Motorcycle apps come in handy when planning a trip or even saving someone's life. These app recommendations come from real world testing in and asking the motorbike community in Facebook groups and forums.
That means that all apps listed here are the best recommended by bikers, useful and will come in handy for your next motorcycle ride. Even though I received hundreds of recommendations, if you think one deserves to be on this list, let me know in the comments.
Here are the top apps that help find the best roads, accommodation, and services essential to traveling long distance or on the daily with a motorcycle.
Motorcycle Navigation and Directions Apps
Waze
The best thing about Wase is that it uses data from other users and maps out real-time traffic conditions. This happened in real time helping you to avoid roadworks, accidents and one of the best police! If there is a speed trap setup, another user can mark it and let everyone else know. Genius. There is also seamless integration most music app
MapsMe
Offline maps are your friend. You need at least one motorcycle app with offline maps loaded up. It takes some time to get a sim card to access online maps like Google Maps. Maps.me is a free app that lets you download areas that are up-to-date. It also gives you different data than other maps. The search function is not good but it beats other maps in certain parts of the world.
Tip: Make sure you download the areas when you have a data connection.
Free worldwide maps for GPS units
This is not an app, but it is free maps for your GPS unit. That's right, free GPS maps. Anywhere in the world, you can download any road maps and they are often up to date. Go here, and select your area, then download the data and add it to your GPS device. Gold!
Download the maps here: http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/
Motorcycle Route Tracking and Sharing Apps
Calimoto – Motorbike Sat Nav & Route Planner
With their motto “no more straight roads”. The bikers of Calimoto have developed an impressive app for finding the best routes designed for bikers.
There are quite a few features so here are some of the most useful:
Tour planner and custom tour with unlimited via points. Route options, fastest way, fastest way avoiding highways, windy or super windy. POIs like gas stations, restaurants, and accommodation. Off-road tracks, turn-by-turn voice navigation. Danger zones notification. Tour catalog, Tour analysis, Share your adventures, Tracking, Community
Download the maps here: http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/
REVER: Motorcycle, Maps, GPS, Navigation, Planner
One of the bigger motorcycle specific apps, REVER has a smart interface and very usable overall.
The most feature rich app designed for all types of riders. Road warriors right through to Enduro guys will find tracks to ride within the community.
Some of the best features I like is that it works offline. It can also find routes around the area from other riders. I could list all the features here but they are quite extensive in you include the paid upgrades too. But the basic should be good enough for most riders.
Let's go over quickly the coolest features this motorcycle app has to offer:
Web planner, Weather stats showing riding conditions. Import GPX, live location tracker, hand-curated motorcycle routes
Park4Night
An motorcycle app made for travel.
Like iOverlander, Park4Night provides information to travelers about accommodation and other important travel related info.
Park4Night has more options then iOverlander but its good to check both for the best spots
Bike and vehicle friendly, you can find wild camping, gas, and places to get visas, border crossings and much more.
iOverlander
An motorcycle app made for travel.
iOverlander provides information to travelers about accommodation and other important travel related info.
Often bike and vehicle friendly, you can find wild camping, gas, and places to get visas, border crossings and much more.
Currently, you can't view offline maps but you can estimate the location and open the way point in Maps.me for accurate coordinates.
Motorcycle Volume Control Apps
Volume Booster GOODEV
It can be loud inside your helmet when trying to listen to navigation directions or music. This app will increase the audio output of your phone so you can crank that tune and enjoy the ride.
Careful though, this app can damage your hearing and destroy your audio gear. Best to put in soft 35b earplugs first to cut out the higher range sound and then listen to louder music.
Motorcycle Gas and Fuel Mileage Tracking Apps
Drivvo – Car management, Fuel log, Find Cheap Gas
This motorcycle app is great app for tracking fuel and all services. Clean interface and very easy to use and works perfectly tracking fuel expenses and mileage and running cost.
f you upgrade reports are available in multiple layouts and it comes with a cloud service.
Another option is Fuelio: Gas log & costs, GPS tracker - It has an impressive 78,441 users and a rating of 4.5*
Motorcycle Weather Tracking Apps
Dark Sky
Dark Sky has one of the best ratings from users on the app store. Dark Sky draws on its own weather data and provides up-to-the-minute weather tracking. The app cost 4$ but this is great as the weather data is sound accurate as it can get.
Flowx
Flowx is an app that can supply overwhelming amount of information at first glance. This is a perfect app for planning the coming day's rides and giving you the best chance to avoid rain on your ride.
Extending Battery Life Apps
AccuBattery
Useful for the long days on the saddle.
Most of us will have a charging port running straight off the motorcycle. If you don't then you will need a battery saving app. I have used this for the past few years and it works a charm.
Another great option: Kaspersky Battery Life: Saver & Booster - 94,000+ users with 4.8 Stars
Crash Detection/Emergency Response App
BikerSOS - Motorcycle Trip GPS Tracker & SOS
How BikerSOS works?
By monitoring various sensors on the smartphone and when it suddenly detect a dramatic decrease in speed it sets off a countdown timer and makes an emergency call. There is a paid upgrade to this app. Depending on where you ride and if someone can realistically come and save you, it maybe worth upgrading.
Until you can get the latest SOS kit from BMW Motorrad this seems the next best thing for emergency recovery.
Motorcycle First Aid and Health Apps
First Aid - American Red Cross
You never know, this app can be very handy to save another life or your own. I had these apps at the ready all the time. Helped a few times on and off the bike.
Included here is an app for cyclists. Although not bikers they can sustain similar injury the app is laied out in a way where common damage resulting from crashing.
St John Ambulance First Aid
This app saves lives! A great app to downloaded with a simple but elegant interface. Information is easy to find, and the instructions are very clear. The information is supplemented with illustrations (very helpful especially if you are in an emergency situation).
Other Handy Motorcycle Apps
XE Currency Exchange
As you probably guessed from the title, a currency conversion app. Not much to say here apart from this app offers multiple currencies so when you do have an internet connection you can save the next country you pass through. Also, it loads fast which makes it easy to haggle on the spot.
Geocaching®
This last app can be more of a reason to get on the bike and discover areas you may never have known on your back doorstep.
This is an app for geocaching, like a treasure hunt but in real life. Sounds unrelated to motorcycle apps but hear me out .It is a great app to discover the area and the stories around it.
I wrote a little post about using it traveling, free way to find hidden gems.
That's my round up of the best motorcycle apps. I categorized the apps by type and sometimes added a backup app as I had to download apps on different operating systems to get the working.
Did I miss a motorcycle app that you use on the daily?
Please let me know in the comments below what you are using to travel so we can all benefit from your experiences.
Feature image via Amazon.com
Rider, designer, and hustler. Adventurer and vagabond. Beer connoisseur. Conqueror of Africa, a survivor of bandits and anti-malaria crusader. I have been on the road for 15 years, traveling to far-flung lands on bike, horse or backpacking. Today, running a number of online ventures in the motorcycle industry. – Currently, Traveling in Asia.
