How do you see your GPS at night

[BwanaDik]

I'd guess at LEAST half of the folks here wear reading glasses or vision correction of some sort. How the heck do you see your GPS, radar detector, iPod, etc, when it gets dark?

I have the water soluable inserts from Aerostitch stuck onto the inside of my sunglasses and they work fine during the day. However, on my SS1k we ended up in the dark, with a lot of construction, in the rain.....Obviously my sunglasses were in the tank bag by that time.

I knew roughly where we were going as we were slabbing it but I had no clue as to exactly where we were because my GPS was a mass of sparkly colored lines and fuzzy things that were apparently the names of nearby towns. I really dislike wearing my reading glasses inside my helmet but I have done so when necessary. I think I saw Fred Rau mention something like safety glasses with bi-focal lenses but I can't find the reference now.

Something really cool would be a magnifying lense that sticks onto the inside of my visor, maybe about an inch or so in width so I could see everything when I glance down but it would be clear when looking straight ahead. Then I could use my regular sunglasses during the day and simply remove them at night.

Anybody heard of something like this? How do you see your instruments at night when needing reading assist?

 

[MartyA]

My 2730 automatically switches to night mode. Never had any problems yet with that.

I wear glasses all the time so my bifocals are not an issue.

 

[Texan]

Can you mount it further forward? Or better, get a starcom and route the sound through it. Navigating by voice directions is safer according to a study by Tomtom.

 

[worldbound4now]

Can you mount it further forward? Or better, get a starcom and route the sound through it. Navigating by voice directions is safer according to a study by Tomtom.

Ummm... do I see conflict of interest?

 

[BwanaDik]

OK, I guess I need to be a little clearer. How do you see stuff between the windshield and your chest? Yea, I'm being a little scarcastic but still the speedo, tach, odo, (check out Patriot's cockpit to see all the stuff you can have) all fall into the same general range. I've got a 2730 and yes, it shifts to night mode with no problem. There's a bunch of stuff of interest to look at other than the GPS, it's just that that's one of the more important items.

So if you're optically challenged, how do you view it at night? Clear classes? Bi-focals? Face shield modifications (what I'm hoping for)?

 

[Bounce]

I'd guess at LEAST half of the folks here wear reading glasses or vision correction of some sort. How the heck do you see your GPS, radar detector, iPod, etc, when it gets dark?
I have the water soluable inserts from Aerostitch stuck onto the inside of my sunglasses and they work fine during the day. However, on my SS1k we ended up in the dark, with a lot of construction, in the rain.....Obviously my sunglasses were in the tank bag by that time.

I wear my prescription bifocals, my GPS is back lit, my V1 uses LEDs, and I don't hard mount a phone. Paper maps (in the map window on my tank bag) I see using a swivel-headed flash light clipped to the breast pocket of my jacket that has a push-on/off button I can push through the fabric of the jacket.

 

[MT home]

Two ways that come to mind right away:

1. (The expensive route) What I discovered is that a good optical shop can let you try out various corrections in special "quick change" frames that are designed just for the purpose of dialing in the needed correction at the exact needed reading distance. You could find such a shop and sit on your motorcycle and see what is the optimal correction at the cockpit distance(s) you need. If the shop isn't willing to let you walk back and forth between the counter and the parking lot, measure the distances involved when seated on the motorcycle and then replicate them at the counter. You could even bring in your GPS to make sure that the correction lets you see the exact level of detail you are trying to see. There is undoubtedly a room somewhere in the shop that has dimmable lights, if nighttime is an aggravating factor. The top of the lenses can have no correction (for distance vision), and you can get as much or as little of the reading glasses height as you want in order to see your electronic wonder's readouts. If single-strength correction isn't adequate, you can go to progressive lenses in the bifocal area or use a trifocal lens.

2. (The cheap route) If all you need is magnification of the GPS display, then simply find a suitable magnifying lens to mount over the GPS display. It will need to stand off a bit (depending on the magnification factor), but there are all sorts of thin plastic sheets made for reading small print, ranging from credit card sized up to phone book page sized. Plastic stand-offs, an Exacto knife, a bit of hot glue, and trial and error will probably be good enough for proof-of-concept purposes. A more permanent mount can be fabricated once it is all dialed in to your satisfaction.

There are probably other ways to address your issue, but I'm not coming up with them right now.

 

[ahchiu]

I have a Zumo 550 and have no problem reading @ night, I have progressive glasses, I rely mostly on audio for directions a quick visiual to comfirm. I have seen a magnifier that goes over the top of the gps, I don't recall where I saw it maybe Ram Mount or Aerostich.

Good luck

 

[happyPuppy]

I have the same as Marcus, progressives. The other options some use are a trifocal also. When they grind the glasses they can set the focus point to a certain distance if you wish. My computer / Riding glasses focus farther away than my reading glasses

 

[Geezer]

I wear bifocals all the time, And I have sound from the 2730 to my helmet. I still can't always read the GPS at night, or even during the day sometimes without focusing on it for longer than I am comfortable with. When I really need to read the screen and can't see it clearly while moving, rather than take my eyes off of the road for that long I pull over.

 

[NightShine]

I think I saw Fred Rau mention something like safety glasses with bi-focal lenses but I can't find the reference now.

Dewalt DPG59-115C Reinforcer Rx-Bifocal Clear Lens High Performance Protective Safety Glasses with Rubber Temples and Protective Eyeglass Sleeve

 

[K7trm]

Find a scuba shop, they have stick-in bifocals for divers masks. Come in 1.25, 1.5, and 1.75 magnification

 

[ionbeam]

You can get magnifiers similar to the RAM-MAG-1U. Most sellers go to great lengths to be sure that you understand that the sun in combination with the magnifier has the potential to cause damage to the electronics. Both pixs are the same RAM P/N used in different ways.

 

[NYPete]

I had the same problem, I only wear reading glasses, so I bought a couple of pairs of magnifying safety glasses, one smoked and one clear. They're like bifocals with a magnifying section on the bottom and no correction on the top. You can find a lot of choices by "googling" magnifying safety glasses, and finding a lot of sites like this site HERE.

NYPete

 

[BwanaDik]

Excellent suggestions!

Coincidence?

Clicky

I love it when a plan comes together

 

[Knifemaker]

Perhaps there is something I am missing here, but why don't you just use a set of these:

https://tinyurl.com/y8a83wu

Stuck on the inside of your visor?

It takes a few tries to get them positioned just right, but once done they do a great job of magnifying anything you need to look at, and placed low on the inside of your visor they do not get in the way.

I found that getting a slightly weaker set than you normally would wear works the best, as moving the lenses farther from your eyes increases magnification. I wear +2.5 glasses at work, but use the +1.5 stick ons on my visor.

You mentioned using "water soluable inserts from Aerostitch ".. not sure if they are the same, but why don't you try them on your visor instead of your sunglasses?

KM

 

[jmdaniel]

Bifocal contact lenses may be a solution to your issue. I tried them a couple of years ago, and they were a bit too thick for my comfort, but everyone is different in that regard, and they have probably been refined since then. Your optician will undoubtedly give you a sample pair to try, so it's worth a shot.

 

[Dangerous Dave]

Bifocal contact lenses may be a solution to your issue. I tried them a couple of years ago, and they were a bit too thick for my comfort, but everyone is different in that regard, and they have probably been refined since then. Your optician will undoubtedly give you a sample pair to try, so it's worth a shot.

I tried bifocal contacts a few months ago. Pitched them after 3 days. They felt terrible and I couldn't see shit. And I've been wearing contacts for almost 30 years now. I think they need alot more refinement yet. I sure am interested in some of those safety glasses with the reading insert for work though!

 

[Pepperell]

Bifocal safety glasses also available at Whitehorse Press

I have both dark & clear. They block the wind from my eyes quite well when I ride without the helmet shield.