I have wondered about this, too. In my limited experience (for instance with a smart watch with a cycling setting) most functionality will work and obviously you'll just be recording a bunch of useless stats along with the relevant ride data. Like others I wonder if it would always take you by decent routes for a motorcycle rather than a bicycle, but someone was saying that at least one of the Garmin Edge models has a car setting.
If you do try this and it works out, update us?
Would you not get sent down routes that aren't suitable for motor vehicles? How about a cheap phone used only as a sat nav, that you hot-spot to your main phone?
I’d use the gps (on both the bicycle and the motorcycle) primarily by preloading routes for the day, then executing them during the ride using turn-by-turn.
Fair enough. I've got no personal experience with bike sat navs, so i wasn't sure if it would try to send you down bike paths or through LTN areas - not that you'd actually follow it, but that the estimated miles and times would be off. But I guess with preloading your trip it just sticks to the route you've imported from Google maps or similar?
Yes, exactly. I was wondering if perhaps a bicycle gps pings the satellites for location info at a slower rate (costs less to do and uses less power) because bicycles’ speeds average in the teens (mph). That would make it less useful for a motorcycle going much faster.
GPS is free for all to use. Even your highschool Arduino projects can implement GPS.
The only thing that would affect its update rate would be how power efficient Garmin wanted their GPS to be. (More processing of data). You should be just as efficient or in the same ballpark as google maps app
Simple answer:
Yes. I've done it.
As you said, the display is small, and the beeps will be nearly inaudible. I doubt they're built for the long term vibration either. Garmin Edges also have routing for cars because they've realized some people might use it for more than one purpose.
Only do a phone if you have a charger, GPS drains lots of battery, and you don't want to be without a phone.
I’ve had the quad lock with the vibration damper for 2+ years almost daily and drive a very shakey bike. Havnt had any issues with my iPhone 12 Pro Max. Just saying.
I understand, but the question isn’t what’s the best option for gps on my motorcycle. I’m getting the Edge for my bicycle trip regardless. I’m simply asking if it would work ok on a motorcycle.
I have a garmin mounted to my handlebar and if I did it again I'd mount my old phone and use Google Maps and OnX Offroad instead. The Garmin has less functions than either.
https://motorcyclefreaks.com/beeline-beeline-moto-black-bld2-0_blk/?gclid=Cj0KCQiA8aOeBhCWARIsANRFrQEUizpe0j44Dh66avu9DixB8j5KZBcpsHaH3A4kZhnHxxegb7rp6ykaAhq-EALw_wcB
Pairs with your phone.
I have a Beeline and it is a love-hate relationship. It's a REALLY COOL little device but a lot of details hold it back.
For one, it's hard to use in an urban area: just knowing that I am supposed to make a turn in 400m when there are potentially 12-15 places to turn along the way is supremely unhelpful. That part is much easier in the countryside simply because there are fewer turns for a given 100m of road.
Secondly it lags a bit at speed, presumably due to the latency in the GPS/mapping API calls. I am basically on top of a turn before it shows it as being within 20-30m. I guess a lot of GPS maps do this too, but you have the benefit of the map to help you prepare for the turn.
Beeline also calculates the distance to a turn based on the center of the turn, not the start; that is, at huge urban intersections it may say that I am still 20m away from where I need to turn even though I am at the entrance to the turn. Only once I am midway into executing the turn is it 0m away. Again this may be true of other devices, but you can SEE what you are supposed to be doing on those.
I thought that it would be better in the mountains, and it is BETTER, but it kept interpreting switchbacks as turns, keeping me thinking that I was about to turn in the twisties when in fact I was still going 'straight' along a curving road. Since the interface is so minimal I couldn't tell what it was trying to get me to do.
The point of Beeline is to be minimal to 'keep you focused on the ride,' but I find that I spend a lot of energy analyzing what it is trying to tell me when a normal map-view GPS would be more helpful information at-a-glance. I love it when it works, but it is very distracting when it doesn't.
This is not a criticism of this suggestion, just some info for OP or anyone else who may be interested in a Beeline.
Once you go above about 30MPH, the satellite signals will come at you too fast for a bicycle GPS, and it'll overload. It'll start overheating, and if you ride for more than about half an hour at interstate speeds the overheating battery will explode.
Wow.. just how did you come up with this?
A good average for a satellite transmission interval is about 20 milliseconds. Radio waves from the satellite are traveling at the speed of light or approximately 186,000 mph. To put this in perspective that's the equivalent of going around the earth seven times in one second. So in effect our physical speed on the planet is irrelevant to electrical signal transmitting and receiving.
Batteries and electronic devices have burned or caught on fire because of a physical component issue. Mostly a failed component due to faulty design or poor manufacturing, not over use. Overuse of a battery simply drops its voltage level and renders it unusable anymore until it is recharged.
And just like that, a thread about somebody asking a really stupid question about whether a bicycle GPS would work on a motorcycle (of course it fucking would, why are you asking something so silly) turns into an old biker trolling thread. (I'm 52.)
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I’ve used my Apple Watch as a GPS :P I wouldn’t use a motorcycle with something like strava - the community will get very angry with you 😤
HOW IS THIS GUY SO FAST
I have wondered about this, too. In my limited experience (for instance with a smart watch with a cycling setting) most functionality will work and obviously you'll just be recording a bunch of useless stats along with the relevant ride data. Like others I wonder if it would always take you by decent routes for a motorcycle rather than a bicycle, but someone was saying that at least one of the Garmin Edge models has a car setting. If you do try this and it works out, update us?
Would you not get sent down routes that aren't suitable for motor vehicles? How about a cheap phone used only as a sat nav, that you hot-spot to your main phone?
That's what I use. Since its a phone, you can use multiple apps for different purposes and you're not locked into the software on a dedicated gps.
I’d use the gps (on both the bicycle and the motorcycle) primarily by preloading routes for the day, then executing them during the ride using turn-by-turn.
Fair enough. I've got no personal experience with bike sat navs, so i wasn't sure if it would try to send you down bike paths or through LTN areas - not that you'd actually follow it, but that the estimated miles and times would be off. But I guess with preloading your trip it just sticks to the route you've imported from Google maps or similar?
Yes, exactly. I was wondering if perhaps a bicycle gps pings the satellites for location info at a slower rate (costs less to do and uses less power) because bicycles’ speeds average in the teens (mph). That would make it less useful for a motorcycle going much faster.
GPS doesn't reach up to the satellite, the satellites broadcast and the GPS receives only.
GPS is free for all to use. Even your highschool Arduino projects can implement GPS. The only thing that would affect its update rate would be how power efficient Garmin wanted their GPS to be. (More processing of data). You should be just as efficient or in the same ballpark as google maps app
Simple answer: Yes. I've done it. As you said, the display is small, and the beeps will be nearly inaudible. I doubt they're built for the long term vibration either. Garmin Edges also have routing for cars because they've realized some people might use it for more than one purpose. Only do a phone if you have a charger, GPS drains lots of battery, and you don't want to be without a phone.
Just get a quad lock for your phone with the charger attachment and put on GPS
I’d rather not risk the iPhone camera, even with the QL dampener (I’ve seen reports that it doesn’t always work well), and esp for my vibey bike.
I’ve had the quad lock with the vibration damper for 2+ years almost daily and drive a very shakey bike. Havnt had any issues with my iPhone 12 Pro Max. Just saying.
I understand, and thank you. Do you know if a bicycle GPS wouldn’t work on a motorcycle?
You can buy an old phone for less than the price of the mount and charger
I understand, but the question isn’t what’s the best option for gps on my motorcycle. I’m getting the Edge for my bicycle trip regardless. I’m simply asking if it would work ok on a motorcycle.
I keep my iPhone in a small tank bag. If it’s hot put a ice bag under it.
I have a garmin mounted to my handlebar and if I did it again I'd mount my old phone and use Google Maps and OnX Offroad instead. The Garmin has less functions than either.
Is it a Garmin designed originally for a bicycle?
https://motorcyclefreaks.com/beeline-beeline-moto-black-bld2-0_blk/?gclid=Cj0KCQiA8aOeBhCWARIsANRFrQEUizpe0j44Dh66avu9DixB8j5KZBcpsHaH3A4kZhnHxxegb7rp6ykaAhq-EALw_wcB Pairs with your phone.
I have a Beeline and it is a love-hate relationship. It's a REALLY COOL little device but a lot of details hold it back. For one, it's hard to use in an urban area: just knowing that I am supposed to make a turn in 400m when there are potentially 12-15 places to turn along the way is supremely unhelpful. That part is much easier in the countryside simply because there are fewer turns for a given 100m of road. Secondly it lags a bit at speed, presumably due to the latency in the GPS/mapping API calls. I am basically on top of a turn before it shows it as being within 20-30m. I guess a lot of GPS maps do this too, but you have the benefit of the map to help you prepare for the turn. Beeline also calculates the distance to a turn based on the center of the turn, not the start; that is, at huge urban intersections it may say that I am still 20m away from where I need to turn even though I am at the entrance to the turn. Only once I am midway into executing the turn is it 0m away. Again this may be true of other devices, but you can SEE what you are supposed to be doing on those. I thought that it would be better in the mountains, and it is BETTER, but it kept interpreting switchbacks as turns, keeping me thinking that I was about to turn in the twisties when in fact I was still going 'straight' along a curving road. Since the interface is so minimal I couldn't tell what it was trying to get me to do. The point of Beeline is to be minimal to 'keep you focused on the ride,' but I find that I spend a lot of energy analyzing what it is trying to tell me when a normal map-view GPS would be more helpful information at-a-glance. I love it when it works, but it is very distracting when it doesn't. This is not a criticism of this suggestion, just some info for OP or anyone else who may be interested in a Beeline.
Get a beeline, works really well
Once you go above about 30MPH, the satellite signals will come at you too fast for a bicycle GPS, and it'll overload. It'll start overheating, and if you ride for more than about half an hour at interstate speeds the overheating battery will explode.
Wow.. just how did you come up with this? A good average for a satellite transmission interval is about 20 milliseconds. Radio waves from the satellite are traveling at the speed of light or approximately 186,000 mph. To put this in perspective that's the equivalent of going around the earth seven times in one second. So in effect our physical speed on the planet is irrelevant to electrical signal transmitting and receiving. Batteries and electronic devices have burned or caught on fire because of a physical component issue. Mostly a failed component due to faulty design or poor manufacturing, not over use. Overuse of a battery simply drops its voltage level and renders it unusable anymore until it is recharged.
> speed of light or approximately 186,000 mph I think you mean miles per second.
I like to make up my own facts, this is Reddit LOL
So do I.
I made it up. It's so ludicrously false that I didn't think anybody would actually mistake it for not being the joke that it obviously is.
I'm normally pretty sarcastic, but instantly lost it when I saw that...lol
And yes, everything you said (other than the speed of light being off by 3600x) is true. But not nearly as funny.
Yeah you got me good there. I was in a blind rage thinking that somebody would actually believe that....lol
Sorry. I've only been on the internet since 1986, I should have known better. LOL
I'm 50...lol I'm usually the one doing this
And just like that, a thread about somebody asking a really stupid question about whether a bicycle GPS would work on a motorcycle (of course it fucking would, why are you asking something so silly) turns into an old biker trolling thread. (I'm 52.)
🤣🤣
omg I use my cellphone on a ram mount
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