[original post: 28.11.2009]
Hi,
Here's my twopence worth: after buying a 2006 GSA last August, I wanted to improve the quality of the ride for my beloved, who had never been on a bike as a pillion before, as we were planning a long trip accross the Channel.
First, I spent more than £500.00 on a brand new BMW Navigator IV and fittings: awesome piece of equipment, brilliant picture and reception quality, very easy to use even in storm conditions (we were 3 litres away from having to push it -MY fault- while in the middle of nowhere in France... just press the "Closest Petrol Station" button and you're there!
Happy so far.
Then, I spent £460 for an "Autocom Logic Independence Wireless".
And another £2 for "Open Face Conversion Kit".
And another £80 for a "Plug-In Bluetooth Module".
And another £25 for an "Extension Lead".
Because if your unit is behind your back to "talk" to your pillion... it can't "talk" to your satnav via bluetooth. So there's a big thick cable with a small box at the end that goes around you from the unit all the way to somewhere near the satnav...
How is it WIRELESS then???!!!
And if you plan on riding for more than 5 hours during a single day... bring spare batteries!
Very practical having to change batteries when the weather is atrocious, you're on a motorway, it's night time, raining so much that visibility is approximately 50 yards, all traffic is doing 30mph, gusts of wind +50mph and your pillion is VERY frightened ... and you suddenly loose radio contact, and can't stop in a hurry to replace batteries on both units!
Thank you Autocom, I suppose after spending all that money for a product that works-ish I can now spend the same amount on batteries!!!
Or maybe spend another £XXX amount on a "Bike Power Kit"... but then again, what's the point in calling it WIRELESS kit if you have to add cables to get a decent result???????
And one last thing: everytime I plug-in my helmet to the Autocom unit, I never know if the music player on the Nav' IV will play!
As a matter of fact on a 7 day trip riding everyday for many hours, we had music only on a couple of occasions. God knows why. Most of the time the Nav' IV doesn't "recognise" the bluetooth in order to play music... but recognises it to give audio directions and "ding-ding" for speed-traps! Weird!!!
For sure if the sound goes for one "part" or "programme" of the Nav' IV, ALL sounds should go through!!!
I forgot to mention that I spent another £30 on a Micro SD memory card for the satnav (not included).
Oh, and another thing, I've had the Autocom kit less than a couple of month and... the main "plug" on the unit side snapped clean off, just hanging by the internal cables... Hang on, I haven't even abused the damn thing, so why have plugs and cables the size of forearms if they don't even last a few month???
Well, apologies if I sound bitter, some will say that if I spend so much on a GSA I shouldn't complain, some others will say that I should have known better and researched products more in-depth.
But that's not the point: I'm not happy with a VERY expensive piece of equipment described as "The Ultimate Expandable Audio/Communication System". And now it's all out of the box and used, there's no-way they'll exchange it.
So I guess I can dump everything into a bin and buy my other half a flip-up helmet... and a new MP3!
Hope this helps.
