Expat Bikers

You have THREE options when riding,

1. To use conventional road maps 

2. To know the route by heart

3. To use a GPS receiver

 

The problem with paper maps are that they are large and impractical to to use without having to refold the map to show the area you need. Plus it means that you have to take your eyes off the road to look down at the map which can be dangerous and distracting. However it is always good to have least one paper map with you as it can show a very large area and it does not rely on batteries or satallites

 

If you travel a route very often, then soon it will be come second nature to you and you will end up riding on auto-pilot. This is fine for local trips but when you go futher afield trying to memorise a whole route could be difficult especially if there is a diversion.

 

GPS receivers have come down in price a lot in recent years and can be found in most electrical and Auto shops or on the WEB. There are two major manufacturers of mobile GPS which are Garmin and TomTom which use different file formats and the maps are not inter-changable.

 

There are three types of GPS which have specific uses.

 

4. Trekking GPS

5. Car / Truck GPS 

6. Motorcycle GPS

 

Trekking GPS are usualy small hand held receivers used by trekkers walking a route. They have small displays and are not designed for road use or provide turn by turn voice prompts. Most Trekking GPS only have ordance maps loaded which are not of any use to bikers unless you intend to go off road.

 

Car GPS are very cheap to buy and can be either be run off internal batteries or from an external power socket. The have a generic road map programmed into them and can provide turn by turn voice prompts. The screen is much larger than Trekking GPS with full colour maps and points of interest available. They are not waterproof, the touch screens cannot be used with gloves on and they are difficult to see in direct sunlight. Another problem is that they are not built to absorb vibrations from a motorbike. Some riders do use them but place them inside the tank bag top pocket but the angle and visability of the screen can still be a problem.

 

Motorcycle GPS are more expensive to buy as they have to survive a harsh environment. The touch screens can be used with gloves on and have very bright screens that can easily be seen in bright sun light. They are fully water and dust proof and are built to take vibrations and general hard life on a motorbike. Most have Bluetooth connectivity for helmet headsets and mobile phones.

 

Note GPS Reception.... This can be reduced in cities or where there are high buildings, trees, obsticals or where the GPS cannot obtain a good fix on the orbiting satallites. It can also happen that the GPS will freeze while it tries to get a fix. Do not forget that any GPS is only as good as the maps software that is loaded and there are true stories of riders/ drivers ending up in rivers or dead end roads so be warned they can go wrong. This is why you still need to carry backup paper maps with you just in case.

 

 

Making GPS routes

You can either program the route directly from the GPS using the internal menu or use mapping software loaded onto your PC.

 

All GPS manufacturers provide their own generic mapping software to be able to generate complicated routes requireing mutiple waypoints or points of interest. They are simple to use and you can save all the routes on your PC so they never get lost of deleted.  If you save your route on a PC you can also share it with other users providing they are using the same map format otherwise you will have to convert them eg. Garmin use .GPX and TomTom use .ITN files.

 

Some GPS receivers allow you to insert additional memory cards to expand the internal memory and store music and photos onto. You can also save additional special maps onto the memory card for greater detail maps and all your routes.

 

Maps can go out of date as new roads are built and completed so make sure that you keep your GPS maps up to date, I advise you to pay extra for ¨Life time updates¨otherwise you could find one day that your planned road has been ripped up and replaced with a motorway.

 

Getting lost can be fun!

Sometimes I go for a ride with no destination in mind, I just ride and and turn when I feel like it and see where it takes me, which is great fun and you can find some great roads that you would not normally ride. I still take a paper map or my GPS with me just in case I get totally lost to find my way home.