That spare phone sitting in your drawer could be the best motorcycle navigation unit you'll ever own. Many riders spend $600 to $1,000 on a dedicated GPS, or risk their everyday phone on the handlebars. There's a smarter middle ground: give your spare phone a second life as a dedicated nav unit that lives on the bike.
Why use a phone for navigation at all?
Phones have quietly become better navigation devices than most dedicated GPS units. You get:
- The best map apps in the world. Gaia GPS, OsmAnd, Google Maps, Waze, Guru Maps and dozens more, with topo layers, tracks, routing and live traffic.
- Big, bright, high-resolution screens, often sharper than anything on a motorcycle GPS.
- Constant updates. New features and fresh maps arrive through the app store, not a paid map update.
- Your own routes and tracks, synced from your computer or shared by mates.
A Garmin zūmo XT2 sells for roughly $600 to $1,000 in Australia. A phone you already own costs nothing.
Why a spare phone, not your everyday one?
1. Vibration can damage your main phone's camera
Apple has warned riders that the high-amplitude vibration from powerful motorcycle engines can degrade the image stabilisation and autofocus in iPhone cameras, and recommends against mounting iPhones directly to the handlebars of high-power bikes. Your spare phone's camera doesn't matter, so a buzzy single or a corrugated track can't ruin it.
2. Your main phone stays safe in your pocket
If you drop the bike, it's the spare phone that takes the hit, not the one with your banking apps, photos and emergency contacts. And when you need to make a call, take a photo or get help, your main phone is charged and ready, not cooked from hours on the bars.
3. It never has to leave the bike
Set it up once with your favourite map apps and offline maps, and leave it mounted, or pop it in your tank bag at the end of the day. No more fiddling with apps and settings at the start of every ride.
4. It works without a SIM card
GPS doesn't need mobile data. With offline maps downloaded over home Wi-Fi, your spare phone navigates perfectly with no SIM at all, which is exactly what you want in the outback. If you'd like live traffic, share your main phone's hotspot or add a cheap prepaid data SIM.
5. It's better for your wallet and the planet
Spare phones usually end up forgotten in a drawer or in landfill. Giving yours a second life as a nav unit saves hundreds of dollars and an awful lot of e-waste.
How to set up a spare phone as a motorcycle nav unit
- Check it's new enough. Make sure your map apps still support the phone. Most current apps need roughly Android 8 or later, or iOS 15 or later.
- Factory reset it for a clean, fast start, then install only what you need: your map apps and nothing else.
- Download offline maps for the areas you ride, over Wi-Fi.
- Turn on airplane mode, then turn location back on. GPS keeps working in airplane mode, and the battery lasts much longer.
- Wire it to your bike's USB power. Older batteries fade, so keep it plugged in. Keep it out of direct sun on hot days, as heat is a phone's biggest enemy.
- Use a vibration-dampening mount to protect the phone and keep the screen steady.
- Set the screen to stay on while the map app is open, and turn brightness up for riding in sunlight.
The missing piece: controlling it with gloves on
The one thing a phone does badly on a bike is touch control. Gloves don't work well on touchscreens, rain triggers random taps, and reaching for the screen means a hand off the bar and your eyes off the road.
That's why we built MapCommand: eight big, raised buttons that bolt to your handlebar next to your switchgear. Zoom, pan and recentre your map with your thumb, gloves on, without touching the screen. It pairs with your spare phone over Bluetooth, runs off your bike's 5 V USB, and works with apps like Gaia GPS, Google Maps, OsmAnd and Guru Maps on Android and iPhone. See which apps it works with.
Your spare phone, the map app you already know, and buttons you can find by feel. It's a navigation setup that beats most dedicated GPS units, for a fraction of the price.