| Author | Message | ||
     Dynasport |
Saturday I rode my bike from Tampa to Gainesville to get it serviced. It is a straight shot up I-75 for about 130 miles. I decided I had enough time after the service for some non-interstate riding and I thought I'd let the GPS help. So, I went into the settings and told the GPS to avoid major roads. The resulting route was over 500 miles and was predicted to take about 8 hours. I didn't take that route. | ||
| Jaimec |
Chicken.  | ||
| Firebolt32 |
About 3 hours if you did 121 to 98 to 41. There are some other twists and turns in there but those are the major stretches. You drive that far because you wanted to or you believe that's the best around? Lakeland is still servicing Buell. Last I talked to the old man out there he had no plans of changing that. | ||
| Spiderman |
LOL Wolfie has an Awesome GPS story, let me see if I can find it... | ||
| Pwnzor |
I thought this was going to be something completely other than what it was... I was expecting something along the lines of "My GPS has me getting on and off the same freeway at every exit instead of just staying on the freeway..." Or my favorite one, "My GPS led me down 30 miles of dirt road to a locked gate attached to a fence that goes off in both directions over the horizon, while the road continues out of sight on the other side of the gate." I forget who told me that one... some dummy that follows his GPS around blindly.  (Message edited by pwnzor on July 05, 2010) | ||
| Dynasport |
I go to Gainesville because they have been good so far. I bought my bike there. They are a sponsor here. They have Buell riders who work there. They answer the phone Gainesville Harley Davidson Buell. They can do the service on a Saturday and they get it done when they say they will. I may give Lakeland a try sometime. I met a guy riding a Buell a while back and asked him where he gets his bike serviced and he told me he didn't care for Lakeland. I can't remember why now. He felt Tampa HD had a good Buell tech, but I don't know if he still works there and I have had some negative experiences with Brandon HD (same owners) with my Harley. It certainly is not convenient riding 130 miles each way for service. I may try Lakeland next time. I had heard some good things about Jim's HD in St. Pete, but I called them and they would not do a service on a Saturday unless I left the bike there till Tuesday. That was not acceptable to me. | ||
| Aesquire |
While on a trip to Pittsburgh Pa. to the Ikea store, we had the Garmin set to japanese, since we knew where we were going and the constant "recalculating" really started to sound more like "idiot". Turning the wrong way into the megaplaza, had the Garmin jabbering madly away, and I swear it told me to commit seppuku. I've also had it lead me down dirt roads while a paved one is just a few miles away.... sometimes into dead ends where it insists I should go over nonexistent bridges. | ||
| Jaimec |
My girlfriend will NEVER let me forget the 20 miles of Jeep trail we traversed in Quebec while fully loaded two-up on my K1200LT... Hey, we made it, didn't we?? Somehow, that argument doesn't seem good enough for her... | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
Spidey... I have searched high and low and I can't find the thread | ||
| Firebolt32 |
I personally wouldn't deal with Brandon or Tampa ever again. They DID have a couple qualified techs but started dropping everyone that knew anything. Only time my bike was at Lakeland was after it was totaled. My mom worked there for a few years and a couple people here have bought bikes from them. All I truly know is the owner LOVES his Buells. | ||
| Spiderman |
Wolfie, Did you hyperlink the pics or downloadem to BW? | ||
| Billyo |
We were out of the area one time and set the gps to find a Border's book store. It took us out into the country to a warehouse. It wasn't even a Border's warehouse. We were in the car-if we'd been on the bikes we wouldn't have minded a bit as it was actually a nice ride. | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
pics linked via photobucket | ||
| Dynasport |
On my ride home from Homecoming, while riding through south Georgia, I decided I wanted BBQ for lunch. My GPS took me into the middle of nowhere and told me there was a BBQ restaurant there. I don't think anything had ever been there. I really like my GPS, but sometimes.....? | ||
| Drkside79 |
I punched in an address in TN drove down from Chicago got to Knoxville area around 11 PM and my lovely GPS said i had reached my destination....... on the middle of the creepiest bridge I've ever seen. | ||
| Fast1075 |
I bought a new Garmin a month ago...I decided to use it to get to a job site that I knew was only 3 miles away...It wanted to send me 215 miles to get there. It went back to the store that night...my new/new one has not yet pulled such foolishness... | ||
| Froggy |
Next time check your navigation and avoidance settings. They will take you on crazy routes to avoid tolls and such if they are programmed to do so. Also having it on truck mode can do similar. | ||
| Trevd |
+1 "Next time check your navigation and avoidance settings" I had my new-to-me GPS when I was visiting a city that I used to live in a few weeks ago, and I was using it to get me where I wanted to go, but it kept sending me into neighborhoods and small street, taking way longer to get to where I was going than it had to. I thought there was something wrong until I realized that I had it set to avoid major roads... | ||
| Sifo |
My GPS certainly can be a source of wonder with the bizarre routes it will choose sometimes. It has lead me down some fantastic roads from time to time though. Tomorrow I will be riding to northern MI following the GPS. There will be roads I've never seen before, and have been going up there numerous times per year since 1969. I'll follow some more preplanned routes while there. A bit of time planning and checking the routes before hand can give great results. You can abandon the plan anytime the mood suites you too. I'm digging my relationship with Sybil! | ||
| Aeholton |
It certainly is not convenient riding 130 miles each way for service. I may try Lakeland next time. I had heard some good things about Jim's HD in St. Pete, but I called them and they would not do a service on a Saturday unless I left the bike there till Tuesday. That was not acceptable to me. If you are thinking about bringing your bike to Pinellas for service, I would recommend Fletcher's. I bought my Uly from Jim's, had first service and a recall done at Jim's. Wasn't impressed. Ever since I have been using Fletcher's. That's why they got my business when I bought the 1125r. Fletcher's will treat you right. | ||
| Tramp |
GPS spells the death of real riding | ||
| Spiderman |
GPS spells the death of real riding Not really, cause you can just go get lost. Then hit the home button  | ||
| Froggy |
Thats what I did tonight. Explored some roads not far from home that I never hit before, started to get late so I clicked bring me home, and found some more new roads on the way | ||
| Dynasport |
Ooops, my mistake, I meant Fletchers in my post, not Jim's. My bad. | ||
| No_rice |
Not really, cause you can just go get lost. Then hit the home button : ) thats the only reason i have ever really considered getting one. that and when i was in the middle of bum %$#^ nowhere back road florida and it was getting very late and a wee bit cool to be riding all night with my tshirt and mesh jacket. so... the only one i could get to answer the phone was not even someone in florida... it was my gf jenn in iowa. told her the roads i was on and she got on google maps and gave me some rough directions to get me back to an area i could atleast wing my way home from. she thought it was funny. not long later i got a care package in the mail with among other things... a compass!(i was doing fine until the sun went down and there was really no moon to speak of!) | ||
| Dynasport |
In spite of the occasional weird event, I still really like my GPS. Although, the first trip with some friends that I ever used a GPS on a few years ago it took us to two out of business restaurants. I still hear about that. | ||
| Jaimec |
My girlfriend NEVER remembers the countless times the GPS has found hotels, shortcuts, restaurants and gas stations for us. However, she never FORGETS the few times it brought us to the middle of nowhere, an empty construction site, or a dead end. | ||
| Tramp |
Whatever happened to just hitting the road and winding up somewhere cool and unexpected....and then manning up to find your way home again? I use a Garmin for work (strictly for plotting GIS element occurences), and then, after that, it gets put away at home with the rest of my field gear. (Message edited by tramp on July 07, 2010) (Message edited by tramp on July 07, 2010) | ||
| Jaimec |
Life. Limited time off, deadlines, other responsibilities always gets in the way.  | ||
| Tramp |
Great point, as always, Jamie. Point definitely taken. |
