Hey, for a thread drift, did you know Paul Rooney isn't far from you (he's just south of Balina). If you ever need another opinion on your dual plug set up, he's a got a few tricks up his sleeve regarding that subject. He's a great guy, a wealth of knowledge, and well worth dropping past and meeting IMO.
Matt,
I don't know about your side of the world. I got a cheap basic motorbike GPS (waterproof) from Aldi two or three years ago and I couldn't be happier with it. It is about time I tried to update the maps on it, and the battery is pretty worn out (OK because it gets power through the cradle), but it still works brilliantly. If I am not using it on my bike, then I am using it in my car. I'm sure it has paid for itself numerous times already by saving me from those infuriating 3-4kmh over the speed limit speed camera fines I used to always get- not only does it tell you an exact speed that you are going but it warns you about approaching speed camera and red light cameras.
I'll probably just replace it with the same unit when Aldi next offers one for sale. I think there is a whole subforum on adv about GPS's (making tracks?).
Anyway, although I've led a few people into some odd situations with the GPS, and surely annoyed the hell out of Airbear when we've ridden together, I really love riding with a GPS. My favourite thing to do on it is just to randomly ride and loose myself, and then after a while plug in my destination (home or somewhere else) and head off. It is also great for quickly figuring out routes and the needs of for refueling. When on long country rides, shortest route options bring up the most unusual and sometimes spectacular ways through places where anything but the most detailed local paper map and some guesswork would never have revealed. Thus, when I get into the rare occasion when it leads me into a dead end, can't find an address, asks me to turn down a street that doesn't exist, takes me a long way around because it thinks a street that does exist doesn't, or leads me down a goat path or any other odd thing it does- I don't care at all. The positives far outweigh the negatives in my mind.
I'll always have a GPS (until something better comes along
)
