Calimoto motorcycle sat nav

[Stephen]

CALIMOTO

Anyone use this motorcycle sat nav app,Android & IOS got told about it from a fellow biker who attends our Saturday breakfast meets and is a member here,tried it out earlier this week,it has the function to do a circular from your home,input how many miles you want to ride,which direction you want to go,then hit calculate,took me mostly country lanes,when a turn comes up it says the name of road and road number(i.e. b440)once i had been riding for an hour,i was actually told that by the sat nav,still tinkering with it at the moment.I used via my iphone 11 in a cradle on the handlebar,route was highlighted as per other sat navs.

The free version gives you a certain bit of the UK for free,for me in Northampton it was from Bedford up to the Scottish boarder(Not Wales)i guess a third of England,two Levels of purchases yearly £39.99,gives you speed cameras,lean angle analysis(wtf)acceleration analysis(again wtf)super winding route option or £59.99 one of payment which gives all maps ride stats,routes can be shared,you dont get all that analysis crap or speed cameras,you get winding route,but not super winding,Points of interest are there as well,fuel,cafes ect.It has other route planning facilities on it as well.

I also have a Garmin 660,which has been good to me,if i were to pay i would go for the one off payment,as i say still exploring the app at the moment,will probably have a look on YouTube later see what i can find there.

Steve

[Capt. R Swipe]

I'm just checking it out now, thanks Stephen.
I've recently been looking into nav apps and dedicated satnavs for bicycles, scoots and bikes.
I'm currently testing Android Auto and looking into Beeline. I'm just after something extremely simple without options and analysis.
I tend to ride following my nose and just need to check I'm pointing in the right directions at times, even using the relative position of sun on clear days and landmarks.
I'll give this Cali moto a go too. I don't like nav apps that require a data connection, cos I don't wanna pay for data I don't use!

[MrGrumpy]

Sneaky trick not giving you all of the UK for free! I My free app gives you all the country incl speed cameras (allegedly). Hardly ever use it - if I go somewhere I normally plan my route out to the last detail then memorise it. I'm sure I'd argue furiously with the computer voice if I disagreed with its directions!
One SatNav system that could be interesting is the Beeline system - there's a phone app, but it links via bluetooth to a mini display that can (in theory) be easily attached to any bike, that just gives you the core turn right/left straight ahead direction info. Costs money of course.... I see Capt Swipe is also seen this system!

[Stephen]

This FAQ’s page might be helpful https://calimoto.com/en/frequently-asked-questions There is a lot of questions/answers on there,iwill read bits at a time,my brain will get system overload otherwise,just wondering if TYRE can be used to plan a route,then import it to Calimoto on my iphone,i use TYRE to plan routes,then send to the Garmin trn files,i save the routes on my computer as well,i can convert them to gpx files and send to the other lads who use another sat nav app on their android phones.

Steve

[Stephen]

I was going to go out and try it again this morning,but its been blowing a gale,then as the wind stopped it started raining,hopefully its a bit better tomorrow.

Steve

[abitmad]

I've been using Calimoto and find it very good, and that's just the free version. You can import and export GPX files, whatever they are.

The app can both design a round trip where you can set the mileage, compass direction and degree of winding road, or it can nav you to a destination where you can also set the parameters for the type of ride you want on the way. On both round trip or destination modes you can ask it to locate petrol stations and many other features you might want en route. Bluetooth voice instructions are available if you have helmet comms.

The beauty of it is, in my view, that you don't need a PC to design a route on Tired or whatever it's called. It's all done on the app in seconds. But you can if you want still do it the old way on Cali's website and it will transfer to your phone.

My Garmin nav also does round trips but I found that the Cali rides took me on more interesting routes. However, depending on the degree of curvy roads chosen, both can take you occasionally down some really narrow tight lanes, you know the ones, about a metre wide with a metre and a half of gravel and grass down the middle, little more than dirt tracks. I understand some guys actually like those lanes but not me, I like routes that enable a bit of wrist to be exercised.

I've used Calimoto a few times so far and find it well worth it, and at zero cost too. The free version limits the area you can use but it is a pretty wide area. It's only about £40 one-off for the full map version.

Although I've long had proper bike navs in the past, Garmin or Tomtom, I think on any future bikes I wouldn't bother and would use a good phone app instead like Calimoto for example or just Google maps when I wanted merely the quickest way between two points.

Don't go for Beeline, I think it is expensive rubbish in my view. A device that you mount on display which requires charging and connects to your phone by Bluetooth, but shows only turn by turn instructions, no proper map. You must have your phone with you, which will also require charging, but in that case, it's way more informative, not to mention cost free, to mount your phone on display using a nav app like Google maps or Calimoto etc. and get the full mapping as you progress. Why would you want to spend a considerable sum on a Beeline, for far less info and which still requires your phone to be carried? Makes no sense to me.

[MrGrumpy]

Don't go for Beeline, I think it is expensive rubbish in my view. A device that you mount on display which requires charging and connects to your phone by Bluetooth, but shows only turn by turn instructions, no proper map. You must have your phone with you, which will also require charging, but in that case, it's way more informative, not to mention cost free, to mount your phone on display using a nav app like Google maps or Calimoto etc. and get the full mapping as you progress. Why would you want to spend a considerable sum on a Beeline, for far less info and which still requires your phone to be carried? Makes no sense to me.

I see your point...but I would be a little reluctant to mount my phone on a bike dash or bars. I have the feeling that they'd be a bit fragile given that there'd be quite a lot of vibration and shaking around plus rain etc. Am I being over cautious? Expensive things phones - whilst I'd hope a GPS device would be designed to cope with the rigours of road use, is a standard phone? My phone is supposed to be water resistant, but I'm reluctant to try it!

As for a Beeline vs Phone app, obviously on a bike, hearing the instructions might be tricky, unless you have some sort of in helmet speakers, but I have earplugs in all the time anyway! In a car , you can follow the instructions, whilst on a bike, you'd be more reliant on a phone display. Now I'm reluctant to take my eyes off the road for more than an instant, hence the (possible) appeal of the Beeline system which only displays the essential info.

I must emphasise that these are the fears of someone who rarely if ever uses a GPS system, so I'd be interested to know whether these are real or not.

[abitmad]

If you want voice on a bike from any device, phone, satnav, Beeline etc., you must have helmet bluetooth comms, riding is much too noisy to hear the instructions from the device itself. You can of course ride with visual only if you don't have, or don't want, comms. It's not mandatory to have voice but it does aid navigation.

Loads of bikers use their phones as navs, usually mounted on the bars or mirror stems etc. I don't think there's a problem with the vibes or rain provided you use a high quality mount and a waterproof case. I use a Quadlock but there are loads of mounting options out there. I think your fears are probably groundless.

If you don't use GPS but want to start, forget Beeline, it is not worth it for the reasons I mentioned. Use a dedicated nav like Garmin or Tomtom or a phone with a good app. Dedicated bike navs are though very expensive. In contrast you already have a smartphone (I presume) and nav apps are free or very low cost. As I said, I wouldn't get a dedicated nav in future or if I was starting now.

[MrGrumpy]

If you don't use GPS but want to start, forget Beeline, it is not worth it for the reasons I mentioned. Use a dedicated nav like Garmin or Tomtom or a phone with a good app. Dedicated bike navs are though very expensive. In contrast you already have a smartphone (I presume) and nav apps are free or very low cost. As I said, I wouldn't get a dedicated nav in future or if I was starting now.

Yes, have a smartphone with a SatNav app - whether its any good, I don't know, as I've hardly used it! I'm more of a paper maps person....

[Capt. R Swipe]

I used Calimoto app for the first time onboard my Nmax trialling a short route from my location to an arbitrary destination. The route was somewhere along the ride where I stopped to set up the app and carry on riding to the destination. I noted the following:-
Pros:-
* It was easy to start a new route from my current location.
* The process of route-choice was a matter of using the displayed map to tap on my chosen destination.
* A route of current loaction to destination was displayed with the usual distance, ETA etc.
* To begin navigation was a simple tap on a 'start' tab.
* All very easy to do with in-route options which I chose to ignore.
* The navigation on route was clear and precise. I only used it visually.
* I could run the app with data turned off.
* No need for a dedicated satnav unit or Beeline's handlebar device.

Cons:-

* The running app was extremely power-hungry, it used a whopping chunk of the phone's charge - which was alarming! I guess the phone must be plugged into a power source whilst navigating.


I'm gonna trial the Calimoto app again and pay closer attention to the app's options and the phone's power management. I could see how using Beeline's unit would require a bluetooth connection to the Beeline app, which would further demand more from the phone's battery and necessitate plugging into a power socket on the bike. Not a bad trial though and looks promising.