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R65 Rob wrote:

Zombie Master wrote:

R65 Rob wrote:You can't blame any of that on the GPSr.

OK then, who can I blame it on?

The operator.

And I would NEVER put an earphone in my helmet so I could listen to a GPSr! Crikey!

Why not Rob?

SteveD wrote: Why not (wear a gps earphone) Rob?

Rob prefers the sound of heavy metal.
(disintegrating)

I have heard auto drivers refer to their GPSr as "The Bitch in the Box"...

But really, if I am not sure of where I am going, I don't need the distraction of something yelling in my helmet!

I suppose if I tried a talking GPSr I might think differently, but as it stands, I will maintain radio silence with mine.

I haven't used it much with the earphone, but when I have it's proved useful. In the short trips I've used it this way, I'm concentrating on getting to the destination easily, and it really can be a great help. It's always been in built up areas, that I'm unfamiliar with.

if I am not sure of where I am going, I don't need the distraction of something yelling in my helmet

...or to paraphrase...gently provide direction in a soft female English accent. Sofie is her name! I'd really like to use the Ozzie Osbourne one...that'd be a little distracting though! "take the next fcukin' left turn ya twat"

I find that I can tune into the noises I want to hear, when using it in the car. It annoys my kids though! (another reason to use it!) Tuning out is a funny phenomenon. I don't hear all the alarms at work, but I always hear the ones I must hear. I guess it's what one becomes accustomed to.

gspd wrote:

SteveD wrote: Why not (wear a gps earphone) Rob?

Rob prefers the sound of heavy metal.
(disintegrating)

Beyotch!

I like my Garmin 276C:
Lets me know how far to the next gas or how far I will need to walk if I run out.
Where a campground or motel is located. The GPS shows campgrounds that are not on state maps, city, county and US Forrest Service.
The screen is big enough for me to read while riding, taking me through confusing cities.
I can watch the road not the GPS, a quick glance and I know where and when to turn, excample the exit ramp number off the slab.
I know which lane I need to be in.
The details go down to goat trails.

I believe the GPS has made riding safer. I still carry paper maps (I own hundreds and stop picking up new ones at welcome centers) and a compass just in case.

Recently hard-wired a Garmin into the bug.

If I ever find the ambition to make a ZTechnic -Techmount clone – I'll have it on the R12S, too.

Last Fall I was wandering about in up-state NY, the sun had gone down.
I was tired from traveling the day from Mi,
and then playing fast when I got into those little mountain two-lanes –
Mountain roads will have a way of taking me where they will, and finally,
I had no clue as to where I was supposed to be headed.
A road map in my tank-bag, an address, and absolutely NO idea of how to get there from here.
Hours later, at the point of fatigue and past the condition of alertness that allows for "safe MC riding" ...
I found an expressway and followed it to a motel.
I would rather that I had arrived at the campground three hours earlier to party by the fire as planned.

Sure wished I had a bitch-in-a-box to listen to that night.

My favorite experience from having a GPSr on my motorcycle was on my return trip from my aborted attempt to make it to the Gathering of the Clans several years ago. My left carb diaphragm's snap-ring (flat-top) kept coming loose.
So I spent the night just outside of Charleston, WV, where I created a bodge good enough to get me home, but I certainly wasn't going any further away from home!
So the next morning, feeling good about my fix, I headed west on Interstate 64, toward Lexington.

Not long after crossing into Kentucky, a couple of "good ole boys" decided to jerk me around. They were in two diesel pick-up trucks, and they got in front of me in both lanes and blasted me with black smoke a couple of times.
There was an exit coming up (I saw it on my GPSr), so I waited until the last second and jumped off after they were too far ahead to follow.

Now I was in unknown territory, with no detailed maps of the area loaded into my GPSr's somewhat limited memory.
I did have the coordinates for my house, however, so I just plugged that in as my destination, set the GPSr to display a compass with an arrow that points toward said destination, and then follow the back roads to all my delight without worrying if I was headed in the wrong direction.

Thanks to the jerks and my GPSr, I had one of the most pleasant rides in a long time!

Even nicer (if you remember...) is to set the unit to track your route, and when you get home you can download the route onto your computer, to save and contemplate in your old age. Or perhaps to remember where those neat roads were!

GPS – a cool tool.

As any tool, to be used with proper discretion,

As any tool, often not necessary.

As any tool, in time of need – priceless !