Where do you put your Spot Device

[wheatonFJR]

Since purchasing my Spot this year I have kept it mounted to my bike with a Ram ball mount. Its easy, convenient and in plain view so I remember to turn it on or off.

When I look back and reflecting on my last two accidents, this mounting location would have failed me and my ability to access or actvate the Spot.

In the first of my two instances, I low sided my FZ1 traveling 225' from the first git off to where I and the FZ1 come to rest. My ram mounted GPS was lost in the tumble and slide and I would expect the same from my Ram mounted Spot. In my last accident I hit a deer with my Tenere folding my forks back, stopping the front wheel slamming me and the bike down instantly. After spitting me off in a heap, the bike popped back up and ghost rode with out me for nearly 600 feet before running out of momentum and tipping over in the ditch.

Reflecting back on both wrecks tells my Spot would have been lost or with the bike hundreds of feet away. I need to reconsider my Spot location and find a location attached and available to me.

Thanks for sharing that. On my getoffs there has been separation as well...and if a broken leg(s) occurred, or if I passed out from pain, the SPOT unit would not be there to save my life. I do need to look at the Issue of Helicopter/Life Flight insurance...and if that is something that is available and that I want to look into.

[BigDogRaven]

I honestly do not see a need for a Spot tracker. This is 2016, everything a spot can do, there is an app that can do it. And without carrying another device. Am I missing something??? Maybe if your are doing an Iron Butt Rally. Just seems as if this item is obsolete. Especially since I always hear how they dont work well.

[Twigg]

I honestly do not see a need for a Spot tracker. This is 2016, everything a spot can do, there is an app that can do it. And without carrying another device. Am I missing something??? Maybe if your are doing an Iron Butt Rally. Just seems as if this item is obsolete. Especially since I always hear how they dont work well.

Spot works just fine.

What you are missing is that there are still major parts of the country that do not have data coverage, so tracking by cellphone can be a very hit, and miss affair.

Tracking by cell might be okay for casual use, especially in the East, but it's just not reliable enough for many of us. Believe me, I wouldn't be spending $150 per year if I didn't think it a valuable tool, especially for my family watching my progress at home.

[bungie4]

I read yesterday that hitting the SOS button can cost you $60,000...... the Help button is free but it only sends a user-defined canned message. How does one get found if the SPOT is on you or off you, unless the SOS button is hit..... assuming you have no cell service and your cell phone is within reach...... you have to rely on your tracking friends to notice you're missing and send somebody to get you...... maybe you send them multiple Help messages (work that out in advance with your tracking friends?).... anyway, you have to be able to hit buttons and you can only do that if you can reach your device. I'm thinking of switching to arm band now.

Ray Ray Ray. That is the problem the AssistanceList was designed to overcome. After signing up for the AssistanceList, you wire up you spot and put the assistancelist as an emergency contact (Instructions are in the help section). After that, mashing the HELP button will email, text and generally scream bloody murder at anybody within 50 miles of you.

You all will be texted/emailed an 800 number. Call it and wait. The system will conference you, and any responders together.

For free.

Your tracking friends are basically no good to you when you're a 1000 miles from them.

[ts3doug]

I seem to find myself setting up camp where there is no cell service. It will be nice to be able to send an all's well message to the wifey after a day of motorbiking.

[BigDogRaven]

I read yesterday that hitting the SOS button can cost you $60,000...... the Help button is free but it only sends a user-defined canned message. How does one get found if the SPOT is on you or off you, unless the SOS button is hit..... assuming you have no cell service and your cell phone is within reach...... you have to rely on your tracking friends to notice you're missing and send somebody to get you...... maybe you send them multiple Help messages (work that out in advance with your tracking friends?).... anyway, you have to be able to hit buttons and you can only do that if you can reach your device. I'm thinking of switching to arm band now.

Ray Ray Ray. That is the problem the AssistanceList was designed to overcome. After signing up for the AssistanceList, you wire up you spot and put the assistancelist as an emergency contact (Instructions are in the help section). After that, mashing the HELP button will email, text and generally scream bloody murder at anybody within 50 miles of you.

You all will be texted/emailed an 800 number. Call it and wait. The system will conference you, and any responders together.

For free.

Your tracking friends are basically no good to you when you're a 1000 miles from them.

Hummmm, did not think of the lack of coverage. It seems as if the Find Friends app on ios works everywhere. I travel on day trips high in Sierras, my wife can ALWAYS see where I am, without cell service at all. I still dont see it. If it works perfectly out of cell range, why the need for a Spot. It cant be just that there is better coverage in certain areas. GPS is GPS right????

[wheatonFJR]

^^^
How do you call for help with your cell phone when there is no coverage?

Just asking. If you can, then fill me in...and SPOT's business model just got shot to hell.

[gixxerjasen]

Likely your Find Friends does like BubblerGPS does. It caches your points and uploads them when you have coverage again. If you have no coverage then how do you expect your app to transmit data? I didn't use Spot till last year when I knew I'd be riding dangerous roads well out of cell coverage. I checked often and yes, I spent most of my time with zero cell coverage at all, but spot was sending the satellites my points regularly and accurately.

[Twigg]

Likely your Find Friends does like BubblerGPS does. It caches your points and uploads them when you have coverage again. If you have no coverage then how do you expect your app to transmit data? I didn't use Spot till last year when I knew I'd be riding dangerous roads well out of cell coverage. I checked often and yes, I spent most of my time with zero cell coverage at all, but spot was sending the satellites my points regularly and accurately.

This ^^^

Looking at a track after the event will not show you the limitations of Bubbler, or similar Apps. By then they will have filled in the gaps that appeared in real time.

Personally, I think those Apps are probably the future, but until there is full data coverage they are not quite ready for prime time.

As for the debt that may be associated with emergency rescue ... that's a political problem that this country needs to fix. Meanwhile, I'd rather be alive with a bill, than dead without one.

[Abercrombie FJR]

"Hummmm, did not think of the lack of coverage. It seems as if the Find Friends app on ios works everywhere. I travel on day trips high in Sierras, my wife can ALWAYS see where I am, without cell service at all. I still dont see it. If it works perfectly out of cell range, why the need for a Spot. It cant be just that there is better coverage in certain areas. GPS is GPS right????"



A GPS is a GPS?????? Your right my Garmin 660, my Smart phone, and my SPOT all know were I am at. But to the best of my knowledge only the SPOT is going to allow me to call for help if my bike or I am disabled or injured in a remote area with no cell service. If you can tell me of a way that my smart phone will communicate an emergency message via satellite when I need to call for help, we would appreciate that knowledge. I will gladly buy you a a beer or two with the $150.00 savings annually.

[raYzerman]

Bungie's just reminding me I should actually read when I signed up for AssistanceList. Hey, I did read the owner's manual for my bike though.... anyway, that's a seriously good thing, hit the Help button and anybody on the list within 50 miles gets notified.... freakin' awesome, just saved me a bundle by not having to hit the SOS button....
Beer for Bungie at some future event.....

[Abercrombie FJR]

Bungie's just reminding me I should actually read when I signed up for AssistanceList. Hey, I did read the owner's manual for my bike though.... anyway, that's a seriously good thing, hit the Help button and anybody on the list within 50 miles gets notified.... freakin' awesome, just saved me a bundle by not having to hit the SOS button....
Beer for Bungie at some future event.....

I signed up for the assistance list but never looked at it long enough to figure out how it works. And besides that, who the hell is going to ride a motorcycle through North Dakota and require my assistance?

[bungie4]

And besides that, who the hell is going to ride a motorcycle through North Dakota and require my assistance?

^ that.

[Skip]

I'm new to this idea of a SPOT device, would you consider these to be an essential piece of equipment, I do ride quite often by myself ( about 80% of the time). The majority of my riding is in Ontario, however I usually make a couple of trips to Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia each year.

[Twigg]

I'm new to this idea of a SPOT device, would you consider these to be an essential piece of equipment, I do ride quite often by myself ( about 80% of the time). The majority of my riding is in Ontario, however I usually make a couple of trips to Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia each year.

For most, Spot is not essential, but it can move into "highly desirable" depending on the riding you do.

I like it because my wife and kids worry about me when I go out on long rides. Spot let's them track my progress. See where I am in almost real-time, and the kids set the SpotWalla page up on the living room TV, and keep it on most of the time I am out.

It has a secondary benefit in allowing you to call for help in an emergency.

On balance, it's expensive but worth it for the peace-of-mind of my family. Anything else is just a bonus.

[ts3doug]

Exactly. Wifey worries when I can't check in at night.

[wheatonFJR]

I'm not sure why I have one. Wifey figures if she hasn't gotten a phone call from the highway patrol yet, I'm probably alive somewhere.

[bigjohnsd]

On my Jacket, If I need it, I don't want to have to crawl to the bike to push the button for help

[extrememarine]

Food for thought right there - would you be able to crawl to the bike? If you have a SPOT for the purpose of the SOS feature, then having it on your body is the only choice. In my 2008 wreck, I would have never been able to crawl to the bike to hit the SOS.

IF you just want the neat bread crumb trail on a Google Map, put it where ever you want. Or use one of the cell phone apps like GPSBubbler.

On my Jacket, If I need it, I don't want to have to crawl to the bike to push the button for help