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Tiltcylinder
| | Posted on Wednesday, July 07, 2010 - 01:14 pm: | 
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I've had the GPS lead me down a gravel road to dirt double track with two foot high grass in the middle to a river with no bridge... could actually see the road we wanted to end up on.
I usually use it like a better version of a paper map... not leading me, but letting me see if there are any twistier, untravelled routes I should be riding. Although I have to admit in that in the middle of no where it picks some wild roads to get where you want to go (Maine and Vermont are full of great dirt/clay roads I've found). |
Jaimec
| | Posted on Wednesday, July 07, 2010 - 02:04 pm: |
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Tiltcylinder: Sounds like my Quebec experience... but the rickety little wooden bridge held up under the weight of over a half ton of motorcycle, passengers and luggage. |
Mikexlr650
| | Posted on Wednesday, July 07, 2010 - 04:35 pm: |
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I remember a certain trip where Froggy (the new guy!) was a couple of hours late to our load-up point due to GPS "issues". Luckily for him Hammer was not riding with us on that trip! Poor guy would have been on the trailer with the bikes! |
Tramp
| | Posted on Wednesday, July 07, 2010 - 06:14 pm: |
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In flying, we call this flying 'with his eyes in the cockpit'.
Too many folks new to riding bring their keyboard with them, figuratively speaking.
(Message edited by tramp on July 07, 2010) |
Firebolt32
| | Posted on Wednesday, July 07, 2010 - 06:29 pm: |
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Sounds like my Quebec experience... but the rickety little wooden bridge held up under the weight of over a half ton of motorcycle, passengers and luggage.
Happened to me in Storrs, CT doing a job for UCONN. The damn bridge I drove across had me puckered up. It sounded like it was going to fall out from under me while I drove the truck across it. I never did get from the Home Depot to UCONN the same way each time I went. |
Tramp
| | Posted on Wednesday, July 07, 2010 - 06:44 pm: |
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If more riders 'lost' those things they'd pay better attention to the ride itself. |
Jaimec
| | Posted on Wednesday, July 07, 2010 - 10:40 pm: |
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Actually, having the GPS helps me enjoy the ride more. I can actually appreciate the scenery instead of trying to read a route sheet/directions at 75 mph on the highway. I can just enjoy the scenery knowing the GPS will prompt me when I've got an exit or a turn coming up.
As others have noted, it's NOT perfect. Some of these really pretty, tree-lined streets have a nasty habit of cutting off the satellite signal. The narrow streets and buildings in down town NYC do the same thing (not to mention the lower level of bridges and tunnels). |
Mr_grumpy
| | Posted on Thursday, July 08, 2010 - 09:48 am: |
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My 02c worth as a professional driver.
GPS is great for finding places & also help with route planning, but nothing beats a good road atlas & some common sense. |
Doon
| | Posted on Thursday, July 08, 2010 - 10:01 am: |
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For me I use the GPS to get home (And to mark places to come back to..) .. |
Paint_shaker
| | Posted on Thursday, July 08, 2010 - 10:55 am: |
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When I worked for the state and was assigned to Key West I learned to navigate the waterways using a compass, landmark reference and riding with an experienced officer. I had a Loran C unit that was so complicated I was only able to use it to give my own coordinates! LOL
On my last assignment with the state we had state of the art electronic navigation and charting systems.
Never had a GPS on a motorcycle. If I need directions I usually consult a paper map (either prior to the trip or in the tank bag). It's much more fun to explore.
That being said, I could see where a GPS would be of help on a motorcycle. |
Jaimec
| | Posted on Thursday, July 08, 2010 - 12:03 pm: |
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It's like my Motorola Droid. Never had any smartphone till this past January. Now I wonder how I ever got along without one! |
Sifo
| | Posted on Monday, July 12, 2010 - 06:37 pm: |
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Just got back from my Traverse City trip. GPS was a great tool while there. Cherry festival was going on and that makes getting through town extremely slow. We did a lot of riding on the other side of town. While I know a couple ways of getting past town without heading straight downtown, those routes still are not exactly fun or fast. The GPS was a great tool that helped me navigate a bunch of twisties south of town, meandering through a bunch of lakes that would have gotten me lost beyond help otherwise. Every day was a different route, all of them VERY fun!
Oddly I found that it picked a different route home from the same place on different days. I really can't begin to understand why it would calculate the route differently from one day to the next. Before someone asks, No I didn't change any of the route preferences or avoidances.
The cool thing is that you can plug in a place to go and can still use your best judgment about if you want to follow the GPS or follow your intuition. I find that with some experience it detracts very little from the ride, but has added hours of twisties that would never have been followed otherwise. Like any tool in your toolbox, there's a time and a place to use it. Just because you have a hammer, doesn't mean that everything should be pounded into submission. Neither should you use the GPS 100% of the time. A hammer sure beats a micrometer for pounding nails though!
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Tiltcylinder
| | Posted on Tuesday, July 13, 2010 - 12:05 pm: |
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I usually print out a direction sheet and slip it into the tank bag... looking at it again at each intersection for the next turn point, using the GPS as a rolling map of where I am as opposed to where it's leading me. This way, anything interesting on the GPS map can become a detour (if I get completely lost... part of the fun... it can lead me back to the original route). I'm headed E,W,N,S or whatever... as long as I continue in the general direction what difference does the road make? It's really usefull for fuell... sort of... been led to lots of closed for decades or nonexistant fuel stops. |
Greenlantern
| | Posted on Tuesday, July 13, 2010 - 12:22 pm: |
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using the GPS as a rolling map of where I am as opposed to where it's leading me. This way, anything interesting on the GPS map can become a detour (if I get completely lost... part of the fun... it can lead me back to the
+1, It is amazing how much cool stuff you roll by during a ride or drive, never knowing it's there! I have found some incredible nature preserves for my kids to enjoy just by asking the question " what the hell is that green patch supposed to be?.....let's check it out!". The traffic feature has actually saved me a lot of time when in the Metro area and when the restless kids need chicken nuggets NOW....there is no more indispensable tool on the planet. There have been some incredible glitches along the way, especially in the boonies, but those usually turn out to be stories in themselves as long as you remember that you are the pilot and not the gizmo! |
Wbrisett
| | Posted on Wednesday, July 14, 2010 - 06:24 am: |
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I find half the fun of riding with a GPS is seeing who is smarter, me or the GPS. 
Most of the time, I'm the big loser (no big surprise there!).
Wayne |
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