Team-BHP - GPS Navigation for Bikes

Hi,

Any one using a GPS on your bike. Are Motorcycle mounts available in India. Need a GPS for long rides and rally so need a device that can last and is rugged. Garmin motorcycle devices seem to be very expencive are their any other options ?

Rajnish

I have been using a Garmin 76CSx for over 3 years now. Its an overkill for purely bike based navigation, but i use it for my forest work as well.

I have an excellent basemap covering over 400 towns and cities and can get turn by turn directions in the smallest of towns.

A basic Garmin GPS of the eTrex series is more than enough. if you are ok with a monochrome LCD you could get one for around 7k, perhaps even lesser.

For use as a touring navigator, the key really is to have a good basemap. That i cant discuss online! :) PM karo.

Quote:

The device has an 8.9-inch touch-screen and features such as music, pictures and movies. It is pre-loaded with a 'Don’t Panic' software which is a brand-new GPS interface by MapmyIndia.

Drawing charge directly from the bike's battery, the device comes with a special bike clamp mount to hold the gadget steadily against the handlebar. Riders or pillion riders within a range of 3 metres from the device can listen to the voice instructions via a Bluetooth headset.

Packaged along with a bike mount, bike charger, USB data cable, stylus, and a helmet voice instruction receiver, the device is priced at a one-time cost of Rs. 16,990 with no recurring usage charges and no dependence on Internet and mobile network for navigation. The price may seem steep but the device has many qualities currently not available on car-based systems. For instance, it is water- and-dust-proof, which make it ideal for bike travel.

Full report here:

http://www.zigwheels.com/news-featur...r-bikes/16710/

GPS Navigation for Bikes-mapmyindiabikegpspndtrailblazer2main1_560x420.jpg

GPS Navigation for Bikes-mapmyindiabikegpsnavigationpndtrailblazer2main2_560x420.jpg

Quote:

Originally Posted by rakesh_r (Post 3162789)

Can this device be used in car also?

I don't see any reason why you cannot use it in a car. But any reason why you would want a relatively pricey sat nav in your car with a much smaller display than a dedicated car sat nav?

May be for some extreme off-roading, you need the dust-proofing and water-proofing? :)

Cheers!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Viju (Post 3162883)

I need a device that can be used both in car as well as on my bike.Having a seperate devices seems to be impractical .Currently am using a Garmin nuvi 215 with mmi maps which is not waterproof:).

17K in my opinion is very pricey for a PND. A few months ago, I purchased a MMI GPS device for my car at 12K which I thought was pricey for the quality that they are providing. At best, it feels like a Chinese mobile handset. I don't expect the build quality in this new device to be totally top notch going by their old products. Also, the built in battery has a very poor stand-by time.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thilak29 (Post 3163079)

This seems like a good option. But I was in market looking for a wristband which can hold my Lumia so that i can use that as my gps device.
Anyone aware of any such options available?

You get an arm pouch for devices in Landmark. One of my friend got it for his S4 and he vouches by it.

its not worn on the wrist but on the arm.

Why spend 17k for a stand alone gps when you can spend a little over few thousands and source a handle bar mount with waterproof case in which you can place your phone and navigate? I've always done that and I still do it. I did a round trip from hyderabad-delhi-leh-delhi-hyderabad using this setup and trust me, it's cost effective and it WORKS!

EDIT :

A little expensive but a worth it mount : http://www.rammount.com/Home/tabid/37/Default.aspx

Quote:

Originally Posted by kingofmyworld (Post 3163561)

Currently am using my Garmin with ram mounts for the bike.

Basically looking for standalone unit for using on motorcycle. I am open to either a Navigation unit or maps to be used on iPhone.

What I am looking for is reasonably priced unit with a basic function of navigation only. Anything else would be a bonus.
Planning for a long ride so feel the need for it. Google maps are not highly accurate and at times misleading and a lot dependent on network.
Are their any tried and tested navigation apps for iOS or any Navigation unit which most of our riders on here prefer as per their experience?
I don't mind the paper maps either but which ones and where to get it.

Any help appreciated!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Randhawa (Post 4285724)

Planning for a long ride so feel the need for it. Google maps are not highly accurate and at times misleading and a lot dependent on network.

Is this observation specific to a city? I find Google maps and live traffic routing to be very useful. While on rides in the desert, I download large areas for offline usage. I downloaded offline maps for London over wifi, and was able to walk around the city in airplane mode with GPS on, without any issues. I have used the inbuilt GPS on my Toyota Prius, and compared with Google Maps on my Galaxy S8. I find the positional accuracy to be same as the Prius (with a standalone GPS antenna).

People used to swear by Garmin Zumo. But now I see one star reviews on Amazon about bugs and flawed software. For $800 I would super mad to own an unusable device.