Transportation mode, how is it set?

The Grey One

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All the later generation Garmin devices have an option for setting a "Transportation Mode" . There is a small icon on the top left of the screen, press and hold it and you get 3 options "car", "motorcycle" and "off road". Although there is mention of how to change it in user manuals (I have these for my 390, for the 590 and Nav V) there is no mention I can find of how these are set up in the first place. For the past couple of days I have been trying to see if there is any difference when using this "motorcycle" transportation setting.

Yesterday a short pre planned route worked although it did take me down a couple of single track roads which may have been slightly more direct but were slow going (settings are faster time, avoid motorways and unmade roads). Using the home function the return route worked OK at first but then tried to take me off the local by pass, into the town and out again. Since the town is to the west of the bypass and I live to the east this made no sense at all.

Today did not go well A downloaded route (made using Mapsource) transferred perfectly and appeared to work correctly. However as soon as I went off route (very short distance for fuel) it recalculated in the most bizarre way, adding nearly two hours to a one hour ride and trying to take me off in the wrong direction for miles. The only way I could get it to plot a sensible route was stop the planned route and ask to go directly to my destination. On leaving to come back home I pressed "Home" and it started to calculate, stopping at 80%. I set off (I knew where I was but wanted to test the device) and rode for 20 mins-the screen still showed 80%. I stopped and re tried it several times with the same result. I then re set he transportation road to "car" and the device worked perfectly.

So has anyone any idea how these settings are arrived at? Can they be changed or am I stuck with tis useless setting? I had though it might be through Basecamp possibly connected to Basecamp's Activity profiles but my Basecamp had had the driving and motorcycling profiles matched since before I got the 390. Anyone any ideas?

Obviously I can just carry on using the "car" transportation mode which works as I require but since there is the option it would be good to know how to set up an alternative (one that actually works that is!)

If my device's "Motorcycle" settings are replicated on others it might explain some of the problems people are reporting

John
 
I think it depends on other settings I.E fastest shortest curvy road etc

Now i could be wrong but set in motorcycle and curvy road will give you different routes to car and curvy road or car and fastest etc

I always have mine set on motorcycle and fastest as all my routes are pre designed so it makes no difference unless i just need to get somewhere and input the destination directly into the unit
 
I think the device uses the preferences settings to alter the 'Transportation modes'.

I have never bothered with them as (like redrick) I have all the settings set to neutral or off. I rarely if ever use the GPS device to dictate my route; most often I create my own routes. Having a device chose whether a road is windy or not or if a piece of software thinks I'll enjoy the three roundabouts it's chosen is not something I need to trouble myself with. Lots of people like the ease with which a modern GPS device will chose their routes for them, hence all the posts about the device sending them down roads they'd never have found otherwise.

Very often the problems bods encounter are down to:

1. Their device settings and any preferences / avoidances they have set

2. Not knowing how the device's settings WILL inevitably alter some routes
 
On my Nav V, the transportation mode can be selected from the ribbon bar on the wake-up screen. It looks as though the settings for car mode are by default the same as those set for motorcycle mode. After selecting the mode then the details can be changed and saved by mode. I think that routes created in motorcycle mode in Basecamp call up the motorcycle mode on the Nav V but I'm not certain of this. As has been said innumerable times it makes sense to have similar settings for the relevant mode used in Basecamp and on the Nav V: ie motorcycle or car.

My preference is to turn off all avoidances (except perhaps unmade tracks) and to use 'fastest' routing. I usually have recalculation on automatic. 98% of the time this works fine for me, with the occasional exception of the Nav V wanting to use unmade tracks (esp in France) if it has recalculated a section of route. This may be down to the attributes set for particular tracks in the map data - so in reality the track is unmade but the attribute in the map data is that it is a sealed road. Unless you're the type of obsessive who demands to follow every yard of the route shown on the sat nav, it's a minor problem. Make a choice and ride where you want to go!
 
Tomcat said:
On my Nav V, the transportation mode can be selected from the ribbon bar on the wake-up screen. It looks as though the settings for car mode are by default the same as those set for motorcycle mode. After selecting the mode then the details can be changed and saved by mode.



How? There is no mention of this in any manual. I have not found any way to set this. This was the whole point of my post. As my preferences don't change when I change this Transportation mode I don't think this has and bearing on this setting

John
Click to expand...
 
Wapping said:
I think the device uses the preferences settings to alter the 'Transportation modes'.

I have never bothered with them as (like redrick) I have all the settings set to neutral or off. I rarely if ever use the GPS device to dictate my route; most often I create my own routes. Having a device chose whether a road is windy or not or if a piece of software thinks I'll enjoy the three roundabouts it's chosen is not something I need to trouble myself with. Lots of people like the ease with which a modern GPS device will chose their routes for them, hence all the posts about the device sending them down roads they'd never have found otherwise.

Very often the problems bods encounter are down to:

1. Their device settings and any preferences / avoidances they have set

2. Not knowing how the device's settings WILL inevitably alter some routes
Click to expand...

Clearly my device does not use preferences to set the transportation mode. If it did that mode would be the same as the "car" one since all other settings remain the same.

If you read my initial post you will see the preference settings have no effect on the change to Motorcycle mode. I am well aware of how to use my settings for avoidance and preferences. I prefer to tell my device I don't want it to decide that I am going to ride a motorway or an unmade track but that is personal preference. There is no way any such settings should cause the device to navigate from my position just outside Evesham to Bridgnorth via a random point near Leicester! Remember this was a recalculation after a short diversion from a pre planned route. This point did not appear on the list of via points on the route list which remained as planned. These settings should not have prevented the device being able to create a route home from Bridgnorth. As I said it stuck on 80%, time and time again. Returning to the "car" transportation mode (and NO other changes) resulted in a simple quick calculation of the route.

So whatever is happening has nothing to do with other settings on the device since they have not been changed. The only change was the use of this "Motorcycle" Transportation mode.

John
 
Off topic a bit, but I've had a search and can't find any mention:

Is it possible to set tabs down one side of the screen - to show "time to destn", "Distance to destn", "Speed" etc (a la 660)?

All I can find is the "dashboards" on the bottom edge with reduces the available view ahead (in track-up) where the side-tabs only reduce the width, which seems to have more to spare.

Al
 
Which set of maps were you using?

My Nav V will sometimes jam at about 80% if I ask the device to create some routes in Open Street Maps, as opposed to Garmin's own generic maps.
 
Wapping said:
Which set of maps were you using?

My Nav V will sometimes jam at about 80% if I ask the device to create some routes in Open Street Maps, as opposed to Garmin's own generic maps.
Click to expand...

My 390 never does that,at least not until I tried this "motorcycle" setting. But since you ask I was using openstreetmaps but changing to the Garmin maps made no difference. Sorry I should have said that I tried both maps.In any case it worked fine on the original "car setting. So the problem is within this "motorcycle" setting. If I can't edit it is completely useless.

John
 
The Grey One said:
Tomcat said:
On my Nav V, the transportation mode can be selected from the ribbon bar on the wake-up screen. It looks as though the settings for car mode are by default the same as those set for motorcycle mode. After selecting the mode then the details can be changed and saved by mode.



How? There is no mention of this in any manual. I have not found any way to set this. This was the whole point of my post. As my preferences don't change when I change this Transportation mode I don't think this has and bearing on this setting

John
Click to expand...

Step by step:
1. select mode using ribbon bar (ie touch the car or bike icon). Select car for the purposes of these notes (Nav V)
2. 'Save' choice
3. Go to settings
4. 'Map and Vehicle' group of settings shows a car icon.
5. Change settings as required and save
6. Repeat with 'Navigation' settings (which also show a car icon)
7. Remember what changes you have made in car vs bike mode
8. Now go and switch to bike mode - the settings saved when in bike mode will now be active. Map and Vehicle and Navigation both show a bike icon to confirm the mode that is active. Car and bike mode settings are independent.
Click to expand...
 
By default I have the 'Transportation' setting on my Nav V set to, 'Motorcycle'. I leave it on this irrespective if I am in the car, on my bike or just walking along. The only time I have had the device regularly hang at 80% when calculating a route is when I have used OSM maps as opposed to the generic Garmin maps. I must confess I have never tried switching to 'Car Transportation' mode to see if this would cure the problem.


Many route calculation within the device problems are down to settings. I think I would definitely start there. Mix in a bit of OSM fun and happiness may not necessarily be the end result.

I seem to vaguely recall that you set up your Car and Motorcycle preferences differently? Didn't you exclude some roads on your 'Motorcycle& setting, that were allowed within your 'Car' setting? Maybe worth another check, perhaps?
 
Tomcat said:
The Grey One said:
Step by step:
1. select mode using ribbon bar (ie touch the car or bike icon). Select car for the purposes of these notes (Nav V)
2. 'Save' choice
3. Go to settings
4. 'Map and Vehicle' group of settings shows a car icon.
5. Change settings as required and save
6. Repeat with 'Navigation' settings (which also show a car icon)
7. Remember what changes you have made in car vs bike mode
8. Now go and switch to bike mode - the settings saved when in bike mode will now be active. Map and Vehicle and Navigation both show a bike icon to confirm the mode that is active. Car and bike mode settings are independent.

PS I didn't need to read the manual to figure this out!!
Click to expand...


Thanks for that, I have just tried it and indeed you can save different preferences, shame they don't tell you that in the manual! Isn't that one of the great things about this forum, we can all learn from each other.

However it doesn't solve my problem as my "motorcycle " mode was set to avoid motorways and unmade roads, just as was my "car" mode. I have left the 390 in car mode since I got it last year. Apart from the occasional narrow gravel strewn lane it has never caused any problems or refused to calculate. In the last few days it has come up with bizarre routing suggestions and refuse to calculate a 40 mile route. The only change has been switching to the "motorcycle " mode. Switching back to "car" mode, with the same preferences solves the problem.


Something else must be different and I am trying to find out what that might be. In "Motorcycle" the device behaves strangely giving illogical routing choices and refusing to calculate. The way it routes bares no relationship to any possible preference settings available on the device. It does remind me of the sort of nonsense that early versions of Basecamp had in it's motorcycling profile.

So back to the drawing board.

John
Click to expand...
 
Wapping said:
By default I have the 'Transportation' setting on my Nav V set to, 'Motorcycle'. I leave it on this irrespective if I am in the car, on my bike or just walking along. The only time I have had the device regularly hang at 80% when calculating a route is when I have used OSM maps as opposed to the generic Garmin maps. I must confess I have never tried switching to 'Car Transportation' mode to see if this would cure the problem.


Many route calculation within the device problems are down to settings. I think I would definitely start there. Mix in a bit of OSM fun and happiness may not necessarily be the end result.

I seem to vaguely recall that you set up your Car and Motorcycle preferences differently? Didn't you exclude some roads on your 'Motorcycle& setting, that were allowed within your 'Car' setting? Maybe worth another check, perhaps?
Click to expand...

I have a car Garmin as well as my 390 so that is the device with different settings. Those differences are that mostly (but not always) I want to avoid motorways on the bike and mostly (but not always) I want to use motorways in the car. I change them as the need arises.

The settings on my 390 are the same for both "car" and "motorcycle" as I have repeatedly said. As for OSM maps, my device made the same mess of things when I switched to the Garmin maps so I think that excuse is ruled out. However you might like to try switching to "car" mode on your Nav V and trying those OSM maps and routes again.

As I can just leave my 390 in "car" mode this is hardly a big issue but I do like to know both how things work and why they don't work as intended.

John
 
leedude03 said:
not familiar with the 390 does it have a curvy roads function.
Click to expand...

Yes it does, I think it's navigation system is about the same as the Nav V. I never use it as I usually plan my route or go were the fancy takes me. The curvy road function just seems pointless to me but I know others might like it.

Anyway the problem I have experienced is certainly not due to selecting the "curvy road" function as I always have that switched off.

John
 
Blackal said:
Off topic a bit, but I've had a search and can't find any mention:

Is it possible to set tabs down one side of the screen - to show "time to destn", "Distance to destn", "Speed" etc (a la 660)?

All I can find is the "dashboards" on the bottom edge with reduces the available view ahead (in track-up) where the side-tabs only reduce the width, which seems to have more to spare.

Al
Click to expand...

This may work from the 590?

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php/426108-590-Screen-View
 
Given that you didn't know until 13:50 how to check / alter the 'Car' and 'Motorbike' settings within your device, your 'repeatedly' telling us that the settings are the same is not particularly convincing. But hey... Carry on...

Me? I think you are maybe looking at two different problems but maybe trying to find a common cause.

1. If I read your opening post correctly, you had a pre-prepared 'Car' route that you then ran in 'Motorbike' mode, whereupon the route went haywire. I suspect that is down to nothing more than some differences (visible or invisible) within the way the 'Car' route is structured. I sometimes get the same thing when a friend sends me one of his routes; he always prepares them in his 'Car' mode, whilst I always run routes in my 'Motorbike' mode. From time to time the roads taken between blue shaping points may differ. There again that might well be down to other factors.

2. The hanging at 80% is probably just the device running out of memory space. The devices do sometimes, particularly if they are trying to perform several functions at once. I can create the hanging problem if I ask my Nav V to plot a route from the M20 in Kent to Calais in OSM maps; it will hang every time. If I ask the device to do it in Garmin's generic maps, it will create a route - including the Channel crossing - without a problem.

Your problem is not quite the same, as your device froze in both OSM and Garmin map modes and vanishes when exit 'Motorbike' mode and enter 'Car' mode, presumably freeing up memory or calculation space within the device itself. It's quite possible that your problem is quite different. I'll try switching to 'Car' mode next time I'm heading down the M20.
 
Blackal said:
Off topic a bit....

Is it possible to set tabs down one side of the screen - to show "time to destn", "Distance to destn", "Speed" etc (a la 660)?

All I can find is the "dashboards" on the bottom edge with reduces the available view ahead (in track-up) where the side-tabs only reduce the width, which seems to have more to spare.
Click to expand...

I don't think it is. The Nav IV and its 660 sister could do it of course, through their 'More map' or 'More data' choices. The Nav V does not have this feature. All it offers is alternative dashboard views, which live horizontally along the bottom edge of the screen by default.

PS It's miles off topic, but hey-ho.
 
Wapping said:
Given that you didn't know until 13:50 how to check / alter the 'Car' and 'Motorbike' settings within your device, your 'repeatedly' telling us that the settings are the same is not particularly convincing. But hey... Carry on...

Me? I think you are maybe looking at two different problems but maybe trying to find a common cause.

1. If I read your opening post correctly, you had a pre-prepared 'Car' route that you then ran in 'Bike' mode, whereupon the route went haywire. I suspect that is down to nothing more than some differences (visible or invisible) within the way the 'Car' route is structured. I can get the same thing when a friend sends me one of his routes; he always prepares them in his 'Car' mode, whilst I always run routes in my 'Motorbike' mode. From time to time the roads taken between blue shaping points may differ. There again that might well be down to other factors.

2. The hanging at 80% is probably just the device running out of memory space. The devices do sometimes, particularly if they are trying to perform several functions at once. I can create it if I ask my Nav V to plot a route from the M20 in Kent to Calais in OSM maps; it will hang every time. If I ask the device to do it in Garmin's generic maps, it will do it without a problem. Your problem is not quite the same, as your device froze in both OSM and Garmin map modes and vanishes when exit 'Motorbike' mode and enter 'Car' mode, presumably freeing up memory or calculation space within the device itself. It's quite possible that your problem is quite different. I'll try switching to 'Car' mode next time I'm heading down the M20.
Click to expand...

Whilst it is true I did not know how to adjust these settings until today (and I would point out you too were unable to explain how) I did know how to check which preferences were set when I selected the "motorcycle" mode. So I really don't care if you are not convinced, it simply is a fact that in both "car" and "motorcycle" the settings are and always were the same on my device.

No you didn't read that I used a car route. I used a standard route, as I said, produced on Mapsource. In structure it was no different from any other route I produce. I have my home as a waypoint, I made the car park at Bridgnorth station another way point and then got Mapsource to create a route. I then dragged it around, adding several shaping points. The route transferred correctly and was working fine until a slight diversion caused the device to recalculate. It then came up with a route taking 3 hours whereas the previous arrival time had been just over an hour. I checked the route and all my via points were intact and no others added. Despite this when I zoomed out to look at the new route I was to go via Leicester! Finding the station car park in favourites and asking to go there solved that problem. Please understand I am not talking about the device choosing an alternative road to get to the same location , I am talking about it trying to send me 50 miles in the wrong direction only to loop around and head back to my destination. Also note that there was no visible via or waypoint shown at the furthest point of that route, it just went nearly to Leicester and randomly turned back.

The hanging only happened in the "motorcycle" mode and worked instantly when I changed to "car" so I don't buy the running out of memory line.

There is something strange going on, what else can be different? all the visible settings are the same but in "motorcycle" mode the device is all but useless.

John
 
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