Harley-Davidson is now offering a free trip planner that integrates Google Maps to help you devise a route integrating motorcycle events, hotels, dealerships or other points of interest.
They’re offering their planner on a website here, and it’s also available as a mobile app for Android and Apple phones. It’s essentially a re-packaging of the Google Maps service for Harley-Davidson riders. Some features, like mapping out dealerships along your intended route, are only really useful to the MoCo faithful. Other features, such as hotel or gas station location, have use for all riders, so it’s an app that could be worthwhile downloading if you’re planning a road trip.
The trip planner works with place names, US zip codes and Canadian postal codes. It appears to use some sort of algorithm on US routes to give riders a decently enjoyable route; one option allows riders to specify “H-D® Great Roads” or rider-submitted roads. However, if there are no such roads in your region, it seems to go with the safe bet and suggest the most common highways. This is likely an option that will improve over time, as more riders use the planner.
Users can also specify parameters about what sort of points of interest they want to see; however, the planner seems to only direct riders to Best Western hotels.
The app does seem to lack some of the options that Google hasn’t managed to gut from Google Maps – yet! For instance, there’s no option to avoid toll roads or highways. For riders who want to tweak every detail of their route, more hands-on apps or mapping sites may still prove to be the best bet.
What pisses me off with Harley Davidson App is I have to live in the USA to get it. So my purchase of a 2016 HD Road Glide Special means nothing to HD? Get your act together and make the HD Road Planner mobile App available for ALL your North American customers
Another Canadian directed to you by BW Hotels who can’t sign in because of postal code
It may allow Canadian Postal Codes when planning a trip, but not for Canadians, as it doesn’t allow them when you go to register, which is necessary of you want to save the trip plan you’ve just spent all the time to create.
Disappointing.
I’ve used this website to plot routes many times. It works very well when sync’ing with my Garmin GPS.
Saving routes and sharing with others works well.
I haven’t tried the Android app version of it — will have to give that a go.
This is an essential app for Harley riders. Three of the four tours I’ve been on with a Harley in the group was delayed for hours/days due to the poor guy not being able to find a dealer to fix the bike.