Cheap GPS ??

[Rsw]

When in my wife's car, I use an Android app called Waze which is MUCH better at GPS than my wife's Garmin GPS.

If that is something you have on them fancy cell phones, I wont be using that! I have had to replace to many things when something broke because I used it once 2 years before it broke. I'm cool with a $100.00 GPS unit to use for a speedometer. All the magnetic speedo's I found were over $200.00.

 

[Trent]

Cell phone apps dont work well for me when you need to find 30 addresses in a few hours. Would not work very well on a bike either unless you duct taped it to your forhead? Need something mounted solid and easily viewable and reachable.

 

[Ozarkryder]

Forgot the GPS the other day when going to an unfamiliar area, so I uesd the Car Panel on my Android phone. Worked great - the voice turns directions were a bit generic, on my Garmin the voice speaks street names and has more prompts - and the map was prety good and had next turn directions.
Then the sun came out. There was no place in the car except under the dash in deep shade where i could read the screen. It would be worse on the trike, wouldn't be able to see the screen or hear the voice as there is no hookup for the bike when the redio and intercom are on.

The Nuvi is greart in the direct sun and shade. Can't hear the voice, but the on screen directions are very good, has lane assist to tell what lane to be in before a turn and zooms in on the intersection as we approach.

Phone GPS is getting better. but I have a 5" screen on the GPS - that would make for a pretty large phone.

 

[Trent]

I can see my 4.5 inch Garmin on the TG just fine in the sun too. Dont need to hear it either,,,I can glance at it to see where to go. That big pink line is easy to follow!

 

[Rsw]

I'm sure the ones on the cell phones are good and would work fine. But even with insurance, it still cost $199.00 to replace a Iphone 5. Plus I would have to listen to the wife while we waited on the replacement. I will download the app to it and she can use it on the back. That way when I feel a sharp pain in my side, I know I am going a little to fast. Anyway, I sure someone will have a real good price on a GPS at the Black Friday sales.

 

[Shimpy]

All the magnetic speedo's I found were over $200.00.

Go to a good bicycle shop and get one for a Schwinn. You glue a small magnet to your usually front wheel and mount a pick-up near it. The entire unit is about the size of a 1/2 dollar and has to be set for wheel diameter. It will show mph, miles traveled, and a whole lot more than you probably need. A friend of mine uses one on his Kaw. Connie and I use one on my golf cart.

 

[Rowdy]

Go to a good bicycle shop and get one for a Schwinn. You glue a small magnet to your usually front wheel and mount a pick-up near it. The entire unit is about the size of a 1/2 dollar and has to be set for wheel diameter. It will show mph, miles traveled, and a whole lot more than you probably need. A friend of mine uses one on his Kaw. Connie and I use one on my golf cart.

That is what I stated in post #8. I used one of these on two 1500s and it was very accurate.

 

[Shimpy]

That is what I stated in post #8. I used one of these on two 1500s and it was very accurate.

Sorry Rowdy, I guess I missed that in your post.

 

[BlueTrinity]

I've found that pulling into a gas station and asking one of the locals how to get somewhere serves me well. Always get landmarks to look for and usually make a new friend.


Don't much fancy those GPS thingies, but I did see a new-fangled gadget for sale at the Gas & Go last week. It's pretty much unbreakable, its only a couple of bucks and never needs the batteries replaced.


I don't understand Pakastani real well, but as best I could tell the clerk called it a MAP.

 

[oahe]

A MAP??? What will they think of next? Street signs? :Coffee:

 

[Stephen]

I had a Tom Tom for a little while and when I made a wrong turn or went another way all it would do is keep screaming I made a wrong turn, I took it back. Got the Garmin 2610 and it rerouted me each time I decided to go another way. Get one that will re route you and save yourself a lot of grief.

 

[Trent]

Try reading a map in a large strange city, on a bike, trying to find your destination. No thanks. It is so easy to type in your destination in 20 seconds and then drive right to it via the shortest route. I remember when I got my first GPS unit for my job, and Instead of looking at maps, it saved me several hours of time each week. Any of you who have not tried a gps or dont have one are missing the boat. For the cheap cost, they are one of the most easiest, safest gadgets to use, and handiest thing you can travel with. And the large digital speedo that is available on them by just hitting one button is invaluble. No looking down at the speedometer, which takes your eyes off the road. I have mine on all the time just running around town for the speedo. So much safer... Maps???? No thanks...huge waste of time except to plan your trip. Gas stations?...I can check on the GPS while getting gas how many miles it is to the next town gas station and compare that to my miles left in the tank reading. That has been a life saver also.

 

[Gorilla]

I believe both Maps and GPS make a very good pairing for navigation. I love the GPS giving me an idea what lane to be in on a multi lane highway. And I love my map being there to give me the big picture as I'm going along.

 

[Shimpy]

I've ridden thru some large cities where 3 interstates converge with a cloverleaf and knew there was no way I could have done it without a GPS telling me which lane to be in. A map won't tell you that. I use a map for a large overview to give me an idea which way I want to go, but let the GPS direct me.

 

[BlueTrinity]

<V</VWell this old redneck hillbilly is just behind the time, I guess. I don't figure to be either reading a map or punching in numbers on a mini TV screen whilst I'm riding.

I've generally pretty much got my directions fixed in my mind before I get on the road and if I stray from that a bit, I sure ain't going to try to figure it out at 60, 40 or even 30 mph. Saving 10 or 15 minutes or so just ain’t at the top of my agenda anyhow.

Beside all that, if I’m lost, you can pretty much figure that the missus has already told me where to go!

At my age, the gas thing ain’t much of a problem either. I’ve generally already stopped at a gas station for other reasons long before I get close to running out of fuel.

I thought about that Tom Tom idea, but I kind of resigned myself to the notion that probably nobody would hear me if I started beating on it alongside the road.

Now on the side of full disclosure, I don’t often get lost, because one or more of the others I usually ride with will have themselves a GPS!
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[Trent]

HaHa!!..I figured you had a full disclosure in there somewhere Dave...Ride safe! And in the right direction too!.

 

[gadgetz]

I use the iPhone inside a waterproof enclosure with the "GPS Drive" application. It works great, it allows me to feed both the GPS voice commands and our iTunes music into the HD radio at the same time through the aux input on the radio face. You can also use Google maps for navigation as well. You can get everything from RAM Mounts and cables from Radio shack or BestBuy.

 

[dadorfman]

If you are buying used or an older model new, make sure you can get map updates. On my GPS, the maps were last updated in 2007. I bought another one cheap off eBay so I would have a backup unit, but the only maps I could use were of the area of Pennsylvania downloaded by the original owner. I can't count the number of times I have gotten lost because of new streets and re-routed traffic flow. Lifetime maps are the best.

 

[Comanche]

I have a 2008 car with the navigation system. Unfortunately, GM wants $200.00 to update the map in the nav system. I got a car mount for my Garmin 550 and use this instead.

Although I am pretty good finding my way,(taught land navigation in the Army) these clover leafs and by-passes in metropolitian areas confuse the beJesus out of me. I like the advance warning with the GPS.

 

[FRR]

I can offer a suggestion of what NOT to do....My brother in law spent over 600 bucks on a Garmin Zumo with a Harley Davidson logo on it and paid to have it hardwired to his trike. He could have bought a Garmin Nuvi for 1/3 that price and paid 40 bucks for a mount and got just about the same thing. Only the GPS wouldn't have said HARLEY on it, as if that was important. Plus, for the price of a 12 dollar cord he could have plugged it into his aux jack and heard it through his speakers.