioned. I've never used one, but a reasonably modern smartphone with an offline GPS app would make a pretty good alternative to a GPS. 

It's a little dated but a quick search yielded:

phone charges can add amazingly fast in Europe. Be sure to check with your provider. 

Indeed. But if the phone is using an app completely in offline mode there should be no wireless charges unless I'm missing something.

It could work.  I’d want to be careful or the price of the gps would be the bargain. We only use ur phones when there is WiFi in Europe. 

The WIRED review didn't mention these two apps, which I have installed on my Android phone:

1. Offline Maps & Navigation

2. OfflineMaps

Both apps are free with free maps to download for offline use.  Some of the map files are huge, so best to store on SD card.  There are several others available for Android through Play Store, but those two apps are what I used during my ride to Alaska last summer.  Both work great with no issues whatsoever while out in the boonies where cell service is not available.

I prefer to use Waze during rides and road trips because... "Police reported ahead!"  ;-)

For longer rides and in in areas where cellular service is spotty, I will typically run one of the offline navigation apps in the background so I can easily switch when network connectivity drops.

Another option is to preload data from Google Maps before hitting the road, i.e., download maps along the anticipated route via WiFi as a routine part of trip preparation.  That works well for viewing Google maps and searching for interesting roads/POIs during rest stops, while camping, etc.  I rarely use Google Maps for navigation while riding, but I suppose you could.

I was considering one of the new Garmin units with InReach (satellite connectivity) before the Alaska trip, but decided the cost w/subscription for data wasn't a good value for me.  The nice thing about InReach is its tracking and emergency notification feature (plus real-time weather updates) so if you want a capablilty similar to what SPOT trackers provide and with the additional navigation/mapping features, then one of the Garmin InReach units might be worth considering.  Just not for me right now as I don't currently do enough riding in remote areas to justify the expense.

For now, I'll stick with the offline nav apps mentioned above because they work and they're free (and I'm a cheap bastard).  However, once I retire and embark on a worldwide tour, all bets are off!  :-)

Thanks for this!