My riding is long distance and mostly rural. I have always been a bit old school and studied a paper or google map before a journey. Google street view lets me view junctions etc before I leave so it is like being there before. I make a few notes for tank bag window. After many years I kinda know my way around UK now. If I get lost I have an app on my Android 'phone Lat/Long which also tells me the address where I am with a link to google maps. I did try a couple of sat/nav devices but hardly used them (the group I ride with sometimes all use all types and spend a great deal of time messing round with them). I can fully understand needing a sat/nav in a city.... From what my friends have told me their biggest sat/nav asset is a decent screen visor to stop reflected sunlight.

 

Latitude Longitude - Apps on Google Play

GPS Coordinates App to get or share your location using Latitude and Longitude

play.google.com

 

You can try Rever as an alternative to Calimoto. When I was street riding, I would use both.

 

You can try Rever as an alternative to Calimoto.

Rever looks interesting, more like Komoot; I'll give it a go.

I did once do a complete lap of France using just a paper map. I got lost a fair few times though and, it should be noted, that I have a terrible sense of direction and can get lost in a supermarket.

 

I use google maps, because my bike came with a quad lock mob ph mount cos i only had to buy the case etc.
But, its pretty average sometimes, always tries to steer you onto the toll roads i noticed.

One has to be careful, its F me up twice now,
this is true, not long ago,
went to visit my bro up country his girlfriends on the other side of town etc,
took a wrong turn cos of google maps,

got stuck under the Westgate bridge here in Melb in a dockland industrila shipping yard
area
that only had one road in and out, and a maze of roads, by ways,
lanes & parking yards all over the place,

i nearly went mad trying to find my way out cos bloody google maps,

every time i typed in the location of "Bendigo"
it kept taking me to a ferry dock that only runs once a week in that yard
by the Yarra river lol.

I nearly went fuse blown batshit crazy that night......45 minutes later,

i did find my way out eventually, after i turned the google maps off,
and just kept making left hand turns & somehow got back to the road in.

This was at night btw.
Uggh you couldnt make it up i swears.

Could only happen to me........

Yeah go for a Garmin, probably the best.

 

I use Google Maps on my phone if needed. Most of the time I try to figure out where I'm going before I go, but Northern Arkansas can be weird.
I've had times in the paper map days when modern GPS would have been really nice. Gotten lost in sketchy places a couple times.

 

I travel a lot. And have used all manner of phone apps (I use an iPhone) for mapping, as well as running a Garmin Zumo XT.
Overall, if I had one to choose, it’d be Google Maps. None of the others have updated info as quickly. And this is worldwide, not just riding in the US. None of the others work as well, and now that Google bought Waze, you get warnings for police and traffic etc in real time.
The Garmin has world maps loaded, and is my steadfast backup, usually displaying trip data as I ride. Even when on extended travels I rarely plan the route. I’ll do this:
Tell the Garmin a destination city. Use Adventure routing to include twisty roads and gravel roads.
The Garmin is NOT connected to my helmet audio. It is just visually showing where I should go to get to the best backroads.
On Google Maps, if I do have a destination/address, I’ll plug it in and the audio goes to my helmet.
Lastly, after destroying two iPhone from vibration on handlebar mounts (including a quadlock), I got smart and am now running a 7” motorcycle CarPlay unit. Now my phone is safe in the tankbag being charged. The unit I have even has f/r cameras.

 

One of the smartest things I did on my recent 1,000 mile trip was download the Google map of the entire trip. More often than not I was in areas that do not have cell coverage. If you reset your route in these areas you are screwed until you have a signal. If you have no map in these remote areas it means you’re lost. I did not want to be lost, not on a motorcycle with a limited gas tank size and limited resources.

 

I use Google maps ,"Offline" if I need to. Saves data and faffing about if there's a bad connection,

https://blog.google/products/maps/google-maps-offline/

Also every rider should install the free ,"What3Words". Emergency services now use it to pinpoint your location to within 3 metres,

The what3words app | what3words

Find, share and navigate to precise locations | what3words. Download the free what3words app to find, share and save exact locations using just three words.

what3words.com

I also often like to chronical rides using Geotracker Geo Tracker - GPS tracker - Apps on Google Play

For example

 

The Beeline Moto 2 has been well spoken of. I would just use Google Maps (@Slowhands : 'Settings' - 'Avoid Toll Roads'! ), but I don't even have a phone mount yet. I'd probably go Quadlock, but if even the anti-vibration accessory for that isn't enough, I might have to come up with something else to avoid damage. I can't afford to keep replacing phones!

 

+1 for Beeline Moto 2.
Neat easy to use and not distracting like bigger satnavs.

 

Here's what Komoot looks like via the web site interface:

You can place a start point and an endpoint, but you can then drag the route around, so you can include a café, or a shop on the route, that sort of thing. Once you've created the route, you can upload it to a phone or to a cycle computer, for use off-line.

It's a good app, that I'm familiar with, but it's missing one important bit of information - petrol stations, some are marked, because they are also marked as shops, but not all.

I guess I could use Komoot, to plan the bulk of a route then use Google maps to find my way to the nearest petrol station, when the fuel light starts flashing. I could possibly even use my cycling computer, it's waterproof and if it's rugged enough for use on the handlebars of a bicycle, with no suspension, it shouldn't have any problems with the comparatively plush ride on a motorcycle.

 

On Google maps I use ,"Dropped pins" for fuel stations and places I like to remember

Of course with the range of an SV and being in a compact country like the UK we are never that far from fuel. I've gotten into the habit of re-fulling when out on a ride at some of the little village petrol stations as some are 5p upwards a litre cheaper than my local Supermarkets!

 

Check out BeeLIne Minimal displays, small size. 2 versions.
I have the original for about 1.5 years.