The CB1100 Community Forum

In search of more adventures i am thinking of acquiring a gps of some sort.
But from what i can see ( or rather not see ) the screens are difficult to read in direct sunlight, i had a sony video camera that had a transflective screen that had no problem in direct sunlight, the colors were a bit different but the screen was perfectly usable, and so far i have not seen any video's that show a clear enough screen with good contrast that would be good to use.

The visibility was not very good with my current gps when used in direct sunlight either but that is a 10 year old machine and works ok in the car, it worked in the shade but it would be nice if technology had improved to the point that it was sufficient in sunlight.

Most video's show a washed out screen and some appear to have a video overlay that appears to show a photoshopped screen for a very short time in the hope that nobody notices the trick before buying one.

And of course i know that paper maps need no batteries and are very readable in a sunny day, the thing is taking the map out and putting on reading glasses on a lot of intersections is not a very practical approach or much fun if you don't have a tank bag and safety becomes questionable as well.

So after all that i wonder; are there any success stories out there that are worth considering?

I reckon as some Forum members have mentioned is feed voice-prompted direction to a Bluetooth ear piece in the helmet.

This would take the eyes off the GPS/smartphone application most of the time and leave more time to focus on the road.

I use the IPhone map option. Phone is in RAM Mount and it has dedicated power to the phone if needed. More than happy with it for my needs. But, dependent on cell coverage vs Satellites which is more reliable. iPhone 6 has a large viewing screen which is nice compared to my old Garmin GPS. Mapping app has a user friendly interface

I don’t have a gps yet, but was considering the Beeline Moto which looks like an interesting concept. It works by communicating through bluetooth with the Beeline app on your smart phone. You use Google maps to pre plan your route. They sold out the current production run in about a day. Next batch is due around November. I’d be interested to hear how any current owners find the product.

I like my TomTom Rider 400 but I hate the website, route import/export/management functionality, and support in the US. My next bike GPS would be a Garmin Nuvi.

I have a BMW Navigator V (basically an exclusive Garmin GPS) on my RT, but I never use it. I'm just not a GPS guy. I can listen to it via my helmet Bluetooth system but I don't need it to know where I'm going. The bothersome thing about this unit is that it can be easily unlatched and stolen off the bike, so I usually just leave it at home.

I’m very happy using Google Maps or Sygic on my phone and getting instructions via Bluetooth. In my view, Google Maps is by far the best GPS navigator for urban areas.

(09-18-2019, 07:53 AM)Cormanus_imp Wrote: [ -> ]I’m very happy using Google Maps or Sygic on my phone and getting instructions via Bluetooth. In my view, Google Maps is by far the best GPS navigator for urban areas.

(+1) In addition, the app "Navmii" as a good backup in situations when the network is unavailable anywhere in the world. Was useful in Indiana when the connection fell out several times, but Navmii kept things true.

Google now offers the option of downloading maps for offline use. Once I’m sure it works well, it is likely to displace other options. It’s only failing is the inability to program a route with waypoints. You have to restart it every time you pass one.

Google Maps download option has been around from some years, however, recently it has become more reliable. Nevertheless, I will wait a bit longer before using Google Maps offline exclusively.

When connected, it is unbeatable, especially in regards to near real-time traffic status and emergency or alternative re-routing.