Author Topic: motorcycle gps in car?  (Read 1767 times)

Offline mellow yellow

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motorcycle gps in car?
« on: January 14, 2020, 08:26:14 AM »
This might be a dumb question. I'm planning on getting a gps for my bike. but can I use it in the car, if need be? I used the car gps one time on the bike, but there were short comings to that. so am I safe to assume that I can do it? Thanks

Offline Conrad

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Re: motorcycle gps in car?
« Reply #1 on: January 14, 2020, 08:54:33 AM »
Nope, a motorcycle GPS won't work in a vehicle that has more than two wheels.

Sorry.



 ;)
Northern Illinois   Silverdammit '08 C-14 ABS

"Don't bother me with facts, Son. I've already made up my mind." -Foghorn Leghorn

Offline mellow yellow

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Re: motorcycle gps in car?
« Reply #2 on: January 14, 2020, 09:23:19 AM »
Nope, a motorcycle GPS won't work in a vehicle that has more than two wheels.

Sorry.



 ;)your a funny guy.  :P

Offline Conrad

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Re: motorcycle gps in car?
« Reply #3 on: January 14, 2020, 12:11:10 PM »
I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself.  :)

Yes, a MC GPS can be used in a car. Generally the only differences between a GPS designed for use on a bike vs a car is the bike GPS has been ruggedized and is water proof/water resistant. The GPS for bike use may have some additional features as well.
Northern Illinois   Silverdammit '08 C-14 ABS

"Don't bother me with facts, Son. I've already made up my mind." -Foghorn Leghorn

Online maxtog

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Re: motorcycle gps in car?
« Reply #4 on: January 14, 2020, 03:20:23 PM »
They are also usually drastically overpriced, simply because they don't have much competition in that "space."  So much so, that I finally decided to just use my phone on the bike as a GPS (when my Zumo broke, again), and bought the wonderful phone RAM "X-mount" and haven't looked back.  It actually works quite well with a magnetic USB power cord, and "offline maps" download in google maps (so it requires no data connection to continue to show maps) with "Android Auto" mode to reduce complexity and distraction.
Shoodaben (was Guhl) Mountain Runner ECU flash, Canyon Cages front/rear, Helibars risers, Phil's wedges, Grip Puppies, Sargent World seat-low & heated & pod, Muzzy lowering links, Soupy's stand, Nautilus air horn, Admore lightbar, Ronnie's highway pegs, front running lights, all LED, helmet locks, RAM Xgrip, Sena SMH10, Throttle Tamer, MRA X-Creen, BearingUp Shifter, PR4-GT, Scorpion EXO-T1200,etc

Offline MAN OF BLUES

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Re: motorcycle gps in car?
« Reply #5 on: January 14, 2020, 09:41:25 PM »
thanks for the reminder, I need to buy a replacement power supply cable, so I can re-program my old Garmin 2610, from my laptop...

I been using the same GPS in both 4 wheel and 2 wheel mode, for .... a lonnnnggggg freaking time... miss hearing old Gretta saying "of route... recalculating..."
y'all ride safe now...

46 YEARS OF KAW.....  47 years of DEVO..

Offline Poseidon

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Re: motorcycle gps in car?
« Reply #6 on: January 15, 2020, 06:39:56 AM »
The only down side to using a motorcycle GPS in a car is that you (or at least I do anyway) usually have the settings for the types of roads you want set up differently. For example, I have the Zumo set to avoid highways, toll roads, gravel / dirt roads. All the routes it pulls up are generally 2 lane back roads. It also looks for curvy roads. The GPS in my work car I have set to pull up the fastest route.

If you don’t have an issue with changing the settings, or keeping the routing info the same for both 2 wheels and 4, it shouldn’t be an issue.

One other consideration is the maintenance records. I use this feature on my zumo. It tracks mileage since last maintenance. You wouldn’t be able to use this feature if you share the GPS with another vehicle.
2017 Concours 14
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2016 Can Am Spyder F3T - Wife's bike

Offline just gone

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Re: motorcycle gps in car?
« Reply #7 on: January 20, 2020, 04:36:59 PM »
Speaking only for the Zumo 665, when you switch it to the car it knows it's in a car mount and asks you if you want to switch to car mode. You can have two different set ups say for road avoidance
toll avoidance etc and it will switch from one to the other when you switch mounts. I have used mine both in a car and my bike with no problems. It will still link to your phone and it's onboard mic and speaker both work for answering calls when in the car. I have also used a cord to route the audio from the Zumo to the input on my car radio and it works well that way too. I assume that the Zumo 660 works equally well, but I have no knowledge of the newer ones.

Online maxtog

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Re: motorcycle gps in car?
« Reply #8 on: February 22, 2022, 04:59:55 PM »
just use my phone on the bike as a GPS (when my Zumo broke, again), and bought the wonderful phone RAM "X-mount" and haven't looked back.  It actually works quite well with a magnetic USB power cord, and "offline maps" download in google maps (so it requires no data connection to continue to show maps) with "Android Auto" mode to reduce complexity and distraction.

Well, my current phone just updated from Android 11 to Android 12.  As part of that, Google "disabled" Android Auto on phones.  Now it uses something called "Google Assistant Driving Mode" which is a kinda "mode" that bridges Assistant and Google Maps.  I really can't quite understand it at the moment (played with it only a small amount of time, none of it actually while riding.  I can't say I am happy with this change, since what I had before worked very well.

I noticed so far that there is no way to see a map of current location using the screen only, in this "mode".  Their whole premise assumes you will ALWAYS be using voice recognition, which is only the case on a motorcycle when connected to a bluetooth headset/helmet.  I don't do that when riding with others, because I can't do both helmet communication AND phone bluetooth control at the same time.  Sigh.
Shoodaben (was Guhl) Mountain Runner ECU flash, Canyon Cages front/rear, Helibars risers, Phil's wedges, Grip Puppies, Sargent World seat-low & heated & pod, Muzzy lowering links, Soupy's stand, Nautilus air horn, Admore lightbar, Ronnie's highway pegs, front running lights, all LED, helmet locks, RAM Xgrip, Sena SMH10, Throttle Tamer, MRA X-Creen, BearingUp Shifter, PR4-GT, Scorpion EXO-T1200,etc

Online maxtog

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Re: motorcycle gps in car?
« Reply #9 on: November 24, 2022, 09:16:22 PM »
Well, my current phone just updated from Android 11 to Android 12.  As part of that, Google "disabled" Android Auto on phones.  Now it uses something called "Google Assistant Driving Mode" which is a kinda "mode" that bridges Assistant and Google Maps.  I really can't quite understand it at the moment (played with it only a small amount of time, none of it actually while riding.  I can't say I am happy with this change, since what I had before worked very well.

I had been using "Google Assistant Driving Mode" since they removed Android Auto without too much problem.  AND NOW THEY TOOK THAT AWAY TOO. 

https://www.droid-life.com/2022/10/08/google-assistant-driving-mode-is-going-away/

Now there is literally no safe way to use a safe maps/launcher/dashboard/driving system with Android on a motorcycle.  I am really pissed.  The ONLY way you can do anything is while in Maps and only if you are NAVIGATING somewhere (telling it a destination EVERY TIME you get on the motorcycle, and putting up with stupid instructions you don't want or need).  No thanks.

So there is no point in my even mounting the phone anymore, since all it can really do is just play music, and with no way to keep the screen on except to manually change settings EVERY TIME.
Shoodaben (was Guhl) Mountain Runner ECU flash, Canyon Cages front/rear, Helibars risers, Phil's wedges, Grip Puppies, Sargent World seat-low & heated & pod, Muzzy lowering links, Soupy's stand, Nautilus air horn, Admore lightbar, Ronnie's highway pegs, front running lights, all LED, helmet locks, RAM Xgrip, Sena SMH10, Throttle Tamer, MRA X-Creen, BearingUp Shifter, PR4-GT, Scorpion EXO-T1200,etc

Offline Boomer

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Re: motorcycle gps in car?
« Reply #10 on: November 25, 2022, 02:47:15 PM »
So there is no point in my even mounting the phone anymore, since all it can really do is just play music, and with no way to keep the screen on except to manually change settings EVERY TIME.
You can run Caffeine app. When toggled on it keeps the screen on.
Google Android are becoming a real PITA for removing useful functionality. Nearly as bad as Apple for restrictions.
Pretty soon I am going to have to try one of the Linux based phones.
George "Boomer" Garratt
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