Posts
18426
Joined
1/6/2011
Location
Ogden, UT, USA
Edited Date/Time
9/15/2015 7:21pm
hey guys, i'm going on a big ride in April and am looking into mounting a GPS unit on my handlebars for the trip. i've been wanting a unit anyway, but with this coming up i'm going ahead and committing to getting one. i'm going for a unit that is going to be hard-wired to my battery and mounted on the handlebars.
first off, suggestions are definitely needed and opinions on models/mounts/etc are appreciated.
(please don't suggest i use my phone, not going to happen for various reasons)
my first choice is the Trail Tech Voyager.
Pro: i really like the look of it, and the fact it was made specifically for offroad motorcycle riding. it's pretty cool as it guages your engine temp, wheel speed, and coolant temp. i also like the idea of being able to load my route on the computer after and upload it to google earth to check out my rides. another cool thing is the display is large and very visible in the outdoor lighting, this is a huge pro. i honestly haven't read a bad word about them besides the con listed below.
Con: i really don't like the idea of having a GPS device but not being able to see surrounding topography. from my nonextensive research, i find that i am only able to view/load/save my route and other routes other people have taken. i'm not able to see how far the nearest high-way, river, etc is. this is a problem if i become lost or anything like that.
my second choice is the Garmin Oregon 450t.
Pro: i really like the ability to have the surrounding topography available. not only for a safety issue, it might give me the ability to read trails ahead of time and that kind of thing.
Cons: i haven't read or heard of very many people using this unit on a dirtbike, so i don't have much to go on. i know the screen is difficult to see in daytime lighting, so thats pretty shitty. no idea on shock resistance.
if anyone can help steer me in a direction i would appreciate it. hopefully i can get it figured out soon so i can get a unit installed and test it out before my trip. thanks bros.
first off, suggestions are definitely needed and opinions on models/mounts/etc are appreciated.
(please don't suggest i use my phone, not going to happen for various reasons)
my first choice is the Trail Tech Voyager.
Pro: i really like the look of it, and the fact it was made specifically for offroad motorcycle riding. it's pretty cool as it guages your engine temp, wheel speed, and coolant temp. i also like the idea of being able to load my route on the computer after and upload it to google earth to check out my rides. another cool thing is the display is large and very visible in the outdoor lighting, this is a huge pro. i honestly haven't read a bad word about them besides the con listed below.
Con: i really don't like the idea of having a GPS device but not being able to see surrounding topography. from my nonextensive research, i find that i am only able to view/load/save my route and other routes other people have taken. i'm not able to see how far the nearest high-way, river, etc is. this is a problem if i become lost or anything like that.
my second choice is the Garmin Oregon 450t.
Pro: i really like the ability to have the surrounding topography available. not only for a safety issue, it might give me the ability to read trails ahead of time and that kind of thing.
Cons: i haven't read or heard of very many people using this unit on a dirtbike, so i don't have much to go on. i know the screen is difficult to see in daytime lighting, so thats pretty shitty. no idea on shock resistance.
if anyone can help steer me in a direction i would appreciate it. hopefully i can get it figured out soon so i can get a unit installed and test it out before my trip. thanks bros.
Also, you don't need cell reception to make it work. It works off the phone's internal GPS. I put my phone in Airplane mode and turn on the GPS when using it. The battery on my Samsung S4 will last all day long in this mode tracking our adventures.
@ malachi - do you have that hard-wired or throw it in your pack? i'm mainly wanting to hard-wire as i'm not sure i'll be able to charge much of anything without.
@ Wiley - very useful around here, but i'm not so sure it'll meet my needs for my trip. i really like the GPS apps on my android for mountain biking, i'll have to look into that particular app. i've been using AllSportGPS.
The Shop
DeCal Works Huge Plastic Inventory of UFO and Polisport kits.
Luxon 4-Post Bar Mounts
$189.95 - $239.95
At first the trail tech voyager looks cool because of the gauges but I've shopped around for similar devices and have not found a good all around device for bike monitoring and gps.
If you do pick one up let us know how it works after a few tries!
As far as hard wiring it, I don't know about any other brands but my Garmin can potentially fry on a full 12v. The car charger plug has the right resistor in it to protect the unit so I bought a female cig lighter adapter, hard wired that right to my battery, plugged my Garmin car charger in to that, safety wired it all together to make sure it never comes apart, tucked it away in the frame and it's been flawless for about 6 seasons.
One last thing, you should consider some sort of a spot device to track you as well as send a distress call in case there is an emergency. We use one when we snowmobile because we can sometimes be 60+ miles from the nearest road.
MXD and Hazzard, thanks for the responses. I'm definitely thinking the Garmin is the way I'll go. The guages and different functions of the Voyager are nice but in the end having topography is very important to me. I also do a lot of snowmobiling so it will get double uses
This was my first GPS & I had a big learning curve with it. Garmin's customer service was/is outstanding! I will probably always go with Garmin because of this. They are very helpful with all my sailing software pc programs & electronic charts.
I'm sponsored by RAM Mounts and I'll get you whatever mount you need...and it's not like the BD sponsorship deal! Lol
I have the garmin. I like it and it is a compact set up. You can get a mount from garmin that slides on the unit and zip ties to the handle bars. I only use batteries. ...
Good luck
Its not only great for biking.
I pre-ran the Baja 1000 with an iPhone 5 mounted on the handlebars in a Ram case. I use the $1.99 Motion X GPS app.
This setup is amazing, and IMO blows away the Garmin eTrex that my friends use.
Here's my top-five favorites with this setup:
1. Maps are free. You can load topo and satellite images.
2. Works outside of cellular range.
3. Send and receive track logs via email- no cable or laptop needed.
4. Color display is large enough to view at a glance while on the bike.
5. Send and receive text messages while riding!
For power I use a USB power port mounted to the front of the triple clamp. It's hard-wired to the battery. It's actually a product that I'll be selling on my website starting next week.
The trail tech's are not really a consideration in my opinion.
60csx.
Pit Row
Xeno I will have to get a pic of the setup if you have something? I definitely could go with phone in your instance... Save me a few hundred too.
Coaltrain, I haven't even heard of that one but will definitely research it. You make a great point about the hard wire and buttons versus touch... Ps does that button say Clit? SOLD! Haha
So many options
Ridge - Haha just saw your reply, if it happens sweet, if not it's the way to go so I'll still do it.. But a little off the top is always nice!
Wiley - awesome app, takes some learning but I can see it being very useful! Any idea how to download Mexico topo?
As far as the voltage thing goes, Most bikes are AC power coming off the stator and then some (usually estart) have a regulator rectifier to change it to DC leading to the battery circuit for starting. Just make sure you wire it correctly. DC doesn't really care about the amps, but you can easily fry something if the voltage is incorrect. Some units, like the endurance II will run on either, you just hook up the wire to whatever you have....
true offroad GPS with everything one it that you could possibly need from a off-road GPS. Water- and shockproof and still good to read in direct sunlight.
Only downside is the price... There are cheaper versions like the 600 but they lack the TOPO addition.
For power, all KTM's have 2 ACC leads behind the headlight. 1 is switched power and the other is constant. (not sure if the EXC/XC(W) have em aswell, pull the headlight mask to check)
BTW, thinking about hitting the Oreana 100 next month. You wanna do some dez racing Bro?
dafuq is the Oreana? me and Ridge are thinking about racing the Idaho City 100 in May, you down?
ps i'm always up for some dez racing, bro.
I wanted topo on mine. The topo comes in two versions 100K and 24K. I have both. The 100K is junk for me. The 24K has every trail, old road bed, existing road, forest road etc. It cost more for a good reason. It is purchased separate and added on. What works for me?
Garmin 62s
I have a ram mount. Supplemented with a zip ty. I have a 12 volt cord for it.
Xeno, could you post pics for us all. I'm interested in your setup too. Would be cool to mount my phone to the bars and plug it into the bike's battery.
By May I'll be I'm usually in full moto race mode.
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