Beeline Moto: Motorcycle GPS Review

Riders tend to fall into a few different camps when it comes to navigation. On the one hand, many serious tourers, long-distance ADV riders or cruisers may favour full-fledged GPS systems, such as those offered by Garmin. On the other hand, shorter distance riders often opt for a simple phone mount on their handlebars such as those offered by Quadlock. Purists might say that they don’t have or want any visual distractions on the bike and prefer to navigate from memory, maps or a combination of the two. Enter Beeline Moto, a minimalist platform that consists of a hardware display and a navigation app that resides on your smartphone. Does the world need another motorcycle GPS? Who is it for? How does it work? It it any good? We rode 3,000kms with the device, through various states and across the winding roads of the Appalachian mountains to find out.

For the uninitiated, Beeline has been around for a while. Founded out of the UK by 2 British cyclists, the company originally sold GPS navigation products for cyclists (Beeline Velo) and expanded into motorcycling circa 2018 via a Kickstarter campaign.

Design

The philosophy behind Beeline’s product is one of minimalism: to provide the user with only the most essential information required to navigate so that the rider can focus on, well, riding. The device itself is sleek and comes in 3 flavours: the base model plastic unit (MSRP: $199 USD/$293 CAD) and 2 all-metal versions (silver and gunmetal, $261 USD/$345 CAD). For comparison, this puts it at half to 2/3 the price of a full-featured unit from Garmin but costing 3 times more than a Quadlock system.

The device we tested was the upper-spec gunmetal version and the quality of materials (including the glass screen) makes the diminutive device feel solid and well crafted. The Beeline is also waterproof, so you don’t have to worry about damaging it when riding in the rain or wiping it down after use.

Mounting options are equally minimalistic, our preferred mount being the simple rubber (silicone) band that attaches to surfaces such as handlebars or your handlebar clamp. The unit ships with other options such as an articulating plastic mount that can be secured to the bike with double sided tape (which we’ve seen used on sport bike that don’t have “handlebars”).

The other part of the system is the smartphone application (as the Beeline device cannot function as a standalone). The Beeline App is primarily used to plan and manage routes, allowing most of the functionality one would expect from a trip mapping app and not dissimilar to using Google Maps or Apple Maps. There are settings to avoid highways, optimize for “time” or for “fun” (where the routing algorithm favours twistier roads and avoids straight ones) and you can save your favourite routes or share them with other riders. The interface is quite intuitive and routes can be created by tapping the screen to set waypoints, then letting the app connect the dots. There is also a function that allows you to reverse a route, simply by tapping a button.

Once a route has been created and the user taps “go”, the interface then switches to the Beeline Moto device and your smartphone can be put away.

Setup

Out of the box, there isn’t much to do. Download the Beeline app, follow the tutorial to pair the Beeline Moto with your smartphone, then mount the device on your motorcycle. As with most electronics, the device ships partially charged so it’s recommended that you drop it in its dedicated charging cradle prior to first use.

Mounting the device is a very straightforward affair, especially if you are using the clever silicone band quick mount. One could get as creative as they wanted with RAM mounts, arms and extensions but the device is so compact that placement shouldn’t be an issue, regardless of available cockpit real estate. Indeed, this is one of the Beeline Moto’s strongest points. It’s also compact enough that you can remove it from your bike and throw it in your pocket if you’re leaving the bike unattended.

Of note: the Beeline Moto can also be used as a bicycle GPS, simply by toggling a setting in the app.

Performance

The minimalist approach of the Beeline Moto extends to its display, where a simple combination of a large directional arrow and a distance counter serve as your navigation. There are no roads, street names or other cues to guide your way. The lack of detail is both the Beeline’s greatest strength and its greatest weakness.

For the majority of our riding, we got along fine with it and didn’t take any wrong turns or miss any highway exits. There are however situations where the limited display can cause confusion. For example, in situations where there are several possible turn off points in close proximity, it’s easy to turn too early or to miss a turn, since you don’t really know which street you’re supposed to turn on. There’s a learning curve around the distance countdown where we eventually got used to eyeballing what “200m” looks like and could better navigate these types of situations. Another situation that can be tricky to navigate is when leaving a parking lot (or restaurant or gas station…). At times, we followed where the arrow was telling us to go, only to find out that was the incorrect direction after riding a few meters. This would not be an issue on a full-fledged GPS as one could look at the map and make a more informed decision. After a week of using the device however, we began to learn its intricacies and made fewer and fewer of these mistakes.

Battery life on the Beeline Moto is another very strong point. The device uses a backlit e-ink type screen and combined with a hefty battery, required little to no charging over the course of a given week of use. Beeline is rated for 30 hours of use before needing a charge and we can attest that this is accurate. When charging is required, the Beeline seemed to charge in a matter of minutes which was also impressive. The Beeline’s performance here is very impressive and a real luxury in this day and age of having to charge devices after every use.

Verdict

The Beeline is a fresh approach to motorcycle navigation that will work well for those willing to learn its unique “language”. For the purist who wants to avoid distractions or for those who don’t have room/tolerance/budget for a full-fledged GPS, the Beeline is a worthwhile option. Finally, the Beeline Moto is an evolving product. Being a smaller company, Beeline accepts feedback from its users and was responsive to the suggestions we had -particularly on the software side where features will continue to be added at no extra cost. It has become our go-to navigation device.