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Comment by barrkel | Hacker News Reader

Use Bluetooth helmet speakers for audio.

Most touring bikes, and many scooters have a cigarette lighter attachment point. My SH300 has one in the glove box. The 2016+ VFR800 has one. Etc.

Many better quality gloves have conductive tips on their forefingers for capacitive touchscreen usage these days. My Alpinestars SP8 gloves do.

I find Google Maps audio directions just barely acceptable for London navigation. I prefer my Garmin Zumo, but only use that if my destination is a long way off the big city-crossing roads I otherwise know reasonably well.

It comes with my when I have planned routes, rather than destinations, though. Google Maps is dreadful for planning a route with waypoints - it needs constant interaction at every stage.

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Yes, many of my problems could have been at least partly solved by spending more money on a helmet with bluetooth, more money on a bike with a better battery and a phone power supply, more money on better gloves with special finger coating, more money on a phone with a better battery and better handlebar mounts available, and so on.

Sadly, as a student on a £300 motorbike, I didn't have the money for such luxuries :)

I have to disagree. I don't have a helmet with bluetooth. My bike has a standard battery. The phone power supply is a 10 euro part on eBay and 5 minutes of soldering. You don't need the gloves as you shoudln't be touching your devices while riding. The battery on my phone has 1500 loadcycles and plain sucks, but I have the 10 euro phone charger. And a handlebar mount is another 10 euro on eBay.

I guess I'm not sure if you're agreeing or disagreeing?

I said I couldn't hear audio directions, barrkel said a bluetooth helmet would have helped, I said maybe but I couldn't afford that, you say you disagree and your helmet doesn't have bluetooth - what are we disagreeing about?

That you need all those things you listed in your post. I do intercontinental trips without most of those things. You only need to invest 20 to 100 euro and about 30 minutes of your time to have proper navigation on your motorcycle.

Wireless Bluetooth earbuds cost about €10 and should fit even with a regular helmet.

If you have cheap earbuds that don't really seal out the other noise, this is a recipe for serious hearing damage.

Sealing out external noise when riding a bike is probably even more dangerous. Just keep the volume down and accept that sometimes it'll get drown out. Most apps repeat the directions anyway.

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