While we wait for winter’s end and the return of good motorcycling weather, we’ve been looking for apps that might make our summer rides more enjoyable. We found quite a few online.
The Eat Sleep Ride app for iOS and Android takes features that have been available as single apps and groups them into a “suite” meant just for motorcycle enthusiasts. It can record your ride and then replay it whenever you like. You can save or share your route. It tracks your mileage. It helps you visualize your performance since it’s kept track of your speed, lean angle, and elevation and can show you that data on a map.
You can create a ride report in real time; you can publish a great ride and draw on a huge library of photos and videos to augment your story. It also helps you discover routes other riders have submitted so you can always ride like a local.
It has a neat feature named Crashlight that can be critically helpful. Since it knows how you’re riding, it can tell if you crash. Since it always has you geo-located, it knows where you are. If you do crash and don’t notify the app that you’re okay within a short time, it sends word of your problem and your location to your list of contacts.
Waze may have been developed by drivers and for drivers, but motorcycle enthusiasts, especially commuters, can benefit from it as well. It’s the largest community-based traffic and navigation app in the world. It helps you get where you’re going by giving you real-time information about road conditions, traffic, and route information. Don’t expect to use it to find the scenic routes, but it will help you find the fastest way to your destination—and the cheapest places to buy gas as you go. Available for iOS and Android, Waze can also be used to sync with other riders, so it’s a help on group rides.
If you’re traveling or just want to find a new ride close to home, you could try Best Biking Roads. It offers over eight thousand routes based on the real-world riding experiences of more than twenty-five thousand motorcycle enthusiasts. This is a world-wide resource and is meant for either iOS or Android.
Planning a road trip? The RoadTrippers app can be a big help. It will help you find the scenery and attractions that make trips memorable. It can also take you to eateries, hotels, and other necessary spots. It includes over a million points of interest and works with both iOS and Android.
Rever lets your record key stats from your ride, such as average speed, distance, elevation, and so on. Then you can share it with others in the Rever community. You can linkup with other riders. It would be a great tool for managing group rides, too. It also has challenges to complete and awards to win—a fun app! It also lets you store maps on your phone so you can access them when you’re out of signal. Rever works with both iOS and Android.
You don’t have to be responsible for a fleet of vehicles to use the FuelLog app. It keeps track of fuel use, maintenance, and costs. It automatically calculates such states as fuel mileage, of course, but also can tell you your fuel cost per month or per year, total miles driven, average cost per mile, and more. It’s a good way to see what you’re saving by riding your motorcycle as a commuter, or to see if that carb tuning made a difference. This one is just for Android. For iOS, you could use Fuel Monitor. It also calculates fuel consumption and gives you cost-per-mile figure and track services and repairs. It also reminds you when maintenance is due. What’s more, it can export the data to a spreadsheet to use for your own budget or to figure a tax deduction.
And speaking of gas mileage, Gas Buddy helps you find the cheapest gas wherever you are. It’s got over fifty million users who report prices constantly. When you visit gas stations, report prices to win points and awards.
If you have iOS, you can use two cool weather apps.NOAA Weather Radar shows you NOAA’s satellite images so you can see just what Doppler radar is showing in real time. Dark Sky uses both government radar info and data from users to give you both forecasts and updated on-the-spot reports.
The Battery Doctor app can save your bacon when your phone is running low. It shows you what apps are running and how much battery life can be extended on each one. It’s available in both iOS and Android versions.
Unfortunately, it’s only available for Android systems, but CRADAR could be vital for anybody. It uses the accelerometer in your phone. If it senses a crash, it sends a text message to your emergency contacts that gives your exact coordinates and a route to get there. Use it when you’re motorcycling, running, walking—it works at any speed.
Yet, there’s no denying it: Unless you plan to ride exclusively around the Southern United States, you’ll face some chilly winters. And even before it...
