GPS for my bike

[Xaos]

Hi, Im thinking of getting some GPS fitted. I know phone option, which works quite good and its cheap, I got S8+, Sygic lifetime, google maps, thats more then enough. Then just install battery cable and phone holder from amazon, its like 40$ cost.

 

What about some dedicated not super expensive, but still good GPS units? With possibile maps updates and may b traffic?

 

Any one knows any models worth to look at.

 

Garmin or TomTom ?

 

Thanks

[jackdd]

The good ones for bikes with map updates are 20k+ so i stay with the phone ?

[Xaos]

11 minutes ago, jackdd said:

The good ones for bikes with map updates are 20k+ so i stay with the phone ?

thought so, was giving a try ?

 

Phone is more advanced anyway

 

 

[richard_smith237]

 

Op Specific: Garmin Zumo 595 (B29,500) - 

https://www.facebook.com/commerce/products/1208427889211863/

Kind of pricey !... 

 

Thus, (apologies for the hijack) - Any recommendations for a good motorbike phone holder & fittings (something which won't drop the phone when I hit a pothole)

 

 

 

[guzzi850m2]

I bought a Garmin Zumo for about 15k (refurbished) and it lasted 2 years and then went belly up.

 

Still laying around here in my office in the house somewhere.

 

15k baht out of the window, hmm.

 

Be very careful with those phone holders, hard to find one that will actually hold the phone secure if you hit a pothole so I keep my phone in the pocket and just take it out when needing assistance with the navigation. Alternatively use a cheapish phone for sitting on the bike covered in one of those plastic covers with a window.  

[canthai55]

Had a Garmin Zumo for years. Would not buy another. Their sales are directed at N. America and Europe. PP updates for SE Asia

Last trip to Chiang Rai it could not find Singha Park - !!!

And if you do not have the spelling correct - forget it. GMaps at least will ask "Is this what you mean"

Smart fone, copy Ram X mount from Chiang Rai Saddlebags is the way to go.

That mount will not let go of your fone in an accident. Potholes no isues.

https://www.crsaddlebags.com/product/wupp-phonegps-holder-with-usb-updrade/?v=2a700eebddf1

[properperson]

Get OSMAND + app for your phone....

 

Then plan / tweek your route on google maps with the twisties that making biking fun - then convet the map to GPX file, then upload the GPX file onto your phone into OSMAND+ app ....

 

 

[Xaos]

14 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

Op Specific: Garmin Zumo 595 (B29,500) - 

https://www.facebook.com/commerce/products/1208427889211863/

Kind of pricey !... 

 

Thus, (apologies for the hijack) - Any recommendations for a good motorbike phone holder & fittings (something which won't drop the phone when I hit a pothole)

 

 

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01ICAI44S/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=AA0H86ATX0NZ9&psc=1

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07BRH2FKM/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=A3RYN903ALGZTW&psc=1

[Xaos]

11 hours ago, canthai55 said:

Had a Garmin Zumo for years. Would not buy another. Their sales are directed at N. America and Europe. PP updates for SE Asia

Last trip to Chiang Rai it could not find Singha Park - !!!

And if you do not have the spelling correct - forget it. GMaps at least will ask "Is this what you mean"

Smart fone, copy Ram X mount from Chiang Rai Saddlebags is the way to go.

That mount will not let go of your fone in an accident. Potholes no isues.

https://www.crsaddlebags.com/product/wupp-phonegps-holder-with-usb-updrade/?v=2a700eebddf1

 

I had it, my phone was blow away when I opened up ? Since then used rubber bands on top of it, so not ideal if u go fast, just wind will blow it off ?

[Xaos]

Orite cheers, looks like phone is a way to go, I might get above from amazon, holder and charger. Got Sygic with traffic, they use tomtom maps, and google maps would do.

[canthai55]

25 minutes ago, Xaos said:

 

I had it, my phone was blow away when I opened up ? Since then used rubber bands on top of it, so not ideal if u go fast, just wind will blow it off ?

Never happened to me. At over 150KM.

 

[Lucky33]

   On my trip to Buriram I tried an approach that I had never tried before. On the way up I was constantly pulling out my phone to look for directions, on the way back I decided to put my earbuds on under my tight fitting full face helmet and give that a try and it worked great! Most earbuds won't fit under a full face helmet but the Shure SE215 work perfectly. You put them on in an unusual way but once you get used to them they work great. It was a lot easier to hear, "Turn left in 600 meters" than it was to take my phone out and give it a look. I know a lot of guys don't think that you should be listening to music and your GPS while riding your bike but it worked great for me, you might want to give that a try. 

[Kwasaki]

I use a compass. ??

[Xaos]

1 hour ago, Kwasaki said:

I use a compass. ??

i follow stars and sun clock

[adammike]

I have a watch a Garmin Vivoactive3 its a fitness tracker/smart watch it gives plenty of info via GPS but it does cost €300.google do a good fitness app so you can get a holder that clips onto the handlebars,  there's plenty of apps out there for a smart phone so I would try some of them before you spend on a separate tracker,make sure you get a waterproof phone holder.

[eisfeld]

I also looked for a dedicated Navi for my Africa Twin because I knew I'm gonna tour on it. Gave up because of the combination of high prices and subpar performance in SEA. Reverted back to the phone and found after some research a mount called Perfect Squeeze. It grips the phone really well but at the same time is easy to take on and off. Panda Rider carries them: http://www.pandarider.com/Panda/Product_Hondo.htm

 

You just need some app to lock your phone in portrait mode if you use that orientation because for some reason stock Android/Google Maps can't do that.

 

Dedicated navigation devices for motorbikes will be going the way of the Dodo really soon once most bikes come with full color TFT screens and can display map/directions and be connected to your smartphone so you don't even have to mount it anywhere. Garmin etc can't keep up with the speed of software development and the power of the internet.

[adammike]

33 minutes ago, eisfeld said:

I also looked for a dedicated Navi for my Africa Twin because I knew I'm gonna tour on it. Gave up because of the combination of high prices and subpar performance in SEA. Reverted back to the phone and found after some research a mount called Perfect Squeeze. It grips the phone really well but at the same time is easy to take on and off. Panda Rider carries them: http://www.pandarider.com/Panda/Product_Hondo.htm

 

You just need some app to lock your phone in portrait mode if you use that orientation because for some reason stock Android/Google Maps can't do that.

 

Dedicated navigation devices for motorbikes will be going the way of the Dodo really soon once most bikes come with full color TFT screens and can display map/directions and be connected to your smartphone so you don't even have to mount it anywhere. Garmin etc can't keep up with the speed of software development and the power of the internet.

Seems that the most important thing is being able to find and lock onto the GPS signal, Garmin are good at that,the GPS on my phone app worked fine in jomtien/Pattaya in Jan/Feb don't know how well it will be up north or on the islands.

[Kwasaki]

1 hour ago, Xaos said:

i follow stars and sun clock

Good stuff but been very cloudy lately. ?

[taninthai]

I too was thinking of buying dedicated gps about a month ago,,,talking to other people everyone seems to just recommend a phone,google maps does the job and can download offline maps to use with it,dedicated gps seems to be just to expensive if you want a decent one.waze ,TOM TOM and Sygic are other apps to use with phone.

[eisfeld]

1 hour ago, adammike said:

Seems that the most important thing is being able to find and lock onto the GPS signal, Garmin are good at that,the GPS on my phone app worked fine in jomtien/Pattaya in Jan/Feb don't know how well it will be up north or on the islands.

No reason for GPS reception to be worse up north or the islands. If anything, it's better outside all the huge buildings that interfere with it. If one has a phone with decent GPS chip, then the signal is top notch all over Thailand. Never, ever had an issue with that on my S7 and I rode from down south in Phuket all the way to Laos and other parts of Thailand so pretty good test coverage.

 

Also I can recommend some mobile internet on your phone, that helps Google Maps with location quite a bit and if around busier areas, will be able to recommend better routes.

 

Inside BKK though, Google Maps drove me nuts because it always wants you to go onto the main roads where motorbikes are forbidden. Luckily enough, I don't have to ride to BKK much. Not a nice place to ride a motorcycle anyways.

[guzzi850m2]

Searching on a Garmin compared to an on-line android device is like day and night, the Garmin very cumbersome and only have whatever is loaded into the maps and I found it tricky to get the spelling right but an on-line phone can come up with a result quickly. 

Okay an on-line phone with location enabled will use the battery fast so you better have a ubs socket fitted on the bike when touring the whole day.

[canthai55]

14 minutes ago, guzzi850m2 said:

Searching on a Garmin compared to an on-line android device is like day and night, the Garmin very cumbersome and only have whatever is loaded into the maps

Plus they do not update anywhere near enuf.

Singha Park opened in 2012. My Garmin update 2017.

5 years and Garmin can't find it ? Unacceptable.

 

[eisfeld]

7 hours ago, guzzi850m2 said:

Searching on a Garmin compared to an on-line android device is like day and night, the Garmin very cumbersome and only have whatever is loaded into the maps and I found it tricky to get the spelling right but an on-line phone can come up with a result quickly. 

Okay an on-line phone with location enabled will use the battery fast so you better have a ubs socket fitted on the bike when touring the whole day.

Yup, unfortunately a phone with internet enabled, Google Maps open and full brightness (because the sun here is kinda strong...) can chew through the battery quite quickly. Your USB socket is a good suggestion. What I did so far (because I don't have a socket fitted yet) is to have a powerbank that I use to charge my phone with during fuel stops (where I usually also eat a snack and relax 10 minutes). That's enough to get me quite far and when it really gets low on battery, I switch to my GFs phone ?

 

New BMWs with TFT can display direction info on the dash when connected to the phone so one can leave the phone in the pocket connected to a powerbank. That's going to be the ideal solution imho. In the next 5 years or so the majority of bigger bikes probably will have such screens.

 

[jackdd]

Regarding a phone holder:

I recently bought the No. 8 (MWUPP) from this list: http://www.320sp.com/usb-3586363435923633361036503607361936243633361436073660-3585363336093586365036173618.html

Feels strong and solid and makes a good impression for 900 THB. The piece connecting the two rubber balls is made of metal.

[Rhys]

On 6/4/2018 at 6:13 PM, Xaos said:

i follow stars and sun clock

 

It seems back in the day, riding the bike was at the whim of your hands and feelings.  It seems to defeat the purpose of making all the Tecky and Boxy element stick out on a bike... Simple elegance, kISS it. 

[Kieran00001]

Why not just use a Garmin unit meant for a car, you can get them for 4000, and put it in a waterproof phone holder?

[Kwasaki]

I don't lose using phone compass after looking at a map, even when getting lost it put's me right. ?

[cowbee]

I suggest you to buy garmin LM series instead. Way more cheaper and reliable (except water resistant) and Im using it on my Z900. Bkk - kanchanburi - pattaya - phuket. Never missed any single road.


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