Budget navigation.

[Alte Fahrt]

A while back I asked about mounting a GPS on the FJ. There were a lot of good responses but they were too expensive for my budget. I found a bag for mounting a smartphone on a bicycle that was priced at 8 euros. It has 2 Velcro straps that mount around the upper triple tree and a rubber piece that I wrapped around the clutch hydraulic line. It seemed secure but not wanting to take a chance, I put a couple pieces of wood in it and drove around for a few days. It stayed where it was and seemed stabile enough to use with the GPS.

About 2 weeks ago I need to go to another town to assemble some furniture. The day was nice and I decided to take the bike. Programmed the GPS, put it in the bag and sat on the bike. The position seemed good, just below the instruments and off to the left. Off I go and soon I stop again. With the sun shining on it I couldn't see anything. I adjusted the brightness all the way up ant it helped some. When I get to the town, I had to stop twice to squint at it to tell where I needed to go. I need a better solution.

I discussed this with a friend a few days later and he suggested a GPS with Bluetooth and a set of Bluetooth earphones. I set about researching this and could find nothing about it. I went and bought a cheap set of Bluetooth earphones and tried it with another friends GPS. Didn't work.

Then I remembered that someone on here talked about using Co Pilot on a smartphone for navigation. I installed it and it worked great but after 1 week you have to pay for the voice directions. Back to doing research. Criteria : free, must work offline and must have spoken directions. After a lot of trial and error I settled on OSMand. Navigation wise it works good. It gives you 7 free map downloads. The only complaint I have is that it doesn't do house numbers here. You just have to use a cross street. When it is cloudy or overcast, I can stick the phone in the bag and have a visual reference. When it is sunny I can put it in the bag or my jacket pocket. With this system you can listen (only 1 earphone here) to music (think AC DC Thunderstruck) while riding and it will stop the music to give you directions. You could in theory receive and make phone calls while riding. I just don't need that distraction. Because of the power when using GPS on the phone I carry 2 power banks that can either recharge or power the phone and earphones. Total investment about 20 Euros for the bag and earphones.

The next step is I might add a power connector under the flap in that little box on the left side next to the choke. Anybody know what that little box is for?

[4everFJ]

I now have a Garmin GPS on my bike. But, before that I just used Google Maps (free) on my phone.

I put the phone in my pocket and used a BT earpiece to receive the instructions. Worked fine.

You can download maps to Google maps so that it works offline.

[Nova]

I'm fairly happy with this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/X-Grip-Cellphone-Mount-Universal-Motorcycle-Mount-Cell-Phone-Holder-USB-Charger-/252183488464?hash=item3ab74ea7d0

It provides a power port and holds my phone securely. Sunlight washing out the screen is still an issue, but it always will be. Navigator app on my phone and a bluetooth headset combo works well.

[Nova]

And if you do add a power connector (which is a good idea), do it as a switched power block. You can buy a system off ebay if you want, but the components are fairly generic. Building one from scratch isn't very difficult and you'll save some money. I placed mine under the rear section of the right side cover with a flap of old tire tube rubber to prevent shorts/arcing and run my relay switch off the circuit for the tail light.

http://www.canyonchasers.net/shop/generic/relay.php

[krusty]

I had a "Go Cruise" motorcycle GPS from Aldi. It included mounting hardware, charger and cordless earpiece for voice instructions. It was on my bike when it was stolen last year and I've never bothered to replace it. It was not expensive although I can't remember how much it was.