Navigation
on a motorbike: it sounds like a real gadget for a freak. Yes and No. Just try to
drive on a unfamiliar road and find the right route in a fast way. Even with a C.D.P. (=
Certified Duo Passenger, red.;) it´s pretty hard to have the roadmap in your hand
properly or read it at a nice speed. Tankbags with a transparent window are not ideal to
me either. The distance from the map to your eyes is too far, thus it is difficult to
read. Besides, you´re (of course) on a road, that is exactly positioned on a fold of the
roadmap. Or you only have a map that just shows the highways.
That´s
why I chose to build a navigation system, with minor adjustments of the bike and/or the
parts. This works great to me: not looking for a road, never asking the right way. With a
navigation system you get your actual position shown in real-time on an electronic
roadmap. And your average speed is relatively high, because you don´t have to stop
looking around for the right road anymore. The alternative is to drive on a "Rocking Motorcycle": then you´ll never get lost
;)
A
short list of the main advantages:
- The system shows your actual position on a land- or roadmap with high accuracy (10-20
meter).
- Independent of the hardware supplier of the (road)maps, so it´s easy to keep your
system up-to-date.
- Not only useable on your motorbike, you can even use it in your car, at your walking
trip, or on a bicycle.
- Mostly built out of standard components.
- With a little bit of patience and a bit of spare time it´s easy to make.
If you follow the "NEXT" icons, all the main aspects will be shown
except the (too detailed) specification pages.
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