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For me the most important point is "It's a distraction". The other day I was talking to a friend and told me that I was insane to have the phone mounted in the

For me the most important point is "It's a distraction". The other day I was talking to a friend and told me that I was insane to have the phone mounted in the handle bar, and even though that I've that in place I do still believe he's right. The advice that he gave was: "Well just keep driving, if you make a mistake you simply take the next exit and come back". Which again I think is pretty good advice, you get used to do that and to drive by either memory or instinct. I do somehow still feel that I need the map, at least in some situations, the city where I'm living at the moment is literally a "spaghetti" of roads and very easy to get confused. Guess time will tell which works better for me.

hnuser9001 3y ago
Navigation by voice works quite well for me. Just connect the phone to the helmet's intercom and turn on voice navigation on e.g. Google Maps. If you have that option, I'd give it a go. Granted it might not be at it's best in "spaghetti" cities, but it has served me reasonably well in those scenarios as well.
- troupo 3y ago
  The problem I have with bike navigation is that it's often something like "continue north". I ... have no idea where north is in a random location :)
jjice 3y ago
I had to take a few ubers in Orlando last week (a city I don't spend time in) and two out of my five uber drivers just had a tablet mounted playing movies and music videos that they'd watch while they drove. I was pretty shocked. The third of five was texting half the drive. I feel like (at least in my circles) texting and driving/distracted driving in general was a big deal in the early 2010s, but now people seem to have accepted that they'll send a text on the highway. It's upsetting to say the least.
- liendolucas 3y ago
  I have seen something similar when I was on a bus in Vietnam but to prevent the driver to fall asleep, it was a very scary experience to be honest. People texting is what absolutely scares me more about driving a motorbike, when I'm riding I'm always wondering if the vehicle that's behind me is far enough from me and wish just that is not manipulating a phone.
- kelnos 3y ago
  I hope you rated these drivers 1 star and left them no tip. Otherwise nothing will change. Safety is essentially the only reason I'll give a driver a bad rating.
hwillis 3y ago
> For me the most important point is "It's a distraction". How?? There's already a screen or at least dials in the same spot (I have my phone mount center bars). I'm not some bird, having my vision distracted by notifications popping up; the dials are moving around anyway. If I need it, it's there. It's a HELL of a lot better than squinting at street signs of trying to figure out what lane to be in. If I don't need it, I feel zero urge to look at it. It's far away, it's the same brightness as everything else, I don't understand what could be distracting about it. > The advice that he gave was: "Well just keep driving, if you make a mistake you simply take the next exit and come back". Which again I think is pretty good advice, you get used to do that and to drive by either memory or instinct. Safety on a motorcycle means knowing your escape routes, being early to turn, making sure you aren't even giving drivers the opportunity to be surprised. You want to merge into a lane before it ever gets crowded. You never want to be let into a lane, you want to switch while space is completely open. Planning is the essential difference between a car and a motorcycle. To turn a car, you turn the wheel. Turning a bike is a 3-step plan. If you just turned, you'd tip over from centrifugal force. So you commit to a lean angle before you even enter the turn. To create the lean, you have to turn the bars opposite the road direction, to countersteer. So you plan that step too. But you also have to plan for avoiding something mid-turn, so you have to get a lean angle that allows you to adjust in a safe direction. The point is, you need to know where you will be going. Having directions is a major part of that. If you live on a grid with numbered streets- fine, go for it. But in a city with even moderately complicated roads, or a crowded highway, having directions DOES make you safer.

hnuser9001 3y ago

Navigation by voice works quite well for me. Just connect the phone to the helmet's intercom and turn on voice navigation on e.g. Google Maps. If you have that option, I'd give it a go. Granted it might not be at it's best in "spaghetti" cities, but it has served me reasonably well in those scenarios as well.

troupo 3y ago
The problem I have with bike navigation is that it's often something like "continue north". I ... have no idea where north is in a random location :)

jjice 3y ago

I had to take a few ubers in Orlando last week (a city I don't spend time in) and two out of my five uber drivers just had a tablet mounted playing movies and music videos that they'd watch while they drove. I was pretty shocked. The third of five was texting half the drive. I feel like (at least in my circles) texting and driving/distracted driving in general was a big deal in the early 2010s, but now people seem to have accepted that they'll send a text on the highway. It's upsetting to say the least.

liendolucas 3y ago
I have seen something similar when I was on a bus in Vietnam but to prevent the driver to fall asleep, it was a very scary experience to be honest. People texting is what absolutely scares me more about driving a motorbike, when I'm riding I'm always wondering if the vehicle that's behind me is far enough from me and wish just that is not manipulating a phone.
kelnos 3y ago
I hope you rated these drivers 1 star and left them no tip. Otherwise nothing will change. Safety is essentially the only reason I'll give a driver a bad rating.

hwillis 3y ago

> For me the most important point is "It's a distraction". How?? There's already a screen or at least dials in the same spot (I have my phone mount center bars). I'm not some bird, having my vision distracted by notifications popping up; the dials are moving around anyway. If I need it, it's there. It's a HELL of a lot better than squinting at street signs of trying to figure out what lane to be in. If I don't need it, I feel zero urge to look at it. It's far away, it's the same brightness as everything else, I don't understand what could be distracting about it. > The advice that he gave was: "Well just keep driving, if you make a mistake you simply take the next exit and come back". Which again I think is pretty good advice, you get used to do that and to drive by either memory or instinct. Safety on a motorcycle means knowing your escape routes, being early to turn, making sure you aren't even giving drivers the opportunity to be surprised. You want to merge into a lane before it ever gets crowded. You never want to be let into a lane, you want to switch while space is completely open. Planning is the essential difference between a car and a motorcycle. To turn a car, you turn the wheel. Turning a bike is a 3-step plan. If you just turned, you'd tip over from centrifugal force. So you commit to a lean angle before you even enter the turn. To create the lean, you have to turn the bars opposite the road direction, to countersteer. So you plan that step too. But you also have to plan for avoiding something mid-turn, so you have to get a lean angle that allows you to adjust in a safe direction. The point is, you need to know where you will be going. Having directions is a major part of that. If you live on a grid with numbered streets- fine, go for it. But in a city with even moderately complicated roads, or a crowded highway, having directions DOES make you safer.