My TomTom Rider just arrived today...

  • Thread starter Thread starter Keba
  • Start date Start date
allan said:
Keba nice pics of the new TomTom Ride, I just have one question after looking at the View 3 picture. Dont you thing you should give that end can a clean and polish. :eek:
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The bike was cleaned (including the can) on Monday - thats what it looked like after 2 days of riding to/from work (or around about 165 miles). I've even got a hugger installed for all the good it's supposed to do.

Road Salt for the win!
 
ye ye we believe you about cleaning the bike....

back on topic I wish I had waited for the tomtom, I got a 2610 not long ago and even though it is a perfectly good GPS I think the tomtom has more to offer for about the same price just because its newer technology. the 2610 has pretty basic functions and a pretty basic display for a high end price, the one good point is you get the whole of Europe on CD included in the price.

allan
 
Keba said:
Well, used it in the dark on roads I've never been on...

I can't believe how much safer I felt just knowing how tight the bends were that were coming up - not to mention not having to guess if I was going in the right direction or not! ;)
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Not trying to piss on your bonfire at all here but what you said bothered me.....

It may well show the twists and turns so you know what the road's doing, but don't let that lull you into a false sense of security...the unit won't show you that there's a tractor slewed across the road or cow shit on a corner.

Great for using to know where you're going but certainly not a device to enable you to go faster ;)

Hijack over :)
 
Fanum,

I agree a GPS should not be used or should not encourage anyone to go faster but I also agree with keba about using a GPS at night. I have used my GPS several times at night and with the piss poor lights on an 1150GS its nice to be able to see what way the road is going to go next on the GPS which does tend to increase your speed a little.

Allan
 
Fanum said:
Not trying to piss on your bonfire at all here but what you said bothered me.....

It may well show the twists and turns so you know what the road's doing, but don't let that lull you into a false sense of security...the unit won't show you that there's a tractor slewed across the road or cow shit on a corner.

Great for using to know where you're going but certainly not a device to enable you to go faster ;)

Hijack over :)
Click to expand...

Don't worry, no overall speed increase ensued as part of my journey - M and A (dual or triple carridge) roads all the way!

I did feel a ton safer _knowing_ what the curve ahead was like as opposed to my usual attempt at relying on my memory if I've been on a road before.

I've always found cars and trucks to be much more of a nuicanse than the occasional tractor or moo - granted I don't tend to traverse country lanes that much when its dark and my riding is pretty much tied into commuting as opposed to pure enjoyment.

Good news (or at least I hope good news) on the bluetooth <-> autocom type idea though - popped into a local motorbike shop (who were selling autocom devices at half price still and had some in stock) and they suggested I talk to Autocom directly about a custom cable for the RIDER bluetooth to autocom connection - I'll post more on that when I get a response from Autocom.
 
An update from Autocom - they don't currently have a connector for the RIDER, but are working on one and should have something sorted out within the next 2 weeks.

And no Autocom with integrated Bluetooth is on the horizon (apart from the Nokia Car Bluetooth Kit they already sell of course), so no need for me to wait a few months for a new flash unit - I might as well go ahead with the current editions and either mangle together a connector from the RIDER dongle to the autocom or wait the 'couple of weeks' for one from Autocom which will probably work a whole lot better than anything I could wire up will...

I know its not IT, but this is defintly bleeding edge stumbling blocks I'm tripping over! I keep thinking back to that old Queen track of 'I want it all, I want it now' ;)
 
Keba, thanks again. Keep posting! I'm sure this thread will be a gold mine for anyone buying a TomTom RIDER. :) :thumb
 
Having bought a TomTom enabled PDA (PocketPC running WindowsCE 2003) for use in the tankbag on my Yamaha, then going over to a BMW Motorrad Navigator 2 on my GS, I can see why you prefer the TT Rider. I found the PDA was brilliant at helping me decide on overtakes on roads I didn't know due to the 3D view indicating the severity of bends ahead and junctions I hadn't counted on. The display is much more practical than a set of lines on a plan-view map. The downside is the lack of route planning software for the TomTom 5 PDA solution when compared to the Mapsource program, and also the BMW/Garmin unit seems to hold on to its reception in 'wooded' areas better than the PDA system.

When I can afford it, I will fit a RAM weatherproof box to house my PDA alongside my Nav 2 for 3D map view rather than route planning , but keep the voice commands coming from the Nav 2 with the planned route (from PC) into my Autocom.
 
Pukmeister said:
Having bought a TomTom enabled PDA (PocketPC running WindowsCE 2003) for use in the tankbag on my Yamaha, then going over to a BMW Motorrad Navigator 2 on my GS, I can see why you prefer the TT Rider. I found the PDA was brilliant at helping me decide on overtakes on roads I didn't know due to the 3D view indicating the severity of bends ahead and junctions I hadn't counted on. The display is much more practical than a set of lines on a plan-view map. The downside is the lack of route planning software for the TomTom 5 PDA solution when compared to the Mapsource program, and also the BMW/Garmin unit seems to hold on to its reception in 'wooded' areas better than the PDA system.

When I can afford it, I will fit a RAM weatherproof box to house my PDA alongside my Nav 2 for 3D map view rather than route planning , but keep the voice commands coming from the Nav 2 with the planned route (from PC) into my Autocom.
Click to expand...

Depending on what version of the satnav chip (or even which satnav chip in the firstplace) will depend greatly on how well the device keeps track of the satellites.

Case in point, the TomTom Go Classic (SiRF Star II) loses the signal easily and takes a number of minutes to start from cold, whereas the TomTom RIDER (SiRF Star III) has a hard time losing the signal ever and takes around about a minute to start from cold (if that - sometimes faster!).

SiRF Star III only came out this year afaik and is a vast improvement over its predecessor - there are other types of GPS chips of course, but in general the newer chips are quicker and more sticky when it comes to satellite handling.

The new (version 5.x) TomTom software allows for route planning - granted you have to use the TomTom device rather than a computer, but it works very well and is quite easy to do. Putting in waypoints isn't that difficult at all really - if you've only ever seen the old Go Classic with the version 4.x software, you could be in for a nice surprise...
 
Fanum said:
Not trying to piss on your bonfire at all here but what you said bothered me.....

It may well show the twists and turns so you know what the road's doing, but don't let that lull you into a false sense of security...the unit won't show you that there's a tractor slewed across the road or cow shit on a corner.

Great for using to know where you're going but certainly not a device to enable you to go faster ;)

Hijack over :)
Click to expand...


I like this feature also, but i have a quest, its nice to know, before you get to a bend, how far the junction is, not to ride faster, just to be more informed :clap
 
ianboydsnr said:
I like this feature also, but i have a quest, its nice to know, before you get to a bend, how far the junction is, not to ride faster, just to be more informed :clap
Click to expand...

Not that I use it myself, but the TomTom has the option to go back to a 2D map rather than the 3D view.

It even allows you to turn the map off completely (just a big sign saying what your next turning is in howevermanyyardsormilesormetersifyoulikethembetter.

I think I just made up a new measurement ;)
 
OK so I've been experimenting with running the TT Rider in the car. One annoyance is that it has no external speaker so I have bought a generic external speaker from www.expansys.com for £9.95, cut the connector off and also cut the earphone piece from the TT Rider attachment in the box. Connected the wires up and it works!

So this at least proves that you could attach any kind of earphone jack type plug thing and run it through any other audio in device such as Autocom or whatever.

ttr.jpg


I am also happy to report that if you buy the RAM 1" diamond connector that it screws straight into the back of the TT Rider holder thing which basically means that if you want to run this in your car and on your bike (wired up) all you need to do is attach a standard 12v car male connector to the TT Rider power wire, get a 12v to BMW bike power convertor (so you can power it from both car and bike. One RAM handlebar ball mount, one 3inch arm and a ball for your car (whichever type suits) and thats it.

ttr2.jpg
 
BTW - got mine from Easydevices.co.uk. Was delivered Monday at no extra - £599 all inclusive.

Another BIG annoyance: TT Rider is not compatible with any Blackberry devices so if that is your company's chosen phone platform then you are out of luck. I can connect via Bluetooth, I can even make a handsfree call, I just don't hear any voice and it won't sign me up to any TomTom Plus services - all it says is: 'Funtion not supported'. TomTom support just sent me a list of compatible devices:

i-mate: SP5, SP5m
Motorola: A1000, E1 ROKR, V3, V620
Nokia: 3230, 3650, 6021, 6230, 6230i, 6260, 6600, 6630, 6670, 6680, 6681, 6820, 6822, 7280, 7600, 7610, 7710, 9300, 9500, N70, N90
Orange: SPV C600, SPV M3000
Panasonic: X700
Samsung: SGH-E340, SGH-E730
Siemens: S65, SX1
Sony Ericsson: K600i, K700i, K750i, P800, P900, P910i, S700i, T630, W800i
T-Mobile: MDA Compact II
 
I can't understand why anyone would buy this when you take into account the price and the limited mapping :nenau

Can you plan and share routes on the PC with it?

It seems to be a waterproof version of the PDA tom tom GPS's but without the usefulness of a PDA but twice the price.

Am I missing something?
 
Whatton you are basically spot on. The only reason I bought it is because I have been a TomTom user since version 2 and thought that this will have many better features. Actually, the TT Rider is a dumbed down version of what I had before - obviously a lot easier to use by navigation first timers but just the fact that you can't even navigate to coordinates tells you who its aimed at.

Don't get me wrong, its a good little unit and does the job very well but its not intended for advanced users. There is no preplanning software available for the PC but the unit does allow you to plan and preview your entire route on the TT Rider itself.

Here are some more pics of the TT Rider\headunit mounted.

ttr3.jpg


ttr4.jpg


ttr5.jpg


ttr6.jpg


ttr7.jpg
 
sn1p3r said:
Whatton you are basically spot on. The only reason I bought it is because I have been a TomTom user since version 2 and thought that this will have many better features. Actually, the TT Rider is a dumbed down version of what I had before - obviously a lot easier to use by navigation first timers but just the fact that you can't even navigate to coordinates tells you who its aimed at.

Don't get me wrong, its a good little unit and does the job very well but its not intended for advanced users. There is no preplanning software available for the PC but the unit does allow you to plan and preview your entire route on the TT Rider itself.
Click to expand...

Its possible to create custom POI's (such as camping sites that aren't already part of the 1.2 mill or so POI's that TeleAtlas have provided) and then put them on the TomTom - a very good sites for that is:

http://rjdavies.users.btopenworld.com

You can also save the itinerary plans you create and them modify them later on using a PC if needed as far as I understand it - not actually played around with that side of things before.

The interface on the TomTom itself is indeed aimed at end users - the more advanced ones customise it using a PC ;)

If you want to play with the menus for instance (not sure if this works on the 5.4x edition - it does on the 5.2x edition which I'm still running on the Go Classic) then this is a good site for information pertaining to doing just that:

http://www.automated.it/ttg-apps.html

Personally I haven't felt the need to change my menu's on the RIDER this time round.

The limits of the interface are similar to other systems - to do the 'advanced' stuff you still need a PC, which you usually aren't using while you are riding along.......
 
Tom Tom Bluetooth

Does anybody know if the Bluetooth facility can be paired with the System 5 bluetooth, which would be brilliant as the microphones are in the forehead padding, and I've never found the speakers, although I can still have a handsfree phone conversation at 70mph.
 
So far I have these issues so if anyone can help me to overcome them I would really appreciate it:

In TomTom v3 you used to be able to select via properties pages which shortcuts you wanted to appear on which pages so that you could put your most frequently used ones on the first options pages, you didn't need to navigate through 5 pages of shortcuts to get to the one you wanted.

In TomTom v3 you used to be able to use the GoTo function to go to a specific GPS coordinates - save them as a favourite and then navigate to that favourite.

One very VERY annoying 'feature' is that as soon as you place it in the cradle and you tap the screen to get to the navigation features it only gives you 4 options. You lose the ability to change from daylight to night colours, you cannot avoid road blocks or navigate around something, you cannot navigate to an address that is not already a favorite. The only way to access these features is to take it out of the cradle - not exactly something you can do while driving or riding your bike!

I really can't believe they have done this, I really feel cheated that I have bought a newer version of a product and have lost a considerable amount of features. It's a pity not one of the 8 reviews I have read highlighted any of these issues.:( :( :(

To make things a lot better - you cannot charge your Bluetooth headset while using it because as soon as you plug the charger into the headset it switches itself off.

TT Support just shrugs their shoulders and says very unsympathetically: 'Thanks for your £600 but you can't do that in this version'.
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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