Beeline Motorbike Sat Nav

Anyone got one and what do they think.?.

 

I've got one.

Takes a little getting used to, but in general it's pretty good.

As long as you're happy with glancing at it to see how long before you have until you have to turn and which direction it is going to be rather than a fully fledged multi-colour map experience, it's fine.

I prefer the BMW Nav VI that's installed on my Street Scrambler, but then that was about £800 all in rather than £150

 

A couple of threads here: https://www.thetriumphforum.com/threads/beeline-moto-satnav.23386/ and https://www.thetriumphforum.com/threads/new-satnav-by-beeline.15119/

 

Still liking mine.
You do need to keep an eye on it though and it takes a bit of practice to get used to it.
It's not a substitute for a dedicated satnav but it will get you there!

 

I’ve got a Tom Tom which I rarely use as I am pretty good at finding my way around but a back up when going away for a few days is handy to have,I don’t think it’s a good idea to be a slave to the sat Nav as I like to learn routes .

 

I think that the Beeline would suit you then as you set the route normally, as per google maps (on which the interface on your phone is based) or you can use the direct option, which gives you bearing, like a ships compass, so that you can take whatever route you want but it will always keep you on that heading.

 

Got one in Jan and pretty happy with it. As said above it takes some getting used to but once you’ve used it a few times it’s good!

Looks great on the bike too!

 

This just came up in my Facebook feed.


The big arrow (inverted "V") shows you which direction to travel in.
You have 3.8 km (can be set to miles) to your next turning, which is slightly to the right, the arrow will point the way (as shown by the yellow one).
White dot shows angle of turn.
The display also has little icon for roundabouts with the exit number to take inside.
The lines at the top of the screen are a countdown to your destination.

 

I tried the iPhone version several times, not my cuppa tea, on the plus side I'm now an expert at U turns. I use Calimoto, it's killer feature is you can choose the route type by waypoints, so when I go to Devon, I'll put a waypoint in say Wincanton and tell it to use motorways for that leg only, then the next waypoint Lyme Regis I'll say use twistys, avoid motorways, then on the final leg I tell it to use fast A roads.

Edit - also just remembered if you import a GPX into Beeline, it will not re-route if you go wrong or need to divert, if you stumble on the original route again it will pick up. This may have changed as its been a year since I last used Beeline.

 

I’ll be using mine tomorrow for the first time since last summer. I recall always getting the message that auto-reroute is not possible for all the gpx routes I imported. However, the route I’ve just imported for tomorrow’s ride is not giving this message. I know that there has been a update, or two, to the software since I last used it, so maybe it will now reroute. Guess I’ll have to deliberately go off course to find out!

 

Have you thought of putting Waze onto your phone?

 

I don’t know what waze is Peter.

 

Waze is excellent, it's owned by Google but a stand-alone app, and is a Social app, meaning traffic police etc is reported directly by Waze users so very up to date. It has a Motorbike profile you can set and has great integration to audio apps so if you were inclined you could control music via sat nav. I've been using Waze for years and is my go-to day-to-day nav. I'll ride to the destination with Calimoto on twisties and come back with Waze on faster roads

 

I was one of the Kickstarter backers, had mine for a year and a half now after my frustration with TomTom and Garmin units.

Works really well for me and their iOS app has come on leaps and bounds, in particular planning routes. If I was planning a trip with a midpoint of a village like Finchingfield, before it would have a very small pinpoint down a tiny road or carpark which you couldn't skip. 9 months down the line, it accepts you're in the village and will direct you to the next waypoint so there's no need to skip. If you choose a more precise point, such as dragging the pin to a particular junction, then you need to get closer.

With it displaying a simpler arrow and countdown, and sometimes a roundabout or fork symbol for more complex junctions, I'm looking less at the nav for a detailed picture, just glancing occasionally for the clues.

Courtesy bike? Took a minute to swap the bands and mount to the other bike.

I'm typically charging it once every 400 miles, occasional weekend rides to either central London or longer country routes. iPhone battery goes down quicker when it needs to reroute, still far less draining than Waze or Wireless Carplay.

 

The last time I tried to use Waze -- or Google Maps, for that matter -- to be my motorcycle nav, it faltered in a pretty big way: once you reached a waypoint, it wouldn't continue until you hit continue. That's fine if the phone is on your handlebars and you have gloves that are touch-friendly, but it's not a good solution if you keep the phone in your pocket and use audio cues.

I've used Beeline since the Kickstarter campaign. It's had issues. I feel like it's finally getting to be reliable for an entire trip. Just my $.02

 

First foray into the ‘SatNav’ world with a motorcycle and it’s taken me down roads I never knew existed, which is a good thing. Haven’t worked out how to get back onto the correct route after coming across an unexpected road blockage recently but I’m sure that knowledge will come. Only had it for two weeks.