[freaknificent]

With riding season almost upon us in the US, just wondering if anyone has an app they use or recommend. The features I'd be interested in is waypoints, route planner where I can import one to the phone, Bluetooth compatible and turn by turn directions. I've been looking for one but no luck as of yet


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[hogcowboy]

Might look at REVER.

 

[Stainlesstehle]

Yep, Rever is great, for GPS directions I use an app called Waze. Lets me know what's happening up ahead.

 

[cmonSTART]

Ya, I like Waze - users can flag police, hazards, etc. They're not always there, but often are.

 

[Stainlesstehle]

Nice knowing there's a pot hole ahead...

 

[NordicMan]

Check out CoPilot, it lets you download whole maps so you can use the app even when off-line. Beats paying data roaming charges!

 

[hogcowboy]

Check out CoPilot, it lets you download whole maps so you can use the app even when off-line. Beats paying data roaming charges!

I'm assuming you have to buy the full version to add waypoints is that correct or do you get a few with the free version?

 

[Unkle Krusty]

I have no idea.

Shirley likes to know where we are, and where we are going.
I prefer to be in a kind of fog, and blast past my exit, and have to back track.
As the Newfies say " wherever you are, that's where you're at "
It works for me.

Generally speaking there has to be a pub somewhere near, even on a beach in Mexico I discovered.

Unkle Krusty*

 

[Eye_m_no_angel]

Shirley likes to know where we are, and where we are going.
I prefer to be in a kind of fog, and blast past my exit, and have to back track.
As the Newfies say " wherever you are, that's where you're at "
It works for me.

Generally speaking there has to be a pub somewhere near, even on a beach in Mexico I discovered.

Unkle Krusty*

^^^ There it is.

I've never been lost on a bike. There have been times when I didn't know the quickest way to get to my destination, but fewer of those where I cared.

I hear people who own motorcycles say all the time, "It's not the destination. It's the journey." Those are really nice words.

Then they find all sorts of ways to make sure they arrive at a precise location, in the prescribed amount of time, and with the absolute least risk of anything happening.

 

[hogcowboy]

I could have used a GPS once in California's central valley. Little bitty nothing of a town and I just took a road back out of it. 3 times!!! Each time the road I took went out several miles and just looped back to that same dang town. 3 different roads out and all 3 brought me right back. I finally gave up and back tracked on the one I rode in on. Probably should have stopped at the bar and got my paper map out but what's the fun in that!

 

[SgtSlag]

Be aware that cell phone coverage is a consideration. We got lost one time, and the wife pulled out her cell phone, with a GPS app. Then we entered a dead-zone: no cell coverage, and the phone became a paperweight.

We generally prefer paper maps, but we've carried our satellite GPS a few times. The one time we tried to use it, it failed: I updated the map the night before we left, so we'd have the latest information; when my wife turned it on, she asked me, "What State is 'GU'?" There was a glitch in the download, and our US map had been replaced by a map of the island of Guam! We packed the GPS away for the remainder of our 9-day trip, relying solely upon paper maps... Never had an issue.

I admit, using the Points of Interest feature on a GPS, to locate gas, food, and lodging, is very helpful. Aside from that, we really prefer paper maps: no "updates" to download (Guam...); no batteries/chargers required; cheap (usually free!); and they are far easier to make water-proof than a GPS (clear Contact Paper, on both sides, makes them pretty much waterproof, for pennies -- besides that, you can write on them with water-based pens, or grease pencils, even). Cheers!

 

[NordicMan]

I'm assuming you have to buy the full version to add waypoints is that correct or do you get a few with the free version?

If I remember correctly, CoPilot works 100% fully featured for free, for the first couple of weeks so you can try it all out. Afterwards if you don't pay for the "premium version" you lose the voice navigation (audio) and 3D map view. But it will continue to work otherwise, for free.

I think that's fair. And they only want like $10 for a lifetime membership if you want the voice guidance & 3D map view.

If you want the "super deluxe" version that includes real-time traffic monitoring that'll cost you an additional $10/year.


Paper maps are certainly less complicated, but are basically useless if you don't know where you currently are

 

[Eye_m_no_angel]

Paper maps are certainly less complicated, but are basically useless if you don't know where you currently are

Only if you don't know how to read a map and have been riding along with your head in a fog.

 

[NordicMan]

Only if you don't know how to read a map and have been riding along with your head in a fog.

Sure. OR if you're driving in a strange neighborhood/town/city at night, or in crappy weather, or whatever else is making navigation challenging. You'll be starring blankly at your map, you can clearly SEE on the map where U want to go but don't have a clue where you are NOW.

Have fun with your map :biggrin:

 

[Metaldoc]

Sure. OR if you're driving in a strange neighborhood/town/city at night, or in crappy weather, or whatever else is making navigation challenging. You'll be starring blankly at your map, you can clearly SEE on the map where U want to go but don't have a clue where you are NOW.

Have fun with your map :biggrin:

There are all kinds of aids to help determine where you are... street signs, road/highway markers, signs of all kinds. If out in the country, landmarks and terrain features can help one identify where they are. As noted, if you're not riding with your head in a complete fog, it's not that hard to figure out where you are using a paper map. GPS hasn't been around all that long...

 

[Eye_m_no_angel]

There are all kinds of aids to help determine where you are... street signs, road/highway markers, signs of all kinds. If out in the country, landmarks and terrain features can help one identify where they are. As noted, if you're not riding with your head in a complete fog, it's not that hard to figure out where you are using a paper map. GPS hasn't been around all that long...

^^^There it is.

If you know how to read a map and read your surroundings it's not hard at all to figure out where you are, and where you want to go. Heck, with a lensatic compass and a half-way decent topo map you could cross the roughest terrain on foot and arrive at your destination with almost as much accuracy as you could with the best military grade GPS system.

But for someone that's only had experience with electronic navigation aids then yeah, they'd likely feel a little lost and confused if they had to rely on older methods. Using a paper map is a skill, just as riding a motorcycle is a skill, just as changing a tire is a skill, and so on.

 

[Eye_m_no_angel]

Sure. OR if you're driving in a strange neighborhood/town/city at night, or in crappy weather, or whatever else is making navigation challenging. You'll be starring blankly at your map, you can clearly SEE on the map where U want to go but don't have a clue where you are NOW.

Have fun with your map :biggrin:

Other then short runs and bar-hopping what we really enjoy the most is touring across this great land of ours. We don't own a GPS and we don't use an AP on her cell phone. Most of our routes, that are pre-planned, are written down on paper "maps" and consist of colors and symbols and so forth that we can scroll through as we're riding. For those few times that we've actually gotten lost we carry paper maps in a saddle bag or pack that we can pull out and look at.

No, it isn't a perfect system. But neither is any electronic system. I'd like to brag that we've never taken the wrong way but I can't do that. Last year we had to turn around in Phoenix, Az., and the year before we got completely turned around and were late in meeting ODE in Norman, OK. Earlier that year we were riding towards Sundance, Wyoming, and got confused west of Richmond, Va. (But we did find a most beautiful road as a detour.)

I guess if you need to make sure you ride to a certain location in the quickest most efficient way, then an app might be your best way to achieve that. :71baldboy:

 

[MONI]

We've had our GPS steer us into a subdivision with only 1 entrance/exit. It doesn't tell us to take 49 from Texarkana to Shreveport either. A couple of things I like about having a GPS is when it tells us which lane we need to be in to change roads and it helps us find motels and restaurants.

We normally stop at the 1st rest area when entering a state to pick up a paper map. Even if we have to get on the interstate for a few miles I still want one. So many times we find scenic routes or just things that interest us that we might have missed without the paper map.

 

[vito]

A number of years ago I bought the cheapest model Zumo from Garmin. These made for motorcycle GPS devices will work regardless of cell phone service and can help you out when lost (when you do not want to be lost!). I'll bet you could pick up a used Zumo 220 or similar outdated model for a very low price. I hardly use the GPS, often preferring to just ride and see where it takes me, but on occasion I have been somewhere when I decide I just want to get home as quickly as I reasonably can. I hit the "Go Home" icon and it then takes me home by the quickest path.

I also occasionally use the other features, like locating restaurants in the area that I find myself in, including seeing reveiws of the places and then using it for directions to the location.

Another use of it can be in avoiding ending up on dirt or gravel secondary roads. Even when just meandering on roads that I haven't ridden before, I can glance at the screen and easily determine which roads are major and which are not. Riding a heavyweight cruiser, often two up, makes me want to avoid other than paved roads and the GPS can help out with this plan.

A final comment: most smartphones are not made to handle rain and the vibration of being mounted on a motorcycle. The motorcycle specific GPS devices are designed just for that environment. I would hate to ruin my $600+ I-phone.

If I were buying a new GPS today, I would consider the Tom Tom Rider since it appears to be as useful as the Garmin Zumo's but much more reasonably priced. And just in case, I keep a paper map in the saddle bag. No GPS device will easily give you the "big picture" when trying to plan a general route over a long distance.

 

[AlwaysLearnin]

Here's my take on Tom Tom vs. Garmin. I live in the middle of town and everyone who has tried to use a Tom Tom to find my house can't find my house. Google can and Garmin can every time. So...if I want to get where I want to go, Garmin it is.