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I recently went riding with a buddy who had a GPS on his Wee Strom. I study, and keep a map in the clear window of my tank bag. What's so hard about that? Anyway, It seems the only time we got lost is when I followed him. At one point we were looking for Rodney, Washington. My buddy stops to do whatever people do with a GPS. What he didn't see was the sign directly in front of him that read: Rodney 25 miles. He turned and went the other way.

You can't blame any of that on the GPSr.

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

OK then, who can I blame it on?

Two things re: GPS.

1. They're excellent if you have an ear piece and can listen to instruction. Saves taking your eyes off the road.

2. Whilst listening is good, that doesn't mean you have to obey.

ZM's example shows this.

Listen to your gps AND look closely at all the other clues.

Lately I've come across what I describe as the last minute across the lanes turn. I wonder if this is 'cause the gps is slow to describe directions. Driving and riding demands concentration and I expect some dills in cars get lazy, day dream and expect to be told where to go by their gps. If their gps software isn't great, and they're lazy, I postulate that they become even more dangerous!

I don't see that you're buddy would have behaved any smarter if he'd been staring at a map.

No GPS for me.
I look at a map every so often.
But then I don't go touring in the city either.

I use mine in the car around town all the time. It tells me the location of fixed speed and red light cameras, and if I avoid just one fine, the thing is paid for.

I took it with me when I rode to Queensland last year too. I only used it 3-4 times...all of those were in built up areas.

1. Finding Mals place in Dubbo.
2. Finding a mates place in Balmoral, Brissie.
3. Finding my sisters place in Caloundra.
4. Finding friends in Hornsby in Sydney.

I just turned it on and used the earplugs when I was as close as I could be without getting lost. Worked a treat and saved me time and bother, especially coming into Brissie and Sydney in the dark.. It needed to be kept charged as I didn't have the bits to run it from the bike.

Major Softie wrote:I don't see that you're buddy would have behaved any smarter if he'd been staring at a map. :mrgreen:

GPS: A very cool tool, but not an electronic substitute for common sense ...

SteveD wrote:Lately I've come across what I describe as the last minute across the lanes turn. I wonder if this is 'cause the gps is slow to describe directions. Driving and riding demands concentration and I expect some dills in cars get lazy, day dream and expect to be told where to go by their gps. If their gps software isn't great, and they're lazy, I postulate that they become even more dangerous!

This one of the downsides to using navigation programs in the new high-tech phones & Crackberries and such: the 'brain' is somewhere else, and each instruction must be downloaded. I have a company-issued Crackberry that I use for navigation on the job almost daily...and if one turn closely follows another, I'll frequently drive past the second turn before the instruction downloads. I'd love to know why the programmers didn't think to make these things think ahead a little.

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!