The Honda Owners Club

Hello all,

Could you please advise or give some information about GPS navigation systems.

I am looking to buy one, but not very much convinced which one. The Tom-Tom rider looks very promising especialy package: settings, fixing... Plus it suppose to be vibration protected and water proof.

My purpose to have GPS with maps for UK and western Europe, that can be easily installed on the CBR600F, be water proof (or at least resistance), it should not afraid of vibration. Easy to read, easy to manipulate, searching tools, personilised tour etc.

Can anyone say why should I buy that model, or may be I have to look to some other directions (Garmin for instance).

Thanks

Hi Nik,

I've heard bad things about the TonTom Rider, quite apart from it's extortionate price.

I've just invested in a T-Mobile Vario phone/pda, which comes with Co-Pilot. http://www.t-mobile-phones.co.uk/copilot.htm A friend has a similar phone from T-Mobile and swears by it. I've yet to use it in anger, but ultimately will plumb it into my Autocom.
Will have to be careful about keeping it waterproof though!

Stritchy wrote:Hi Nik,

I've heard bad things about the TonTom Rider, quite apart from it's extortionate price.

I've just invested in a T-Mobile Vario phone/pda, which comes with Co-Pilot. http://www.t-mobile-phones.co.uk/copilot.htm A friend has a similar phone from T-Mobile and swears by it. I've yet to use it in anger, but ultimately will plumb it into my Autocom.
Will have to be careful about keeping it waterproof though!

Thanks, I have already my PDA... The problem with that is fixing on to the bike, to have it clearly visibly and keep the same time out of water (rain). Putting PDA into the tank-bag does not help as it is too low to see what is going on.
I am off shortly to France, as we all know they don't speak English, or pretend so and I cannot read (and cannot speak also) French
Therefore would love to have some device for help

I am prejudice. I have had a Garmin 2610 for three years. It has taken me all over Europe in all weathers. With its replaceable Flash Card, you can easily download the maps and street plans for the whole of Europe. Its buttons can be programmed to work with the gloved finger.

Updates are available online from Garmin. Routes can be planned on your PC then downloaded to the GPS unit. When used in tracker mode the GPS unit can be down loaded onto the PC so you can see where you have been - including speeds over various sections, average speeds, elevations in graphic mode.

The map detail, including points of interest - garages, hotels, hospitals, etc, etc, are very good for the UK and most of Northern and Western Europe. Spain, Portugal and Greece are not so good on the street plans. The old Eastern bloc countries are really just the main roads and major cities. Detailed local maps are available but they are rather expensive and do not include the voice prompt.

Like all maps they are only as good as they are current. The latest paper maps are likely to be more up to date than the latest GPS maps - it takes time to digitize them. But as long as you use common sense and realise that it is because you are on a new by-pass, that is causing the GPS to tell you to do a U turn and that things will settle down as soon as the by pass ends and you get back on route, it is all very simple.

A GPS unit is more than just a moving map. It carries a lot of information about places.

I paid some £700.00 for mine. I am glad I bought it. Now they can be had for little over £200.00, the 2610 is an absolute snip.

Some GPS units are becoming multi functional units; cameras, phones, Ipods, speed camera detectors, etc. I am not too keen on the multi functional bits and pieces, it could make getting from A to B, a bit too complicated for me.

I am not sure that a really nice mounting position could be found for a CBR600F.

If it is your first trip on a bike to France, you would probably be better off with a tank bag with a pocket for a paper map. At least with a paper map you point to where you wish to be - that could be difficult with a GPS unit.

I must take issue with my learned colleauge Mr. Stritch on this one.

Sure, the Rider has it's quirks, and I am amongst the most vociferous in detailing them, but to be fair, most of my complaints are about the way TomTom handles some of it's functions because they don't fit in with the way I want to use it. That doesn't really make it bad, maybe it's just me wanting functionality outside the mainstream

As a pure satnav, the Rider does it's job admirably. More so if you have a compatible phone and can get the traffic and weather information downloaded automatically, receive phone calls and texts etc. The list of things it will do for you is quite extensive.

Again, it is not perfect for me, but really no more than any other make of satnav and if I swopped it for a Garmin I would gain some features and lose others, so there is not really much point in me changing.

I agree with Barry about separate tools rather than combined devices. If, for example, I want to upgrade my phone, I don't want to have to change my satnav as well. Cameras in phones are my particular bete noir. Why? I already own a better digi camera than anything found in a phone.

On the other hand a dedicated device can be more tailored to it's purpose. In our case, a screen big enough to read on the move and being waterproof.

Price? Well the Rider was extortionate when it was first announced but the price has dropped spectacularly and it can now be bought in the £225 - £250 region, a similar price to equivilent spec Garmins.

I use TomTom from my PDA and it works well. All navigation systems have their quirks - once you get used to it (learn how it "thinks"), it is fine.

TT Rider is a good choice now the price has dropped. Not sure if it can connect easily to the starcom system though - you need to ask.

Garmin 2610 is OK BUT it has no battery, so you cannot pre-program routes without being on the bike with the ignition on.

I have TomTom on a PDA which I mount on a home made shelf on the bike. It is not waterproof until I put my Tescos bag over it, and I need a separate GPS receiver !! But I can listen to music while I am going along - which is a godsend on a long journey.

Alan

I just use the good old fasioned map in a tank cover and back it up with 15 mins of route planning before I leave the house!!

Call me old fasioned but I think sat nav is a waste of money....had one in my previous car and rarely needed it!!

...mind you...I used to say that about mobile phones!!

I agree with Chris! Still use maps and they are even better now I wear contact lenses and can see what is written! However, those who use sat nav's swear by them and likewise I wouldn't want to be without my mobile now

I have map in my pocket and try to remember way points. I need glasses to read, so to read a map/GPS I would have to take my helmet off to put my glasses on !!! - Getting lost can be fun

In this day and age of mobile this and sat nav that in cars and that this is a further distraction from the business of driving, thus making us two wheeled brothers and sisters more vunerable . I think that use of such instruments on bikes is just asking for trouble and an accident waiting to happen. Yes granted they are useful, like the mobile phone, but surely a good old fashioned map and some planning goes along way and at least refering to a map every so often makes you stop, pull over and rest while you have a fag or a cuppa whilst you're reviewing your route and taking in the scenary too. Mobile phones are a god send as they are an ideal means of communication during emergency situations and if you're lost too

jimmyb wrote: I need glasses to read, so to read a map/GPS I would have to take my helmet off to put my glasses on !!! :

I have to take my glasses off to read a map on my tank. My GPS unit is mounted just inside my screen, at a point that it comes into focus with my glasses on.

Garmin 2610 is OK BUT it has no battery, so you cannot pre-program routes without being on the bike with the ignition on.

My Garmin is wired to be always on. That way you get better information regarding a journey. It also allows you to programme the unit with the ignition off. The battery drain is minimal.

I think that use of such instruments on bikes is just asking for trouble and an accident waiting to happen

I do think the unit should be mounted in such a way that it is in your peripheral vision. You should not have to move your head to read it. This can be difficult and usually requires a bit of DIY. Once you get used to them, I do not think - if properly mounted - that they are any more a distraction than the rest of the bikes instruments. Like the speedo, etc. You tend to glance at them when it is safe to do so.

Mobile phones are a god send as they are an ideal means of communication during emergency situations and if you're lost too

Mobile phones are OK if you are in the UK. Once outside the UK, they can be a source of frustration - if you do not speak the local language.
The UK 'help line' numbers are really 'disaster lines'- the last resort.

Most GPS units can be switched to another language, Many also have useful phrases mode. They can all be switched between miles and kilometres.

I am a devoted map person. I have a filling cabinet draw full of dog eared, creased, with signs of damp, maps. The maps are scribbled on, with routes highlighted, they are a record of my trips and I often look at them, just to remind me.

On my first petrol stop in a new country, the first thing I buy is the latest map. Then whilst sitting having a drink in the evening, I mark on it the route I have taken and make a few notes.

Since I have had the GPS, the map lives in my tank bag, they go into my files nice and clean and correctly folded.

Anyone visiting a specific area should always visit the information office and pick up local maps. These usually show places of local interest and are invaluable.

I remember the argument against having heaters in cars - they make you too warm and comfortable and you become drowsy. Radios in cars was a sign of American influenced debauchery! As for having no starting handle! Anything with plastic in it was cheap rubbish, everything Japanese was a cheap imitation. A map with a moving pointer showing your location? Science fiction!

I do think the unit should be mounted in such a way that it is in your peripheral vision. You should not have to move your head to read it. This can be difficult and usually requires a bit of DIY. Once you get used to them, I do not think - if properly mounted - that they are any more a distraction than the rest of the bikes instruments. Like the speedo, etc. You tend to glance at them when it is safe to do so.

Yes I sort of agree with you Barry, but speedo etc are supposed to be there as it is a legal requirement and part of the design of the bike or car sat nav etc are just additional features that are not really part of the vehicles road worthiness and to be sure that if it was not fitted you would not miss it. ok radios come into this too as they are an add on to help sell cars.

I have to admit that the one good thing bout sat nav is the spoken word directions which negates the need to look down to read a screen or in my case a map!!

....I always recommend when using a map that you review and try to memorise the route (route planning) prior to departure!...the times when Ive not bothered, Ive found it quite alarming having to keep looking down at a map!!...Sat Nav has its place thats for sure...I just dont want to go there until I have to!!! ..a decent 'Head Up' display focussed at infinity on the helmet visor is the way to go!!

Thats fine if your flying a plane cos there's no daft t*^t going to come at you from a side road and you can stick it in auto pilot

Steady Andy!!...was a mere jest and you are right that no technology can prevent A$%holes spoiling your day!...

...autopilot is not the answer either!!....!!!...So Ill go and get my coat on this one!!