STORY: BRIAN RIX
PHOTOS: BRIAN & SHIRLEY HARDY-RIX“I
reckon I’ve got this,” says the
pillion in a million confi dently.
I’m not so sure. I know her
limitations when it comes to
map reading. She’s using a map in the back
of the Lonely Planet Guide to India as we’re
riding into Delhi, which has a population of 22
million souls — roughly the same as Australia.
Not wanting to dent her confi dence, I make
no comment. What could possibly go wrong?
“Look, it’s got inner and outer ring roads. All
we have to do is make our way to the suburb
of Karol Bargh [the Delhi suburb that sells
all things to do with motorcycles] and fi nd a
hotel,” She Who Must Be Obeyed proclaims. I
don’t burst her li le bubble then, but.
You guessed it. Gridlock traffi c, an air-coiled
engine making very strange noises, oil temp
gauge off the dial, a slipping, smelly clutch and
my temperature rising to boiling point. My
normally good nature evaporates. Right then
I would’ve gladly donated a kidney to a wealthy
local for a GPS.
The story has a happy ending for these two
intrepid overlanders, courtesy of old-fashionedengagement with the locals. We pull into a
service station to cool the engine, ask directions
from a very nice young Indian man with the
typical nodding head and big smile and he
tells us to follow him. He leads us through
unimaginable traffi c for about 20 minutes before
pulling over and saying the words motorcycle
travellers have heard a million times in India:
”Just go straight.” A er ge ing lost, we employ a
tuk-tuk driver to lead us to our destination, albeit
many hours later than planned.
Now, I’m no tech head, geek or computer
nerd so I’m not going to tell you to buy this,
don’t buy that. Big boys and girls can decide
for themselves which GPS suits their needs.
Having said that, I use Garmin, an old Zumo- It’s old school but it does everything I
want and I don’t see the need to upgrade
until it carks it.
There are some points you really need to
consider when buying a GPS for use on your
bike. I know some people use their phone in
a tank bag or similar to protect it from the
elements and that might be fi ne for short trips,
but I’d be mindful of its robustness, or lack of,
particularly on long tours. There’s no doubt in
my mind that motorcycle-specifi c GPS devices
are best. Coupled with a hardwired GPS mount,
r Ummm. OK ...r Even with GPS, you can get lost. This was in Sweden in 2015.
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