sat nav

[jl34]

i want a sat nav for my bike but don't fancy paying big money. As im not bothered by Rain as i never go out in it, is there any reason why i cant buy a cheaper car unit like a tom tom go one, and use that?. Are there any holders available to fit these things to the bars ?

[black-k1]

A friend of mine used his Tom Tom One on his BMW K1200RS by mounting it on the inside of the fairing screen. He used it for a couple of years and it worked very well even when he got caught in the rain. I’m planning to do the same with the Firestorm this year. It’s a much cheaper option than the Tom Tom Rider

[chilli]

I have a Garmin Quest still in its box in the garage that I was thinking of putting on ebay. Got it home, turned it on. The thing couldn't find where I lived, or where I worked. Never mind, I bought it for the Spain trip. Then I loaded all the European maps onto my pc at work, and then couldn't download them. Packed it up, and that's where it's been ever since!

[ballon]

chilli said:

I have a Garmin Quest still in its box in the garage that I was thinking of putting on ebay. Got it home, turned it on. The thing couldn't find where I lived, or where I worked. Never mind, I bought it for the Spain trip. Then I loaded all the European maps onto my pc at work, and then couldn't download them. Packed it up, and that's where it's been ever since!

I have Garmin Quest and it is the dogs danglers, once you get them set up.

Mine has all the european maps a;ready on it.

The Via Michelin looks like it is going to be very good and it has speed cameras loaded on it for the UK and Europe.

[chilli]

ballon said:

chilli said:

I have a Garmin Quest still in its box in the garage that I was thinking of putting on ebay. Got it home, turned it on. The thing couldn't find where I lived, or where I worked. Never mind, I bought it for the Spain trip. Then I loaded all the European maps onto my pc at work, and then couldn't download them. Packed it up, and that's where it's been ever since!

I have Garmin Quest and it is the dogs danglers, once you get them set up.

Mine has all the european maps a;ready on it.

The Via Michelin looks like it is going to be very good and it has speed cameras loaded on it for the UK and Europe.

Yeah, as with eveerything I've ever bought, if it has more than 2 buttons or requires wiring up, it never works... Sometimes, I wish I had kids!

[eliminator]

As you have dealt with waterproofing the main issue left with a car unit is..... vibration will eventually kill it.

A bike bar mounted unit suffers vibration. The board inside the unit sits vertically and the components are fitted. The vibration causes the components to move slightly and, over time, they either break their wire (kaput) or crack their solder (intermittent kerput).

Bike units (good ones) are gel-filled so that the components are supported and this does not happen.

So, if use intermittent and not a lot in total you may think it OK to take this route.

[johnnystorm]

Rather than risk the device vibrating to death, flying off the bars under an artic or drowning I intend to zip mine into my jacket pocket and listen through headphones. Voice instructions better than nowt and hopefully no hardware casulaties that way. My new phone through t-mobile on their flext tariff has built in sat-nav so that's one less item to carry about.

[negative creep]

Tom Tom do the bike specific Rider, waterproof and designed to be used with gloves on

[jvaughan]

I use a Garmin Street Pilot 3 Delux. An ond unit by todays standards, but with a touratech mount on my Africa Twin and wired into the bikes electrics, it works perfectly and routes on or off road.

I also carry it as a backup when on the boat too.

[rsvmilly]

The on-bike GPSs have come down in price enormously. You can get end-of-line Garmins - of similar type to the BMW ones - for around £200! Tomtom Rider is down to about £250, with UK maps.

Clicky

[ChasMill]

Garmin Quest - superb bit of kit once you have negotiated your way around how it works.