The Tom Tom Rider 2nd Edition is a fine GPS navigator. What accessories does it have?

We’ve looked at the Tom Tom Rider 2 motorcycle GPS system, one of the best motorcycle GPS navigation systems available in the world. Specifically designed for motorbikes, easy to use, simple navigating and lots of GPS features.

But like all these things there are always accessories that you can use and if you have a Tom Tom Rider or someone else you know has a Rider then accessories are a great idea to add value to your GPS or as a gift idea. Note that some of these Rider accessories may come with the unit that you have purchased already, so check the box first!

A car charger is always useful. Like most of us you probably drive as well as ride, and so you want to use your GPS Tom Tom in the car as well, and if you’ve got a car charger then you can use it, and charge it, in the car.

And of course if you’re using it in the car you need a car mount for mounting your Rider in the car. Tom Tom advise anyone thinking of buying a Rider car mount to check the back of their Rider GPS unit to see if it is compatible with the mount, so you should do that.

And why not a 12V cable to attach your Tom Tom Rider to your motorbikes battery? A much better solution than relying on the Lithium battery for the Rider, which probably won’t last much past 4 or 5 hours.

Or how about an additional bluetooth headset for your Rider?

Tom Tom don’t do as many optional accessories for their TomTom Rider GPS systems compared with Garmin. Does this mean that they think it’s so good that it doesn’t need much else?

So if you’re looking for a great motorcycle GPS navigator then the Tom Tom Rider 2 will do it, and once you’re set and wired there’s still a few optional extras that you can opt for if you wish.


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Consider the Tom Tom Rider 2 GPS for your motorcycle, it’s one of the best.

Tomtom are well known in the field of GPS navigation systems, and the Tom Tom Rider is one of the most respected systems in the field of motorcycle GPS. Claimed to be the first GPS system specifically designed for motorcycle use, and biker who is considering a GPS satellite navigation system for their bike has to consider the Tomtom Rider.

Previously of course the GPS systems that were in use on motorcycles were car GPS or handheld GPS units that had been adapted for use on motorcycles. There were some problems associated with this, particularly mounting the unit properly on the bike, and also resistance to weather and vibrations.

So of course a GPS system that is specifically designed for motorcycle use is a giant leap forward in motorcycle GPS technology.

The Rider was developed from the Tom Tom Go automobile GPS. It is hooded to make viewing easier from the motorcycle riding position and reduce glare, and it comes with it’s own Tom Tom rider RAM mounting hardware that fits just about any bike. That eliminates one of the major problems of adapting the GPS unit to bikes, mounting it properly.

It’s a tough unit although there is some question about the Tom Tom Riders waterproof ability. As we understand it the original Rider was only claimed to be water resistant rather than waterproof, and was not submitted to the IPX-7 waterproof specifications test requiring that it demonstrate waterproofing ability for half an hour at a depth of one meter. However Tom Tom have now released the 2nd version of the rider, called, imaginatively, the TomTom Rider 2nd edition, or just the Tom Tom Rider 2.

The Rider 2, Tom Tom state on their website, is fully waterproof, passing IPX7. One problem overcome.

Now of course a GPS navigation system that is specifically for use on a motorcycle has it’s own challenges. It must be tough and durable, vibration resistant, easy to use with gloves and hopefully has some form of communication other than a screen display, as a rider doesn’t want to spend too much time looking down. And if it has a voice communication component it must be one that a motorcycle rider can hear with wind noise and a helmet, so a speaker like those in use for car GPS systems, won’t cut it. And of course mounting.

The Tom Tom Rider 2nd edition is designed to offer all these features, though of course there is still come question about how well it all works. The mounting system allows for car mounting as well as mounting on a bike, and that is important as so many riders drive as well as ride. There is a Rider car mounting kit (with speaker) that allows this.

It is designed to be used with gloves, which is essential for any motorbike rider, and has bluetooth capability so that voice commands can be relayed directly to the riders ear where they can be heard over the noise of the wind and the motor, though some have still reported that the voice is not as easy to hear as could be expected.

It comes loaded with maps of North America on an SD card so you can plan your route anywhere without worrying about locating maps to download. You can even program it to tell you essential points of interest along your way, like fuel or accomodation, and you can ask it to navigate you to your destination avoiding, for example, all toll roads.

Tomtoms rider gps navigation system is simple, intuitive and easy to use. You can plan your itinerary at home on your computer or do so on the Rider itself, if you don’t have time to do all the planning beforehand. You can even review and test your selected route at home before you leave if you wish.

The unit itself is an easy to use 3 1/2 inch display that is designed to be used with motorcycle gloves, which is a must with any modern motorcycle GPS system. Choose 2D or 3D maps to view if you wish to view.

Take hands free calls via your bluetooth capability and onscreen touch commands, so you have the phone just a touch away.

Criticism of the Rider 2nd edition from users include difficulty hearing the commands, difficulty typing commands into the unit with heavy gloves and lack of detail in the manual. Nothing is perfect and there will always be some who have problems, but overall user comments are positive and support the conclusion that as far as motorcycle GPS navigation systems go, the Tom Tom 2 GPS is one of the best. It is up there with the Garmin Zumo 550 and offers and impressive range of capabilities.

It is clearly designed with the needs of the motorcycle rider in mind and has been specifically designed to be biker friendly.

If you’re looking for a great motorcycle GPS navigation system the Tomtom 2 shouldn’t disappoint. Like everything, being one of the best around it’s also not cheap. However we are able, with the use of modern internet technology, to bring you the cheapest prices in town for the Tom Tom Rider 2. Look below and follow the links to find the cheapest place on the net for the Rider 2.

And check out this video about the features of the Tom Tom Rider GPS navigator. It covers it all pretty well:

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Motorcycle Navigation Made Easy – By Garmin

The Zumo 550 is of course not the first GPS system that Garmin have made for motorcycles. In fact they offer a range of GPS systems for motorbikes, including the Zumo 400 and the the Zumo 500 as well as the 550, and more. They claim though that the 550 is the first GPS satellite navigation unit made specifically for bikes with easy to use controls so that they can be operated with gloves on and with the left hand.

Probably the most important feature of the Zumo 550, or any Garmin motorcycle GPS unit for that matter, is it’s durability. It’s not easy being a motorcycle GPS system, and any good one has to be tough, tougher than a car GPS.

When used on a bike the GPS unit suffers all of the extremes of weather that the rider suffers, incuding heat, rain and heavy vibrations.

So it has to keep running through all of this. The 550 is totally waterproof, has been rigorously tested for vibration resistance and is built with fuel and UV resistant plastics to ensure that it continues working in the toughest of environments.

And most importantly it comes with a dedicated motorcycle mount. One of the great difficulties for bikers in the past who wanted a GPS device on their bike was to mount it successfully so that it was mounted in an easy to read place but didn’t get in the way when riding. Oh, and the mount had to offer some vibration resistance too.

Finding a good GPS was often only a part of the equation in the past, mounting it was also quite a problem. And if you’ve got a car as well then it comes with a mount can be used in a vehicle as well, (windshield or dash), so you can transfer it from bike to car with ease.

Of course the primary requirement of a navigation system is that it provides easy to follow directions to get you to where you want to go. The 550 has all city navigator NT maps preloaded and a large point of interest database, just so that you can find exactly what it is that you want to see.

It includes such things as hotels and restaurants and handy locations like fuel stops and ATMs. Anywhere you want to go to in North America is covered, just plan your route, there’s a map to cover it.

The Zumo offers both voice and visual directions so that you can ride without looking down at the screen if you wish, which is of course preferable, especially in heavy traffic. It has text to speech functionality so it can give you verbal street directions including street names. It makes difficult navigating a snap. Voice is transmitted wirelessly to your headset.

And you can choose a 2D or 3D display, whichever you prefer.

The screen is a little small for some at 3 1/2 inches, and those with poorer eyesight may struggle if they felt the need to navigate by the screen, but why not use the voice function, and size of the icons can be increased. It has an internal battery so the unit can become portable if needed just by taking it off the mount, and the battery life is around 3 to 4 hours of continuous use.

All you need to do to get to where you want to go is to tell it where you want to go. Of course it’s best to do this before you leave, and then you can leave all the hard work navigating to the Zumo and those busy little satellites above.

Trips can be downloaded later for storage or to share with friends, so you can reproduce your best trips at any time just by preloading them. You can even review your trip in Google Earth. You can save your trip on the SD card and give it to a friend so he can load it on his zumo. If you’re planning on riding in a group but the group may like to split up at some time, everyone can follow the same route to the same destination.

Now of course all the above is about navigation. But a modern world class GPS does much more than just navigate, and Garmin Motorcycle GPS systems do not disappoint when it comes to extra features. The 550 is Bluetooth compatible so you can make hands free phone calls, or perhaps you’d like to listen to a little mp3 music. The Zumo 550 does it all. And with a jpeg picture viewer you can all share your photos later.

It can be programmed to warn you when you need to fill up with fuel, and has special anti theft features.

Now of course all of this comes at a price, and the Zumo 550 isn’t cheap. Of course if you don’t need all these features, for example you can get by without the bluetooth feature, then check out the other models in the Garmin Zumo range like the 450, they come at a lower price.

There is no doubt that GPS is one of the best navigation aids that has ever been available to the biker, and it’s refreshing to see companies like Garmin directing their attention of offering high quality motorcycle GPS systems that are specifically designed with the motorcyclist in mind. For somewhere around $1000, depending on where you buy, it’s hard to go past a GPS unit like the Zumo 550 for value for money. It turns navigation into a simple affair, and takes the stress out of getting there so you can enjoy the ride.

A good motorcycle GPS, like the Zumo, can be worth it’s weight in gold on a bad day.

Like everything on the internet the price is flexible, you just need to know where to look. So check out our price comparisons below. We use the latest in web technology and dynamic price search to bring you the very lowest price available for the Garmin Zumo 550 GPS.