New Gadget - Beeline Moto GPS (Pics attached - looks MADE for the Spyder)

[MrSchaefer]

Hey all,

I have been in the market to add GPS to the Spyder for the last year. I looked at figuring out a RAM mount for my phone, or a Garmin or whatever.. and then came across a interesting little product called a Beeline Moto. It's from the UK - I got mine in the mail a few days ago and just got back from an initial test ride. It's VERY different from traditional GPS and is frankly EXACTLY what I wanted for a motorcycle GPS.

The Beeline is minimalist. It has a 1" monochrome circular screen but that screen tells you everything you need to know at a glance. It shows what the road is about to do, what direction your next turn is, how sharp your next turn is, and how many miles until that turn (or KM if you prefer). I really didn't want my phone mounted on the bike, too much risk, no easy way to do it and TONS of distractions from text and what not. This little guy distills it all into one small screen.

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Drawback is it does require your phone to run the App and GPS (iPhone or Android) so it's not a true standalone device. I don't know if it does spoken turn by turn or not because I didn't have my Senna on my test ride.

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Taking the Spyder on a 700 mile ride through Northern Minnesota starting tomorrow so this little guy will get a work out. 30h battery life should do nicely.

Anyway - saw some speculation about it in a forum search and thought I would add my 2c since I have one now!

More info: https://beeline.co/

[Flamewinger]

I was in on the kickstarter. Thought I'd use it on my bicycle but decided to put it on the Spyder just for extra GPS. Tried mounting it to the top of the dash but difficult to stick on.

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[Grandpot]

I don't get it. My Garmin does all that on a larger, color screen.

[Steve W.]

I don't get it. My Garmin does all that on a larger, color screen.

And a LOT cheaper, in my case.

I looked at the link provided. Yes, it's a tidy little gadget, but appears to be battery-powered ONLY. I did not see if it is rechargeable (if so, why not just power it from the bike?) or if the battery needs to be replaced (rather wasteful). It also has to be linked to a smartphone. Not only that, since it shows your next turn, it assumes that you have a route programmed into your smartphone. And, if you are also using your "phone" for guidance, that pretty much means you need to have it plugged in to keep the battery charged. Since you already have your "phone" plugged in and running some sort of guidance app, why not just mount IT on the bars and save the $200-260 for this cute little device?

I don't use my "phone" for a GPS or for guidance. I have a Garmin device for that. I go too many places where there is no cell service, so the GPS feature loses its place. My "phone" is actually a small computer that I wear on my belt. Along with its ability to connect to the Internet and run a few other independent programs, it does have the ability to make phone calls and take a few pictures, so I begrudgingly call it a "phone". I don't have an unlimited data plan to be connected all the time, so it STAYS in "phone" mode most of the time.

One other quirk is that you have to have a route programmed so it knows to tell you when to turn, and which way. There are MANY times that I ride (or drive) and do not have a route planned. It is nice to be able to look at the GPS screen to see what other roads are around. A "phone" screen would do the same thing, but the Beeline apparently will not.

I also did not see any mention of whether it had any sort of audio output. If IT doesn't have direct audio output, do you have to rely on a connection from your "phone"? Again you seem to be relying on your "phone" for most of the features, I don't see any advantage of spending the extra money. :dontknow:

Good luck with it, hope it works well for you. Please let us know how well it works.

.

[MrSchaefer]

Yep, all valid. There are limitations to be sure and a lot of it will be rider preference. I do not have the GPS on my Spyder ST and wanted something sleeker in appearance than mounting a giant screen or strapping my phone to the bars. It does rely on the phone for GPS and location and should be probably thought of as a secondary screen for your phone. While using the App your screen is off and phone can be stored so even if not plugged into bike power your phone is not powering it's own screen so battery life on the phone is extended greatly. In my case, the phone is tucked away in the Frunk plugged into an auxiliary USB port that I have mounted there.

A few things about the Beeline. There are two modes, route and beeline. In Beeline it just points to your destination and gives you a range but doesn't force an actual route (kinda like a wander mode).

The battery is rechargeable via a USB cradle and lasts roughly 30 hrs.

It's not an alternative to a standalone GPS, it's an alternative to audio turn by turn from your phone. I personally dislike relying on audio only or looking at map navigation while on a motorcycle, just doesn't fit my riding style and I like an uncluttered control/display setup so mounting my phone was a non-starter.

Not for everybody and not cheap, all true :)

[Flamewinger]

As of the iPhone 3G, all smartphones have GPS as well as cell and WiFi. So even when in an area with no cell service the smartphone still works as a GPS. The Beeline is rechargeable and lasts 30 hours. Yes an app on the phone allows for route planning. I use it as a backup. I also have an old iPhone 10 to use as a GPS. It has no cell service.

[MrSchaefer]

Just a check-in on this.. I have run about 600 miles using the Beeline on two long weekend rides through rural countryside in Minnesota and Wisconsin. My buddy was running a Garmin on his BMW and I was running this from my phone.

Pros:

Battery Life - didn't bring the charger and the battery was at over 60% after two days and about 12 hours of use
Screen Visibility - Rode day, night, cloudy and sunny and the screen is super easy to see in all conditions, very impressed
Communication - The quick-glance "everything you NEED to know" aspect was perfect for my riding style


Cons:

No Voice Nav - the app for this doesn't have spoken turn-by-turn for those with bluetooth in their helmet (yet.. may be coming soon) - There were two times that I missed a turn because I was so into the ride that I wasn't paying attention to the Nav. In regular mode it just re-routes, in GPX mode (where you download a specific route with waypoints) it directs you back to your route instead. Had both experiences on this ride.
Calibration - When you first start it needs you to drive a few feet to calibrate the screen and directional arrow. This can be tricky when you're starting from an immediate turn. Just takes a little getting used to
Initial Cost


I ran the whole weekend with my phone plugged into a USB port in the Frunk and this on my dash. Ran into rain and a few other things and never once worried about it in a downpour (which was nice). There were three times that we stopped and re-routed on the fly. For me this involved about 30 seconds of retrieving my phone, popping in the new destination, and then hopping back on the Spyder. For my buddy on the BMW this took 5 minutes of searching for the new address on his phone and then slowly typing it into his Garmin or waiting for the "points of interest" search to find it. The last time he just shut off his GPS and said "forget it, let's just use yours"

So - it's definitely not for everybody and it's not cheap but if you're looking for a tiny Nav-specific screen that lets you use all the benefits of your phone while keeping it safely tucked away this is pretty cool.

I'm happy with it!

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[RodO]

Any updates on the Beeline nav?

Hi and thanks for your reports on the Beeline. I’ve the OEM Garmin and a Quadlock for my iPhone on my Spyder but the simplicity of the Beeline looks interesting. Any further thoughts you might have on it are appreciated.

Thanks,
Rod

[bigbadbrucie]

RodO. The last post (before yours) in the thread is 3 years old.... may not make a difference, but thought you should know.

[Sentinel]

Hi, I have had mine for over two seasons and have over 10,000 miles on it. I would recommend it for all the reasons you mentioned and more.

While you do need the app, it is all GPS and does not use any data. You can build routes on the app or import GPX files.

The battery on the unit lasts a long, long time. I was looking for a minimalist approach to navigation and this is perfect.

Enjoy yours and let me know if you have any questions.

[RodO]

I just got mine and it looks great but haven’t been able to try it yet. And yes, the app looks pretty good too — I like Google maps so it should be a pretty easy transition.

Two questions — where did you mount it and is it legible in most conditions?

Thanks,
Rod

[RodO]

Got it attached nice and high so it should be a good line of sight — but no road reports yet.

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[RodO]

First rides today with the Beeline nav device and I’m pleasantly surprised with it. As the vendor says, it’s meant to be unobtrusive while giving good indications of what your route is, and it checks all those boxes very nicely.

The only real negative so far is not having street names on the Beeline when in dense urban areas, so it’s not always immediately obvious when or where to turn — but even that got better once I knew what to expect.

I used my iPhone on the Quadlock mount with the Detecht app running on that screen and also had Google maps putting up pop-up prompts as checks. All were very very close in accuracy and speed for both route tracking and re-routing.

Pre-ride route planning seems very similar and with similar options. Not having audible prompting like with my Garmin didn’t seem to be a problem, and on rural roads, the Beeline doesn’t come up short by not having them.

YMMV & NFI

[Flamewinger]

Triumph uses it on their bikes as the round puck or in the bike’s display.

https://www.triumphmotorcycles.com/shop-accessories/triumph-beeline

[Azbronco]

I got the Beeline for Christmas and went on my first ride with it today. This is a brilliant device--no big screen to distract me; just an unobtrusive way to keep me on the right route. I went out for an hour this morning and selected "fun route" for my ride. The mapping app chose back roads that were a bit curvy and had far fewer stop signs than sticking to main roads. I also intentionally took some wrong turns to see how quickly it rerouted and it finds a new route very quickly. The only con is in dense, urban areas I'm used to Siri saying something like "go past these lights, then turn right..." The Beeline will indicate "Turn right in 0.1m" which isn't necessarily clear if you're in an unfamiliar area. Battery was 100% when I started and 98% when I finished, so "up to 30 hours between charges" seems realistic. After one ride, I love this device.

I know there's a premium subscription--but I'm not sure what all it has but will look into it more to see if it's worth the $5/month.