Hi guys,
I'm trying to weigh up the pros and cons of constructing a map holder for my bike.

What im thinking is getting an A5 sized aluminium clipboard and fixing it to the cross brace on the handlebars. Not sure how i would fix it, i'll pop to B&Q and see what i can find.
Do you think it would vibrate too much? Or get in the way?

I don't like tank mounting maps as it takes too long to look down at them, and i think mounting it above the instruments would be too distracting.

If it works it could be a very cheap alternative to a Satnav!!

What do you think?!?

You will probably find it a PIA to mount without it fouling sight or the clocks or similar but i still like maps too. One of the best tips is to have a good look at your route 1st and sort a symbol description in a bold pen. An A5 map may not give you enough visuals.

I find GPS's a distraction and mainly use he audio in towns and cities where they are best. The rest I just concentrate on riding and keep a map handy.

Couldn't resist the pic even if its a bit small. The Knowledge boys that I used to see all the time as a courier...

Attached Images

180px-knowledge_boy_143.jpg (11.6 KB, 50 views)

I'd agree that A5 size would be a bit restrictive. I'm a dinosaur when it comes to sat nav, much prefer a map - love the clipboard idea but as above A5 might be too small - sorry not really helping here.

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Work hard, rock hard, eat hard, sleep hard, grow big an wear glasses if you need em.

I love maps, I have hundreds of them collected over the last 30 odd years of travel. Poring over a new map trying to anticipate what the terrain/roads will be like is as important to me as the trip itself. I consider myself to be a good map reader, I use the London A-Z every day at work, but................

You really can't beat sat nav on a bike. Now I don't mean just typing in a destination and letting the machine plan your route. You use it as an aid, a rolling map of the route you've planned. I know mapsourse/basecamp is clunky, but persevere and it can be your friend, I have just lead 2 trips to France where we road routes that would be just too complicated to follow on a map without endless stops to check the route. I have the audio on so I get voice prompts meaning I can concentrate on riding, only glancing at the screen when I need to. Yes it can be irritating at times and as a machine sometimes doesn't make sense, but the more you use it the easier it is recognise the little red herrings it throws up.

Much easier than having a clip board on your handlebars! Though I still carry a map in my tank bag

Certainly food for thought.

I would agree that A4 is a better size for map reading, but a board that big would be a bit of a problem.
If the map is folded so it sits on an A5 board i should still be able to read it, i'll just have to pull over more often to quickly refold it (which would be better than pulling over continually to remove map from pannier, read and then replace).

Will give some more thought.......

I sometimes use my roadbook holder as roadmap holder:




ofcourse... you'll have to copy/cut (parts) of the original map such that they fit your roadbook.

Mine's an ingenious one: you don't have to tape sheets together; just shove them under the foil. http://www.chalmet.net/



This instruction video shows how it works: http://www.chalmet.net/images/handleiding.wmv

HJ

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Riding the Mad Mule !! ... no more... went orange...

Sat nav widna be any use where we go. Don't think they do proper O/S maps. Would be handy if they did tho. Would save you getting us LOST all the time.

"Sat nav widna be any use where we go"

Au contrair, you can now get sat navs for walkers/cyclists that have landranger OS maps that would be perfect off road.

But, IMHO using a paper map and compass is all part of the off road experience.

I used to do mountain bike orienteering and experimented with all sorts of map setups Inc A3! As others have said, it's almost impossible to read it whilst mobile and actually all that was needed was a place to store it, correctly folded and with easy access. Take the time to look through the route and try to visualise what it will be like, make a few notes as prompts and voila, you have uberthumpers set up!!!!

PS getting lost can be fun, but there are times when that could be dangerous (Salisbury Plain impact area???).

I'm off to the HUMM next weekend. The Zumo is loaded with my route there and back, I've linked as many of those nice green highlighted Michelin routes as I can, but when I'm there my bike will be setup as above, for paper maps. Sat nav is not allowed on the HUMM but TBH I wouldn't use it anyway

Same setup at last year's HUMM, albeit without the tools on the tank. In that case I had the sheet for the next checkpoint on the 'outside' of the map holder, and opened it up for the map itself. The directions are just for the tarmac bits to the trailhead in this case - I find Spanish maps a bit too ambiguous to be able to write directions for the trails

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I spent a lot of money on travel and racing motorcycles - the rest I just squandered.

XT660Z - Commuter, Adventurer...Racer?

www.dashmoto.net

Other bikes >> MT-03 / CG125BR-J / ER-6F
Departed >> ZXR400L3 / EC300 / DR-Z400E / DR800S / GPZ500S / GS400

I'd go for this http://www.touratech.com/shops/008/p...b5d991b372b0b8

It works really well http://www.touratech.com/shops/008/i...b5d991b372b0b8

Great if you don't want a tank-bag or have a Sat-Nav