Which GPS?

I've gotten a couple of emails about my recent GPS unit test on my bike (whereby I tested about 4 Garmin models, the TomTom, and a Magellan). My conclusion? The Garmin eTrex Vista Cx is by far the best motorcycle GPS unit available. Review below:


After a solid week of riding around with GPS units, I chose the Garmin eTrex Vista Cx. It's meant to be a hiker's handheld GPS unit, which makes it small enough to walk around with when it's off the bike, small enough to not obscure too much of the control panel on my bike, and it's backlight makes it bright enough in bright daylight. I looked at the tomtom, and the other models from garmin as well. They all tended to use custom batteries and chargers, and only gave something like 3 hours of use when the backlight was powered on fully. I didn't want to wire the thing into my bike, and it's been great just popping into the store when I get gas to also get AA batteries if I need them. The battery life on the Vista Cx is about 2 weeks on 1 pair of AA's - so I keep a spare set in my luggage.

Garmin beat out the other versions in my test because of the superior resolution maps you can buy (have to buy to make it worthwhile) - but it adds about $90 to the price of the device, since the built in maps aren't that great - they only show major interstates and large highways.

The only pros of the other versions were that they had larger screens and could speak out loud to you. That'll be the only thing that makes/breaks your decision I think. Otherwise, the vista cx also gives me turn-by-turn directions.

Next week I should be getting my motorcycle mount for it in the mail. In my opinion, it's the best GPS for bikes out there.

Hope this helps!

Lane splitting in terrible traffic

Today was a big day in NYC - there was a huge bike event, a fire / police parade, an Israeli parade, and a block party. Until about 4pm, huge stretches of the east and west sides were shut down and inaccessible to traffic.

In order to get anywhere, I found myself lane splitting between what amounted to a massive parking lot. I ran into a number of bikers - but not nearly as many as I saw yesterday (today was about 15 degrees colder) - who were also lane splitting, and so I wondered whether it was really legal or not.

Alas, it is illegal. A quick search on the AMA website: http://home.ama-cycle.org/amaccess/laws/result.asp?state=NY reveals that NY and CT have written laws forbidding lane splitting, while NJ has no reference, which means it's not specifically illegal. Here's a table form of the same data: http://motorcycleinfo.calsci.com/PrintLaws.html

Though I've never been ticketed or pulled over, and I've seen hundreds of bikers do it in the city, a quick internet search reveals that others have been ticketed - especially on the highways around the city. The BQE, 9A around midtown, and 495 (heading into the city, around the triborough ramp) are the most frequent highways where I lane split. Mostly, these stretches of road become parking lots, and I'll only lane split when the traffic is completely stopped. Any other time (even if traffic moves 10 mph), I'm religious about sneaking back into a lane and staying in a single lane.

In the city, it's a completely different story. I've lane split right up to police cars, and in front of traffic cops in order to get up to the front of a light, so that I can be in front of traffic when it turns green. For the thousands of times I've done it, I've never been pulled over, flagged, or questioned.

Ear Inn

I've heard so much about it over the past few months, that I just had to check it out for myself. Even though there was rain in the forecast tonight, I headed down to 326 Spring Street (between Greenwich and Washington) - down in Soho (thanks Aerostitch for the address). The easiest way for me to get there was to hop on the FDR, loop down around the island, and then head up 9a until I got off on Spring street. The bar is immediately on the right, before the end of the block.

I've heard that things pick up from 8pm, and usually go to 10pm. However, I arrived a little early, and so I suspect things probably start up around 7pm. (next time around, I'll try to get there a little earlier). I've been told this happens *every* Tuesday, which is incredible - I'm definitely looking forward to it.

I met a very nice couple who ride a Ducati 999. They're apparently regulars, and they mentioned how on good nights, there will be bikes lining the entire block. I'm definitely looking forward to it.

In terms of the types of bikes that showed up, there were lots of BMWs, Ducati's, and cafe racers. I asked around, and it seems this hang out is perfect for my type - lots of customs, odd-ball bikes, and all around non-Japanese makes.