Beeline Moto any good?

[jedibiker]

Im looking to get a satnav for the bike to avoid using my phone.

Ive seen the beeline is a good price, not to keen on the simple view but the more i watch it kinda makes sense. Whats it like in practice?

 

cheers

[RAYK47]

I fancied one of these and looked into it a few months ago and was sooo close to getting one.  The only issue i had with it was the lack of voice support, with the simplistic display i felt that voice was a must.  I did contact them and although they have not committed to adding it, they did infer that it may be in the pipeline. 

 

Most people moan that if you have more than one turn very close to each other it can be hard to figure out which is correct, yes there is a count down in distance but may require some getting used to.   

 

So instead i invested in an ultimate addons phone case and am sticking with phone directions for now.  If they add audio then i am sure i will be in for one again.  

[RAYK47]

this was my thread, there were a couple of responses specific to Beeline that might be useful for you

 

 

[jedibiker]

1 hour ago, RAYK47 said:

this was my thread, there were a couple of responses specific to Beeline that might be useful for you

 

 

brilliant cheers

[MikeHorton]

I've got one but my brother ptlretty much uses it now. Its not bad but I find it doesn't like rerouting if you take a different road. I did email the company they said they are exploring other mapping options. Its compact and easy to use worth it for the money I think

[Stu]

a guy at work had one I told him he should have bought a Garmin 

 

He said it was the bees knees 

 

He now has a Garmin  

[Mississippi Bullfrog]

I have one and like it. I tried full sat nav but riding a bike I find the full sat nav didn't work for me. 

 

Likes.

Simple display with an arrow telling you the direction. A gauge showing progress of your journey. A marker that says which way the next turn is and how far, this changes to a roundabout indicator at roundabouts with which exit you need 

 

Huge battery life 

 

Runs off Google maps so always updated.

 

Doesn't drain the phone battery. The actual app runs on your phone and the Beeline device just displays the information via Bluetooth. 

 

Simple route planning that has just been updated to a slightly better system. 

 

Looks unobtrusive on the bike. 

 

I don't miss or need voice directions.

 

Redirect works very well. If I change my mind or make a wrong turn it figures out a new route very quickly.

 

You can set it for just showing the direction of destination and the distance. In this mode it doesn't plan a route, you're free to explore just knowing you're heading in the right general direction. This mode is so much fun you really have to try it to understand.

 

Dislikes.

 

Where you get turnings in very close proximity it can be tricky due to the arrow only showing one turn at a time.

[Mississippi Bullfrog]

They have just updated the app which now offers a choice of routes based on the fastest route or the fun route. Looking at rides we've done in the past the fun route follows roads I've previously entered manually so it's getting more clever at route planning. 

[MikeHorton]

That's good it's what was needed it was the only shortfall in the device 

[Mississippi Bullfrog]

44 minutes ago, MikeHorton said:

That's good it's what was needed it was the only shortfall in the device 

It always offered a choice of routes but they weren't listed as faster or fun. However the fun routes now seem to be based on a better route than the previous alternatives. We're trying one today to see how closely it matches a route I entered manually, or indeed if it's better than the route I worked out. 

[jedibiker]

Ive just ordered one, got a good deal with some good mounts to have it right near the clocks. The more i saw and the feedback here i think it will suit me... if not il sell it

Hope it gets us to Scotland haha

[Mississippi Bullfrog]

Just been for a ride to Wem and the road from Whitchurch to Wem was closed about 2 miles from the A49 roundabout. I had the Beeline on so I just turned into a small lane and let it sort a route out. It is a maze of small lanes round Whixall area but I just followed the arrow and we arrived where we wanted to be no problem. 

 

@jedibiker it does take some getting used to if you're used to conventional satnavs but once you get the hang of it all is well. The only glitch we had was where there were two mini-roundabouts linked and I guessed wrong on the second one but it soon sorted out an alternative route which was easier than turning round.

[jedibiker]

On 01/04/2022 at 13:38, Mississippi Bullfrog said:

Just been for a ride to Wem and the road from Whitchurch to Wem was closed about 2 miles from the A49 roundabout. I had the Beeline on so I just turned into a small lane and let it sort a route out. It is a maze of small lanes round Whixall area but I just followed the arrow and we arrived where we wanted to be no problem. 

 

@jedibiker it does take some getting used to if you're used to conventional satnavs but once you get the hang of it all is well. The only glitch we had was where there were two mini-roundabouts linked and I guessed wrong on the second one but it soon sorted out an alternative route which was easier than turning round.

I like how I can have it just above the clocks. We had to use my phone at the weekend for an observed bikesafe ride and i noticed how much I had to look down at the bars where it was mounted. Really not safe at all. So this should be good. I dont mind the basic nature and if it guides me a little and read the actual signs too it should be great, thanks

[Davidtav]

I have one. And I like it. It does take a little bit of getting used to when junctions are close together … I like that it is a simple display. I think it has got a lot better at re routing since recent updates. 
 

My main dislike really is the standard handlebar mount which attaches the device with two rubber bands. This might be ok on a bicycle. But I soon changed it on my motorbike. I cobbled together a better secure fitting from bits bought from eBay. 

[Mississippi Bullfrog]

32 minutes ago, Davidtav said:

I have one. And I like it. It does take a little bit of getting used to when junctions are close together … I like that it is a simple display. I think it has got a lot better at re routing since recent updates. 
 

My main dislike really is the standard handlebar mount which attaches the device with two rubber bands. This might be ok on a bicycle. But I soon changed it on my motorbike. I cobbled together a better secure fitting from bits bought from eBay. 

I used mine recently and had an issue where there were two mini roundabouts joined together. But a few days later I was driving the car using my Garmin satnav and came across an identical situation and found that the full satnav made it no clearer. 

 

One thing I don't like about the latest update is that they have removed the very accurate countdown to a turn. It used to count down in tenths of a mile, then when it got to 0.1 you would get 0.09, 0.08....0.01. Now it just goes from 0.1 to 0.0 which where there are junctions close together isn't as helpful. 

[Mississippi Bullfrog]

An update re the issue mentioned above. I sent an email to Beeline this morning and the issue has been fixed this afternoon. The most recent update reset the distance to miles rather than miles and feet ( or you can have miles and yards if you prefer). 

 

It's now showing miles and feet again which makes it very accurate.

[Yorky]

9 minutes ago, Mississippi Bullfrog said:

An update re the issue mentioned above. I sent an email to Beeline this morning and the issue has been fixed this afternoon. The most recent update reset the distance to miles rather than miles and feet ( or you can have miles and yards if you prefer). 

 

It's now showing miles and feet again which makes it very accurate.

If you have it showing distance to the foot surely the numbers will be changing faster than you can read them??

[Mississippi Bullfrog]

25 minutes ago, Yorky said:

If you have it showing distance to the foot surely the numbers will be changing faster than you can read them??

Maybe I had in miles and yards, I can switch the setting, but it worked very well at telling you exactly where to turn.