Tag

app

Browsing

I know all you old-timers haven’t heard of it, but all the cool kids are using an app called Waze to get from Point A to Point B these days.

For motorcyclists, the popular “live map” program just a got a bit friendlier too, announcing today that it was adding motorcycles to its selectable vehicle types.

Don’t know what this means? Think of Waze like a social version of Google Maps. In fact, Google owns Waze and uses its data to power Google Maps’ route selector.

Unlike the users of Google Maps and the like though, Wazers (that’s the preferred nomenclature, dude) can report things to the app, like traffic jams, fuel prices, and our personal favorite: police speed traps.

Those of you with Sena intercoms on your helmets and motorcycles will be pleased to hear that your headsets just got a major range extension, thanks to a new smartphone app that connects to Sena’s communications system.

The idea is pretty simple, really, as the RideConnected App connects your headset via bluetooth, and to your smartphone’s internet connection, and then uses either that wifi or a cellular network to create a talk group.

This means that Sena users can communicate at an infinite range with multiple riders, so long as they have either wireless service available to them. It also means that non-riders can connect to the group talk, with their own smartphone app.

Chances are that if you are a regular Asphalt & Rubber reader, that means you are a pretty tech savvy person. So first of all, congratulations on your choice to get your motorcycle news and opinions in digital form, rather than waiting three months for the print guys to get their act together. Huzzah!

Of course, this also means that you have had to suffer through the endless onslaught of “Top 5” lists that have inundated motorcycle “journalism” the past year or so. I’m pretty sure that in a few years, we will look back at the whole BuzzFeedification of news as the second worst idea to hit motorcycle journalism, right behind the idea of a content paywall — but I digress.

That being said, I did want to share with our A&R readers five apps that I use on my iPhone everyday, that maybe you haven’t stumbled upon. So in the interest of  better living through technology and all that jazz, I’ve created my own little Top 5 list — Yes, I’ve died a little bit on the inside because of this article.

Hopefully though there are couple apps on my list that you haven’t heard of, which will cause the overlap of your Venn diagram of “motorcycles” and “technology” to grow just a little bit more, and those make my personal ethical sacrifice worthwhile.

I realize in advance that this list leans towards iOS users. I’m hoping commenters will leave a few apps in the comments section that I might have missed (especially on other platforms), so we can spread the love around.

Zero Motorcycles has announced the release of the company’s iPhone and Android mobile applications for the Zero’s range of electric motorcycles. A handy interface to change the basic performance settings on the motorcycle’s EV components, Zero’s mobile app connects via Bluetooth and allows a rider to adjust the bike’s top speed, torque, and regenerative braking.

The app also allows the rider to get more detailed information about the state of the motorcycle’s charge, operating temperatures, battery volts/amps, and ride statistics. Additionally, a rider can configure the application to show the money saved using electricity instead of gasoline, C02 spared from entering the atmosphere, etc.

With the mobile interface is available on all of Zero’s 2013 models, one of the more interesting features of the mobile application is that it also allows a Zero owner to send diagnostic information back to Zero HQ for analysis and troubleshooting, saving a trip (and presumably a fee) at the dealership. Chewy.

While we contemplate riding the 15 Top Motorcycling Roads according to the AMA membership, there’s an easier way to find great routes near where you live. For about a year now we’ve been following the progress on “The Greatest Road” iPhone application, the brainchild of Daniel Pifko, which recently got funding from SocialNav and will be taking on that name in the future.

The idea behind that app is a directory of the greatest motorcycle roads around the world, submitted by the riders themselves, complete with a social sharing element that lets motorcyclists comment on routes, post rides to social sites like Facebook, etc. Taking advantage of the iPhone’s built-in GPS locator, you can search for roads based on your location, or browse other locales to plan a trip. Basically it’s your Sunday Morning Ride in palm of your hand, and our happy merger of computer geekdom and motorcycling (woot!).

Online parts and accessories supplier BikeBandit.com has unveiled its own iPhone application to help motorcyclists deck out themselves and their motorcycle in aftermarket goodness…all from the comfort of the palm of their hand. The app, which rev’s and vibrates when you open it, is complete with the exploded parts diagram that loyal BikeBandit shoppers have come to use and love.

If this post sounds like a thinly-veiled unsolicited advertisement for a fellow Penn State MBA (We are!..), you’d be right, but for the weekend wrencher who needs to remember how to put a clutch back together without hopping on a computer (and then order the bolt/nut/bracket they just lost) this is a well done, and possibly invaluable addition to your iPhone addiction.