Gps advice

[Airportbum]

I have entered my first rally in August. With a 2006 goldwing I thought I would use onboard navigation as we get the packet a week early. I just realized the navigation doesn't take gps coordinates. I've been playing with copilot on the iPad, but I am not convinced that it will do what I need or want. So starting fresh, what gps should I be looking at for rallying? Thanks. Mike

 

[ravenranger]

I use an Android phone and I really like the phone app GPXViewer. You can load POIs and routes to get a good "big picture" of where things are but it doesn't do navigation (the Pro version upgrade in mid-August is supposed to do that and also support use on tablets). You can also display weather on it but usually us the app MyRadar for that.

I have a Zumo 660 and a Nuvi 3590. The Zumo is nice because it's waterproof, can handle longer routes, and can integrate with phone and bluetooth helmet communications. The Nuvi is nice because it displays better info on what's around (like lodging or gas) and link with your phone to display weather but doesn't allow for multiple bluetooth connections (so can't coordinate phone and helmet com). Both do fine at navigation for point to point.

Lately, I've drifted away from a set route that I load up from BaseCamp to using BaseCamp for a general idea of mileage but navigate waypoint to waypoint. That basically means that any GPS would work so long as it can have POIs loaded into it.

 

[BMWguy]

I bought a Garmin Zumo 660 and never looked back...

 

[Amnon Romano]

I use my S7 Android (waterproof) as the the only onboard device.
Using Google-Maps/My-Maps to import/export all kind of navigation files and plan my entire route - to keep an eye on time frame (easy on a lap/tab - and transparent over devices via Google cloud account).
Using POI-Pocket to transfer waypoints to other navigation apps - but actually navigating point-to-point (aka bonus-to-bonus) with Waze - to avoid traffic and finding fastest route.
The above was good for a 7th place in the 2016 six-days EuroTour...

 

[Scott Parish]

I use my S7 Android (waterproof) as the the only onboard device.
Using Google-Maps/My-Maps to import/export all kind of navigation files and plan my entire route - to keep an eye on time frame (easy on a lap/tab - and transparent over devices via Google cloud account).
Using POI-Pocket to transfer waypoints to other navigation apps - but actually navigating point-to-point (aka bonus-to-bonus) with Waze - to avoid traffic and finding fastest route.
The above was good for a 7th place in the 2016 six-days EuroTour...

What are the steps of taking a route planned in Google My Maps and transferring to an android phone? I would be interested in understanding how you transfer way points i.e. bonus locations and navigate point-to-point.

 

[RichmonS]

I now use a Garmin Zumo 595LM. I liked the larger screen and the ability to stream Spotify into my headset. The 395LM would work if those are not requirements for you. Before I was using the maps application on my Samsung smartphone.

 

[Amnon Romano]

What are the steps of taking a route planned in Google My Maps and transferring to an android phone? I would be interested in understanding how you transfer way points i.e. bonus locations and navigate point-to-point.

Scott,
From your question I take it you are familiar with transferring GPX files to Google My Maps and creating your route there.
If so, you don't have to transfer your route to your android - it's in the cloud.
In order to create a navigation route you first have to open your My Maps route in Maps>Your Places>Maps in the Google Maps app.
Once your route shows on the screen, zoom in and tap your destination waypoint, then tap directions. After that, tap inside the bar for starting point and change it to your liking.
Tap the three dots and choose Add stop to add up to 10 waypoints. During the whole process your My Maps route is showing to guide you to your waypoints. Also, you may drag the stops back and forth to change their order.
After finishing with the 10-stops-max route, tap the three points, send the navigation route to the home screen - and move on to create the next navigation route.
on your home screen you can drag all the navigation route icons together to form a directory.
When you want to navigate, simply tap the route you want to ride - and press start.

 

[Scott Parish]

Amnon - much appreciated! I will give this a try later today.

 

[Scott Parish]

Scott,
From your question I take it you are familiar with transferring GPX files to Google My Maps and creating your route there.
If so, you don't have to transfer your route to your android - it's in the cloud.
In order to create a navigation route you first have to open your My Maps route in Maps>Your Places>Maps in the Google Maps app.
Once your route shows on the screen, zoom in and tap your destination waypoint, then tap directions. After that, tap inside the bar for starting point and change it to your liking.
Tap the three dots and choose Add stop to add up to 10 waypoints. During the whole process your My Maps route is showing to guide you to your waypoints. Also, you may drag the stops back and forth to change their order.
After finishing with the 10-stops-max route, tap the three points, send the navigation route to the home screen - and move on to create the next navigation route.
on your home screen you can drag all the navigation route icons together to form a directory.
When you want to navigate, simply tap the route you want to ride - and press start.[/QUOTE

Was able to install app and access routes. Took a few minutes to get directions to come up. Had to exit the app after installing and reopen. Have not tried adding adding additional waypoints yet (will just use for point-to-point navigation if necessary). I'm a little overwhelmed this weekend with route planning for my first rally; but very thankful for having a back-up process if something doesn't work right with my GPS. Again - thank-you very much!