Nav V Functionality on a GPS Preped 2015 RT

[BMW Triumphant]

Some time ago, someone posted a link to a Nav V review:

http://globeriders.com/article_pages/article07_gps/article07_nav5.shtml

This review is based on a Nav V mounted on a GPS prepped GS, not an RT. Still, I expected mine to have much the same functionality. But, if it does, I can't seem to find some of it.

Quite a way into the review a section heading appears with these words:

The Navigator V and your 2013+ R1200GS or 2014+ R1200GS Adventure.

The screen shots that follow immediately after don't match the screen that I can view by using the menu button to reach a "Navigation" screen on the instrument panel, and not on the Nav V. The review screen shots seem to be from the Nav V. I don't understand why the GS and RT would control the Nav V differently.

Once I get to the Navigation screen on the instrument panel, I can use the multicontroller wheel to scroll down a number of choices beginning with

Pages
Zoom +
Zoom -
... and a few others that somewhat line up with those items that look like they are on the GPS display in the review.

Selecting Pages allows me to see the normal map page, a compass display, and a page that resembles the Trip Computer page. That page may have some configurability since it has the three horizontal lines at the upper left, but I was in motion and did not want to lean forward and press on the GPS screen. (Must do this).

The next review section is: The My Motorcycle Apps. It says the Nav V has three apps called My Motorcycle, Status, and Last Ride. If I operate my GPS and go to the Apps section (with the Nav V on the bike and the engine running) I do not see any of these apps.

So, here is my request for information, which can only be answered if you have an RT, preferably a 2015

On your RT, do you see the same as I do, or do you see the functionality as per the review?

And, if I am missing some enabling action, can you please tell me what it is?

Thanks!

 

[lkraus]

And, if I am missing some enabling action, can you please tell me what it is?

Trade the RT for a GS.

The GS provides different info to the Nav V than the RT does.

 

[BMW Triumphant]

Trade the RT for a GS.

The GS provides different info to the Nav V than the RT does.

Thanks Larry, I sort of figured that was the case, but was hoping it was not.

Not to be insulting, how do you know this? Does a friend have an RT and you have seen this difference? Or, is there a web site that discusses the difference?

I really am disappointed that BMW for one, Garmin for another, do not provide a real User Manual for each bike regarding the operation of an $800 + 13% tax CAD device.

 

[crustybeemer]

My Nav V on my 2016 RT has me wondering about similar things! Can't get the oil level to indicate the level of the oil and engine temp is advertised as a reading on the GPS screen but I have played with it for hours and can't find it! It would be good to know engine temp in heavy traffic on a hot day! Love the bike but the GPS is very hard to see in sunlight!

 

[alancoles]

Ed, that may have been my link to that page.

Sorry if I didn't identify that it was for a GS and not the RT, as there are, as you've found out, several Nav-V features that the GS can access that the RT can not. I've read a listing of these somewhere, but can't recall where - sorry. IIRC, the differences (some of which are significant) are that the RT for some reason only BMW could likely tell us, wasn't build to provide access to as much of the vehicle data as the GS is. I could understand this if the RTW was introduced before the GSW, but not with it being introduced after, unless BMW in their infinite wisdom decided that RTW riders shouldn't have access to such info/data.

Sorry I can't be of more help, still 5 weeks away from picking up my RTW, so I've been trying to learn as much as possible reading the owner's manual and what on-line info I can find.

 

[BMW Triumphant]

Thanks for your replies.

The mystery is still a mystery. Who makes these funny (ridiculous) decisions anyway? Why?

And a question to me: Ed, you are an Electrical Engineer! Why did you spend that much on something you obviously did not know enough about? A: I trusted BMW. Q2: Why? A2: Old age stupidity. Or, I figured the extra bucks over the Zumo model that fits the slot would give me extra useful functionality via the Multicontroller.

 

[lkraus]

The lack of "My Motorcycle" displays on the RTW with Nav V has been reported on forums since the RTW came out. This Nav V feature list on the A&S Cycles site shows the type of info displayed and states:

“My Motorcycle pages” works only on 2014
R1200GS or R1200GS Adventure models.
The My Motorcycle Pages are only available
if appropriate LIN messages with on-board
computer content or motorcycle data are
(or have been) transmitted by the instrument
cluster. There are 3 different My Motorcycle
pages: My Motorcycle, My Motorcycle status,
My Motorcycle Last Ride.

AFAIK, the only data passed between the Nav V and the RTW are the GPS time to the RT clock and fuel level (or miles to empty?) from the RT to the GPS. More info is probably available, but BMW chose not to pass it to the GPS. Some of the "My Motorcycle" info is apparently available in the standard RT display.

I have neither the Nav V or an RTW, but I have been closely following reports on both for possible future upgrades. So far, the benefits have not exceeded the cost and disadvantages.

The GPS connector on older RTs included a connector from the speedometer/odometer - I don't know if that continues with the wethead mount.

 

[czawade]

As an owner of a '15 RT, and a Nav V, I will just confirm what has already been stated - the My Motorcycle function is on the GS but not the RT. And from the many threads already cited, it is not something that a software/firmware update can fix - the RT does not contain the hardware needed to report this info to the Nav.

It's a drag but nothing that can be fixed, I'm afraid. There is still functionality in the Nav. Whether there is enough to be worth the high price is an individual issue. It is for me, but I have probably been numbed by the typical cost of anything that is BMW related.

caz

 

[BMW Triumphant]

Thanks for the link!

The lack of "My Motorcycle" displays on the RTW with Nav V has been reported on forums since the RTW came out. This Nav V feature list on the A&S Cycles site shows the type of info displayed and states:

“My Motorcycle pages” works only on 2014
R1200GS or R1200GS Adventure models.
The My Motorcycle Pages are only available
if appropriate LIN messages with on-board
computer content or motorcycle data are
(or have been) transmitted by the instrument
cluster. There are 3 different My Motorcycle
pages: My Motorcycle, My Motorcycle status,
My Motorcycle Last Ride.

AFAIK, the only data passed between the Nav V and the RTW are the GPS time to the RT clock and fuel level (or miles to empty?) from the RT to the GPS. More info is probably available, but BMW chose not to pass it to the GPS. Some of the "My Motorcycle" info is apparently available in the standard RT display.

I have neither the Nav V or an RTW, but I have been closely following reports on both for possible future upgrades. So far, the benefits have not exceeded the cost and disadvantages.

The GPS connector on older RTs included a connector from the speedometer/odometer - I don't know if that continues with the wethead mount.

I have bookmarked the link. I don't think the bike's speedo is shown on the Nav V - it does display the GPS-derived speed, which is more accurate.

The instrument cluster can show a digital speedo readout and as a result I never look at the round dial!

And much of the My Motorcycle stuff is available. However, the Last Ride data is not. And, while not really necessary anyway, it looks like something I would peruse over a meal or a post-ride drink with a buddy.

 

[BMW Triumphant]

As an owner of a '15 RT, and a Nav V, I will just confirm what has already been stated - the My Motorcycle function is on the GS but not the RT. And from the many threads already cited, it is not something that a software/firmware update can fix - the RT does not contain the hardware needed to report this info to the Nav.

It's a drag but nothing that can be fixed, I'm afraid. There is still functionality in the Nav. Whether there is enough to be worth the high price is an individual issue. It is for me, but I have probably been numbed by the typical cost of anything that is BMW related.

caz

Caz, it might be fixable if my logic is correct:

The special data buss called LIN exists on the RT. The Multicontroller does allow some control over the display of GPS pages and much of the data from the trip odometers etc. I'd say the sensors, Bord Computer, and LIN hardware are pretty much common. Can't see any reason for customized units GS vs RT, and commonality would be more economical.

Firmware could be different, and looks like it is!

In the Nav V, there are those three apps. I would think they are in all Nav Vs and just not enabled (by BMW choice) in an RT.

Experiment: take a fully working Nav V from a GS and plug it into an RT, then return it to the GS. Did the My Motorcycle apps disappear and come back? I'll bet they do. Otherwise, the dealer would have to reprogram each unit depending if it is bought by a GS owner or an RT owner.

All conjecture of course.

 

[BMW Triumphant]

More Info

See http://www.bmw-motorrad.com/com/en/index.html

Some of the app info is only visible when the Nav V is removed from the GS cradle, it says.

And there is a reference to an On Board Computer Pro. Now, my conjecture is that this is firmware, but I could be wrong.

 

[BMW Triumphant]

Yet more info

http://www.bmw-motorrad.com/com/en/...quipment/navigation2014/faq/faq_overview.html

Follow the link and select the various tabs. Lots of interesting stuff here.

 

[marcopolo]

Caz, it might be fixable if my logic is correct:

The special data buss called LIN exists on the RT. The Multicontroller does allow some control over the display of GPS pages and much of the data from the trip odometers etc. I'd say the sensors, Bord Computer, and LIN hardware are pretty much common. Can't see any reason for customized units GS vs RT, and commonality would be more economical.

Firmware could be different, and looks like it is!

In the Nav V, there are those three apps. I would think they are in all Nav Vs and just not enabled (by BMW choice) in an RT.

Experiment: take a fully working Nav V from a GS and plug it into an RT, then return it to the GS. Did the My Motorcycle apps disappear and come back? I'll bet they do. Otherwise, the dealer would have to reprogram each unit depending if it is bought by a GS owner or an RT owner.

All conjecture of course.

I think that's exactly what you'd find. I picked up a new '15 GSA a few months ago (trading in an '06RT). I already had the Nav V when I got the GSA, and already knew (from reading Boards) that the Nav V would display additional info on the GSA that the new RT would not. I had also confirmed that months earlier at a dealer when I was contemplating buying a new RT, before opting for the GSA.

Interestingly, on the GSA, the Nav V does not display the Trip Computer page, which I quite liked when I had the Nav on my older RT. That's a head-scratcher too. That said, the Nav V, mounted on the GSA, does have what I call "data" pages (these are not the Motorcycle Apps). On these four different data pages, you can select from a long list of data elements. The first page displays one element (takes up the entire screen); the next displays two elements; the next displays four elements; and, the last of the four pages displays sixteen data elements (you scroll between these pages by rotating the wonder wheel). The only problem is that, on the "sixteen" block page, the info is too bloody small to read (for me at least). Can't fgure out why they couldn't have had a page with eight blocks (that would have been ideal).

 

[marcopolo]

See http://www.bmw-motorrad.com/com/en/index.html

Some of the app info is only visible when the Nav V is removed from the GS cradle, it says.

And there is a reference to an On Board Computer Pro. Now, my conjecture is that this is firmware, but I could be wrong.

Yes, one of the Apps cannot be accessed while the Nav is in the mount (GS/GSA).