Customer Reviews

TomTom Rider 2 GPS Navigator for Motorcycles and Scooters

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(16)

 

 

I received this unit for Christmas primarily for my bike, but once I purchase the car mount adapter it will be used in the car as well.

This is an excellent unit, to say the least. One reviewer mentioned that it's too difficult to turn the unit on- I say "hogwash". The pushbutton is stiff, yes, but that's done to keep the unit from turning on accidentally while in your jacket pocket or carry bag (and with a touch screen, you can well imagine how much mischief one could accidentally create if it turned on without your knowledge). Ditto with the Scala Rider headset- you don't want the thing accidentally turning on, running the battery down, do you?

Another reviewer mentioned that it doesn't have a "speedometer" or trip meter function- it most certainly does have a speedometer, and what I assume is the "trip meter"- but since TomTom set the unit from the factory to eliminate as much extraneous information as possible, you have to activate it in the menus. Once that has been activated, it'll be there until you turn that feature off. In fact, there are a great number of features you can turn on and off in the menus.

I found the documentation to be adequate, and to the point. The printed documentation is to get you up to speed until you charge the units and turn them on- it's easy sailing after that. The unit is very easy to use, and it has tutorials right on the unit, so in my opinion further paper documentation is rather redundant- actually, I think it's pretty smart on TomTom's part to include tutorials on the unit itself rather than supply a printed book- that way I don't have to carry around the book, as all of the information is already on the unit! They really don't say much about the bike power cable, but I can certainly understand why- it's not possible to provide information about every bike out there, and if you aren't familiar enough with your bike, or can't figure out how to install it, it's probably best to get someone who is (like your bike dealer) to do the installation.

I've got a Motorolla Razr phone, and the TomTom easily hooked up to my phone via Bluetooth, and it painlessly downloaded all of my phone numbers I have stored on the phone (thank you for providing this helpful feature!).

I do wish that it gave the street name when it gives you instructions to turn, but I soon got used to how it works- not only does the display give you very clear instructions on where to turn, it also gives you the street name. Once you get used to it, it's easy. But I would like the option of hearing the street name (my PDA does, but the map display isn't as easy to see as the TomTom). While playing with the unit as my father-in-law drove the car, I discovered one potential issue with having the street name spoken to you- what happens when the street name is changed, but your maps haven't been updated? If you rely on the spoken street name, you might miss it- it's best to take a glance at the screen to make sure you're taking the correct turn (I found one such road- the name has recently been changed, but the map showed the old name instead). Still, I'd prefer to have it spoken, and visually double-check the map.

Overall, I give the TomTom an A-. TomTom, if you're reading this, I'll give you an A+ if you guys update the software so that it'll give you the street name by voice- then you'll have the best bike GPS available! However, I'd still buy the unit as is. It would just increase the functionality by including this feature.

My wife gave me this unit for Christmas. She's a doll and I love her very much, but she was not very versed about what to shop for or expect from a GPS unit. I've now used the unit several hours during trips, utilizing the blue tooth connectivity with my cell phone and the included headset within my helmet. Ive also used it in the car a lot. They said this unit was designed by motorcyclists, but obviously the bikers TomTom consulted knew very little about the minimum expectations for features required in a decent GPS unit...especially one costing this much.

I am going to break-down my review into two parts....what it has that is good...and what it lacks that makes it a non-competitive GPS unit in the US. I've used GPS technology at work and at play for years. Most of my background with consumer-grade GPS units is with the Garmin brand. So it is to that brand that I will make most of my comparisons because Garmin, for the most part, has it right and does it right! (imho)I have no financial or personal relationship with Garmin, whatsoever.

OK..first for the positive...it's water resistant/proof (don't really know about the proof part cause I havent had it in the pouring rain yet)...Fast processor and fast acquisition of the GPS constellation...good screen graphics and brightness...decent battery life...sensitive touch screen technology....blue tooth capable...can download your Outlook contact database....decent internal memory...heavy duty Ram mounting hardware for your bikes handle bars....USB connectivity to your computer for map downloads, etc....and if you are into directions from the unit, it has a few male and female voices from which to choose.

Now for the features it should have but does not:
-Should have a trip computer with trip parameters such as max speed, average moving speed, time moving, time sitting still, odometer, trip odometer, vertical and horizontal elevation, etc. None of this exists on the tomtom rider.
-Should leave a track, or a bread crumb trail, as you ride along. Not available on the TTRider. This is a real disappointment.
-Should have larger fonts for speed, arrival time, etc. Way too small to have to deal with on a motorcycle...even when set to the largest font.
-Should not "snap" to the nearest road to fool you into thinking their base map is accurate...because it is not that accurate in reality.
-Should come with a cig lighter plug for powering, but it does not.
-Does not allow any preference setting while in motion. You must stop before you can do anything with this unit outside of a few limited functions. Excuse: a safety feature
-Cannot make a call while moving. You can only recieve calls while moving. What's that about???? (yea I know, safety)
- Has annoying icons on the screen when the phone and headset are not connected and there is no way to get them off the screen!!
-Gives you no options as far as screen orientation relating to your travel direction...always points you up. Thats ok most of the time, but we deserve to have a choice in this price class.
-Can fall off the ball mount and, if not tethered to the bike or mounting base, it will hit the ground and will be lost.
- No elevation available...for those of us that ride in mountains and are use to seeing this on gps units, it's certainly an oversight by the TTRider. GPS derived elevation is not that accurate in the first place, but readings are relative and give a pretty good indication of elevation changes as you ride.
- Direct sunlight makes the screen totally INVISIBLE.

If I could send it back to Amazon I would. I plan to give it to by wife for her car and purchase a gps unit that more closely fits my needs as a touring motorcyclist and as a consumer that refuses to settle for inadequate and poorly designed products.

1. I have owned a Rider for more than 18 months.
2. The first one I had, the dock broke in Texas while I was riding Route 66.
3. I called TomTom from Texas (I live in Calif) and asked them to FedEx a new one.
They said no can do.
4. Once home, TomTom sent me a new Dock, but... it took them 1 month to get it to me.
5. After a while I started to notice that the Rider was not charging while in the dock and on my bike.
6. They asked me to send them my Rider back with all the accessories.
7. Then after 4 weeks, they sent me a new Rider, with no charger and no accessories.
8. The asked me to send it back.
8. After another 4 weeks, they sent me another.... new Rider... with all the accessories.
9. The dock didn't charge.
10. After another week, they sent me a new dock. It works.

There are known issues with the docks and charging, but TomTom won't admit it.
It's manufacturering issue. I'll let you guess where they are made.

The Tom Tom rider is good, easy to use. But if anything goes wrong, you'll be waiting many weeks for a replacement.
Ad of course the wait time on the phone, plan on an hour with each call.

I probably would NOT buy another one.

I bought this product from Amazon and received it 4-days ago. In the last 4-days, I have been in contact with TomTom by phone and email trying not only to get detailed information about the product, but also trying to get help with it. This is by far the worst motorcycle GPS on the market.

The Pro's: (there is only one)
1) They have upgraded the headset to the Cardo Scala Q2.

The Con's:
1) The screen is unreadable outside either in the sunlight or on overcast days. It looks completely white washed. There are no settings to resolve this on the unit.
2) The documentation included is for the original Rider, not the Rider 2nd Edition.
3) The screen is unreadable outside
4) There is no documentation available from TomTom or from RAM-Mount for the motorcycle mount that is included.
5) The screen is unreadable outside
6) TomTom's 30-day map guarantee only works if you call and harass them about it. Then you must fax or email proof of purchase before they will comply with there own guarantee.
7) The screen is unreadable outside
8) The power button is ridiculously hard to operate
9) The screen is unreadable outside
10) THE SCREEN IS UNREADABLE OUTSIDE!!!!!!!

So, in my opinion I can only believe that people who rate this highly either ride only at dusk, or during the nighttime. Either that, or they want everyone to make the same mistake they did, so they don't feel like they are the only one's that were taken for their money.

Oh, and did you get it yet?

THE SCREEN IS UNREADABLE OUTSIDE!

The whole purpose of the unit is to use it outside on a motorcycle!

I have owned a TomTom GO910 for a few years, and was actually very pleased with it except for the cost. But I will NEVER purchase another TomTom device after dealing with the company over the last 4-days.

My recommendations would be to please do your research online in advance. The TomTom Rider and the TomTom Rider 2nd Edition are pure crap, because there SCREENS ARE NOT READABLE OUTSIDE! Which itself is ridiculous as they were specifically designed for motorcycles!

Do yourself a huge favor, buy the Garmin Nuvi 550 instead! It's waterproof with an 8-hour rechargeable and replaceable lithium battery! Plus, its only half the price of the all too overpriced Zumo model! Wanna save even more money, buy the Garmin Nuvi 500. Again, waterproof with an 8-hour rechargeable and replaceable lithium battery. The only difference between it and the Nuvi 550 are the maps. The lower 48 vs. all of North America.

I bought the Rider 2 GPS last summer, to tour the south of France, from Paris. I'd travelled before with maps, sometimes missing offramps out of confusion (freeway signs here are only really good if you're a local, in which case you don't need them in the first place!!). After having used a TomTom GPS in a rental car to go to Italy, I decided to get one for my Speed Triple, for the pleasure of being guided from "above". The decision was made a week before my departure, so I didn't really have time to investigate the market. I discovered only Garmin & TomTom have bike-specific models, and that both were incredibly expensive compared to car units. Being used to, and pleased with the TomTom interface, I decided to buy TT. The first Rider 2 I bought would not connect to my Motorola Razr V3i, despite the help from the sales reps, and would refuse to turn on, even fully charged. After 3 (THREE!!) trade-ins, I had to leave for my 1 1/2 month vacation with my current unit, picked up the same morning.

My first beef was to find that not only would it start trying connecting to my V3i, then fail, but I'd also have to use the cellular connection to obtain the updates, and 1 month trial of various options I'D PAID FOR!! This is totally stupid. If you're going to have to use a PC to save your SD card, let the PC handle further downloads and updates!!! It doesn't take being a racket science wiz to understand a DSL connection is more reliable than a cellular. Also, the fact you have to pay for updates, and options that should be standard, is preposterous.

My second problem, is the fact that as long as you're moving, you cannot access/change routing information. That's totally stupid too. Even at walking speeds, the unit will accept no change of route, or any other modification. When you're on the freeway, or on city streets with no place to stop, this is really aggravating. I know it's supposedly for security reasons, but changing your destination to a favorite isn't going to put you in danger in most cases, stopping and starting on a road close to heavy traffic will. In any case, you can tap all you want on a car unit, so security obviously isn't a valid reason. In any case, I hate when an appliance is set to restrain my use of it, and not let me decide for myself when/if what I do is safe.

3rd beef: sometimes, maps are obsolete from the start. When driving through Italy, I was directed to turn right on a freeway, in the middle of... fields!!! There was an offramp on my screen, miles from any actual offramps. Only corn fields, which had obviously been there for years, and weren't going to disappear in favor of a new road overnight. Really scary when you're on a schedule..

Maybe I should have listed first the On/Off button. I have very strong arms & fingers, but the time & pressure (and numerous attempts) it takes to turn it on hurts my fingers each time. Needless to even think of asking my girlfriend to do it...

The last unnicety I can think of right now, is the fact, if you're typing an address, the streets that pop up aren't entirely legible on the screen. It appears there's no way to view further past the first letters. This is really a bummer in France, where streets precede their name. Example: if you're looking for an address on Boulevard du General De Gaulle, all that appears on the screen is "Boulevard du Genera", so you have to type each and every letter in the name, or you'll get directed to another general's name, and, as there's no "back" function, you'll have to go through the whole itinerary planning procedure again to try to get it right. Total lack of user-friendliness, for a unit that's supposed to be usable by bikers, with gloves on.

On the upside, missing an exit leads the unit to recalculate another itinerary very quickly, the reason exactly I'd bought a GPS. Arrival times are incredibly accurate, even on long trips. Screen maps are legible. The RAM fixing system is great, and solid, but props there go to RAM, not TomTom. The Scala system works fine, and is reasonably audible, although the choice of a higher pitched female voice, on full volume is a must, if you're going to be riding over 100 mph.

If I'd had more time to choose, I'd have bought the Garmin Zumo instead. The price is too high for a GPS that's so poorly engineered. It does work nicely when it's all set up correctly, but not being able to take phone calls, use paid for updates, or use your PC to download data is unacceptable.

Extremely dissatisfied with this unit. In my opinion the unit is junk. Turning the unit on/off is very difficult, a great deal of pressure has to be exerted. The street directions are turn left/right, no street names.
Documents are difficult at best. Talking to the manufactur was a waist of time. Totally indifferent with my concerns with there product. Having paid almost $600.00, I expected a lot more than what I got. I would not recomment this product to anyone!

UPDATE: 2 STARS
(amazon won't let me change the rating)
see my update comments below

my unit arrived with a defective memory card. from my computer i was able to access the data on the card and copy it to a new one which worked fine... i feel sorry for the more computer illiterate who wouldn't have figured that out. the Backup and Restore feature of the TomTom software doesn't do what it is supposed to... unless it's supposed to crash the application, then it's pure gold.

a call to tomtom customer support had me on hold for 2 hours before i was told that they wouldn't replace the defective card. i was told reformat it and see if that worked, if not, i would have to buy a new SD card at my own expense and download the data files from their website. a nice work around, but why should i have to pony up the additional cost due to their negligence on a brand new product? turns out the reformat did the trick.

over the next two days i spent an additional 5 hours on the phone between hold and actual tech support trying to figure out why the car mount speaker wasn't working. turns out it was defective, and the level of bureaucracy in getting the unit replaced was excrutiating. i ended up sending it back to the retailer since the recommended and proper channels were painfully inefficient.

i have to say if you DO have to deal with tech support, all 3 people i spoke with were very helpful and friendly, even if they weren't immediately knowledgeable with their products ("oh, the car mount has a speaker built in? are you sure?")

yes, the power button is a pain, you have no idea whether you've actually triggered something or not. it feels like magic when the unit actually pops on because by that point you just aren't expecting the effort is doing any good.

UPDATE: I SENT THE UNIT BACK BECAUSE THE POWER BUTTON CEASED TO FUNCTION see further below.

the Rider 2 does have a trip meter and a speedometer... not sure what other reviewers are talking about.

the only thing missing for me is an altimeter. not necessary, but for geeky fun, i wanted to know just how far below sea level i was in death valley... seems like with all the other unnecessary (to me) frills, the addition of this would have been a no-brainer.

navigating the menus is kind of clumsy without a "back" button. for example, when choosing a destination i had several options come up that began "Joshua Tree National Park" and the rest of the information ran off the page so i couldn't immediately tell which one was North entrance, West Entrance, South Entrance until selecting it (i have since discovered by holding the selection for a few seconds, it would show the entire name) but if i selected North Entrance and realized once i saw it on the map that it wasn't the one i wanted, there was no option to go back and select one of the others. i had to select Done, which took me back to the main display, and then start over with my search.

was able to sync with my iPhone, though the tomtom recognized it as "localhost". the headset works fine, but the earpiece distorts when loud enough to actually hear while riding.

all in all i'm happy with it, but then it's my first GPS and i have no comparison. my brother bought the Garmin Zumo 550, so once i have a chance to compare the two, i'll return and update my review.

UPDATE: BUY THE ZUMO 55O INSTEAD!
the Garmin provides a richer visual interface and feature set.

a firmware update to the Rider 2 added a nice little convenience: the inability to turn the device off. it would go through the motions as if it were going to power off, and then would restart. and now the power button won't even turn the device on. so i've sent it back. after a week in transit it will be another 2 weeks before it, or a replacement is delivered back to me. yes, malfucntions occur, no product is perfect, but i've had too many issues with this thing. i wish i had bought the zumo. if i could have gotten a refund, i would have, and i have to much integrity to pawn this thing off on to someone else... i'd leave it on my bike to get stolen, but i just couldn't do that to a thief.

one more thing... while the customer service reps are trained to perform with congeniality and sparkly voices, the customer service system itself is a labyrinth of hurdles and bureaucracy. in addition, never end a call with them promising to call you back. it will never happen.

tomtom doesn't deserve your money.

UPDATE 2:
i sent in the unit to be repaired and they sent me back a brand new unit. great. the power button i struggled with on the original unit was defective from the start. the new one turns on and off with a noticeable click like you would expect. bothers me that tomtom denied the button was ever an issue.

one more issue i have with this GPS: there is not indication whatsoever that the unit is charging. if the unit is being charged while turned off, there should be some indication on the unit or the charger that the thing is actually getting juice. i had the motorcycle mount installed and wired 8 months ago by my service center. only recently did i use the GPS for longer than a few hours. by the end of the day, with the unit securely fastened into the motorcycle mount, it had lost it's charge. so the unit had never been charging while on the bike and i had know way of knowing that since there was no charging indicator.but there is a dying battery indicator. that's certainly well thought out. one more reason to avoid the mistake i made. buy the zumo.

I just got the Rider2 and linked my cell phone. I like the functions and would probably be more favorable to the unit if the mount would charge on my motorcycle. The unit will charge using the AC adaptor but won't charge at the cradle. After doing some diagnostics with a voltmeter, I called support at TomTom. They agreed that it was the mount but will not send me a replacement because they told me today (8/31/09) that they have discontinued the Rider2 and don't have any mounts to send me. I told them that they should have one around there somewhere from a return at least, but Roberta insisted that they don't have spare mounts and that she could give me the names of retail places where I could buy one. I am terribly disappointed in this kind of service on a BRAND NEW device!

After much research I decided that the TomTom Rider, 2nd edition, was the GPS for my Scooter, a Genuine Buddy St. Tropez. I ordered one and a few days later it was delivered. I charged up the battery for both the GPS unit and the Cardo Scala Bluetooth Headphone set. Once charged I turned on the GPS by pressing the button on the side. And like so many reviewers have stated, pressing the on/off button is extremely difficult. Sometimes it would work, sometimes not. No click could be felt or heard, one just had to press the button down really, really hard. A big negative for me.

Once I got it running, I entered my home address, but the unit could not find it on its map. Okay I thought, I read the instruction book so I made a map correction that the GPS unit accepted. After adding my street I again tried to enter my home location, but the unit still couldn't find my address, even though I corrected it and saved it to its map. Another problem. I asked the TomTom folks about this, their reply: "When a street is corrected, through MapShare, it needs to be verified by our surveyors before it will be updated." That's fine, but wouldn't it make sense to leave it corrected on the unit that reported the map problem? Especially when it was my home street that was missing?

Next I loaded the TomTom Home software to my personal computer. The HELP and Instruction book said I could use the TomTom Home softwares' emulator to enter a name and password to protect the device. It also said I could enter routes and all from my home PC (instead of having to enter all that data on the GPS Unit's screens). I started the emulator and immediately received an error - NO MAPS FOUND. Odd I thought, the map was loaded; what's going on? So I contacted the TomTom folks. They replied a day later saying that "the Online Emulator that allows you to plan routes, and set your password is currently not compatible with our RIDER 2 devices." Oh, no one mentioned that anywhere in the item's description, did they?

Before I received a reply to my inquiry I attempted to mount the TomTom Rider 2nd edition on my Scooter. The box contains a universal RAM Mount in which to place the unit on your vehicle. I was ready to place it on my Scooter when I realized that the mount requires a handlebar, one with open space to hold the mount. And guess what? Scooter's don't have handlebars! So even though they state that this TomTom Rider 2nd edition is for Motorcycles and Scooters, it really isn't for Scooters. Note: Those big Touring Motorcycles don't have handlebars either.

So I thought maybe I could mount it a bit lower. I took my Scooter outside in the sun so I could see better. I placed the GPS unit on different parts of my Scooter to see what could work. It was then I realized that you couldn't read the screen in sunlight. I checked the unit's brightness and made sure it was at 100 percent; it was. What good is a GPS unit if you can't read the screen? Sure you could hear it telling you what direction to turn, but what if you wanted to check the map while on the road? You'd have to stop under a bridge or in the shade of trees to see the screen. What good was that?

It wasn't good. So I went and filled out Amazon's Returns screens. For the reason I put down not as described. Amazon said these TomTom Riders were good for Scooters; they aren't. The description also never mentioned that the online emulator software didn't currently work. That's a big problem for me.

In summary:

Big problems with this TomTom Rider 2nd edition.

1. The on/off switch can be very hard to depress. (More difficult when wearing a glove).

2. When you correct the map it will not save your own corrections. Since my correction was to add my home address street, this was a big problem for me.

3. The online emulator bundled with the TomTom HOME Software,the software that allows you to plan routes and set your password is currently not compatible with RIDER 2 devices. No estimated date of correction.

4. This unit is not for Scooters or other types of Motorcycles that do not have an exposed area of handlebar in which to mount the Universal RAM Mount.

5. You cannot read the screen in sunlight.

Sorry TomTom, this Rider returned your Rider 2nd Edition back to Amazon.

This is our first GPS and as much as it cost you would think it would have more on it. You pay a lot just for the water-proof case! I would think they could include some of the options that you find on non-water proof GPS for the about the same price. We got it about 2 months ago and since we live in Ohio we haven't tried it on the bike yet. We haven't gone out of town yet so we have been using it around home to get use to it. It works well in the car but we have been using a styles to type and select the options, that will be a problem on the bike. Also when you look up a point of intrest it doesn't give you the address so if you're going to a chain store for example, it gives you the closest one and out from there but if that's not the one you want you don't know where the next one is without selecting it and looking at the directions. It would be nice to have the address or at least the street name so you can select the one you want. We were very tempted to return it and get a non-water-proof one and take or chances. Either way is a lot of money to spend and not have what you want.