I don't understand what the cradle mounting system's impact is in the secure connection of a USB port. Sure, some connections work. Others don't. This inconsistency proves the fact is not designed for it. I even had burnmoto ports fail in Baja. Had to tape it to ensure the flat contact points connected. It only did to a point off course. Pin connector are used in these environment for this reason. The garmin 4 pin connector was great. The 2 pin is too small and the USB not up to the task. Off course it depends on the amount of abuse.

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Which apps did you use and didn't you use a case?

I find all screens troublesome in direct sun. But that's easily dealt with in use though.

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I used a RAM X-Mount when it was dry and popped it in the tank bag when raining.

Used Google maps and Sygic.

Interesting, those magnetic plugs. How strong is the magnet? Between looking at those mounts. As you said. It needs a waterproof phone. But USB ports would be direct to the phone which doesn't work for me. The magnetic port would suit Sony to these mounts well if it's strong enough.

The other thing with this mount is that there is no isolation from vibration.

I'm not sure on overheating. Didn't have that at 30C in sunny Baja in a black case riding first and second gear single and double trail. I covered it when standing still though. Never felt hot.

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I just bought some ram stuff and put my full size iPad straight into the cockpit of my KTM. It's waterproofed and whatnot. Have an app with read-out of everything from altitude to speed, and there's also a GPS map thingy. When bored I can switch to telly. Heck, there's even an app for roadbooks! Haven't tried the set-up in really heavy terrain when doing the shake-down test, but I will soon.

https://ridenorway.files.wordpress.c...1&h=461&crop=1

Hi Andy:

That will work well if the rider has some familiarity with the country in which they are riding. For example, I live in Canada, and if I was to ride 4,000 miles across Canada, from coast to coast, I would probably do exactly what you suggest and only turn on my GPS (a Garmin 590) when riding through the center of large cities.

But, when I am riding in a foreign country (e.g. the UK) where I have no familiarity at all with the lay of the land, and even less familiarity with the local language, traffic protocols, signs, where the speed cameras are, and stuff like that, I find that having the GPS on all the time takes a lot of the uncertainty and stress out of navigation, and actually lets me spend more time "enjoying the scenery" than I would have without GPS guidance.

I do agree that the 'recalculating' prompts and voice guidance can sometime be irritating, but they can be turned off (via configuration options within the GPS navigator) as desired. The 'recalculating' voice prompt can be very useful at times... if I hear that the GPS is 'recalculating' a route when I don't expect it to do so, that is a fairly strong hint that I missed a turn somewhere and ought to take a second, more critical look at where I am going, and where the GPS is suggesting I should go.

Michael

It's the software that is responsible for all that. Doesn't matter if it's on a dedicated GPS or not.

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Do you pop it into your pocket when the bike is parked somewhere in public?
(it looks pretty vulnerable).

I just bring it along when leaving the bike. Not exactly pocket friendly, but it works.

Start with a normal GPS, I would recommend a motor-oriented GPS: rugged, waterproof, for normal naviation (my LM390 has hit stone-pavement with 80km/h, still working, hehehe).

I dislike the small screen, I dislike the lack of "overview" in general and the l dislike the slow-slow-slow repsonse to finger-commands.

So.. for map-reading, I mostly carry a 7Inch Tablet (I lost my first google-nexus on the Transfagarasan in 2014... Stupid). The tablets tend to be slow as well, but at least they offer a better overview for map-reading (OSM, maps.me, and maps.google.com if on-the-net).

Screen-size not ideal for map-reading yet, but Larger then 7inch is hard to stow away in the tank-case.

In addition to that, I have now dedicated an old-phone, a GS3, to "tracking": it runs ramblr and myadventure.bike to record my whereabouts and allows me to easily record a map+logbook (separate thread). I also use that old phone as additional camera and for OSM maps.me reading (but the screen is too small for that, hence the tablet!). Last but not least, that old phone, with cheapo simcard is my emergency-backup in case the main phone gets lost or damaged.

For true-map-reading, I also still carry paper maps, but less and less.

For planning, I tend to do my rough layout using paper and laptop and then program a few via-points into the Garmin. Plus some pen-on-paper-notes (city-names, road nrs) under the plastic of the tank-case.

Wow. That's quite a bit of redundancy. Some would say the Garmin is somewhat redundant.

Grinning right at you...

The Garmin is the only device I will use while actually Riding.
it is water-resistant (hell it survived an 80km/h drop on brick/stone road), and it is the only device I use to navigate streets/roads.
All the other devices are either for
map-reading (tablet) or
track-recording and route-logbook (old phone with myadventure.bike + ramblr).
And then there is my actual "phone" or making calls and doing messaging.

A recorded trip of 4 weeks looks like this:

OUG tour spring 2016

this took me close to zero effort: recording is automatic, any picture on Flicr is auto-inserted into the trip, and text can go in via phone or via web-page. And the web-page is "up" from day one so my friends can follow me, and I can brag and show it to ppl I meet on the road.
Anyone with a computer+internet can find you instantly via google myadventure-dot-bike, then T R I P S -slash- one three seven -enter-.
Like I said: a Great Brag or conversation-starter (you just came down from Helsinki???)

All other systems require me to tweak and figet to put route + picure + notes together..
MyAdv is "instant-ride-report". not perfect yet, but a good help for a lazy person like me.

Suggestion: Download Locus and try it out. This gives you the ability to scan in your paper maps and upload it into Locus. That way what you see on the paper is what you see on screen which makes it much easier to relate to it when you ride. I personally don't find turn-by-turn necessary but with a plugin and the right maps Locus can also do that. I use it on an S4

Screenshot of T4A paper maps in Locus
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...4-10-25-38.png

BC with my route drawn in to follow.
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...4-10-25-15.png

Used it in Baja as well with the Baja Almanac which is really the only decent mapbook of the place.
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...6999301190.jpg

Locus: I need to look at my notes (am at work). I've had it on one of my phones for a short while.
From memory; locus seemed excellent for route + trip, and it could "Export" the route-data (export-function was how I found it).
But if I remember well, it didnt do the "web-page-display" e.g. the sharing-to-friends was missing (and I like to show-off, hehehe).

Locus: I'll put it on the list to re-visit.

Questions I generally have when evaluating an app (checklist is at home):
- Does it easily record month-long trips (and display them) Several apps crash when too-much-data is collected and you have to do day-by-day fidgeting and then "glue" the trip together.. sigh.
- Does it survive phone-battery-dead and continue tracking on switch-on? (most apps will have to start a new trip..)
- Does it easily integrate text-notes and pictures ? my-adv simply picks up my public flckr pictures, hence anything I put on flickr goes into the ride-report with zero effort, no cables, no drag-n-drop-hassle. Some others will indiscriminately harvest _all_ pictures from the phone.. ai.
- Does it allow me privacy? Can I erase pieces of a trip (Myadv cannot yet dot this - I'm pushing for that option!).

Not sure on most those. I'm not that demanding, but you should try and let me know. beer

It does restart the track recording. My phone ran out of battery because I kept it plugged in and on with the engine on. It started right back up where it left off. Not sure on the max number of points either. Try it. It may be published somewhere as well. I do daily route recordings so I can back it up. But in reality I don't really need to record unless I change course from the plan I guess.