Android Auto or CarPlay for Motorcycle

[F6Dave]

On my way back from the Motofest I talked with a rider who had installed a motorcycle Android Auto/CarPlay unit on his BMW GS. It looks like a great way to leave your phone in your pocket and still have maps, weather, caller ID, music, and other info right in front of you. Has anyone used one of these?

[HayHauler]

Scott from OK has one on his GS 1250.  He loves it and yes, you can leave your phone in the saddle bag or other water proof place as long as there is a charger available in that space.  It has a touch screen, but it is pretty large, at least the one he had was.  The GS 1250 had the real estate to handle it and a special mount for his specific bike.
It is just like the Android Auto that shows on the screen in my Ram, but portable.

I hope this helps.

Hay 
Jimmyt

[f6john]

Something else to add to the list of things I’d like to have but probably never will.

[Serk]

Hmmm... Dangit.... Ya' put an idea in my head now.

Researched 'em, they're really inexpensive. Like sub $200.

I paid almost that much for my wireless charging RAM mount to have my phone on my handlebars.

You lose some functionality going with Android Auto instead of just having your raw phone there but you also don't have your raw phone sitting on your handlebars...

Probably shouldn't switch to it less than 2 weeks from a major trip though.

I'd need to wire up a charger somewhere protected on the bike for my phone, either the trunk or one of the front pockets (Gold Wing). Likely the trunk.

Dangit.....

[HayHauler]

Yea, prolly shouldn't be pulling the plastic off a week before IZ.  Isn't there a power port in the left hand pocket?  The Wing I owned had one, but I don't know if it was stock or aftermarket.

Hay 
Jimmyt

[fudgie]

Yea, prolly shouldn't be pulling the plastic off a week before IZ.  Isn't there a power port in the left hand pocket?  The Wing I owned had one, but I don't know if it was stock or aftermarket.

Hay 
Jimmyt

Yea there is. I put a usb port on mine. Added one to the truck cubby compartment for my passenger.

[F6Dave]

After more research (Amazon carries dozens), many include dashcams and TPMS. Some owners said their phone camera was damaged (usually the image stabilizer) when mounted on the bike, giving them a reason to switch to one of these units.

If I don't get one for Father's Day I'll be buying one myself.

[f6john]

After more research (Amazon carries dozens), many include dashcams and TPMS. Some owners said their phone camera was damaged (usually the image stabilizer) when mounted on the bike, giving them a reason to switch to one of these units.

If I don't get one for Father's Day I'll be buying one myself.

Does your family check into the VRCC or do you have a way of dropping subtle hints?

[Serk]

Yea, prolly shouldn't be pulling the plastic off a week before IZ.  Isn't there a power port in the left hand pocket?  The Wing I owned had one, but I don't know if it was stock or aftermarket.

Hay 
Jimmyt

Yea there is. I put a usb port on mine. Added one to the truck cubby compartment for my passenger.

I seem to recall there's power available under the pocket, and a audio line in. I think my power is used there for a Bluetooth adapter to pipe audio into the stereo system. Regardless I checked, my phone is too big to fit in that pocket anyway so it'd be the trunk for me anyway...

[Willow]

You can buy inexpensively an external battery good to charge your phone three to four times.  That should last a day and when you stop for the night you can recharge that battery.  No wiring needed.

[Jess from VA]

I have no experience with cell phones (don't even know how to use one).

But everyone else does, and I see them mounted on handlebar mounts all the time.

I always wondered... don't you hit the occasional hard bump that will send them flying?

I mean, I've almost lost fillings.

[Willow]

I have no experience with cell phones (don't even know how to use one).

But everyone else does, and I see them mounted on handlebar mounts all the time.

I always wondered... don't you hit the occasional hard bump that will send them flying?

I mean, I've almost lost fillings.   

A good mount will keep it held tightly in place.  We can, however, make stupid mistakes.

We were traveling down the hiway on the passage home from InZane.  I didn't like how the phone (computer) was positioned to my view and the sun.  I was not given to the plan of stopping and bothering to loosen, reposition and tighten the mount.  I thought I could manage the adjustment without all that complexity.

A cellphone that has hit the pavement at flyway speed is not a very pretty sight.   

[Jess from VA]

A cellphone that has hit the pavement at flyway speed is not a very pretty sight. 

On the freeway Carl, I'd think you'd never see it again.  Stopping to retrieve/salvage it would seem like a pretty bad idea?  Illegal, and unsafe.

I've had things blow out of a flapped shirt pocket (forgot to button flap), and it was... well crap, that's gone.   

[Serk]

You can buy inexpensively an external battery good to charge your phone three to four times.  That should last a day and when you stop for the night you can recharge that battery.  No wiring needed.

Indeed that is an option, I always travel with one capable of jumpstarting the bike as well (And have needed to use it for that function) but I'm also persnippety and prefer things be wired in "properly". But in this instance, I'm happy with my cell phone on the RAM mount and will use that solution for the upcoming trip... But thanks for the idea!

I have no experience with cell phones (don't even know how to use one).

But everyone else does, and I see them mounted on handlebar mounts all the time.

I always wondered... don't you hit the occasional hard bump that will send them flying?

I mean, I've almost lost fillings.

I'd say you don't know what you're missing, but maybe you do. I honestly don't know how one would function in $CurrentYear without one, so much is done on one now...

As for the falling off thing, the engineering has progressed greatly the last decade or so. I've had a much earlier iteration without wireless charging fail when I hit a pot hole on the freeway, the phone popped out of the holder and was dangling by it's friction attachment to the charging cord only. I quickly put it back and vowed to get a different holder before my next trip.

The replacement holder came with a rubber strap that goes on the back to provide extra tension to the spring loaded clamp. I didn't think it was necessary so didn't use it.

The engineers that designed the device knew better than me, and I had my phone do a spring loaded back flip into my lap while crossing some rough railroad crossings.

I contacted the manufacturer and sheepishly requested a replacement rubber strap that it came with and I'd misplaced. They obliged, I placed it on and *KNOCKING FURIOUSLY ON WOOD* it's been fine ever since...


On the original topic, one thing that's swayed me from making a jump to the Car Play option is I've gotten rather used to having my phone in a portrait orientation for navigation purposes, and these appear to be optimized for a landscape orientation.

On the freeway Carl, I'd think you'd never see it again.  Stopping to retrieve/salvage it would seem like a pretty bad idea?  Illegal, and unsafe.

Having never been tethered to one, you don't get the power a cellphone holds over one. They've become the everything device. Not just a phone, it's my map, my bank, my music player, weather checker, etc. etc. etc... And they're not cheap. If my pistol fell out while riding I'd definitely go back and look for it. My phone cost me about as much as 3 of my every day carry pistols...

[Jess from VA]

I suppose people would go back for their wives too.  

I ride alone mostly.  If there's anyone else, THEY have a phone.  And so does everyone everywhere I go or shop, not that I ask people to do things for me with them (more than maybe once or twice ever).

The idea of having a phone, TV, Utube, Bank, Checking tap, weather, Email, map/GPS, music, and general purpose computer in my pocket everywhere I go is appealing.  Since I decided against one early on (and at that time my cohabiting wife had hers), I just stuck to my guns.  I had led an extremely complicated and stressful life for decades, and had told (promised) myself to do everything possible to simplify it in every way possible going forward. (I realize cell phones may be seen by many as a way of simplifying life, but not to me.)

Even my 95yo mom has one, though it's a rock bottom simple phone only nothing else.  Which she forgets to turn on half the time.    

[Willow]

...  Stopping to retrieve/salvage it would seem like a pretty bad idea?  Illegal, and unsafe.
...

LOL!  Illegal and/or unsafe has not always slowed me down.   

A GPS in the Wind

[Jess from VA]

Carl, I can't remember what the hell it was for (not a gps/cell phone) but I too have ridden into the breakdown lane, parked and jumped off a bike, and ran back down the edge of the freeway, waited for a break in the flying cars and ran out there and got it.  But not lately.  These days, I'm almost never on freeways anymore.  Around here, they are often long inching parking lots, from horizon to horizon.  Screw that (esp on a motorcycle)!!

[Hook#3287]

I feel a cell phone only has as much control over you, that you grant it.

I've had one for over 35 years.

They are a tool, a very useful one, but one that can take over your life, if allowed.

I feel pity for the people I see that walk around with a cell phone in their hand as an appendage, but I'm sure they don't, rightfully so, care what I think.

Never going to put one on a motorcycle handlebar.  Don't need or want to talk to anyone while riding and don't need the distraction.  No conversation is so important to take your attention away from the road while on a bike.  IMHO.

The garmin GPS gives me enough distraction and I want my phone in my pocket in case of emergency.

My Wing has all the doodads that include Android Auto and Carplay, but I haven't spent the hours of frustration hooking them up.

We all have our own level of modern tech use and acceptance.

[F6Dave]

Having your phone fly off the mount isn't the only problem. Many higher end phones use a mechanical gyro device to stabilize the camera components while shooting video. This results in rock-steady handheld video that looks like you're using a tripod. But anything other than smooth pavement (there's very little here in Colorado) will rattle the phone's internal parts, and after thousands of miles many owners report serious damage to their cameras. I tried it once with a RAM mount and after seeing my phone bounce around on a rough stretch, I decided to switch back to my old Garmin. Now I'll be using Android Auto with my new Father's Day present.