[Infidel!]

I took the Road King to Cloudriders this past weekend. I am used to having planned routes loaded in my Limited with it's GPS, which has always worked great. This time I had to rely on my phone. So I tried out several different navigation apps on the way. I should have tried them out before I went, but didn't because I felt they would all work as well.

Nope

Furkot
Almost very good for planning trips. A trip down the freeway will almost always result in unwanted, unplanned, random exits and re-entries.
Sometimes there are issues with the export function, when exporting to a .gpx file. Multi day trips will sometimes confuse it and one or two days might be shortened or combined. took several tries at exporting the same map to get it right. No phone app to navigate.

Result: Fail


ReveЯ
First I tried Rever. Rever works really good as a ride planning tool. If you are a paid subscriber you get access to Butler Maps. Butler grades roads into categories like G1 (best), G2 (better), G3 (good), and so on. Pretty cool when you are looking to make a trip more interesting. So I plan my trip, then load the Rever app on my phone. The contrast on the map is extremely hard to see. There is a very light background, and the roads are outlined in white. Not a good combo. The planned route is blue, so you can see that ok. There is no audio like in Google Maps. There is also no recalculation when you stray off the path. I missed several turns without notice, and it does not tell you how to get back to your planned route, nor does it figure a new route for you. You have to zoom out to a level where you can see your old route, then try to figure out how to get back on track. With the awful contrast of the maps, this is impossible unless you stop and find a dark, or at least shaded space.

Result: Fail

Harley Davidson App
Harley Davidson Ride Planner is fairly easy to use on the PC. You can drag and drop the route just like in Google Maps, add stops, etc. It doesn't cost anything, you just need a free account on Harley Davidson's website. Save the route and load the HD app on the phone, and the route is available. OK so far. I select the ride I planned, and click the "Ride it" button. It comes up with the route exactly as planned. I place the phone in the phone holder and the route has disappeared. I pull the phone out and somehow the screen has changed to someplace outside Berlin. Germany. What? I zoom out, navigate to Texas, and find my rote on the screen again. Ok, maybe I hit the wrong button, or brushed the screen accidentally. Put the phone back in the holder and take off. look down and the map has changed back to Berlin. Yes, Germany. Same exact spot. it was before. So I pull over, navigate the map back to Texas, find my route again, and just before I return the phone to the holder, I tipped the phone 45 degrees and it changed back to that same spot in Germany. Ok, so I put it back in the holder, then pull up the route. This time it stayed on screen. And stayed on the screen, even when I started moving. The screen wouldn't change to follow my position. Pull over again, play with the the screen and somehow got it to follow my path of travel. Then further into my trip I realized I am not following the path I laid out in the Trip Planner. The phone app was taking me on a different route than I had spent so much time planning. The app also eats battery like crazy.

Result: Fail

Google Maps
Seems dependable, correct, good visibility, accurate. It's great for navigating from point A to point B. Trip planning leaves a lot to be desired. There is no ability to plan a multi stop trip days or weeks in advance then retrieve that trip and have it navigate for you. Planning the trip on your phone the day of can be challenging because I found it hard to drag the route using my finger.

Result: Acceptable for point A to point B navigation. Fail for multi stop advance trip planning


Some of these apps show promise for the future. They all need some work. To be a player in the GPS field, both ReveЯ and Harley need to dedicate some time to listening to people that use the apps, and actually fixing the problems. At the end of the day, I guess you really can't beat a dedicated GPS. I'll probably just hook my old Garmin Zumo up next time i need or want a GPS on the King. Base Camp and the Zumo have never failed me. Google works OK if I'm going to a store I haven't been to or if you want the quickest route from here to there.

Are there any other good apps out there?


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