Hein Gericke Streetline GPS Bag

Satellite Navigation is a great tool to help you get to a place you haven't been to before. Unfortunately the selection of sat-navs for bikes is rather limited and expensive. It is somewhat annoying given that you can pick up car versions for around £99 (although quality at that price can be suspect!).

Enter the Streetline GPS bag from Hein Gericke. This is a waterproof bag that can attach to the central section of your handle bars with Velcro ties. Of course if you have clip on bars then this won't be of much use, although it will attach to HG's line of compatible tank bags. Lets get down to the essentials. It is waterproof, has a small port to allow power/audio connections, easily removable and cheap. Taking that last point first, the bag retails at £14.99. An amazingly low price that offsets some of the lesser points. As said, it attaches to the handle bars via a pair of Velcro strips. On my ER-6F they just about reach around the connector and provide a sturdy support. It is a little tight and does take some fiddling to get it right. A problem is that it slightly obscures the key switch and makes it awkward to get the key in a turn. Previously mentioned that it will not fit onto clip-on bars as standard, so not a universal attachment.

To get your device into the bag you undo the zip, with its weather proof seal, and insert your GPS between the window and two crossed over elastic strips. The strips help to keep the sat-nav in place and against the clear plastic.

In use the clear window can be a little too reflective and it is sometimes hard to see the screen underneath. However it does allow a resistive type touch screen to be used without problem, although my HTC Desire's capacitive screen will respond even with my gloved hand.

GPS normally takes a lot of power, generally because the screen is always on. There is an opening to allow power and audio leads into the bag without compromising the weather seal. Obviously the assumes you have some way to connect to your bikes battery and that the GPS has a headphone output. If it does have the latter, then you will need some way to pump that into your ears. In-ear headphones are a start but something like an Autocom is ideal, allowing you to listen to music at the same time.

Good

• Very, very cheap,
• Easy to fit,
• Provides access for power/audio.

Bad

• Not suitable for clip on bars,
• Window a little too reflective.

TomTom Urban Rider & Rider Pro

It seems that TomTom have finially updated their line of motorbike GPS units, the Urban Rider and Rider Pro. Along the same lines as their "One" car units, the new Riders have a simplified menu system of two buttons - 'Navigate to' and 'Browse map'. IQ Routes and Lane Guidance are also included. Obviously there is a touchscreen that can respond to gloved hands (for the geeky like me, I imagine a resistive screen) and the unit is waterproof.

All the units have bluetooth capability so that you can hear instructions, however only the Pro actually comes with a headset. For me that wouldn't be an issue as I have the Autocom already. A RAM mount comes with it, apparently it fits 'nearly all bikes'. Looking at the list it is unclear if they come with any bike power option as standard. I would assume not as only a home charging kit is listed in the box. Listed in the accessories is a charging bike mount but that will set you back another £45. That said the battery is listed as having an 8 hour life, so shouldn't be a problem for most people.

TomTom are listing 3 versions, the Urban Rider Regional, Urban Rider Europe and Rider Pro Europe. As far as I can tell the differences between the units are the Regional has only one regions map (depending on where you buy it). Europe models have most of Europe covered, although Eastern Europe is a little less. The Pro comes with the bluetooth headset, otherwise is identical to the Urban Europe.

Prices seem to have been lowered too, £249.99 for the Urban Regional, £299.99 for the Urban Europe and £399.99 for the Pro.

Will this prompt me to buy one now? Maybe given that Garmins only solution is £539.99. However having just brought the cover for my 'normal' TomTom 510 I will see how that goes before I spend on a new dedicated unit. These new units are attractively priced and TomTom's GPS software is easy to use (based on my 510) and they have a proper mount while being fully waterproof. Time will tell how good they are.