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.

[F6Dave]

I've had the Android Auto/Carplay unit for a few months now. It took a while to figure out all the settings as you now need to sync 3 devices: the unit, phone, and headset. If you're not careful your phone audio gets sent to the unit, which in my case has no speaker. That's because I bought a cheap ($80) unit from Amazon just to see if it would work. As with so many Amazon products there are many brands with strange names that appear to be identical.

The only downsides are that the 5" screen has a slightly smaller viewable area. That's not a problem since it's much brighter and sharper than I expected, but if I bought it again I might get the 6" or 7" version. It's also a capacitive touchscreen, so you need appropriate gloves, or you can sew some metallic thread into the fingertips of existing gloves. Other models have resistive touch.

The upsides far outweigh the downsides. I have an Android phone, so for maps I use either Google or Waze. With the latter you get all those warnings about road hazards and speed traps. There are other options like Here maps or TomTom which I haven't tried.

For incoming calls I get caller ID on the screen and can answer or reject with a single press. You can place calls from a recent calls or contact list. There's even an option to record calls which I haven't tried. Text messages display on the screen, too.

I found a great weather app that displays radar, wind speed, temperature, and other weather info on a very good map. That takes the guesswork out of when to stop for rain gear. I use this in my other vehicles as there are only one or two Android Auto enabled apps that show your location on a weather radar map.

It goes without saying that all the audio apps like Sirius/XM and Spotify work great on the unit, so your entertainment options are endless.

This thing is vastly better than my old Garmin and I'd never go back to a standalone GPS.

[scooperhsd]

I got my first cell phone with ALLTEL as the carrier, with a RadioShack bag phone in my car only, when I was doing a lot of driving between Raleigh NC and Washington DC (puzzle that out for how long I've been using one). We started using Garmin GPs's  during Dec 2010 , and we are currently using a Nuvi 50 (on semi permanent loan to my sister), 2 Drive 50's , a Nuvi 2597LMT, a DriveSmart 55,, a Drive 53 and a Zumo 395 (motorcycle attached to the Valk). I do have a handlebar mount that protects a car GPS from the weather, and I've had ways to power a car GPS and as well as the Zumo on my Valk (right off the accessory terminal in the Right hand side plastic cover).

While modern phones CAN do GPS, there are areas (where there is no cell coverage  - northern Oklahoma just south of the Kansas border springs to mind) that the good old fashioned GPS beats the heck out of a Cell phone for navigation purposes. And yes - I know (and use) offline maps on my phone - still no navigation. The one minor bad thing about a Garmin is that you have to do the updates (usually 3 times per year)  to keep that "lifetime maps" feature working. Some of the earlier and lower end Garmins are also extremely limited in how much map storage they have - but most models can take at least a 32MB SD card to take the existing maps for that model.

[Oss]

funny stories  thanks

I had a gps mount unit bracket and waterproof cover which contained just sheets of paper instructions that flew off in Mississippi while riding home along with Wild6.  I still have the mount part but did not stop to retrive the unit

That hit also broke the sidestand spring and one of the rivco air horn

The air horn sounds great even with just the one horn 12 yrs later

Mostly I keep the phone in my jacket pocket with the bluetooth on and connected to my helmet

But truthfully I rarely turn on the helmet receiver

[Flyingfree]

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

Wait What!!! Where is this mystical port? Picture please.

[LadyDraco]

LOL I still use an MP3 player...
Hooked to the aux line...

[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

Wait What!!! Where is this mystical port? Picture please.

Most Goldwings have a power port in the clutch side pocket. 

Hay 
Jimmyt

[Rams]

Well, I'm sure many won't agree with my decision. Due to the discount USAA allows, I allow my phone to track my movements in use of my cell phone while in operation of a vehicle. Doing so provides me with a significant discount on my auto insurance. But when I get on my motorcycles, I often get different penalties due to my phone receiving shocks during braking or other issues. I will not answer my phone or use my phone while driving. Again I like the discounts I get.

I recently complained to my insurance company that all of the violations that my phone accuses me of are on my motorcycle and asked if there was any way to reduce the sensitivity of my phone due to these vibrations because I frequently get harsh breaking or phone handling when my phone is safely in my pocket and I'm just out riding and no such occurrence happened. Unfortunately, that is not an option

But I've learned that while using my phone for navigation, my smart watch will also provide the same guidance so that's how I do it. The phone goes in my pocket and the smart watch is on my wrist . It works for me

Rams.

[Hook#3287]

2018+ Wings have a power connection in the center console, except for the air bag ones, then its in the trunk.

Problems with phones overheating in the center console have been reported and some have installed some type of cooling fan. Seems like a lot of BS to stay connected, but to each his own.

I truly enjoy the disconnect from the noise while riding, so my phone is in my pocket and only identifies as a phone for when I need or want it.

Not against modern tech at all, I use a Garmin GPS regularly, just not into all the other distractions afforded by today's cell phone.

I'm one step above Jess, my cell phone is my phone, mostly, and always while on 2 wheels.

In the pocket and ignored.

[F6Dave]

Here's one thing I like on my MC Android Auto unit. There's a free app that shows real time weather radar on a map with your current position. I can't count how many times I thought I'd miss a thunderstorm but ended up getting soaked. Or put rain gear on for no reason. This eliminates the guesswork.