Looking for a way to navigate with greater ease while you’re riding your motorcycle? Then you are either going to need a motorcycle GPS device, or a GPS app on your phone. While you always have the option of downloading a generic GPS for drivers, you really want one specifically tailored to motorcycle riders. That way you can get recommendations on the most scenic routes and enjoy social tools, weather updates and other features which can make riding safer and more enjoyable all around.

Below, you can read up on some recommended motorcycle GPS apps. Any one of these can greatly enhance your riding experience!

Waze

You may be familiar with Waze; it has become one of the most popular GPS apps on the planet. Waze works differently than most apps in that it is community-based. Other users keep the maps and alerts up-to-date, and there are handy social features you can use to keep up with your friends on the road.

Last year, Waze augmented the app with support specifically for motorcycles. As Waze describes on their blog, “it comes complete with specialized routing to help make finding freedom on the open road simpler and faster.” Because the routes are calculated based on community input, you end up on roads which are recommended by your fellow bikers. Waze can be installed on your device for free.

Best Biking Roads

Best Biking Roads is an app maintained and updated by the community connected with the Best Biking Roads website. As the site advertises, Best Biking Roads helps you discover, “1,103,375 Kms / 685,605 Miles of Motorcycle Rides in 86 Countries.” It is worth mentioning that it has been in operation for some time now and has become well-established.

The emphasis is of course on routing, but there are some other handy features as well which can aid you in trip planning. You can for example look up hotels, motels, and bars which cater to motorcycle riders and poker rides, and you can even identify rental facilities where you can pick up a bike on vacation.

The app includes hundreds of photos and films to give you a preview of the roads you have selected for your trip. It can be yours for a low fee of just £3.99.

Eat Sleep Ride

This app really takes motorcycle riding and route planning to the next level. Packed with social features, it allows you not only to plan routes, but also to track statistics for your rides and quickly and easily share photos and stories. You can even participate in contests.

Want to meet other riders nearby? Share your location and connect. Prefer not to be bothered? You can switch this feature off and ride with total privacy. It is totally up to you. Eat Sleep Ride (ESR) is available for free.

Rever

Rever is a social riding app which is similar to ESR. You can plan your trip with Rever, add friends and follow their activity, track your mileage, elevation, and distance, and participate in competitions. One nice thing about Rever is that you can still view your routes even if your cell signal gets cut off. So that makes this a great app to pick if you enjoy riding out in remote areas.

On that note, you can even set up automated alerts so that the people you trust to look out for you will know when you are going out on a ride and where you are headed. The basic version of Rever is free, but you need to pay for premium to get all the features.

inRoute

This GPS app allows for detailed route planning. You can tell the app exactly what you are looking for in terms of elevation and even how curvy you want the roads to be. You can specify weather conditions which are acceptable to you, and if the weather changes while you are on the road, the app will alert you. inRoute is free to download, with in-app purchases offered.

Get Even Better Performance and Features with a Dedicated Motorcycle GPS Unit

Downloading a motorcycle GPS app to your smartphone is an easy and fast solution for navigation on the road, but it is not your only option. If you are looking for even more reliability (especially on remote roads) and more sophisticated features, consider investing in a dedicated motorcycle GPS unit. With a dedicted navigation system, riders won't need to worry about using their cellular data plan for long rides which is arguably the biggest downfall of an app based GPS on a phone.

In the meantime, think about downloading one of the recommended apps above, and enjoy rides which feature more exciting roads and which offer more opportunities to connect with your community of bikers!