The TomTom Rider

The TomTom arrived at my door a month ago. Up until then, I'd been firmly in the map and AA route planner brigade. This was to be my first brush with GPS. I'd heard about it and saw a couple of demo devices at the local Halfords but the price tag had always resulted in a sharp intake of breath and a quick side step.

This would be the first time I'd ever got my hands on one and a chance to see if I could justify the cost. I've done plenty of trips and always managed to get where I wanted to go, apart from this one time in Hamilton, which I'll get to later. Getting there always included advanced planning, like looking at a map or printing off the AA route planner pages, then getting stressed trying to find the correct turn. Last year, four of us took a wrong turn in miserable weather and ended up at a ferry terminal for Tobermory on the Isle of Mull, instead of Corran on the A82. We were low on petrol by then and wasted miles were not what we needed.

There are also times, when I just want to go. I've found myself 100 miles from home on some trips and thought to myself, 'You know, I really fancy going there today.'

When the mood takes me and the weather is just right, I'll spend the day on the bike. I'll only head for home, when the petrol money is depleted or my butt starts protesting. Unless you know where you're going, it means taking a map, which for me means carrying a tank bag or tailpack. The arrival of the TomTom left me wondering if this could be the answer I was looking for. No tailpacks or maps, just the TomTom, which you can stick in your pocket when you get off the bike.

What you get in the box
Included are two headsets, a Bluetooth headset module, charger, battery and USB cables, a carry case, quick start documentation & CD manual and a snazzy wee cloth for wiping the touch screen or your glasses.

The TomTom comes with a 128Mb SD memory card for storing the TomTom's software and maps. There is a handy backup program on the CD. TomTom recommend that you use it and as someone used to dealing with software, so do I. You never know what might happen. It'll also allow you to upgrade to more memory, if you ever need it.

After all the pieces had been removed from the box, it was time to have a play with the TomTom. This isn't actually the correct order in which to do things but if like me, you're a kid with a new toy, it'll be hard to resist. What you should do, is charge the Bluetooth headset module. Then while you're playing around with the TomTom Rider, your headset will be ready when it comes to the set up. The TomTom and the headset share the same charger, which comes with international adapters. You probably won't use them very often, so put them somewhere safe for when you do need them.

The battery will last up to five hours constant use on it's own and is fine for most trips. It'll become a problem though, if you're touring, taking day trips or using the TomTom for dispatching. For those, you really need to fit the battery cable. It's only two wires, so even putting the bike into the shop to get it done shouldn't cost too much.

Fitting
Probably one of the biggest headaches for any manufacturer who chooses to put himself in the firing line by making a 'fit-all-motorcycles' type product, is actually coming up with a system of brackets which will cover all of the various shapes and sizes of motorcycle. TomTom have done this with a series of lightweight brackets, which seem to cover most eventualities. The casting of the brackets is high quality and will not detract from the looks of the bike, once fitted. It is impossible though to cover every option.

Mirror bracket option
This is held on by the mirror. Really easy to fit but only works with traditional type mirrors. For those of us with thicker stemmed mirrors or with double mounting bolts, this won't work so well.

Adhesive pad
This can be fitted anywhere that there is a flat surface. I had problems on the VFR though because the only place where I would have been able to fit it would have been the petrol tank, which I didn't fancy doing. The pad is not designed for coming back off, once it's stuck on your bike. Be careful and make sure you think through the placement of the TomTom before you use the adhesive pad.

Handlebar bracket
The solution that I ended up going for, although I had to adapt it slightly to make it fit the VFR. With the handlebar bracket, you undo the bolts for the clutch or brake lever clamp and fit the bracket over the top. There's extended bolts supplied in the box to help fit the bracket.

I ran into two problems here. The extended bolts where still a bit too short and the handle bars on the VFR were too low. This meant that at full lock, the bracket would hit the tank. Not a problem for general riding but at some point you'll get caught out, when you want to do a u-turn or manoeuvre the bike into a tight parking space.

I ended up getting my own bracket made up with a little help from some guys at work but there are aftermarket brackets available on the web.

The display
The screen is pretty simple and easy to use. You select items by touching the screen. This will work with a gloved hand but it can get a bit fiddly if you try to use a glove on the screen 'typewriter style' keypad. You'll only be doing that at a standstill though because most of the features are unavailable while you are on the move - as a safety feature.

The TomTom Rider comes with a number of useful options and navigational aids but I found these ones really useful:

Favourites
This is similar to your browser favourites or bookmarks. Maybe favourites is a bit misleading, as bookmarks would be a better description. If you want to visit somewhere in future, just plug in the address, postcode, or GPS position into the favourites and it'll be there when you need it. I was looking for a new bike and some bike gear. I plugged in the addresses of twelve bike shops that I wanted to visit. Then it was just a case of selecting which shop I wanted to go to.

Points of Interest
POI's can be shown on the map, while you're riding/driving. These can be from petrol stations, campsites, places to eat and other selectable options. They can also be updated, so there's no need for them to eventually get out of date. The handy bit is that you can also add your own. I set up a new category as Bike shops. Once the category has been setup, you can show them on the map.

There are car garages in there as a default POI's, which is probably a hangover from the default TomTom software used mainly in cars. If that had been bike garages it would have been fantastic. The ones I added were great but I can't cover all of the UK. If something went wrong on a longer trip, that's when I'd be looking for a bike shop and hoping the TomTom would get me there, rather than a car place.

Once you reach your destination, you can also view the POI's and see how close they are. Handy, if you want to visit a few bike shops in the area, like I did or even if you want to list places to visit on tour.

Traffic options
The TomTom can show the weather, traffic jams and speed cameras on your route (or accident black spots as they are known by the politically correct). They are part of the subscription service though because they require constantly updated info. For more info, visit the TomTom website.

Route Planning
There are a number of ways of entering destinations. As well as the already mentioned favourites and POI's. You can also enter postcodes, streets, house numbers, recent destinations or town centres. Once you enter your destination, the TomTom will work out the fastest route by default. You can change this in preferences though and be prompted to select a route option from the list below.

Route Options

I found myself using the fastest route most of the time. There are others, that I just can't see me using but they're there if you want to experiment. One of the quirks that I found was that the fastest route option gave equal status to both 'A' road and motorway. Sometimes you found yourself going down an 'A' road, when the motorway would have been a better option. Although the difference between the 'A' road and motorway may only be 10mph, this is in an ideal world and doesn't take into account the traffic heading into town on 'A' roads at peak periods. When I plugged in the fastest route out of Glasgow to Paisley, the TomTom didn't want to take me onto the motorway, although it was obviously the fastest route using my local knowledge. I say quirks because there are other times when it more than makes up for it. Minutes before that, I had been happily skirting through the back streets of Glasgow, bypassing queued traffic on the main route. It's also worth mentioning that I wasn't taking advantage of the Traffic reports offered as part of the TomTom plus service. With Traffic enabled, you can download the latest info and plan a route avoiding slow traffic, accidents and road works.

In standard mode without updates, if you know it can happen, you can compensate for it. Although, I'd happily drop the walking route and have an option that gave preference to motorways.

Using it in the real world
I used the TomTom almost constantly for a month trying to find flaws in the system. In that time I had two small blips and one of those was my own mistake.

Blip one
Approaching a junction onto a dual carriageway in Renfrew, the TomTom told me to turn right, even though there wasn't an opening in the central reservation. After I turned left on the dual carriageway, the TomTom sorted itself out and had me back on track after the next roundabout. It proves that you can't follow it blindly. There's still riding to do and observations to make.

Blip Two
Any GPS system will only go where you tell it to go. If you plug in the wrong address, you won't get where you expected and that's exactly what happened. When you look up an address, make sure you get it right.

A note for webmasters and business owners reading this. Make sure your address is clear and easy to find on your website/advertising or customers trying to find your business through GPS might end up lost.

Some of the test routes
This was to prove to be quite a test for the TomTom Rider. Just before the TomTom arrived, I had decided to look for a new bike.

I checked the usual Autotrader, Ebay and the free ad papers from the garage and spotted a few bikes that I wanted to have a closer look at. It would mean a trip to Edinburgh, Dunfermline and Bishopbriggs. Normally, I would have planned three separate trips because I get stressed about getting lost or missing a turning. I'm not a bad map reader but I hate stopping to have a map check or trying to spot the road names on a map or the AA route planner. If the wife is with me, this usually ends up with us close to not talking to each other as she does the navigating. As it turned out, the TomTom Rider took all the hard work out of it. I noted the addresses of bike shops that I wanted to visit and added them to the favourites on the TomTom.

Now, I could just select the name of the shop I wanted to visit from the menu and the TomTom would take me to it.

Port Glasgow to Leith (Edinburgh)
First off was a trip to Edinburgh and Carrick motorcycles. Getting to Edinburgh is pretty straight forward but this trip involved going through the centre of Edinburgh and the hive of roundabouts and traffic lights, which make riding in Edinburgh a nightmare. Not with the TomTom though. I arrived at Carrick motorcycles without any hassles, even though it's not one of the easiest places to find. I was still relaxed and even though the TomTom can't do much about the Edinburgh traffic, not having to worry about missing a turn was a hell of a weight off my mind. (70 miles traveled)

Bikes viewed, it was time to head off to Dunfermline.

Leith to Dunfermline
To get the route, all I had to do was click on the screen and select the ‘navigate to' button, then ‘favourites', then select ‘Scott Murray Motorcycles' from the list I had added earlier. The TomTom took us out of Edinburgh and across the Forth road bridge. Easy…

Once in Dunfermline, the TomTom took us straight to the door. I had a look at the bike I was interested in and was very nearly tempted to part with my cash. If I’d had to map read to get this far, I would have probably bought the bike, just to get it over with. (89 miles traveled)

Dunfermline to Bishopbriggs (Glasgow)
Back on the road and off to Bishopbriggs. Again, it was just a matter of pressing a couple of buttons to pick the route. This time ended up on ‘A’ roads through small towns and villages but it was okay because we were travelling like locals. All the way, the TomTom showed the route and gave audible warning when I was approaching a direction change. We made good time and arrived in Bishopbriggs still feeling pretty good. This is the bit where you find out what a TomTom doesn't tell you. Motorrad Central is closed on a Monday… Feck… (130 miles travelled)

Not bad at all. We'd traveled 130 miles on roads we didn't know and still felt pretty good. We were both relaxed and had enjoyed the day. The weather was good and we'd hadn't spent too much time on the motorway. The scenery was fantastic and we'd crossed the Forth road bridge and been able to view the Forth rail bridge in the background. There had been a couple of times that we had stopped for a bite to eat or the loo. It doesn't matter if you wander off the route because the TomTom just picks up the trail again and sends you in the right direction.

Want to see how the routes would have looked in AA Route Planner (Excel needed)

Thoughts on the first real test for the TomTom Rider
With the fitment bugs behind me, I'm starting to become really impressed with the TomTom Rider. Planning journeys is easy and it takes all the hard work out of it. It doesn't just replace one map, it replaces a whole UK road atlas - but also a UK road atlas that shows every town or village in minute detail. It's like going for a run with a mate who has done the trip before and knows exactly how to get there. It knows the one-way systems and takes them into account when planning the route. It doesn't matter if you deviate from the route. If you want to stop somewhere, just do it. The TomTom will put you back on the correct route again when you're done.

It wasn't finished though…
That night, I spied another bike on Autotrader and phoned the owner the next day. I got the address from the bloke and plugged it into the TomTom, then arranged for my mate to take me there in his car. We flung the bike gear in the boot and stuck the TomTom on the dashboard and headed off on the 42 mile trip to Mauchline in Ayrshire.

The TomTom took us to the door! 30 minutes later, I bought a VFR800 and was on my way home.

Maybe it was to be expected. Once home, I should have known the weather would change and a heavy snowfall meant that the bike would spend a week off the road and would also mean that the Scottish bike show at Ingliston would be cancelled that Sunday, my usual visiting day. I had been holding off buying a new helmet, boots and jackets because I had hoped to get a good deal at the show. With the show cancelled, I had no choice but to look elsewhere but it would mean a trip into the traffic nightmare that is Hamilton. The last time I tried to find J&S in Hamilton, I ended up going around in circles, then going back home empty handed with only wasted petrol money as a memento of the trip. With the TomTom for directions though, I decided to go for it. I was in and out without any hassles and with the TomTom, the one-way system was a breeze. This is where the TomTom Rider really starts to stretch its legs. It can't beat local knowledge but no-one has local knowledge of the whole country. It might occasionally take a slightly different route from a local but it'll get you to where you want to go with the minimum of fuss.

The conclusion…

The good
The TomTom Rider is definitely a fantastic tool but it may take you a couple of weeks before you can really learn how to use its full potential. If you're sitting in traffic, you can choose to avoid a roadblock or you can deviate from the route and let the TomTom work out new directions for you. If you're worried about the TomTom taking you off the motorways, you can disable it, until you get to awkward parts of the route and let it guide you through them. You use it in a way that suits your riding or driving.

With a car kit supplied, which would probably retail at around £30, you've got a very flexible GPS system that may go a long way to justifying the price. Add to that, the stress free miles and still being on talking terms with the wife at the end of any trip and it doesn't seem like that much money, the prices are coming down too.

After the last few weeks, I'd definitely buy one. I've found it isn't just about touring Europe or dispatching. You still won't use it everyday but you will use it more often than you think. The TomTom Rider encourages you to take trips that you'd normally shy away from. It gives you that extra bit of confidence, knowing that it'll get you there and back again.

The niggles
There are still some issues with getting it to fit to all bikes and it may mean buying an aftermarket bracket before you're totally happy - but that's a criticism that can be levelled at all the current GPS systems.

Sometimes it does take an option that isn't the fastest according to local knowledge but I can't really hold that against the TomTom because it's doing a better job than I would ever be able to.

There are also problems when receiving calls through the TomTom. You get an audible warning but I have not been able to receive or make a call through the TomTom, when using my Sony Ericsson T630. I don’t seem to be the only one who has had problems.

There’s also the issue of charging the Bluetooth headset module. There is no way to charge the headset module, when on the bike. You have to use the home charger. The headset module does last a lot longer than the TomTom battery but if you’re away on a camping trip, you won’t have the option of plugging the charger into a wall socket.

The only real pain is the headset. To get something which would work well on a bike was going to be a hell of a challenge and it hasn't quite been pulled off but it is a very worthy effort. We usually recommend wearing earplugs these days because of the noise levels in helmets. With that sort of noise level to deal with, it's not surprising that it is hard to hear directions at higher speeds and still keep the volume within levels that does not add to the damage to your hearing. It's a very good effort and probably on par with most of the mass-produced stuff for the intercom market but I'd still like it to be a bit more comfortable.

The real test will be in a couple of weeks. I'm hoping to still have the TomTom for the near 800 mile round trip to Cambridge and a shorter 350 mile round trip to Newcastle next week. We'll see how things go, when the miles really start to rack up. The testing goes on...