At last, there’s now a GPS navigation system for motorcyclists which is robust enough to cope with the outdoor life of a biker. It’s been designed so that the icons are larger therefore easy to use whilst wearing gloves and has improved shock and vibration resistance. It’s also waterproof (very necessary if you live in the UK as it’s normally quite wet here).

The TomTom Rider, as seen at CES 2008, is currently available in the USA and Canada, with Europe coming soon. It comes loaded with comprehensive maps of the USA and Canada together with millions of points of interest (such as the nearest Maccy D’s) and incorporates in-helmet navigation instructions with Cardo scala-rider Bluetooth headset. The bluetooth technology also allows hands-free calling and provides in-helmet navigation instructions to help you on your way.

One of the other features is the ability to access real-time weather, which could be useful if you know you’re out on a long journey and need to know what kit you’ll be needing, such as waterproofs or the sun cream.

From a usability point of view, it was suggested the TomTom Rider could be seen as having some safety implications, in as much as you could seen where the bends in the road were and slow down accordingly. Think this would be great idea for most bikers. However, as I’ve mentioned in some of my previous posts, I have a brother who would see a potential bendy bit of road as the ideal time to speed up and go crazy neck speeds around them, doing a bit of knee scraping on the way. He think’s this is cool (I just think he’s bananas!)

Anyway, pricing for the TomTom Rider starts at $699 and I think sensible riders would love this.