TomTom Rider Review

SimonB · Brolly Dolly Joined: 23 Sep 2005 Karma :

Hi everyone since I couldn’t find any great reviews online about the rider I thought I’d make one it’s quite long by the way. I could have gone for the cheaper option of buying an IPAQ and acquiring the tomtom software but I liked the idea of a dedicated water proof unit and the Bluetooth headset and mobile phone capability.

I’ll start with the actual unit it feels very well made and has a good solid feel to it. The screen is a good size and doesn’t block the view of the speedo when attached to the bike. I have read in a couple of reviews of people complaining about the on/off switch being too hard to press I had no problems with this at all yes you have too press it hard but at least it won’t turn it self on in your pocket.

https://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f295/simonbrown16/Rider_Top.jpg

https://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f295/simonbrown16/Rider_Side.jpg

The one oversight by tomtom is when you come to charge the unit you can’t tell if charging has started or finished but after about 2 hours it appears to be fully charged. The same apples to the Bluetooth unit you can’t tell when it is running low until it stops working I suppose. Although a red light does come on to indicate charging has started.

The rider comes with four different mounts for the bike I could immediately see that I had the choice of using two out of the four.

One was designed to screw into the handlebar clamp I didn’t use this as it was in the way and knocked into the tank when the handlebar turned to the right.

The second was to be fitted onto the mirror again this wasn’t possible as the mirror stem was too big to fit through the mount so that’s another one chucked back in to the box.

So I’m now left with two mounts one has a very tough sticky adhesive which was supposed to go on to tank I didn’t particularly fancy have to scrape it off in the future when I come to sell the bike plus I feel it would be hidden as soon as a tank bag was fitted.

So this leaves me with the one that clamps onto any available bar you have great I thought until I realised that this clamp was too big for the bar I had planned to fit it onto to. So half a roll of black tape later and I have managed to fit the clamp on to the bike.

https://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f295/simonbrown16/mount.jpg

My main concern was that being deaf in one ear and slightly in the other would I be able to hear the instructions? and if I couldn’t then the rider was pretty pointless. Plus it didn’t help that I have a noisy helmet and a race can exhaust.

The rider comes with two earpieces one is a flat speaker and mic that is fitted to the inside your helmet the other is an in ear headphone with a mic attached I tried the flat speaker one first which took an age to place in the helmet properly I tired this on the way home from work which is a 15 minute ride and when I got home my head was really hurting from the flat speaker plus I had some trouble hearing the instructions. I feel that the flat speaker is too thick for the average helmet and will hurt after a while unless you inject your head with anasectic before you ride.

The in ear headphone was much better, the instructions were loud and clear which is great for a half deaf person even on the motorway at 100mph I could make out the instructions even thou it scared the crap outta me after hearing nothing after 10 minutes (apart from the bike of course) and then suddenly hear “TURN LEFT”.

https://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f295/simonbrown16/headset.jpg

The nice feature about the rider was the ability to have your mobile connect to it which means you can make and receive calls. Although it will only let you make calls when you aren’t moving plus a friend had problems hearing me when I riding. So it’s best you stop and have you conversion it’s probably safer as well. You can also download your phone numbers into the rider which saves you having to remember numbers. The only thing is if you have more than one number for someone then it will chose the first one it finds which not be the one you want. It is also possible to send and receive texts through the rider as well even though it is a bit fiddly.

Another nice feature is if you have GPRS on your mobile then you can find out the what the weather is like at you destination and see what the traffic is like on the way there and be able to navigate round the problem spots which is updated every 10mins or so. The only problem I have with feature is that it doesn’t disconnect from the internet once it’s finished its task that could be expensive.

https://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f295/simonbrown16/Phone_screen.jpg

When using it on road I have had no problems with it the screen is nice and bright with the option of night colours for when it gets dark. It has two menus that you can use the first is the normal menu in which you can plan your route and what not, for when the bike isn’t moving and you can’t use your gloves as the buttons are too small. The other is called ‘Drive mode’ where the touch screen buttons are bigger for your gloves. The four options are navigate to (used this to find a petrol station), turn off sound, clear route and add favorite. You have to stop the bike to use the move in depth features.

The points of interest is something else I like as you chose from petrol stations, hotels, tourist attractions and many more. It tells you how far away it is and sometimes has a phone number available so you can ring them handy eh? Though you will probably look like a prat sitting on your bike talking to yourself.

https://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f295/simonbrown16/rider_and_bike.jpg

https://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f295/simonbrown16/Rider_and_bike2.jpg

Overall I am very happy with the rider and I’m glad I saved up for it as it is a tad pricey at the moment the best site to look on for the cheapest price is https://www.find-tomtom-deals.co.uk/rider?gclid=COLio9D6qYICFQhNEgodZ0AdCw

Thanks for taking the time to read this hope I didn’t bore too much and I hope you find it useful if you if you have any questions about the rider let me know and I’ll find out.
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Bikes: Honda CBR250RR [sold], Yamaha FZR600 [sold], Honda CBR600RR6

..... · Quote Me Happy Joined: 15 Jan 2005 Karma :

Good review mate Thumbs Up

Anyone else not able to see the pics though?

Really tempted by the TomTom, but don't think I can justify having it, especially at £500 +, but such a nice gadget it's tempting.

Major_Grooves · The Doctor Joined: 10 May 2002 Karma :

Interesting review.

The one objective review I've read before this (i.e. not on a site trying to sell the thing) was actually quite negative about it. You've perhaps read the same review already as the on/off issue was one of the major problems the guy had.

toughmat · Two Stroke Sniffer Joined: 03 Sep 2004 Karma :

i got a TOMTOM RIDER and i will say it is fantastic it does everything that you want it do to, i highly recomend them

https://img218.imageshack.us/img218/7514/morepics0510kc.jpg
https://img218.imageshack.us/img218/3937/morepics0484gg.jpg

SimonB · Brolly Dolly Joined: 23 Sep 2005 Karma :

Yeah sounds like the same review as well it was quite negitive. I've sorted out the pictures for some reason it wouldn't let me host it from my site. Evil or Very Mad

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Bikes: Honda CBR250RR [sold], Yamaha FZR600 [sold], Honda CBR600RR6

Foosoup · Derestricted Danger Joined: 24 Apr 2005 Karma :

Hey all,
I have been looking around for one of these and i am very tempted to get one BUT i cant justify buying they straight up so i have found on www.dabs.com that they are offering a but now pay December deal and the unit is £459.

Would you say this is worth it as you pay NO interest on the purchase as long as you settle the amount before the due date.