Aldi Motorcycle GPS

[MonsterDorf]

OK took a punt today and grabbed a "Go Cruise" GPS from Aldi.

First impressions are good.

Solid mount,rubberised housing and long power cable. Fast boot up & aquisition using a SIRFAtlas III GPS chip set (20 channel). Supplied with a remote headset for helmet mounting.

Can do a bit of a review after installation (hopefully this weekend) if anyone is interested.

[goldFiSh]

yeah Mick, interested to see how it goes - the price is right!

[Dockstrada]

TELL EM THE PRICE SON !

[Serious Groper]

$199. If you expect it to break in a few months and don't mind then it would be a good buy. Don't expect any customer support with a no name brand.

A better choice is buying a brand name car GPS and making an adaptor mount for the bike.

[long haired lout]

$199. If you expect it to break in a few months and don't mind then it would be a good buy. Don't expect any customer support with a no name brand.

A better choice is buying a brand name car GPS and making an adaptor mount for the bike.

Most of the car stuff is not waterproof and they do not last long with the vibrations from a motorcycle.

[Serious Groper]

Yes but riders do it anyway.

There is no difference inside between the car and motorbike GPS. Any vibrations are absorbed by the mount so if you make a bad one then it's the fault of the mount. It has nothing to do with the unit itself.

Be my guest and buy a $199 no name unit. I am just pointing out that it will not be very good and you have no customer service. It would be fine if you use it once in a blue moon but that's it.

[goldFiSh]

I would presume that waterproofing would be the difference, but who knows..

I saw it, and was mildly interested. To be honest, I don't use a GPS in the car (yet - the new car to arrive next week will have one built in by default), but I did see the benefit of it on the WSBK trip with the Sherpa in front with his GPS..

I'd only use one in instances like this, so a smaller investment would outweigh other features for me. BTW, how much is a Zumo or similar for a motorcycle as a comparison..

[Six95]

I would presume that waterproofing would be the difference, but who knows..

I saw it, and was mildly interested. To be honest, I don't use a GPS in the car (yet - the new car to arrive next week will have one built in by default), but I did see the benefit of it on the WSBK trip with the Sherpa in front with his GPS..

I'd only use one in instances like this, so a smaller investment would outweigh other features for me. BTW, how much is a Zumo or similar for a motorcycle as a comparison..

I was mildly interested too and nearly went the purchase. Can't wait for the review, especially for the FM headset part which was my main concern. For $199 you could leave it on your bike too and not really worry about loosing it (or stolen) or getting it damaged by rain or road debris

[Serious Groper]

I would presume that waterproofing would be the difference, but who knows..

Funnily enough, me mate 

The motorbike specific GPS are expensive in comparison to car GPS. The easiest option would be to buy an entry level car GPS like the TOMTOM ONEv3 for $185 or so and get a small tank bag which has the plastic cover on the top. Slide it under and you have a solid GPS unit and it is protected from the weather.

[mostro900]

I would presume that waterproofing would be the difference, but who knows..

I saw it, and was mildly interested. To be honest, I don't use a GPS in the car (yet - the new car to arrive next week will have one built in by default), but I did see the benefit of it on the WSBK trip with the Sherpa in front with his GPS..

I'd only use one in instances like this, so a smaller investment would outweigh other features for me. BTW, how much is a Zumo or similar for a motorcycle as a comparison..

Ahh, the joys of GPS and downloading routes from google maps, only to find no road exists !  

I don't know the Aldi unit, but the Zumo is great(use it both the car and bike), but it costs a whole lot more. I got mine in the US for around $450, but locally I've seen them as high as $900, nothing lower than $600, but then my numbers are 18 months old too.
VW wanted to charge $3500 for a built-in model for the car. Rip-off on a grand scale.

[MonsterDorf]

OK, fitted the unit into my car today to evaluate the GPS function.

No real issues. It cold boots quickly and entering routes was easy using the Route 66 software.

Route calculation was as good as my TomTom & Garmin.

Unit outputs in a range of FM frequencies (headset @ 86MHz) so retuned the GPS to 86.5MHz (lowest frequency on my car stereo) and presto voice prompts (no inbuilt speakers on the GPS).

Voice commands we load & clear in a nicely modulated male voice. Street names were better pronounced than on my Garmin unit.

Glare was OK; better than my PDA (Palm running TomTom software) but not as good as the Garmin.

Re-calculations were quick and on par with other units.

As discussed will mount and wire up to the bike tomorrow and go for a blat - but so far so good.

Reliability and durability will take a while to assess but HMI using gloves & headset performance should be easily tested.

More to come.

[MonsterDorf]

OK fitted the GPS today, easy.

I've removed my mirrors (fitted bar end) so still had the "mount" for a mirror in situ.....

So filled the thread with epoxy and drilled and tapped the mirror mount to accept the Go Cruise bracket that connects directly to the GPS cradle - neat and tidy.

Wired the cable (through a fuse) straight to the battery so that the disconnect sits just under the instrument cluster. That way when I take the GPS off, everything left is virtually invisible.

The Good

GPS functions, as described previously, seems on par with other devices on the market. Screen is bright enough in full day light and recalculation speed is excellent. It's using the Route 66 software as do many other budget GPS receivers. So the main unit is good.

The Bad

Fitted the FM receiver to my spare helmet (couldn't bring myself to play with my RX7) and it sloted in just fine. The speaker simply Velcro's to a suitable point near your left ear; also easy. But.......the receiver is quite noisy and picks up a fair bit of static. This drowns out the voice commands unless you turn it up, which of course is even more annoying. So I'd suggest the voice command function is almost useless. I will have a play with it again tomorrow but don't hold out a lot of hope.

Overall

Hardware & software are fine. GPS functions similar to other units I've owned & played with. Voice guidance is poor due to static on the receiver.

Verdict

Although I'd like nice clear voice guidance, in actual fact, I didn't even know the GPS came with it. So for $199 I wasn't expecting it anyway. In the past I've tried using a "normal" GPS in my tank bag and also in a RAM mount. Both of these methods work, but screen brightness, particularly through the layers of plastic was always a bit iffy. The "GO Cruise" is in a better position than either of my previous attempts and much better to view in daylight. It switches to "night" mode automatically which is a useful function (my Garmin does this also). If it lasts the distance it'll be a good addition to my toy collection.

Cheers 

 
 
 

[loony888]

so overall it's good value for the outlay mick? seems pretty good to me, i wouldn't care if it's a no name brand, the route66 software is good enough and it's not like support from the name brands is fantastic anyway. my wife has a tom tom and it's no great shakes.
still, i could always just follow you...........if you'll go a little faster


paul.










just kidding mick lol

[MonsterDorf]

Hmm that sounds like a challenge............but we all know the outcome already 

[ducsport]

Monsterdorf, thanks for the write up. Its good to have some research done by others before buying 

I was looking at buying one of the Aldi units myself, but had reservations about the distraction of having a GPS on the bike - you know, the whole not-looking-at-the-road thing. Any comments?

ducsport