TomTom GPS

[buckaroobonzai]

Does anyone have experience with the TomTom GPS?

[pgchimp]

Hello

I have a Tomtom Rider Gps mounted on the bars of my C50 Boulevard

been running it now since before Christmas, as before this had the Tomtom 300 for the car, as you may know the Rider is purpose for the Bike

I mounted the headset with double sided tape to the helmet and find it works just fine, not as clear as the 300 with built in speaker but still understandable

Since owing the Rider have installed speed cameras Gatso's etc, with spoken voice warnings and that works well set at 150 yard distance.

The Rider itself can be distracting on the handlebars but having used the 300 for 9 months i am now used to the distraction.

I dont rearly know what you need to know, so if you have anything specific let me know and i'll see wha i can do

Alan

[buckaroobonzai]

The questions that I have are-- is it clear in all lighting conditions, does it automatically recalculate route if you get off track, and the last question I have you may not be able to answer being in Europe. Does it have all streets, even in rural areas.

[pgchimp]

Hi

Glad to help, i dont know where you are based as your profile is not complete, however if you were to live in Europe, Major roads through Europe will get you across Europe, borders etc, However for more detailed travel its best to purchase individual maps of various countries, ie SPAIN FRANCE etc

I have both of the above and find them just ADEQUATE but not as good as Uk,

If you need USA cant help sorry

Regarding lighting i have my screen nearly horizontal as i am looking down on it from an upright position, it took a few atempts to set up so i had minimun reflections but it is more than visible, better than the 300 in the car on a sunny day.

I find i never revert to the night screen when riding in the dark as the day screen in not to distracting to bother changing over

Regarding route recalculation, the Tomtom is Spot on at this, if you miss a turn or stray from the chosen route Tomtom will quickly rectify this and re-route. Sometimes however it will not always select the way that you would of chosen to get from A to B and you are left wondering why you are using Tomtom, but that is down to the settings you select on set-up

But whilst i sing its praises and this is one of it's shortfalls IT WILL ALWAYS GET YOU THERE,

Nearly forgot, had it wet a few times due to rain, and guess what, it is waterproof, thats probably why it is so expensive compared with the car models

hope this helps, let me know if you need more

Alan

[buckaroobonzai]

Thanks for your input. I live in Florida. I'll have to find out how detailed the maps are here. The most popular GPS seems to be Garmin, but TomTom is the only one that seems to be made specifically for a bike.

[Wild Rice]

I have a Garmin Quest in my Maxima. It was the least expensive of all the 'voice prompt' systems. Paid $499 online which INCLUDED the entire US CD portfolio. I love it because of the voice prompts, even though the screen is much smaller than the $1200 models... (surprise surprise). PS the granularity of the streets is great (I'm in New England.. lots of small roads)

I know they sell a bike mount option as well.

Hope this helps.

[pgchimp]

Wild Rice

Notice you sing the praises of the Garmin Guest, how does this give out its voice prompts, is it designed for the car with a built in speaker or operate through Blue tooth via an external speaker in the helmet

Before the tomtom Rider i had a Tomtom 300 and thought i would try it temp mounted to the bike, i could not hear a single voice command at anything above 25 MPh Hence the reason for the rider

Along with the refinements of the Rider comes the price increase, tomtom 300 Retail £249.00 Tomtom Rider £599.00

You gets what you pay for in this world i find, The Rider is Perfect for the bike the 300 was perfect for the car, something to bear in mind when making the choice between one or the other

Alan

[NCBoulevard]

Here's the quest mounted on a bike. The arm bolted to the handlebars is a RAM mount that was purchased seperately for $35 +/-. The actual mount that the GPS plugs into is a Garmin purchase (gifted to me with the GPS so I don't have a price) that has power and includes a connection for a 1/4" headphone jack. I routed mine (with an extension) back under the tank and out the left side of the seat. I use a small ear bud and am able to hear it reasonably well at medium to low speeds. There is a volume control on the GPS but it's not really loud enough. I have a $5 earbud that has a piss poor seal in my ear so that is part of the issue. I'm looking for a better one.

The car mount suctions to the winshield and the speaker is part of the power connection. Power in the car is provided by a lighter plug.

The GPS recalculates automatically and switches from day to night mode (changes background color) automatically based on sunrise/sunset and I've had no trouble seeing the display in any conditions (so far).

It's waterproof too.



Here you can see the earbud jack along with the jack for my gloves. Look closely under the seat right above the C50 logo.