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A GPS system for your motorcycle can turn your trips into adventures. By opening up a whole new experience, you can find amazing places to explore by planning your trips at home and downloading your routes to your GPS device. New landscapes, destinations and road trips await you; with the security and confidence of never getting lost again.
A GPS system for your motorcycle can also help make your trips as comfortable and relaxed as possible. If you fancy a break or are running out of gas, your GPS can help. More importantly, your GPS unit can guide you back to safety when you get lost or accidentally take the wrong turn. With voice-guided directions and software packed with points of interest (POI), such as gas stations, restaurants, service stations and hotels; your GPS can guarantee you a trip of uninterrupted enjoyment.
Sound like the perfect toy? Well, with GPS systems going mainstream and new features and models hit the shelves incessantly, it can be a difficult task to figure out which GPS device best suits your needs.
To help you, it is worth considering the following points before purchasing your first GPS for your motorcycle.
What kind of GPS do you need for your motorcycle?
Are your reception capabilities adequate for your needs?
Does the battery life of your GPS suit your needs?
How resistant is your GPS to vibrations and hard materials?
Do you want two-way communication?
How easy is it to update your GPS?
How easy is it to update your GPS?
What price is suitable?
What kind of GPS do you need for your motorcycle?
There are 3 types of GPS units for motorcycles; Portable outdoor units, GPS units specifically designed for your motorcycle / scooter, and GPS / PDA hybrids.
If you also enjoy outdoor activities like mountain biking, hiking, or even camping; A portable GPS that you can take anywhere with you would be ideal. In addition to navigating your off-road activities, versatile satellite navigation systems, like the Garmin Quest 2, work in any vehicle. Besides motorcycling, you can take it in your car, on your boat or even on a plane with you.
GPS devices designed exclusively for motorcycles can offer you some very impressive features. Specially designed with you the motorcyclist in mind, drives like the TomTom RIDER have a rugged, weather-resistant housing, glove touchscreen options, and anti-reflective screens. One of the latest features introduced by TomTom for effective communication is a system that transmits your spoken instructions through an integrated Bluetooth audio system, using a headset that fits inside your helmet.
The last type of GPS device that may appeal to you is the PDA / GPS hybrid. Although these devices have been designed primarily with portability in mind, most come with the added benefit of having a large screen. Therefore, like portable outdoor GPS units, this type of GPS would be ideal for those of you who enjoy a variety of outdoor activities. With an integrated PDA, GPS / PDA devices, like the Mio A201, for example, can be useful for work and play. With features like Microsoft Outlook, Word, Excel, and Powerpoint, you can catch up on work anytime, anywhere. If you prefer to listen to music on the move, play games, or store digital photos, a GPS device like this is an ideal choice.
Does your motorcycle’s GPS reception capabilities meet your needs?
When selecting a GPS for your motorcycle, it is worth thinking about how accurately you want the signals from the satellites to be in determining your position.
Many of the GPS units available today are accurate to within 6 to 8 meters. However, many of the newer GPS models are designed with a WAAS (Wide Area Augmentation System) capability, resulting in accuracies of 3-4 meters 95% of the time. The Garmin Quest 2, for example, has an external flip-up antenna equipped with a 12-channel WAAS GPS receiver; Providing position accuracy of up to 9 feet.
If you like riding in dense forests and urban areas, it is worth noting that GPS devices incorporating the new SiRF Star III chipset are units to consider. This high-performance, low-power consumption chipset has superior sensitivity in heavily foliage environments. It’s also worth noting that GPS units with externally powered antennas are great for maintaining a signal in deep forests.
Does the battery life of your motorcycle’s GPS suit your needs?
With the freedom to travel anywhere with a GPS; Battery life is an important component to consider. Most GPS units use 2, 4 or 6 ‘AA’ batteries, which can last up to 6 hours. GPS units with built-in rechargeable batteries are the ideal choice if you occasionally lose track of time. With GPS systems like TomTom RIDER, you can charge your battery at home, while planning your next route, or keep the energy charge continuously, charging your GPS directly from your bike’s battery.
How resistant is your motorcycle’s GPS to vibrations and hard materials?
With the freedom to travel anywhere and not get lost, your GPS is guaranteed to get a lot of use (and reverb). Therefore, it is important to consider how durable your GPS is, under these conditions.
GPS devices designed exclusively for motorcycles, such as the TomTom RIDER, have been designed with this in mind. Not only is it weather resistant, its rugged outer shell and rugged shockproof bracket have been designed to absorb any external friction.
Although most GPS devices come with a mount, it is absolutely necessary that you use a vibration isolating mount if your GPS is to be used regularly on your motorcycle. Fast becoming the industry standard, NPI’s RAM mount manufactures anti-vibration ball and socket mounting systems that allow you to mount virtually anything, anywhere, with vibration protection and durability. This would be an ideal addition to the Garmin Quest 2 GPS if you were to buy this portable GPS to use a lot on your motorcycle.
Do you want your motorcycle’s GPS to have two-way communication?
Some of the more recent GPS systems released for motorcycles have taken two-way communication to a whole new level.
If you own a mobile phone with GPRS Bluetooth enabled, it is worth knowing that many satellite navigators, such as the TomTom RIDER, have incorporated a Bluetooth receiver among their many features. With the ability to connect your phone via Bluetooth and receive incoming phone calls via your GPS and Bluetooth headphones, you will never have to remove your gloves and helmet to answer your phone again.
You can even use the wireless Internet connection of your Bluetooth-enabled phones and, with certain GPS models, receive real-time information on traffic conditions.
Do you enjoy riding in groups? It’s worth knowing that there are some recent portable units that may offer built-in radios that will not only allow you to communicate with other members of your group, but will also display everyone’s location on your screen.
How easy is it to update your motorcycle’s GPS?
With ever-changing roads, the ability to update your device easily and at a reasonable cost are very important factors to consider when selecting your GPS.
It is important to realize that each type of GPS will update in a different way, so you must choose which process is best for you.
Those that are connected to a PDA, like the Mio A201 for example, generally update via a PC, while dedicated in-vehicle units tend to update via CD. These must be purchased from the waybill data provider.
Some specific software vendors have map preparation solutions that can be downloaded to your GPS unit. In particular, TomTom operates the TomTom PLUS service.
The choice: budget considerations
In essence, your choice can be reasonably simple: buy the most expensive GPS you can afford, that suits your needs.
It is important, using my suggestions above, to decide which features are the most important to you. If you want up-to-the-minute GPS for your motorcycle; with features such as real-time on-demand traffic information, hands-free calls, turn-by-turn voice instructions via bluetooth headsets, alerts for the location of speed cameras, plus thousands of useful POIs, GPS systems as a TomTom RIDER they start from about £ 550 inc. VAT.
However, if you are looking for more toys to play with and a GPS that simply gets you from A to B, then a handheld device might be a better option. With a variety of features such as simple voice guidance, compass mode, MP3 player, and essentially portability, GPS devices like the Mio 268 and Garmin Quest 2 are ideal for motorcycles and a variety of outdoor activities. The Mio 268 and similarly featured portable GPS units start from around £ 250 inc. VAT.
To find a variety of discounted GPS systems for your motorcycle, or accessories and software for your motorcycle’s GPS systems, visit http://www.globalpositioningsystems.co.uk.