GPS mounted on bikes

[Spitfire]

Has anyone got any experiences of this, I used to use maps and sections of maps on my tank bag to navigate around the place but having used a GPS in the car I'm sold on the idea. However I was appalled at the price of dedicated bike GPS systems, as I already have 2 sat navs I was not impressed with the idea of buying a third.
 So I went down the waterproof container route, as the bike does not go out in the rain this is a bit of over kill (mind you it is the UK so I could get caught out). I went for the ridermount fittings (http://ridermount.com/products.asp?pl=gpsmounts) for my Tom Tom ONE, it looks robust enough and I will give it a test ride soon, just wondering if anyone else has gone down this route.

Cheers

Den

[SteveD CB500K0]

If you go to any of the touring / sports touring forums and search for this you'll find they rarely talk about anything else!

Certainly my lot www.bikersoracle.com/triumphsprint/forum are well into it 

[matthewmosse]

Personally I prefer a list of relevant road names / junction numbers on the tankbag, tell at a glance and enjoy the ride, but for towns satnav could well be usefull (cirtainly is in a car) but could you hear the thing? and I think that they can be a bit distracting to look at and figure out rather than reading the road on busy junctions. For use on the bike I have a fancy mobile with google map uploaded as it's only when getting within a few blocks of an address in towns that I really find satnav comming into it's own and it's normally not such a hardship to pull over and figure out the mapping when stationary.

[Spitfire]

I think I'll be using the thing as a rolling map only with the audio muted, the Tom Tom One does not have an earphone socket so that's out.

Cheers

Den

[ST1100]

To appreciate the benefits of a GPS on a motorcycle, you'll need a bit more:

- rigid cradle with on-board power supply for the kit
- audio out to headset/intercom so you can keep your eyes on the road (if BlueTooth or strained is up to the user; second doesn't require charging however...)
- a netbook with mapping software you can plan your routes comfortable by a few clicks of the mouse, check them en detail in overzoom and load them onto your GPS, so you don't depend on computer-logic which can be quite odd (and frustrating) sometimes, but get your joyrides instead.
- some good paper maps of the area, as they give better visual on the terrain as the mapping software

[meerkat]

To appreciate the benefits of a GPS on a motorcycle, you'll need a bit more:

- rigid cradle with on-board power supply for the kit
- audio out to headset/intercom so you can keep your eyes on the road (if BlueTooth or strained is up to the user; second doesn't require charging however...)
- a netbook with mapping software you can plan your routes comfortable by a few clicks of the mouse, check them en detail in overzoom and load them onto your GPS, so you don't depend on computer-logic which can be quite odd (and frustrating) sometimes, but get your joyrides instead.
- some good paper maps of the area, as they give better visual on the terrain as the mapping software

Sound advice, especially the last comment.
I've used a sat-nav for years on bikes and in the car. Maps are very good for taking a wider general view of where you want to be and Michelin maps for Europe will highlight scenic routes. I sometimes use the computer to view a planned route in Google Earth before I travel, as the Garmin won't show as much detail of the terrain.
However the best use for the sat-nav is finding hotels, fuel etc. en-route which maps don't show.

[ST1100]

However the best use for the sat-nav is finding hotels, fuel etc. en-route which maps don't show.

One might rethink this, while up in Scotland last year I could have actually bought more B&B's then finding a room at...  Not a good sign though...
And the situation on petrol-stations in Wales was as well not really crispy... the ST has a big tank, but once I did relay on a nice lady running a cafe/art-shop and the spare canister in her Mini as the farmer next door had only Diesel 
The petrol-station the GPS did lead me to there, had been 'ghost town' for quite a while... next would have been 27 miles in this or 35 miles on the other direction... no way as the rig was already running on steam...
But mostly those POIs are pretty accurate, somewhere in France that thrusty old Garmin Quest indicated 'petrol' 300m into the woods...   a place I would never have came even near the idea to look for, but indeed, a small grocery operated two pumps there...

Still, GPS is only a guide, a navigation assistant, the responsibility to keep them eyes open and common sense applied is still fully on the rider.

[matthewmosse]

Ah, Mid Wales and petrol stations I live here and still get caught out (tiny tank on the rebel helps not in the slightest) On the sidecar outfit I could always carry a jerrycan in the boot as petrol stations are in places a good 50 miles appart and often close early etc which particuarly with the rebel can lead to filling up with silly little ammounts of petrol to avoid embrarasment (on a Sunday night it can be a ridiculus milage to the nearest petrol station known to be open.)

[Spitfire]

It took a while but I finally got to test out my Tom Tom on the Honda,
Here is the fixing bracket on the handlebars.

The corresponding slots in the holder, there's a knurled bolt for extra security.

And the mounted Tom Tom, it's not as big as it looks must have got too close with the camera.

Went for a spin up to the Ponderosa (horseshoe Pass), now it's been about thirty years since I was up there on a bike so it was a good test as I find my sense of direction these days is pretty poor, and the only clue I had was to head for North Wales.
I set the destination, muted the audio and away we went, despite the sunshine I could still see the screen, enough to see the map and more importantly what the next turn was and how far it was away.
Without spending a fortune I am happy with the result, nowadays I don't do long distances so it is all that I need.

Cheers

Den