Motorcycles. GPS and navigation - two-wheelers lagging behind cars

To be guided by a GPS, you can obviously attach your phone to the handlebars using various systems, but this has several drawbacks. For example, the GPS is exposed to flying stones or dust when riding a roadster, or it is very complicated or even impossible to use in the rain when the screen is wet (not to mention the risk of snatching).

Fortunately, in recent years, we have seen the arrival of connected dashboards with the possibility of having direct navigation with mapping.

We will not dwell here on the brands or models that offer navigation in the style of a roadbook with arrows to follow because it is not very practical and we prefer to follow a map in case of doubt in complex forks.

The choice of almost all manufacturers to have on-screen mapping is to use an application or even two like Ducati and Yamaha.

These are applications to be installed on your smartphone which must then be connected to the motorcycle to have the navigation displayed on the dashboard.

It's called RoadSync for Honda, CF Moto Ride, BMW Motorrad, My Triumph, Rideology for Kawasaki, Ducati Connect, etc.

For Ducati you need to add the Sygic application to provide the map and for Yamaha the Garmin Motorize or StreetCross application depending on the machine you have.

Then, your smartphone connects via Bluetooth for music and calls and generally via Wi-Fi for navigation.

Bluetooth systematically reconnects each time the motorcycle is started, this is not the case for Wi-Fi and therefore navigation can be disrupted by another Wi-Fi network such as that at home.

Obviously, these applications must be active with your personal account if necessary and even for some like Ducati or BMW, they must remain in the foreground without locking the screen.

It is therefore impossible to take a photo or send a text message without cutting off the navigation, which sometimes refuses to resume, especially on the Bavarian.

Entering a destination can be very tedious, let alone a route. For example, at BMW, you have to use your smartphone, which then cuts off the map display.

On Ducati, as on the Multistrada, you go through the motorcycle's screen, which is not touch-sensitive, so you choose the letters one by one with the joystick.

All this works but it is not really ergonomic to the point that we end up not using it anymore, especially since depending on the brand of motorcycle, some work better with Android or iOS or even very very badly with one of the two systems.

On paper, this could be the solution to having the navigation of your choice, as is often the case in our cars, but in practice it is quite rare.

It's found on the Honda Goldwing, NT1100, and AfricaTwin, as well as some Indian and Harley-Davidson models, for example. But be careful, because to use it, you need headphones in your helmet on some machines.

For example, on the Indian Chieftain Powerplus 112, which has excellent quality speakers, you cannot have Apple CarPlay without headphones in your helmet.

The NT1100 claims the same thing with CarPlay but apparently not with Android. Surprisingly, without speakers or headphones, the NT plays our playlists as soon as it is turned on, even though it is impossible to hear anything.

Is there a solution without a proprietary app or Apple CarPlay or Android Auto? Few motorcycles have built-in native navigation.

The Indian Chieftain Powerplus 112 mentioned above, and more generally the brand's Baggers and Touring models, offer it with the Ride Command system, which is unfortunately aging but which has the advantage of working without having to connect anything other than headphones to your helmet.

The Chief with the small, round, touch-sensitive dashboard also offers it, but it's less readable.

The most successful and richest interface is to be found at Harley-Davidson on the Street Glide or the Road Glide for example with a large touch screen and navigation that works without adding a smartphone or even needing headphones in your helmet.

What's a shame is that it's the only brand to offer this, even though our car GPS systems have always worked without a smartphone.

Obviously, using an app gives you up-to-date maps, but it's not really practical when driving in the rain and generally blocks the glove compartment when you're lucky enough to have one.