You do you.
With your baggies and special motorcycle gloves!
With your baggies and special motorcycle gloves!
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Motorcycle Navigation
- Thread starter SeeThruHead
- Start date
Do they make high quality motorcycle gloves that are touch screen friendly? I would consider them, but I would not consider something without adequate protection.
One thing I like about my old
Garmin gps is that it has withstood multiple significant drops and crashes with zero ill effects. One similar drop of a cell phone and it would be toast. I would also want a waterproof phone - no baggies for me.
One thing I would like about using a secondary phone for nav is the ability to use other apps on the phone while on the go, which a stand alone gps would not have (to my knowledge).
Currently and for last 10yrs or so, I've been using the same garmin nuvi 550. Still works flawlessly, still waterproof, still very basic nav, but very easy to build complicated routes with or import into.
One thing I like about my old
Garmin gps is that it has withstood multiple significant drops and crashes with zero ill effects. One similar drop of a cell phone and it would be toast. I would also want a waterproof phone - no baggies for me.
One thing I would like about using a secondary phone for nav is the ability to use other apps on the phone while on the go, which a stand alone gps would not have (to my knowledge).
Currently and for last 10yrs or so, I've been using the same garmin nuvi 550. Still works flawlessly, still waterproof, still very basic nav, but very easy to build complicated routes with or import into.
Aens
Well-known member
All the top manufacturers have it as part of their current lineups except in race gauntlets(i looked and couldn't find). While not every glove model has it, many newer models will and there is no cost premium for it. There is no compromise to include it safety-wise except maybe Icon's old implimentation of conductive threaded stitching into the finger tips. 161 options to choose from Motorcycle Touchscreen Gloves | FortNine Canada
My biggest problem with phone navigation is the lack of audible turn by turn on pre-planned routes. Sure you can put in a destination in google maps or waze and it'll do this, but that's for commuting and not twisties. I've done several multi day trips now and I've simply forgot turns were coming up or its a complicated intersection coming up. I've done enough of these trips and plan to keep doing them so it makes a waterproof GPS an expensive option.
sburns
Well-known member
I dunno I use my stand alone GPS unit just fine with my gloves (nothing special about them), phone stays in pocket.
I like having a spearate GPS. It's has a larger screen. Most of the time I am not using it for routes just to see whats up ahead or in the surrounding areas which might not be in your POV while riding. As I am always looking to ride near some sort of water, either rivers or lakes.
Last year I even started doing the paper list on tank for long rides. Great way to remember the route and learn it while writing it, instead of blindly following a device.
Use whatever works for you as long as you get where you are going safely.
I like having a spearate GPS. It's has a larger screen. Most of the time I am not using it for routes just to see whats up ahead or in the surrounding areas which might not be in your POV while riding. As I am always looking to ride near some sort of water, either rivers or lakes.
Last year I even started doing the paper list on tank for long rides. Great way to remember the route and learn it while writing it, instead of blindly following a device.
Use whatever works for you as long as you get where you are going safely.
Mad Mike
Well-known member
I like using a phone. I have a retired iPhone 8 that I keep on my bike, I use Scenic motorcycle app. It's got a lot of great features to planning and logging trips.
I use retired Phones. Last year an HTC, this year I'm changing over to an iPhone8 with a rugged enclosure. I like the phones because they have great apps, bigger screens, and they are way easier to program with maps and playlists. The HTC was great as it had a daylight readable screen and built in radio.
With cellphone ruggedness, app and map technology + Carplay/Android Auto, I see the end to standalone GPS units. I got rid of the car units 5 years ago (Carplay/Android Auto), the bike units 3 years ago (Google maps and Motomappers Scenic), this year I'm changing over the nav and plotter systems in my boat to iPads running Navionics.
If you want your MC gloves (or for that matter any gloves) to work with your touchscreen, go to any fabric store and by a spool of embroidery thread with Lurex strands and a needle. Stitch a few rows of thread thru the tip of the finger. The Thread is conductive and it will make the screen work (won't help with finger print recognition).
I use retired Phones. Last year an HTC, this year I'm changing over to an iPhone8 with a rugged enclosure. I like the phones because they have great apps, bigger screens, and they are way easier to program with maps and playlists. The HTC was great as it had a daylight readable screen and built in radio.
With cellphone ruggedness, app and map technology + Carplay/Android Auto, I see the end to standalone GPS units. I got rid of the car units 5 years ago (Carplay/Android Auto), the bike units 3 years ago (Google maps and Motomappers Scenic), this year I'm changing over the nav and plotter systems in my boat to iPads running Navionics.
J_F
Guest
don't recall ever touching the screen on my GPS then swearing my face off at it
like happens > 50% of the time with a phone as you touched the wrong thing
and instead of looking at your nav app, you get to see restaurant reviews, etc - ads
and then have to pullover and load your route again because it's gone
my TomTom has giant-ass screen icons that work well gloved
repeated touches of the back icon gets you back to the map
no cursing required, and the routes are never lost
like happens > 50% of the time with a phone as you touched the wrong thing
and instead of looking at your nav app, you get to see restaurant reviews, etc - ads
and then have to pullover and load your route again because it's gone
my TomTom has giant-ass screen icons that work well gloved
repeated touches of the back icon gets you back to the map
no cursing required, and the routes are never lost
You do you.
With your baggies and special motorcycle gloves!
Yup - just don't spread misinformation.
GPS vs Smartphones: Which is better?
Mad Mike
Well-known member
I'm not sure going around the world would offer any additional insight - whether you roamed the globe or any part of the 7+million KM of public roadways in North America. The world's roads are mapped by satellite, the differentiating factors are going to be in the durability and useability of your GPS. Many phones today are durable and waterproof enough to use without special protection and can be augmented with useful apps. They are also cheap and available.
I can't see spending $500+ on a Zumo when I can use an old phone for more and better features.
Neither can i.I use a $100 nuvi. Never had a problem with it. I keep my phone tucked away in a safe place. In the event of going rubber side up,i really want it to be usable.
And just my opinion, but I'm a big believer in less distraction is safer. No way would i ever use a phone in my line of sight with info distracting me.
Edit: watched the "which is better" video.So a cheap stand alone gps is better says the tech soldering iron guy.Ok!?
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Here's some misinformation directly from the Apple support website:
If your iPhone or iPad gets too hot or too cold - Apple Support
Learn about the operating temperatures and temperature management of iPhone and iPad.
Riding to the Arctic Ocean in Alaska, we pulled into our campsite after the sun had set. The temperature had plummeted to -15ºC.
Even riding for over 10 hours in sub-zero temperatures, the GPS worked perfectly. Good thing too, because my heated gloves wasn't one of those fancy magic Michael Jackson phone gloves with the silver wiring in the finger tips!
I wonder how a smartphone in a baggie would have fared?
I once left my iPhone in my car in Toronto in the middle of the summer. It wasn't even on the dash, it was in the centre console.
When I got back a couple of hours later, I was surprised at two things:
1) It wasn't stolen. This was Toronto, after all.
2) The display looked like this:
That would suck pretty bad if you had to wait for the phone to cool down before you could start using the GPS...
Toronto does get pretty hot, but sometimes we ride in places where it gets even hotter.
When we were riding in the Namib desert, it got so hot, the thermometers never wavered below 45ºC. But in some spots the temperatures spiked, I had to take a picture because nobody would believe me if I told them:
Guess what? My dedicated GPS unit worked perfectly all day. Good thing too, because:
I've already stated that a GPS phone is good enough for a lot of riders. But when you try to tell me that every place on earth has the same riding conditions as Toronto, and that a phone in a ziplock baggie would be more than adequate for everyone, and no one would even need a dedicated unit... based on my riding experience, that's gonna be a Hard No from me.
I'll stick to my ruggedized, purpose-built GPS that'll actually work in the places I ride. Thanks.
Hack
Well-known member
I ran a 10 year old Nuvi 250 up until very recently and it served well... 'Went with the Zumo just because it's more weather resistant really...
I got tired of baggin' the Nuvi every time it rained
I've used my iPhone mounted to my handlbars for 5+ years now. It works just fine and all the fears about it dying and overheating are mostly overblown. It's not going to die in ANY cold temperatures you would possibly be out on 2 wheels if it's plugged in, which in reality, you're going to do anyways, the same as how you'd have to have a GPS plugged in.
Heat? That can be an issue, but *extremely* rarely if the phone is left sitting in direct sun, and even then, it usually only results on the screen dimming (as the phone reduces backlighting in an effort to reduce heat) but once you're moving again and airflow increases to cool things down it comes right back up. In 5 years and probably 75,000KM using my iPhone for nav I've never once had it go into the overheat mode pictured above, although I've had it happen when I've left the phone siting out in the sun in the summer. Every phone will do that in one form or another, this isn't just an iPhone thing.
For some time I did have a dirt cheap Garmin GPS that I kept mounted to my bike as a backup. I never worried much about it getting wet (I'd throw a ziplock over it when it rained) as worst case if it got wrecked I'd be out $5. And I had another second one exactly like it.
In the end I took it off the bike as I *never* used it. Always used my phone instead.
Heat? That can be an issue, but *extremely* rarely if the phone is left sitting in direct sun, and even then, it usually only results on the screen dimming (as the phone reduces backlighting in an effort to reduce heat) but once you're moving again and airflow increases to cool things down it comes right back up. In 5 years and probably 75,000KM using my iPhone for nav I've never once had it go into the overheat mode pictured above, although I've had it happen when I've left the phone siting out in the sun in the summer. Every phone will do that in one form or another, this isn't just an iPhone thing.
For some time I did have a dirt cheap Garmin GPS that I kept mounted to my bike as a backup. I never worried much about it getting wet (I'd throw a ziplock over it when it rained) as worst case if it got wrecked I'd be out $5. And I had another second one exactly like it.
In the end I took it off the bike as I *never* used it. Always used my phone instead.
OMG, MacDoc. Did you even watch that video that you linked? Or read the summary that precedes it:
In the video, he's taking the opposite position of yours and stating that dedicated GPSes are better than smartphone GPSes!
Great video though, he actually brought up a good point I didn't think about regarding data privacy (@ 7:27).
And then at 10:06, he talks about the durability of the dedicated GPS being better than a smartphone.
At 10:58, he says that you don't have to spend that much on a dedicated GPS unit. Or update it that often. Contrary to this:
So, would you classifying linking to a video that negates your position as misinformation?
Or just the Internet forum equivalent of scoring on your own goal...
So for someone like me, who isn't going to ride through the desert or into the Arctic circle, could I get away with using a non motorcycle specific gps? Or would it be too fragile?
I've always used my phone but would like to get one to avoid risk of damage. Hard to justify 500ish for one though for the limited use it would see.
I've always used my phone but would like to get one to avoid risk of damage. Hard to justify 500ish for one though for the limited use it would see.
Get a quality phone mount like a Ram and you’ll have no issue. I’ve ridden tens of thousands of kilometres with mine (and mine is actually a $15 Amazon Ram knockoff at that, but a good one) and my phone has never once fallen out even on bumpy gravel roads. Lots of friends use the same one I have, same result.
sburns
Well-known member
I use a $100 Garmin Navi. Works great, mostly. It's an re-furbished unit, and I actually have 2 of them because they acted up on me.
Also they don't like to get wet. Once that happens it shuts off.
I plan on getting a motorcycle version which is better suited for the elements.
Also they don't like to get wet. Once that happens it shuts off.
I plan on getting a motorcycle version which is better suited for the elements.
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