NAVIGATION - What is everyone using and why?

[R-Rated]

I’m old school. I generally check out my route in Google Maps before the ride and just get out there. If I get slightly lost it adds to the adventure. I’ll admit though this can be a pain in the butt if I‘m not just out on a pleasure ride and need to find a specific address…

I remember about a lifetime ago riding long trips involved me doing math to calculate range and memorizing the atlas route for the states I would be riding through.

Amazing how far we have come! Much less stressful to have a GPS help me avoid traffic and fuel gauge letting me know first light and then miles left before I end up SOL in East Bohica.

 

[YBGuy]

Google maps and my meat calculator. So far, so good.

- Wolf

Haha, meat calculator, very nice!

 

[YBGuy]

I’m old school. I generally check out my route in Google Maps before the ride and just get out there. If I get slightly lost it adds to the adventure. I’ll admit though this can be a pain in the butt if I‘m not just out on a pleasure ride and need to find a specific address…

Same here. I normally check maps before I go. If I'm taking my Crown Vic, believe it or not, I still have some AAA maps in my glove box that I'll look at. My friends in high school always made fun of me, they would be like ok grandpa where we headed? Since I was known as the guy who had the "Old School Navigation".

Most of time I pretty much know where I am going, but if it's the occasional city ride, I may run google maps on my phone in the background and listen to turn by turn instructions from my Cardo Palk Talk Communicator. I have yet to attempt mounting my phone on the bike for visual navigation. Voice is good enough at the moment.

 

[mymotorrad]

I’m old school. I generally check out my route in Google Maps before the ride and just get out there. If I get slightly lost it adds to the adventure. I’ll admit though this can be a pain in the butt if I‘m not just out on a pleasure ride and need to find a specific address…

I am pretty much the same. Grew up with Rand McNally and know about orienteering. I can figure it out.

 

[nophix]

I am pretty much the same. Grew up with Rand McNally and know about orienteering. I can figure it out.

I didn't do much orienteering as a kid, but when I started as a truck driver, smart phones and GPS were kinda in the infancy, so it was the big book o maps and writing my directions down on a note taped to the dash. lol

 

[mymotorrad]

I didn't do much orienteering as a kid, but when I started as a truck driver, smart phones and GPS were kinda in the infancy, so it was the big book o maps and writing my directions down on a note taped to the dash. lol

I learned it in AROTC and taught it in environmental ed for BOCES.

 

[Moto Mengy]

I am pretty much the same. Grew up with Rand McNally and know about orienteering. I can figure it out.

Me too, but I have to admit I've migrated to digital maps nowadays, and I now prefer them over good old paper maps.

 

[Guest]

Phone with Waze, always connected, for live updates on police and speed trap locations.

 

[YBGuy]

AAA maps and MapQuest from time to time until 2015. But I have switched over to using Google maps on the phone. But then again if it's a new location, I check the location on my Desktop PC with Google maps too. If I'm on a long road trip with no signal I still have AAA maps in the car.

 

[YBGuy]

AAA maps and MapQuest from time to time until 2015. But I have switched over to using Google maps on the phone. But then again if it's a new location, I check the location on my Desktop PC with Google maps too. If I'm on a long road trip with no signal I still have AAA maps in the car.

Lol, my bad, guess I answered this one already and can't delete the post now. Hopefully my answers line up to each other sort of.

 

[Moose M]

I’m old school. I generally check out my route in Google Maps before the ride and just get out there. If I get slightly lost it adds to the adventure. I’ll admit though this can be a pain in the butt if I‘m not just out on a pleasure ride and need to find a specific address…

Um, I have an admission to make. While out filming the other day I reached a crossroad and was forced to pick an direction. Fortunately, I chose right and not too long after, while still mentally patting myself on the back, had to stop to check where the next turn off was.

For some reason, this was my “enough is enough” moment and I’ve decided to arm myself with a GPS.

Rather than put my phone out there in the elements, I’ve been looking at ‘Beeline Moto’ GPS units - anyone here have experience with them?

 

[Guest]

On our local (bicycle trails) through woods and stuff I just use the sun for picking direction.
As long as I know what time of day it is, and can see where daylight is coming from, that's my compass.
If I really have to, I'll pull out my cell phone and check.

 

[itukusaes]

It depends on the traveling requirements. For city/highway googlemaps works very well for me. I run it on a old phone (who cares about rain, dust and vibrations) connected via wifi/bt to my actual phone. For adv/trail riding I need to prepare the route in advance and something that gives me proper turn-by-turn instructions. I use either an app or a GPS unit (Garmin Zumo in my case) that works well. When exploring, I can use a static map and orient myself. I grew up without GPS/electronic maps and I traveled a lot without them, but let's not kid ourselves, maps+GPS(+internet) are very useful.

 

[MachKneel]

It depends on the traveling requirements. For city/highway googlemaps works very well for me. I run it on a old phone (who cares about rain, dust and vibrations) connected via wifi/bt to my actual phone. For adv/trail riding I need to prepare the route in advance and something that gives me proper turn-by-turn instructions. I use either an app or a GPS unit (Garmin Zumo in my case) that works well. When exploring, I can use a static map and orient myself. I grew up without GPS/electronic maps and I traveled a lot without them, but let's not kid ourselves, maps+GPS(+internet) are very useful.

wow this is a brilliant idea, finally put that old tech to some use, thanks for the tip pal, stolen

 

[L. Bilious]

Don't forget that you can download sections of Google maps to your phone, so you don't need internet connection, just gps.

 

[Guest]

Yup, and unlike 10 years ago, modern phones have GPS built into them, rather than A-GPS from back in the day which relied on a cell phone connection to make the GPS work. That's no longer needed.

I've also never had a problem with my phone overheating while acting as a GPS except for in my truck, but never on my bike. It's out in the breeze.

 

[YBGuy]

Don't forget that you can download sections of Google maps to your phone, so you don't need internet connection, just gps.

That is a cool feature.