Motorcycle tracking Apps

[old head]

wondering if anyone has experience with these apps.

Have looked at a few, and several sound interesting.
Best biking roads
Rever
Weride
Tourguide

Looking for a way to track and save my routes,  I also like the idea of access to a broader database with roads posted by others.

I have used BBR for their ratings and routes,
I have an old Garmin that I can't import routes, but at some point it will get replaced.

Generally, I just make a note which route and try to emulate it

looking for experience with some apps, pros and cons.

Old head

 

[Daniel Kalal]

Looking for a way to track and save my routes...

It's not an app, so may not be a solution you've considered, but for several years, I've been using a SPOT receiver/transmitter.  It does not rely on cell phone connection, so works everywhere (virtually world wide).  The default is for your position to ping every ten minutes and the lat/lon information is uploaded so that you can retrieve it when your trip is  done.  If you allow it, others can also monitor your position.

The lat/lon information can be downloaded into a spreadsheet as well as the common GPS mapping software formats.

[Dean Rose]

It's not an app, so may not be a solution you've considered, but for several years, I've been using a SPOT receiver/transmitter.  It does not rely on cell phone connection, so works everywhere (virtually world wide).  The default is for your position to ping every ten minutes and the lat/lon information is uploaded so that you can retrieve it when your trip is  done.  If you allow it, others can also monitor your position.

The lat/lon information can be downloaded into a spreadsheet as well as the common GPS mapping software formats.

http://www.findmespot.com/en/


Dean

[Triple Jim]

Not what you asked about, but a similar topic, I've been using Traccar to let family members follow my routes.  It's installed on my phone, and sends my location back to a Traccar server, which plots my route.  I have the server running at home and password protected, so the information is not public.  If I need help, I can phone home, and my wife can see where I am.  If I'm unconscious in a ditch, as long as my phone has connectivity, or did just before the crash, she can find me.  It's a free, open-source program and app.

[swordds]

I  use Ride With GPS.   Works great for me for creating routes and has lots of routes created by others and keeps a record of your rides and your routes can be uploaded to a Garmin GPS.    Listed as a bicycle route planning app but works just as well for driving/motorcycling 

[hooah54]

Glympse...eases momma's mind when I am on the road...she uses it to let me know too

[rocker59]

Seems SPOT, or a nice GPS would be the way to go.

Cell Phone coverage is pretty spotty in the places I like to ride.

[Triple Jim]

CoPilot doesn't require cell coverage to work, since you can upload the maps ahead of time.  I loaded all of North America into my phone when I got it. 

Traccar needs cell coverage to transmit your location back to the server, but if it can't get coverage, it caches the information and dumps it when it gets service.

[Kiwi_Roy]

Cell Phone coverage is pretty spotty in the places I like to ride.

Then Spot's for you, it works anywhere in the world a satellite's in view
One option allows you to send short texts from your smart phone.

[stevet]

I've had the full Spot package for many years, mainly as a safety component when traveling by any means.  I don't use it in-town, but when out on all-day rides where cell coverage is spotty and I'm outside my in-network health coverage, I use it.  I've even got the additional search and rescue service on it.  (Out-of-network emergency transport can be crazy expensive.)  I also use it when long distance traveling by car, and I took it to Scotland a few years back to allow friends/relatives to see where we were visiting at any given moment.

Their new generation hardware and service can allow for quicker than 10-minute location pings, for extra $$.  I'm still just using the 10-minute ping service on a 1st generation device.  That doesn't allow for turn-by-turn route following but at least I can go back and visit the general area I rode through.

Like most satellite devices, it wants to see the sky.  Nearly every trip I get a few dead spots scattered for whatever reason, but if I need to be found in a ditch, they should be able to get into the same vicinity of my location.  It uses GoogleMaps for the mapping service.

Steve.

[canuguzzi]

No cell connection needed. Tryout MapsMe or OSMAND for Android.

OSMAND logs your routes, let's you share them and also has a tracking feature to let others see your trip progress.

No device, absent a cell connection can let others see your realtime trip progress without getting very expensive. All the affordable ones still use cell connections to upload their location data. We are talking reasonably simple here so its down to cell phones or GPS devices.

Co-Pilot works as someone said but I don't know if it allows real time tracking so someone else can see your moving location.

[dlapierre]

I've used Ski Trax and Cycle Trax, both made by the same outfit. The app cost all of about $5.00 and I've run them on the I\phone and the Samsung. Both have GPS features and you can send the record of your trip home whenever you stop at a place with wi-fi. Both show average speeds, changes in elevation and overall trip distance and you can include photos of exact spots where you took the picture onto the track.

[Porterhouse]

Like many others, I use a SPOT tracking device as well.  The tracking is fine, but I mostly have it to keep friends and family aware of my status out on the road.  The ability to signal for help out in BFE is a comfort as well.

If you just want to track your route, there are numerous GPS data loggers that keep much tighter tracks than something like a SPOT, you just need to download the data files onto your computer.

Another simple solution would be to download the SWConnect App (Apple iOS) or Bubbler GPS (Android) and have it upload your position to www.spotwalla.com whenever you have a data signal on your phone.  Works pretty much as good as SPOT for live tracking.  No cost for registering or tracking either.

[swordds]

Do you just want someone else to be able to track your location and/or a record of your ride, or do you want to be able to plan a route using Google Earth/Google Maps and then be able to follow that route while on the road (complete with cue sheets and real-time smart phone or Garmin routing)?  Ride with GPS allows you to design a route and then follow that route on the road. Not the same as just broadcasting your location. Also Ride With GPS allows you to download your routs so cellular connection is not necessary during your ride.  Not a safety thing buts lots of fun laying out a route at night then riding it the next day. If others know of other route planning/mapping apps I would be interested in knowing about them.

[Testarossa]

I've used Ski Trax and Cycle Trax, both made by the same outfit. The app cost all of about $5.00 and I've run them on the I\phone and the Samsung. Both have GPS features and you can send the record of your trip home whenever you stop at a place with wi-fi. Both show average speeds, changes in elevation and overall trip distance and you can include photos of exact spots where you took the picture onto the track.

This is what I use.

[jackson]

I use Glympse so my wife will know where I am when I go for a ride.  You can set it for a max of 4 hours per session; it will send an email to her phone with a link so all she has to do is click on that link and it will show her my present location and the speed that I'm going.  Due to my heart problems, it puts her mind at ease to know that I'm moving and not in a ditch somewhere.  The best part is that it's free.

[canuguzzi]

Google location history.
Free.
Always running, 24/7.
It can be zoomed in and has detail, and it can be exported to a GPS or such.
You can share it with others.
No need for other apps.
Any time I want, I can find out where my wife is, or she can find out where I am. No extra apps. Free.
I can look back at where I was 6 months ago at 2pm.
I just looked up were I was last Saturday.

Not so sure I want my wife also being my big brother.