| Author |
Message |
    
Blake
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 02, 2005 - 10:43 pm: | 
|
I actually enjoy memorizing my route and suffering the inevitable wrong turn every now and again. Found some cool places by taking the wrong road or missing a turn. GPS would be great when schedule and timing was more urgent though. |
Elff
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 02, 2005 - 10:50 pm: |
|
For me
the GPS is more of a save my @$$ type thing for when I make a wrong turn. I actualy use mine more for 4wheeling than anything else. |
Coolice
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 02, 2005 - 11:26 pm: |
|
I really like the Streetpilot III, I have it mounted on my tank bag, and a RAM mount on my Road Glide, and a mount in my motorhome, plus the bean bag mount for any vehicle I may drive. I have used it for 5 years now and it sure makes trips into unfamilar territory easier plus weekend rides are easy, just follow the thin black lines on the 1.5 miles scale and they are the "fun" roads! I don't patch it into my Autocom, I don't need a voice telling me to turn, I'll watch the road for the turns. I'll buy another Garmin, its been good to me. |
Nadz
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 02, 2005 - 11:29 pm: |
|
Jackbequick sez "too big and too much in the way for a Buell or sport bike"
Nah man, just get a smaller GPS. The Garmin eTrex series fits on the dash of an R-tail, and a Quest would too.
Been riding a year, spent all kinds of money on little hop-ups, and I still think this is the single best mod you can do to a sportbike. Just take every twisty you see, and eventually "Goto Home". |
Jackbequick
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 03, 2005 - 09:33 am: |
|
"Nah man, just get a smaller GPS. The Garmin eTrex..."
But sometimes smaller also brings harder to see, less features, and some other issues.
I've used Garmins, Magellans, and a number of GPS receivers and PDAs. And done it on boats, cars, and now bikes.
For navigation features I wanted autorouting using multiple via points to force it to route the way I want to go. I also wanted a display large and bright enough to "get the picture at a glance" in daylight.
And I wanted it in a compact unit that I could quickly disconnect and walk away from the bike with. That's for security and so I can do my trip planning over lunch or in the living room.
Through trial and error I finally evolved to the PDA (iPAQ 3765, 3.8" color display) in a tank bag with a separate receiver, and running the Tom Tom 5 software.
I have tried every major brand of software and most hardwares, I currently have three other handheld GPS receivers, including two Magellan Meridians that do autorouting and meet most of my requirements but won't let me pick the routing (except through some arcane "cheating" and are not as easy to use.
Picking a GPS is like picking a motorcycle or a wife, I'm happy but other people might not get it. :>
Jack |
Captjim
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 03, 2005 - 09:54 am: |
|
Yeah, well, my Garmin is faster in the corners than your Magellan any day!
And Blake, your an engineer, you run a website, your supposed to be enamored with all sorts of electronic gizmos and doodads. Your giving geeks a bad name.
Well enough of that.
There seems to be a very similar thread over on "Quick Board" here
I posted some pics of my Garmin 2610 installation. To summarize, I can discover new places without fear of getting lost or running out of gas. Also, lots of times I would find good roads riding around lost but could never find my way back to them. With on-board mapping I can navigate right back to those special turns. I give it a two thumbs up! |
Bomber
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 03, 2005 - 09:55 am: |
|
audio prompts sounds kinda spookey to me -- kinda like having your Mom holler at ya to slow down or come home for dinner or sumpin -- having the robovoice coming into your ear at the wrong time may be, er, distracting, again, at the wrong time -- still, I've not used one, so I can't say for certain --
recently saw a unit that had GPS and MP3 player in it -- now THERE'S an idear |
Daves
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 03, 2005 - 10:22 am: |
|
I think the GPS would be great if you are going out on logging roads or in the middle of nowhere.
For regular roads, like most of us ride, I'll just take the "head that way and get lost" version. Sometimes you find the coolest stuff when you are lost. Of course the GPS would make it possible to find it again someday. |
Outrider
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 03, 2005 - 01:45 pm: |
|
Hey, the GPS systems my friends used to explore all sorts of way to get close to Area 51 worked great. But the Feds video, sound and ground sensors worked great too and we always got caught. LOL
Additionally, made life much easier in a lot of the desert roaming we did, but we still used it to reference our location on the map and alternative ways back to civilization.
Someday I would like to ride passenger on a GPS equipped bike so I can full understand the value of it in the paved world that is so well covered by maps. That just might sell me on the concept. |
Cruisin
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 03, 2005 - 02:55 pm: |
|
Yeah, I posted over on that one too. I put a 2610 on my Firebolt and love it. 2gb card made it possible to put ALL maps on it - no loading or anything. I can plan the route on either the 2610 or on my pc and put it on the GPS. It's nice to be able to find the nearest gas station on a whim, or one along the route you planned.
Daves, that's one thing I did like. I went on a ride in NH and had no idea where we went. I was able to pull up the tracking on it and see exactly what roads we took. I could save that as a route if I wanted to.
The biggest thing I like - if you plan the route ahead of time it tells you the distance to the next turn. It's nice to turn on that twisty road and know you've got 20 miles to enjoy to the fullest before you have to worry about turning again. |
Daves
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 03, 2005 - 03:18 pm: |
|
Don't get in too big of a hurry to get the Buell GPS, it may be as late as January coming out. |
Emscityx
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 03, 2005 - 04:33 pm: |
|
The audio prompts are great for those who either focus on the road and traffic or who daydream while riding (I do both); they save a lot of missed turns. And on my Garmin 276c, I have selected the British accented female voice....reminds me of a girl I met in London...... |
|
