I ride a hardtail and have yet to find a decent road in this country.
Give me Europe anytime for descent riding roads.
And before anyone brings it up,no i'm not going to change my frame.
Vinnie, I know where you're coming from, however the sat nav has been great for lots of reasons too...
- Doing the French and UK A-Z, the sat nav found some of the best roads I've ever been on. Great fun, and sometimes just plain daft!!! But mostly, the sort of roads that only the locals would know of.
- Chaperoning some of the 'L' plate riders from BM, setting the nav to "Avoid motorways" is probably the easiest way to get from point to point in an L-friendly way. Especially when going via people's houses to "collect" them in a convoy.
Having said that, mine spends most of the time just warning me of speed cameras, or waiting for me to hit "home" when I've been out on a BM ride and am unfamiliar with the surroundings!
lol at vinnie, well mostly crap, there was that day out from beermonsters and maybe one or two others but like i say mostly crap and i did make it into and out of coventry at the weekend with no detours and when im travelling alone i love the sat nav cos it takes the uncertainty and worry out of the journey and lets me focus on my riding and having fun! I`m quite envious of all you people who can get from a to b with out one !
I was playing with the satnav that came with the phone, co-pilot, and you can set it to various transport modes, if you plot from the blokes work to mine in a car, it sends you along the M62, change it to motorcycle and it sends you on all A/B roads. Set the car to avoid motorways and it sends you the bike route, but the time to destination is longer for the car than the bike & I thought it was just a cheap and nasty cr*pnav, but it does seem to have some nifty ideas. Shame the calibration is out by about 60yards, not so easy in towns ... ok so it is a cheap & nasty cr*pnav
I bought a garmin on arriving here and can only use it when my wife co-drives as i cant hear it , i've found it very handy so far on the trips we've made , but when driving or riding alone i rely on maps , and as Vinnie says a " wrong turn" makes for interesting riding ...dont be in a hurry though ! lol
Without the contacts my eyesight is worse than that .
What I mean is that in built up areas it tells you to turn right in 100 yards and there are two turns very close together, when it thinks you are at the turning you need you are in fact passed it and driving down the wrong street. It wouldnt be so bad if it was always 60 yrds out, but sometimes its 60, others 40 others 100yds depending on if you are going uphill, downhill or on the level.
Best rides download would be a great idea.
Also best cafes , pubs etc.
There used to be a really good web site called Biker Cafes but unfortunately it is no more.
Perhaps we could have our very own Bikers Egon Ronay guide incorporated on the BM website
The big issue with sat nav is that you need to update the satellite positions as they do move slightly. Plus the accuracy of your receiver also means that you can be out by up to 10 metres. If you think missing the turn is bad enough at 30 mph, try at real speed running with blue lights and noise.
the co-pilot I had on a different phone didnt have this calibration issue, so it may actually be a device problem rather than a navigation software program. Unfortunately whenever I try and get through to techinical at T-mobile they never return calls
my wife dozed off once while the garmin was on , i tried glancing at it everytime i heard it give directions and decided this was too dangerous , so woke her up instead , either that or switch it off ...must be very good on bluetooth into a earphone , that might work for me and i think i'll give it a test sometime .
Definately recommend using it via blue tooth rather than trying to look at it every time. Again, have done numerous routes, mostly unfamiliar, and don't need to look at the nav often at all.
As for accuracy, 60yards is awful. My bike nav shows around 4 to 6 yards accuracy.
Napoleon, yes a recommended rides, cafes, pubs, etc would be a good idea. My only concern is are we detracting from the purpose of bm?
One of the best parts of having a sat nav is that it allows you to go where you wouldn't, to explore roads that you have no idea where they go and to meet folk you wouldn't usually meet as a result. Seems contradictory, but the fact is, you are more likely to go off the track if you know you'll be able to find your way back
So sat nav is a route expander, rather than a route dictator, just use your imagination.
Napoleon, yes a recommended
rides, cafes, pubs, etc would be a good idea. My only concern is are we
detracting from the purpose of bm?
Hardly... considering that most of the BM meets are held at known biker haunts... you may as well arrange the meets at the best ones eh?
As a fer instance... Don't go to the Oakdene to eat when it's busy... and if you do, make sure you order summat like an omelette that they HAVE to cook on the spot for you, instead of nuking it in the micro or serving up stuff that's been sat in a hot tray for ages. They make a killer cuppa though
Brilliant idea Napoleon. You should start a new thread mate. It was your idea, so you should get the credit.
And no, it ain't detracting from the purpose of BM. BM is a social site for bikers. It is somewhere where we can all get together, chat, share ideas and have a laugh.
Having a thread suggesting best places to go on your bike ain't detracting from the purpose of BM. This surely is the purpose of BM.
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