Satnav

Nothing to do with model engineering and I apologise for that but with the depth of knowledge around here I might get an answer!

I have a Tomtom car satnav that I want to use on a motorcycle and will need to mostly hear rather than see the instructions. Problem is there is no headphone socket, only the USB connection for charging and upgrading.

Is there some way I can get the voice commands in to an earpiece?

I suppose the alternative would be to use my smart phone, problem there is that it doesn't have much memory......

Thanks in anticipation of some wondrous solution!

John

Hi John,
If the satnav has built in Bluetooth then it can probably be paired with Bluetooth headphones or a Bluetooth speaker. If not then you will probably have to dismantle it to bring out the loudspeaker connections.

Les.

Edited By Les Jones 1 on 23/06/2019 08:58:32

Download Waze to your phone. A free app that I find better than my car built in sat nav. It will play through Bluetooth if required, I just use the headphones when on the bike. I tend to only rely on sat nav for the last few miles if in the UK I know my way around well enough.

Maybe for next time but Garmin make Motorcycle specific units.

Garmin

Thanks all for the replies. The device (Tomtom) is quite old so no Bluetooth. I've cleared out some memory on the phone and downloaded Waze. Pleasantly surprised with how well it works! The reason I want satnav on the bike is because I have entered this years ACU National Rally for the first time in a few years. When I was a regular competitor I could remember where the location of the controls, mostly. I'm staying local (ish), trouble is some controls have gone and been replaced with controls in different places, I'm hoping the satnav will help ne find them.

As for buying a motorcycle specific device, they seem to be quite expensive, especially for something that will get very occaional use. The last to new cars I bought have built in satnav. The old Tomtom still gets used in my classic car.

John

John, you will be pleased with Waze, sometimes it even gives alerts for potholes and speed cameras. As I said before it is better the the built in car job.

I haven't used my satnav for years, Google maps does vastly more and much better, being aware of traffic conditions and I can change destination, route around blocks or find a garage, village shop etc. without touching it using voice control.

I checked its accuracy yesterday while walking the dog. It's not perfect, from time to time my position was as much as two metres out

Neil

Remember the days when you would get a map and write a list of road numbers and put it in the clear pocket on the top of your tank bag?

Mike

And then it rained and next time you looked the felt tip list had run and blurred and you were stuffed!

Nick

PS At one stage I ran a shed of a CZ 250 and my mate just glanced down at the list on my tank bag and quietly said - don't be silly it won't get that far! Then it hurt, but experience proved him to be correct more often than not!

I've done the National Road Rally once myself - not easy. I'd read somewhere some time ago that it was considered 'bad form' to use a Sat Nav on the National Rally. However, I can't believe that is still the prevailing view as Sat Navs are so ubiquitous nowadays and like you all our memories are failing. I use a Garmin Sat Nav regularly on my bikes but never with the sound on, you really don't need it.

Best of Luck

Sat-Nav on the National Rally. Thats cheating.

I collected 10 or so first class (or whatever they were called) awards over the years. Made up an illuminated roller map box to strap to the tank which did the directions think just fine. I really never saw what was supposed to be so difficult about it all. Evenings homework to do the route with ordinary maps then a (usually) pleasant 600 mile weekend ride. Albeit in silly short stages.

I'll admit the first time was a bit uncomfortable as it rained heavily all the time. Comfy ride on my commuting bike, a BSA DB32 Gold Star ex-racer with civilised handlebars. Which of course didn't miss a beat. Thought the guy who talked the BSA factory motorcycle club into letting him put his three pot Laverda inside was pushing it a bit tho'.

Last time was with my Norton Commander. Sat up behind the worlds most comfy fairing, 90 + hp of effortless rotary power underneath and the Mk2 roller map device right in front where the police spec Interpols kept their radio needed a new word to define the easy side of easy. Especially as mine had properly sorted brakes.

Now the Stella Alpina was pushing it a bit more. One time only. But I got the Tee shirt. BMW K100RS was not happy mountaineering. Short handlebars and fragile, expensive fairing do not a trail bike make. We won't mention the mad Swede who took a Goldwing Aspencade with his missus on pillion up to the top! Nice folks but totally barking.

Clive

The track up the Pic du Midi appeared to be built with dynamite and a bulldozer, A VF750F was not the best tool for the job, no need for a satnav as it only went up and backdown.

Mike

I opened this thread in the bizarre hope that someone had found a way to use satnav in place of a DRO!

Perhaps my stupidity will not look so daft in a year or two. I remember telling my neighbour (who had been enticing me to get into 'pre DOS ' computers) that I would get a computer when it spoke English. A very few years later and Windows was launched - and I got a computer straight away!

Clive F. I do hope you are joking! I suppose competing in a 3 wheeler with a co-pilot is cheating, Sitting behind a fairing could be considered the same, riding a diesel engined bike that did not need a refuel for the (540miles) duration of the rally is unfair! An ubundance of power is an unfair advantage! A real rider would achieve the top award on a Honda 50!

The rally now runs from 12.00 untill 10.00am the next day, 2 hours longer than a few years ago! And only 540 miles maximum, in the good old days it was 700 miles in 2 hours less.

My favoured method of route finding was a map in a tank bag. The thing is scooters don't have anywhere to put a tank bag so its a satnav for me. But, I'll only be listening to it so I'm only half cheating!

John (with tongue firmly in cheek).