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Does GPS cramp your style?

Do you use a GPS when riding your motorcycle?

  • Won't leave home without it

    Votes: 7 15.9%

  • Hell no!

    Votes: 6 13.6%

  • In my back pocket for getting me home

    Votes: 12 27.3%

  • Sometimes

    Votes: 13 29.5%

  • What the F**k is g-Force talking about mate?

    Votes: 6 13.6%
  • Total voters
    44
I already mentioned this but HH get a GPS and then:

Uncheck the setting preventing dirt roads.
Check the setting that says avoid highways.

If you are on a motard check the box that says walking directions :laughing

Bikeridingpics7.jpg
 
I've ridden with one for so long it's habit. If I'm meeting someone, I can give them a pretty close time when I'll be there, or I'll know how well I'm doing time-wise. It's accurate with the speed where the speedometer is generally optimistic. Helps me get somewhere that I'm not familiar with and how to get back. If you are adventurous it can point you back home if you get too lost. It will tell you where gas stations are supposed to be and how far (really helpful on I-10 in west Texas). And, it has a pretty accurate database on what the speed limit is for the road I'm on (kind of neat to watch the display change just as I go past the sign where the limit changes).
 
Bonerov said:
Oh, I wasn't even going to comment about the intelligence of Americans vs. the rest of the world. Too depressing...
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Indeed. It explains the reason for the highest rate of GPS per capita in the world. We're too dumb to find our own arses.
 
rritterson said:
It is, on purpose. Typically 100 is fixed at the mean and 10 or 15 the standard deviation. For example:

deviationIQ.gif
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Good to know. I really have no idea how IQ is truly defined. Yay, I learned something today! :party
 
mcarb said:
There is a flipside. I had a GPS unit on my bike for a brief period (it fell off at about 65 mph). It had an uncanny knack of finding the most bizarre shortcuts. My favorite little piece of dirt in the East Bay would still be undiscovered as would a few other "weird" routes.
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This. My GPS gives the choice of "fastest" or "shortest" when I route something. Invariably, the routes are never the fastest or the shortest, but if that thing doesn't lead me down some of the most fun roads...

Also, it's nice to have so that *if* I were to ride around a gate here or there, I could look ahead to see if there's an out on the other end. Not that I would do something like that.

I never have the voice turned up on mine. It is set to "never recalculate" and it does serve as a nice pointer to the end of the day when I've gone way out of the way on some distant road.
 
I have a GPS on my KTM and use it if I'm going very far. If nothing else, it lets me know where I've ridden later on. I download all of the routes from it into my computer to check on where I've been, how far it was, how long it took and so on.

Sometimes I want to follow a specific route and don't want to have to keep getting maps out or try to remember every critical turn. I've worked out a route around San Francisco Bay for example that I put into the GPS to help me from getting too lost. It's an interesting 250 mile ride.

Up in the hills on dirt roads a pre-specified route can be quite useful to keep me from getting lost on various roads with no names. The best use up there, though, is to help me find my way out if I manage to go exploring and get lost anyway. At least I can then tell if I've already been at a given fork in the road that looks different when coming from the other direction. The GPS map can also occasionally show the difference between a quick dead end and a road worth exploring further.

They can be quite useful for finding places that you've never been to. For example, last Saturday I went 60 miles to Suisun City to pick up a spare brake rotor for my Honda. It would have been much harder to find my way without the GPS help.

On the way back I just told it to take me home, then discovered my own route. I like to make it keep "recomputing" the route. :p

I never have sound from it on the motorcycle and I don't need it. Mainly I look at how far it is until the next turn that I need to pay attention to and occasionally look ahead a bit on the route to know if I'll be turning left or right so that I know which lane to be in.

I use the GPS as an aid, but don't necessarily try to follow every point of the route exactly.
 
Bonerov said:
Great thread! I have a GPS for when I need it. I prefer, however, to keep it tucked-away and just see where the ride takes me. Were it not for obligations and time constraints I wouldn't carry one at all. I REALLY miss the days when I used to jump on my bike, pick a direction and just go. *sigh*
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this. it's great to have when i need some help getting somewhere, and don't want to have to keep checking a map, or want it to find me a gas station.

that aside, if i have time to wander, i have no problem punching in a destination (rather than having to stop to do it later), and then just wandering for awhile, ignoring the gps, and letting it reroute as needed to get me there later on.

(insert obligatory "recalculating!" here...)
 
They are great for group rides, even if your group is only 2.

On occasion I organize group rides of 10-20 riders, covering multiple days of 300+ miles each, sticking to twisty back roads. Preparation, distribution, and keeping folks from getting lost was a nightmare with paper maps. Reading a paper map is difficult while riding a long, complex route, and one can only memorize a limited number of turns.

With GPS, I carefully plan and test the route, then it's paint-by-numbers. The GPS tells the riders how long until the next turn, so they can rail until the last 1/4 mile before each intersection. Then follow the arrow and keep going until the next turn or stop. Impossible to get lost, the unit will re-route to the next rally point, lunch stop, or destination. No pulling over, no refolding the map, no trying to figure out how to get back on track. No worrying about missing a turn and having significant delays. No circling around trying to find cross streets on remote roads to get your bearings.

After the ride is over we archive the route and we now have a library stretching back years of well-planned, well-tested group ride routes.

When riding with just my g/f (on her own bike), she loves not having to worry about getting separated by traffic or speed, the GPS will keep her on our intended route. She won't feel the need to take risks to catch up. If she wants, she can point to our hotel and go directly there. A bonus: if we make a wrong turn or take a crazy road I can blame it on the GPS software...;)

Are there hiccups? Sure. And we carry paper as backup. But GPS has made group rides far more enjoyable for me. Our archive of routes and my personal library of waypoints is a hugely valuable resource for me too.

Solo trip to Alaska? Exploring on a lazy Sunday? The role of GPS is different....
 
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Darn, I really should have had a poll.
Love all the different perspectives. My antique Garmin won't let me make a U-turn let alone some exciting shortcuts.
I looked at my GPS on my phone and I think I'll try it out :thumbup
 
mcarb said:
My favorite little piece of dirt in the East Bay would still be undiscovered as would a few other "weird" routes.
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Thank you for that. :ride
 
Happy Hornet said:
Darn, I really should have had a poll.
Love all the different perspectives.
Click to expand...

Tell me the choices you want and I can add one.

BTW, a GPS is just like a large sailboat - the best one is the one your buddy has. All the upside and none of the downside. :teeth I've ridden all over Europe with friends who had GPS's on their bikes. :laughing :ride
 
Won't leave home without it
Hell no!
In my back pocket for getting me home
Sometimes
What the F**k is g-Force talking about mate?
 
Done! :teeth
 
Not really and I don't use it often. It's more for finding out where I am or if I am in an unfamiliar place and I need to get somewhere -quickly-.
 
I've got a GPS rig on my KLR that I use all the time when I ride. On the VF1000R, not so much.
 
Sum times I barrow my wife/sister's GPS thangy, but it's usually more lost than I am! And it always wantz ta go on freewayz. :thumbdown
 
I have a GPS mounted on the bike but I rarely take the cover off and turn it on.

Exceptions.

1.) Get here to there in one big hurry.
2.) Find gas, food, bed.
3.) Find someplace that I have no idea where it might be.
4.) "meet me at______________" situations.

Now the "other GPS" built into my ham radio is on all the time but I can't see it. It sees me and those who know where to look can see me on the INet as I am traveling. So, I figure if I ever go off in the ditch, or the deer gets me, they will at least know my last known position so they can come steal my boots or whatever.
 
I don't have a gps so I can't use one even if I wanted too.:ride
 
I thought about getting a gps, but then realized that even if I DID have one, it's batteries would be dead.

I don't like planning, it reminds me too much of "commitment" :nchantr
 
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