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Designing Google Maps for Motorbikes

design.google

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Re: Designing Google Maps for Motorbikes

#31

Post by systemtest »

Itsdijital wrote: post #19
keyle wrote: post #2

That's very cool. One time, I decided to just put the phone in my pocket and take my bike to a location. I had the ear buds in my ears, I thought, voice is enough... Oh my, was I wrong. I ended up missing most turn off in streets due to latency, some crossings made no sense over audio, a total disaster. So I got a stand to attach the phone to the handle bars... And that works great, for about 20 mins. I live in Austr…

Years ago before a long motorcycle trip I made a nice setup to use google maps while riding for the trip. A custom mount, ran all the charging cables, NFC tag and tasker profile so it knows when it's mounted. I used it for 3 days before a guy told me to give old fashioned maps a try, and gave me a few state maps. My tank bag has a nice window slot for them, so why not use it in tandem? Within 2 hours I had totally st…

I ride motorcycles in cross-Europe trips for fun but prefer the GPS. My GPS will look for small twisty mountain roads with lots of elevation changes and lots of corners. Roads that are only on highly detailed local maps, and I don't want to carry 30 maps on a month long road trip. Road signage is simply not a thing on these roads as they are only used by locals. I can disable highways, B-roads, toll, ferries and on my roadbikes I will disable gravel sections. It will tell me how many kilometers till the next gas-stations along the trip and warn me about speed traps. Not that I speed on purpose, but sometimes you are a couple of kms above the limit.

Especially on sections where I have to change direction every 300 to 500 meters I don't want to deal with reading a map. Voice navigation in my headset and an occasional quick glance at the screen is much safer than fiddling with a paper map.

Re: Designing Google Maps for Motorbikes

#32

Post by systemtest »

michaelt wrote: post #26
barrkel wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Use Bluetooth helmet speakers for audio. Most touring bikes, and many scooters have a cigarette lighter attachment point. My SH300 has one in the glove box. The 2016+ VFR800 has one. Etc. Many better quality gloves have conductive tips on their forefingers for capacitive touchscreen usage these days. My Alpinestars SP8 gloves do. I find Google Maps audio directions just barely acceptable for London navigation. I pref…

Yes, many of my problems could have been at least partly solved by spending more money on a helmet with bluetooth, more money on a bike with a better battery and a phone power supply, more money on better gloves with special finger coating, more money on a phone with a better battery and better handlebar mounts available, and so on. Sadly, as a student on a £300 motorbike, I didn't have the money for such luxuries :)

I have to disagree. I don't have a helmet with bluetooth. My bike has a standard battery. The phone power supply is a 10 euro part on eBay and 5 minutes of soldering. You don't need the gloves as you shoudln't be touching your devices while riding. The battery on my phone has 1500 loadcycles and plain sucks, but I have the 10 euro phone charger. And a handlebar mount is another 10 euro on eBay.

Re: Designing Google Maps for Motorbikes

#33

Post by kokey »

keyle wrote: post #2

That's very cool. One time, I decided to just put the phone in my pocket and take my bike to a location. I had the ear buds in my ears, I thought, voice is enough... Oh my, was I wrong. I ended up missing most turn off in streets due to latency, some crossings made no sense over audio, a total disaster. So I got a stand to attach the phone to the handle bars... And that works great, for about 20 mins. I live in Austr…

I went on holiday to an area I used to drive a lot before navigation devices, there I realised how much more relaxed I am if I didn't use it. So I tried to go back to studying routes before my drive and only having a device as a backup plan and discovered it generally makes me more relaxed especially when there are other people being distracting in the car.

Re: Designing Google Maps for Motorbikes

#34

Post by dan_hawkins »

keyle wrote: post #2

That's very cool. One time, I decided to just put the phone in my pocket and take my bike to a location. I had the ear buds in my ears, I thought, voice is enough... Oh my, was I wrong. I ended up missing most turn off in streets due to latency, some crossings made no sense over audio, a total disaster. So I got a stand to attach the phone to the handle bars... And that works great, for about 20 mins. I live in Austr…

TomTom app for iPhone works wonderfully when you'd like to navigate just by voice commands. I've navigated through Paris during rush hours without single mistaken turn just by listening to the phone :D

Re: Designing Google Maps for Motorbikes

#35

Post by dahauns »

Itsdijital wrote: post #19
keyle wrote: post #2

That's very cool. One time, I decided to just put the phone in my pocket and take my bike to a location. I had the ear buds in my ears, I thought, voice is enough... Oh my, was I wrong. I ended up missing most turn off in streets due to latency, some crossings made no sense over audio, a total disaster. So I got a stand to attach the phone to the handle bars... And that works great, for about 20 mins. I live in Austr…

Years ago before a long motorcycle trip I made a nice setup to use google maps while riding for the trip. A custom mount, ran all the charging cables, NFC tag and tasker profile so it knows when it's mounted. I used it for 3 days before a guy told me to give old fashioned maps a try, and gave me a few state maps. My tank bag has a nice window slot for them, so why not use it in tandem? Within 2 hours I had totally st…

>You can quickly see all info on the map (no dicking around with zoom/scrolling on the touchscreen)

DID YOU GET THAT, GOOGLE?

Re: Designing Google Maps for Motorbikes

#37

Post by Angostura »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #25
modeless wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How about a Pebble? Always on, sunlight visible, cheap. The company is gone but they still work. This is what you can get for navigation: https://apps.getpebble.com/en_US/application/530a8f36fc62a5e...

Pebble was the best. Was fun while it lasted. [*]. I'm counting days until my Pebble Time dies and then I'll be off the smartwatch game until something else pops up that's not just a toy or a fitness tracker.

I bought a Pebble Time Round after the company went bust at knock-down price and love it. Just waiting for the app/Appstore to die. Still working OK at the moment, though.

Re: Designing Google Maps for Motorbikes

#38

Post by michaelt »

systemtest wrote: post #32
michaelt wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, many of my problems could have been at least partly solved by spending more money on a helmet with bluetooth, more money on a bike with a better battery and a phone power supply, more money on better gloves with special finger coating, more money on a phone with a better battery and better handlebar mounts available, and so on. Sadly, as a student on a £300 motorbike, I didn't have the money for such luxuries :)

I have to disagree. I don't have a helmet with bluetooth. My bike has a standard battery. The phone power supply is a 10 euro part on eBay and 5 minutes of soldering. You don't need the gloves as you shoudln't be touching your devices while riding. The battery on my phone has 1500 loadcycles and plain sucks, but I have the 10 euro phone charger. And a handlebar mount is another 10 euro on eBay.

I guess I'm not sure if you're agreeing or disagreeing?

I said I couldn't hear audio directions, barrkel said a bluetooth helmet would have helped, I said maybe but I couldn't afford that, you say you disagree and your helmet doesn't have bluetooth - what are we disagreeing about?

Re: Designing Google Maps for Motorbikes

#39

Post by chris_overseas »

keyle wrote: post #2

That's very cool. One time, I decided to just put the phone in my pocket and take my bike to a location. I had the ear buds in my ears, I thought, voice is enough... Oh my, was I wrong. I ended up missing most turn off in streets due to latency, some crossings made no sense over audio, a total disaster. So I got a stand to attach the phone to the handle bars... And that works great, for about 20 mins. I live in Austr…

I recently saw a pitch from a startup that have a gadget [1] designed to address exactly the problems you talk about and might be worth a look (disclaimer: I have no relationship with the company but I do cycle a lot and thought their product looked promising). The debate amongst the investors afterwards was interesting, once the startup had left the room. The investors who didn't cycle/motorbike were sceptical and couldn't understand why a mobile phone wasn't good enough for this whereas the investors who had some cycling experience were mostly positive about the product.

[1] https://beeline.co/

Re: Designing Google Maps for Motorbikes

#40

Post by systemtest »

michaelt wrote: post #38
systemtest wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have to disagree. I don't have a helmet with bluetooth. My bike has a standard battery. The phone power supply is a 10 euro part on eBay and 5 minutes of soldering. You don't need the gloves as you shoudln't be touching your devices while riding. The battery on my phone has 1500 loadcycles and plain sucks, but I have the 10 euro phone charger. And a handlebar mount is another 10 euro on eBay.

I guess I'm not sure if you're agreeing or disagreeing? I said I couldn't hear audio directions, barrkel said a bluetooth helmet would have helped, I said maybe but I couldn't afford that, you say you disagree and your helmet doesn't have bluetooth - what are we disagreeing about?

That you need all those things you listed in your post. I do intercontinental trips without most of those things. You only need to invest 20 to 100 euro and about 30 minutes of your time to have proper navigation on your motorcycle.
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