Shortest routes

[Orinoco]

I got fed up with Garmin always routing me on fast A roads with 'fastest route' mode, so thought I'd try shortest route, guess what... not difference! What on earth is the point of the XT? I thought it might at least include some B roads, nope, just A roads and Motorways. Planning a trip using shortest route from Bridport to Ilfracombe, Garmin takes me via Taunton, down the M5 to Tiverton then the A361.

Is there anyway to force a genuine shortest route using smaller roads?

 

[DJ123]

I think the only option under avoidances is motorways.

And if you use the adventurous setting, usually you can adapt it to one of 4 options (usually most adventurous to least route). Which should not be motorways, but still may be major a-roads/dual carriageways.

 

[Wapping]

You have done something as simple as telling the dumb device, to avoid motorways, haven’t you? You can also set specific, personal avoidances, right down to named roads.

Or, of course, you could take the radical step of plotting your own routes, which removes the algorithms entirely.

 

[Mzokk]

Or, of course, you could take the radical step of plotting your own routes, which removes the algorithms entirely.

Wapping's suggestion is by far the best option. The routing logic of the older units I use is much more satisfactory to me. However, if you just want fastest route from A-B google maps on your phone is best.

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

I got fed up with Garmin always routing me on fast A roads with 'fastest route' mode, so thought I'd try shortest route, guess what... not difference! What on earth is the point of the XT? I thought it might at least include some B roads, nope, just A roads and Motorways. Planning a trip using shortest route from Bridport to Ilfracombe, Garmin takes me via Taunton, down the M5 to Tiverton then the A361.

Is there anyway to force a genuine shortest route using smaller roads?

I find the same
You either have to prepare your own routes or bin it
It’s frustrating to do an interesting route on the fly, at the roadside in the XT
It sends you on major roads
Essentially it’s a car GPS thst has been made waterproof
The old 2610 is far superior on route planning algorithms on the fly at the roadside

 

[Wapping]

Still not brought yourself to sell it JB?

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

Still not brought yourself to sell it JB?

It looks pretty on the dash - but just a pain to use ad-hoc at the roadside

Plus it makes me look like a rugged adventurous type …dontcha know

It works ….but not very well

At Leenane I was looking at these new Android Carpuride things and they seem much more intelligent & intuitive

The market is awash with better navigation options than Garmin

 

[er-minio]

Admittedly I plan my routes in advance generally, so when using the sat nav to route me directly I’m happy with A to B planning a la Google Maps, but:

As above: “avoid motorways” and also I used a couple of times adventurous routing while crossing France (northern/mid bit) to avoid a couple hundred miles of motorway and the resulting D route solution was excellent (to my surprise).

Give it a try.

I suspect B routes in UK mapping result as very slow in average speed and sat navs tend to skip them a lot to avoid presenting the user with massive trip times for the users based on the algorithm.

 

[Wapping]

At Leenane I was looking at these new Android Carpuride things and they seem much more intelligent & intuitive

All the Carpuride device does is mirror a phone, which is usually running either MyRoute or Google maps. I say ‘usually’ only in as much as these two apps seem to be the most popular. Its display is undoubtably neat and the unit seems to be well made. It was, as its name suggests, created to fill a gap in the car market, older vehicles being unable to run Apple Car Play and the like. That it works on a motorcycle, was just a lucky break. Just make sure you keep your phone to hand and working.

As I understand it, Garmin devices and BaseCamp still win out for genuine and committed off-road users; people I guess who do not need to be told how to go from A to B to C “Down twisties mate and no bloody motorways!” by a dumb device.

 

[J biker]

Be careful what you wish for. I had a tomtom, rider 500 or similar name. Adventurous routing basically meant never going past a junction. Horrible, esp in Spain where it kept going down dirt tracks and roads that were obviously closed.
In reality, the only guarantee with navs is to import a route. At which point the route will be as good as the amount of work you put in to it. Which means plenty of waypoints.
MRA would be my starting point. Fairly simple to use and a fraction of the heartache that comes with Basecamp (which I never mastered, despite many…many hours of frustration!)

 

[Mzokk]

I have Carplay and Android auto on my Honda that can be controlled by the left hand switch cluster, and still prefer my Garmin after much experimentation. If I wasn't going to use a Garmin I'd use MRA or OSMand for navigation on a cheap waterproof phone with downloaded maps. Connecting the phone to the Honda screen via a cable and making the relevant Bluetooth connections and waiting for it all to boot up is additional and unnecessary faff compared to switching on a dedicated Sat Nav.

That said my Nav 4 and my 340 and 390 Zumo's that I use on my 1150 basically follow any route made in Basecamp. I suspect the routing logic built into those units and basecamp itself are the same having been developed at the same time. The XT's logic I suspect was designed for a car specifically to stop people ending up on narrow country roads or dirt tracks when "Fastest time" was selected and therefore the unit favours faster roads. This means that if you leave gaps in the amount of shaping points you enter in a Basecamp route the unit will recalculate it and head for faster roads even if involves a large detour and a slower overall time......and some frustration until you work out what is happening.

Using the XT I now do four things that I wouldn't have necessarily done with the old units

1. I put a shaping point on every road I want to be on and use more shaping points than I previously would have if planning routes in basecamp or increasingly MRA routeplanner
2. Always make a track and display the track and the route on the device so that I can spot any deviation(s).
3. Have recalculation on prompted rather than automatic and use it sparingly
4. Any route I'm using gets saved as an "Active Route" to avoid any issues with repeated u-turns if I have used recalculation at some point in the route.

Sounds like a faff but its a workflow thing really and turns the XT into a very reliable and competent unit (and does not take much more time)

Oh and I've just ordered the AA road maps sheets 7,8 and 9 the 3 miles to the inch series.......everything has its place.

 

[Wapping]

Great advice from Mzokk, built on regular ‘hand-on’ experience, which is much valued on this forum. There again, it’s posted via the internet, so it might just be bullshit from a foreign power’s cyber warfare department, seeking to upset people and fry their brains in outrage.

 

[Berin]

I find the same
You either have to prepare your own routes or bin it
It’s frustrating to do an interesting route on the fly, at the roadside in the XT
It sends you on major roads
Essentially it’s a car GPS thst has been made waterproof
The old 2610 is far superior on route planning algorithms on the fly at the roadside

Still got one then? Thought you’d sold it as it’s shite.

 

[er-minio]

There again, it’s posted via the internet, so it might just be bullshit from a foreign power’s cyber warfare department, seeking to upset people and fry their brains in outrage.

Mzokk doesn't exist.

He is an AI agent paid by for Garmin.

 

[Mzokk]

Mzokk doesn't exist.

He is an AI agent paid by for Garmin.

No he's retired old fart who should be doing something more constructive than messing about on motorcycle forums.........but generally dosen't At least thats what the great Orson told me to say

 

[John Armstrong]

Admittedly I plan my routes in advance generally, so when using the sat nav to route me directly I’m happy with A to B planning a la Google Maps, but:

As above: “avoid motorways” and also I used a couple of times adventurous routing while crossing France (northern/mid bit) to avoid a couple hundred miles of motorway and the resulting D route solution was excellent (to my surprise).

Give it a try.

I suspect B routes in UK mapping result as very slow in average speed and sat navs tend to skip them a lot to avoid presenting the user with massive trip times for the users based on the algorithm.

I plan 99% of routes as I basically I often don't like the options the 396 / XT or XT2 give when they chose the faster roads when I want the least time to be taken. Transferring the routes as a track helps kill off most stupidity, but then arrival times / distances are messed up.

Certainly with the XT I found it wanted to route me along the 2 sides of a triangle like this < once I'd seen there was a road in between the two ends of the legs and gone about 50m along it, the XT recalculated within seconds to give what 595 and before Garmin's would have offered saving tens of minutes on an hours trip.

Much more planning and thought now needed with the Garmin sat nags than before.