[piezon]

Just how much do you trust your GPS? I have to admit, although I know they have errors, they are fairly accurate. My GPS tends to be off by about 100 feet most of the time. But hey, if I can't find something 100 feet away, I have bigger problems! The reason I ask is because I had an attention getter on my ride yesterday. I was coming back from Florida and it was about 7PM. I had already ridden about 400 miles and decided to just take a direct route home - first mistake. So, instead of taking a known route, I decided to let my GPS select the route by selecting "go home" - second mistake. All was well until I had to make two fairly quick turns. The GPS said to take an exit and make an immediate right turn on an offramp. I was doing about 75 as I came off the exit and slowed to about 45 to take the offramp. The offramp was a "circling ramp" (according to the posted sign) that made a hard right circling turn. So I leaned into the turn only to discover the ramp wasn't there!!4: The pavement abruptly ended about 15 feet in front of my bike! So I had to make an immediate stop - in a hard lean - without crashing! Argh! Amazingly I pulled it off without dropping the bike - not an easy feat for me. I just had to get off - catch my breath and take a picture! Here is what I saw...

In the first picture, you can barely see the fence that ran along a cow pasture! Whew, that barbed wire would have hurt! What really amazed me was that the turn lane was there, the turn arrows were painted on the pavement, and about the first 75 feet of the offramp were there. It wasn't an old offramp and the paint looked brand new. So, I'm assuming it was new construction. However, if this was new construction, where were the barriers, warning signs, work horses, etc?

Unfortunately, this isn't the first time I have run across this in FL. I was on a ride a few months ago with a group when the pavement suddenly ended on a 4 lane! There was about a 15 foot dropoff with a section about 200 feet long missing! A HD in front of our group had to lay his bike down to prevent going into the pit. It would have most definitely caused him hospitilization if not death since we were all going around 60. The rest of us swerved left and right as we saw the pit - narrowly avoiding disaster ourselves. There were no construction signs, warning lights, and nothing blocking or warning of the pit!! Now that I have had my second narrow escape in Florida, I'm just wondering if this is a new snowbird control technique4:

 

[JohnACman]

Dang you found one our SNOWBIRD TRAP4: There are many more though.

I trust the Zumo way more than I trust the Honda/Garmin Navi that I have on my 06. I ride down Hwy 17 from Bartow to Punta Gorda and around Arcadia the bikes GPS showes me in a cow pasture, 300 yds off the road for miles and giving the unverified route signal. I've never been led wrong with the Zumo.

 

[greyrider]

How about a rousing "sorta"? My GPS is a Garmin 2720 that works fine. It is still running the 2008 programing that came on it when I got it from another board member. I find that in some places the program is not accurate or up to date so I always carry paper maps when going any major distance. I look at the routes on the map and have a rough idea of what to expect then follow the GPS - or sometimes not!!!:thumbup:

 

[humungus]

nothing against zuma or garmin but.... having 3 sets i find the best one is a cheap binatone carrera, if i am 20 or 200 miles from home and set it, it invariably reports "you have reached your destination" within a meter before or after entering my gate. The only down side is an occasional attempt to make me enter and leave a layby for some strange reason (must be programmed by a UK trucker, they like laybys).

the garmin sends me way off sometimes and can even show me as driving through the gardens adjacent to the road im on, the Navcam is more accurate but often tells me to go around roundabouts that no longer exist, or turn up a road that is now one way, and there are no map updates for it grrr.

just my opinion though. UK roads are a lot smaller too, we need accuracy :joke:

 

[TexanTrail]

Kinda reminds me of the RoadRunner, Wyle E. Coyote cartoons............

 

[Rackets]

Gps

I have a Nuvi 750 and it is spot on when driving.....when going under an underpass it shows it within a few feet. There has only been one time it took me out of the way about 4 miles and then a double back.

 

[Kwikwing]

Do you Trust Your GPS?

Planning two week trip in May. Never had a GPS on my bike. How can I get hooked up and how cheap can it be for whatever I may need? Finding motel and camping,gas station info,etc. would make the trip easier. My present way is to make notes from maps as I travel.

 

[5Ross]

I have used a Iway 500 and a Iway 600 for almost three years now.

I have found that at times they can be inacurate as well. The biggest problem I have had was finding an address that I put in it. The Navteq system that both Iway and other companies use to set their mapping can at times be inacurate. There is a way you can report these problems but it always seemed to me and others that it was a waste of time.

I could point out several times it has been wrong such as the Super8 motel in Zaynesville, Ohio is not at the exit off of 70 that the Iway will take you too.. After riding around the cloverleaf intersection about three or four times I finally pulled to the side of the road and called the Motel. When the lady listened to what I told her she immediately made the comment I was using a GPS and started laughing. The actual exit was either two or three exits from where we were. I have had this happen more than one time..When I call for a motel reservation to a motel I have not been to if I think of it I have them confirm the location that the Iway gives me..

Also I do not care who's GPS you would be using, if I give you my home address as it is in the phone book you will not find me. In order for you to get to my house by house address, I have to give you the address this house had over 40 years ago. That is how far outdated Navteq is on some locations. Yes I did in fact contact them (2) times as of right now and it has not been corrected..

I can remember following a bunch of riders using a GPS to find a shortcut to the BRP that took us down some gravel road, that turned into hard pan and the into loose gravel that was barracaded about 1/2 to 1 mile from where we were headed..LOL.....Just for the record they were not using a Iway....

Yes they can be inaccurate but they are still fun to use and I would not be without mine..

 

[jwhipp]

GPS with a grain of salt

Just my opinion from a semi techie:
I have had a GPS in both car and a portable for business travel for about 4 years now. My advice is that while they are great...take their advice with a grain of salt.
The GPS that came in my Solora (not sure who Toyota sources it from) is generally more accurate than the Garmin 260W that I carry when I travel (on business or on the bike). Now I do have to admit that the car has a database stored on a DVD while the Garmin has whatever database that it has stored internally. I have had the Garmin swing me off an interstate only to put me back on in the same direction that I was going.
Even with the mistakes, I wouldn't travel, ever again in an unfamiliar area without a GPS. Now I've gotten spoiled and a little lazy as I don't have to spend "hours" on streets & trips or MapQuest before I travel.

 

[hunzee]

I trust it but wouldn't drive off a ferry landing.

 

[upssnowman]

My built in honda unit seems to be off a bit but the Garmin 2610 right on , but you can't trust anything like the eyeballs

 

[KA7W]

:flg:.

I learned the hard way that if I select shortest route instead of fastest route, I may get few miles of dirt roads, some of em pretty bad !! But its been fun !! Garman !!


JMHO


:flg:

 

[Farmer Jack]

GPS reliability

It has brought about several laughs when a campground or business isn't at the loaction it has taken us to.
More than once I have been left wondering when was the last time talking Betty was at this location because things have really changed since her last visit.
The many features of the GPS other than ploting a route are helpful and enjoyable. And once in a while she get one right but most of the time is confused and forever "RECALCULTING".

 

[Destindoc]

Ah... see you found one of our Snowbird traps.... glad you are ok...

I have been amazed at how accurate the thing can be for some stuff... small dirt paths that apparently have a name ARE in the thing... I've seen "roads" marked on it that were nothing more than dirt roads leading to the middle of a cotton field..... who and why did someone put that in there?

Then it can be totally off base, as many of you have seen. First time I got to experience this was going to Sturgis and getting stuck in the traffic trying to get to the Buffalo Chip....being the "smart" guy with GPS, I took a "side" road to get pass the traffic to get out to the highway and saw a "road" that clearly went that way...

Ended up at a dead end in a cemetery and had to turn around... felt like an idiot until I saw the guy in his truck pulling the camper and he did it too...

I looked at the wife and said, "yep... he's using his GPS too..."

So, why would a road be in the GPS that DOESN'T exist?

 

[piezon]

Kwikwing,

I went the really cheap route that others may not approve of. I bought a Garmin 255W because I really like the larger screen. It is not waterproof, but a ten cent ziplock back is and that's what I use when it rains. It works great! I really like the ability to find a restaurant when I get hungry instead of just picking from what I can see along the road. I also like the ability to find a bank, Walmart, etc that is closeby. I also went the cheap install route and just plug it in to the cigarette lighter. I haven't had any issues with it so far (with the exceptions noted above). I do plan, however, on upgrading to the new Garmin that came out this year since they are finally making a waterproof version with the large screen that will take routes. Those are my 3 criteria now. The 255W doesn't take routes and the ones that do will make my riding more fun IMHO. I also want to be able to upload Mad Maps as well. My total cost including the mount was under $250.00.

 

[redwing57]

Any GPS is a decent *copilot*, none of them are an "autopilot". You have to use your head and keep situational awareness. My Zumo occasionally does dumb things, like route me off a freeway exit only to re-enter immediately. This must be a bug in their algorithm, since I imagine the detour probably saves a few feet of distance, or (inconceivably) a few seconds. It should *never* route one off of a freeway and then right back on again! There should be a check in the software to stop that, but apparently there isn't.

One of my riding buddies ended up looking at a cow pasture where the Garmin said there was supposed to be an ATM of all things. He was so aggravated during his early trips he decided the GPS was barely above the "interesting toy" status.

I just drove from Michigan to Tennessee with my Zumo 550. It did that freeway ramp off and on notice about 4 times on the way, and I had NOT used any via points. I just ignored the thing, but a couple times I had to pull up the "upcoming turns" list just to make sure. That's actually a somewhat dangerous distraction if it happens on my bike, since I think just looking at the thing is a bad idea while riding. Punching its buttons while in motion is risky, since by definition you have to take at least one hand off a handlebar grip to do it!

 

[piezon]

I had to laugh reading some of your posts because, as some of you predicted, the "direct" route was interesting to say the least. I ended up on Alabama roads that I didn't know even existed! I'm not normally the chickin' lickin' sort, but I'll have to say that my blood pressure definitely increased on one of the roads I got last night. I turned down a road that, by the GPS, was only 6 miles in length. OMG, that was the longest 6 miles I've EVER traveled! It was this really rutted, cracked, tiny little two lane that had no signs of life other than the wildlife. I had 2 coyotes, 2 possums, 2 racoons, 2 deer, and 2 unidentified animals walk across the road in front of me (and yes, I too was puzzled by the mysterius set of twos):shrug::rat::rat::shrug: The funny thing is that each of them looked at me as if to say, "Hey, what are YOU doing out HERE?!" There were no houses but about every 500 feet there was a caution sign that said "CAUTION...." Exactly...someone had spraypainted over what the caution was on ALL of them! :22yikes: OMG, I never did figure out what I was supposed to be cautious about About the 3 mile mark I finally passed a house and thought, "So, this is where the local serial killer lives." :22yikes: Between the wildlife, caution signs, and the lonely serial killer, it was the longest 6 miles of my biking adventures to date :doorag:

 

[shuckaduck]

I have used a Iway 500 and a Iway 600 for almost three years now.

I have found that at times they can be inacurate as well. The biggest problem I have had was finding an address that I put in it. The Navteq system that both Iway and other companies use to set their mapping can at times be inacurate. There is a way you can report these problems but it always seemed to me and others that it was a waste of time.

I could point out several times it has been wrong such as the Super8 motel in Zaynesville, Ohio is not at the exit off of 70 that the Iway will take you too.. After riding around the cloverleaf intersection about three or four times I finally pulled to the side of the road and called the Motel. When the lady listened to what I told her she immediately made the comment I was using a GPS and started laughing. The actual exit was either two or three exits from where we were. I have had this happen more than one time..When I call for a motel reservation to a motel I have not been to if I think of it I have them confirm the location that the Iway gives me..

Also I do not care who's GPS you would be using, if I give you my home address as it is in the phone book you will not find me. In order for you to get to my house by house address, I have to give you the address this house had over 40 years ago. That is how far outdated Navteq is on some locations. Yes I did in fact contact them (2) times as of right now and it has not been corrected..

I can remember following a bunch of riders using a GPS to find a shortcut to the BRP that took us down some gravel road, that turned into hard pan and the into loose gravel that was barracaded about 1/2 to 1 mile from where we were headed..LOL.....Just for the record they were not using a Iway....

Yes they can be inaccurate but they are still fun to use and I would not be without mine..

Ross, Iway seems to have a problem with super 8 motels, try to find the one in sturgis, ended up in a residential nieghborhood, but the lady who lived there gave us directions. There were a couple other ones we had a hard time finding too tim

 

[greyrider]

FWIW most people I have heard complain about their GPS say that the errors and omissions in programming seem bo be more frequent / more dramatic out west. Not sure why, may have more to do with the wide open spaces. May have more to do with changes not being reported or recorded.

I still dont trust mine much for detailed navigation and rely on maps and turn cards. I do use it for fuel, food, hotels etc.

 

[BuckeyeInNC]

A HD in front of our group had to lay his bike down to prevent going into the pit.

:wrong:

Don't mean to hijack this thread, as much has already been covered, with the exception of this misconception.

Laying a bike down is never the fastest way to stop.

Back to your regularly scheduled programming.