Hi, Can anyone recommend a good alternative to the Ducati Sat Nav? And the tidiest method for fitting it? Ta
I’ve got a Garmin Zumo which I’ve had on a Pani and multistrada, does everything you’d expect, what bike are you fitting it to?
+1 for Garmin Zumo, I have a 390 and it does everything I want it to. Very easy to use with gloves on. Mines mounted on the genuine Ducati mount of my Mutley, bolted straight on and is exactly where I want it.
I've used a Garmin & TomTom on the bike and still prefer using my phone mounted to the bars. It's one less thing to be carrying around and Android/Apple maps are both excellent nowadays, constantly updated in the background and have very accurate traffic updates.I also like not having any kind of big mount on the bike, when I don't need Nav, there's just the ball mount on my top clamp. I used to use the TomTom app when abroad so I wasn't using cellular data but especially in Europe, data is so cheap now that it's not an issue. I use these bits: Top clamp ball mount (mines 8mm) Ball mount locking plate Waterproof iPhone case (mines for iPhone 6s) My Scrambler had a USB point under the seat, so I just ran a standard Apple charging cable up to my phone when needed. I'll have to fit one of these to my hyper: Hardwire kit with inline fuse 2 pin - USB adapter A few other companies make all this stuff but I've been using ultimate addon's stuff for years now and been happy enough.
Got a TomTom 410. It’s ok but has its idiosyncrasies like everything else. Used on 2010 Mut with Navihalter mounting bracket. Now on my 17 plate Mut with new version Navihalter mount(Ducati)
Zumo 590. Takes some getting used to but the planning options are arguably better than anything else out there. Robust and waterproof, the compete package.
Zumo for me also, on a BikePenR mount. @broke may be able to advise with TomTom as he thinks they are awesome
Zumo590 - thought it was fantastic until this week when I realised that it does not have maps for newer motorways in Ireland (maps updated last weekend) ! 80km down A&B roads at night in the rain was not appreciated later when I discovered I’d been running parallel to a perfectly good motorway.
TomTom GO Mobile. Back when I bought it (iPhone 4 days...) it was called TomTom Europe (or you could get just a UK&IRE one) cost me about £60. They've since switched to a subscription payment model and renamed the app. I got 12 months free but I no longer use it as it pissed me off that after paying £60, I now have to pay annually to use something I already paid for... Looking at the app store, be careful. I don't think 'TomTom MyDrive' is a standalone Nav, it's for connecting your phone to your existing TomTom unit. For the reasons above, I will avoid TomTom from now on. It seems they have a habit of ceasing support for existing products. The CoPilot app gets good reviews and lets you download maps for offline use. I have several friends who rate it as well. I'll probably get that as a backup at some point.
Co pilot Europe works great, if you want to use a smart phone. Was very happy with it when used in a car in France and UK. Mounting phone to handle bars is really only as good as the quality of the case and mounting kit. I tried to do it on the cheap and was unhappy with result. Think, phone on bike, off bike, on bike etc. when stopping for fuel/services when touring. (for theft). A dedicated sat nav and mount worked better for me but if wanting to travel light then a decent phone mount may be worth the investment. Depends also how long the unit will be used for, sat nav drains phone batteries quick especially if using data roaming, bluetooth or other functions, then charging on bike will be essential. Can you get a waterproof connection to the charging port?
Stay away from TomTom. If you go the phone route try this.... Waze is the best Nav app bar none. It’s free, works offline and now has a motorcycle mode.
Remember that you need to touch the screen from time to time, with your left hand. So better to mount the SatNav towards the left side rather than centrally, I find.
A lot of phone sat nav apps are just point A (where you are currently) to point B (where you want to go). Not ideal for recreational riding. I did have CoPilot on my phone for some time, used it in the car a handful of times and could have been a backup on the bike I suppose. Theoretically great for bike use as, like Garmin, you can plot routes on your PC and export to the phone. However, waterproof mounting hardware makes this bulky (rainproof phones like the Samsung S8 aside), phone touch screens don't work with almost all gloves and then you need to power the device. These are failings of most phone based bike nav set-ups. A dedicated bike sat nav addresses all of these issues. My touring buddy uses a smartphone with CoPilot mounted inside the fairing of his 996 taking his chances with rain and spray, he has one of those screen pencils to operate it without taking his gloves off. It still failed on one trip when the vibration killed the charging port.
Each to their own but after a number of dedicated navs I’m now much happier with my waterproof smartphone I use an App called Scenic for route planning and GPX files - it’s far easier than the 3rd party stuff that needs to be used with dedicated Nav.
If anyone has had issues using touch screens with gloves on, I did sew some conductive thread into my previous touring gloves and it worked a treat. Only needed a small amount on your two main fingers. All my current gloves have leather fingers and seem to work well anyway. I can vouch for the case I use being waterproof when charging. The rubber seal clamps right around the cable. I got rained on for 3 solid days on the way from back Switzerland and heading up the Rhine... My ‘waterproof’ bike gear all completely failed, I was soaked to the bone but my phone was nice and dry.
That’s exactly what I use. Waze and a quad lock mount. If I want a specific route, I use Scenic. Waze is also exceptionally good when it comes to forewarning about plod with speed guns. Saved me a few times
