If I’m on a trip, paper. If I’m trying to find an address I’ll call and get directions.

 

I like maps. If I'm planning a trip I'll even go on Google maps and check it out. Some times I'll have lots of it memorized. But, when on the road, it's paper.

 

Just to make the GPS work?

 

I love love love the Garmin zumo 590 LM. (LM = lifetime map)

But if you are asking that question my friend, you must also ask what software we use to root ourselves.

Although there are several good ones out there like Harley’s own system and Hondas trip tracker, the one I finally stuck with is Garmin’s BaseCamp. There is a little bit of a learning curve there but it is the one that I stuck with.

 

Paper maps for me. And if needed, I write the directions on the inside of my windshield with a grease pencil.

 

I'm old fashioned so I've always relied on maps.

 

I use a GPS for reference when I am traveling, getting a basic idea of where I am currently. Maps are quick for looking for alternate routs, or side trips. Maps are handy to spread out on a table where everyone can see it, instead of huddling around a screen. Good for a fire in an emergency too.

Worked with a "kid" who had never seen a map to use, and was convinced that a trip from Indianapolis to D.C. wasn't much because he could see it all on his GPS screen.

Speleo

 

Paper maps here, too. No GPS...mostly cuz I'm to cheap to buy one. I print out detailed directions on pieces of paper about 3" square. Using rather cryptic notes I can get a lot of info on them. I print on both sides, then seal them back to back with a laminator or two pieces of clear, sticky shelf paper so they won't be ruined in the rain. Tape 'em to my gas cap lid and away I go. (If I get lost I use my cell phone and a map app to get me back on track.) When I get to the end of one side, I just pull it off, turn it over and tape it back down.

The following is an example of my short-hand and abbreviations for the directions I use. I highlight a new road I'm going to get on with red underlined text. Green text is for instructions at an intersection, etc. Blue is for distances...usually for short distances so I know to begin looking for the next route change right away. When I need to get on a new road in a town, I use a "/" between the town name and the road. That way I know to look for HW154 actually IN Redbud. RT means right turn, LT = left turn, T or Y means T intersection or a Y intersection, SS means Stop Sign, SL = traffic light.

HW 3 to Redbud/HW 154 E to HW 37 S (RT MON T)
37 S to Benton/HW 34 E (6 mi) to Hrsbrg/HW 13 E
HW 13 (56 in KY) to 3393 around Mrgnfld to 56
56 thru Poole/HW 370 (SL-strght) to HW 138 (T-LT)
138 to 2110 (T-RT) to HW 85 E (SS-LT-NS- 2 mi)
85 thru Cntrtwn to HW 69 E (strght-edge of town)

It means to take HW 3 to Redbud and take HW 154 east to HW37 south, which will be at a right turn at a T intersection in the "middle of nowhere," meaning it's in the boonies with no landmarks, so it might sneak up on me.
Ride HW37 to Benton and HW34 east about 6 miles to Harrisburg and HW 13 east.
HW 13 will turn into HW56 in Kentucky and when I come to HW3393 it'll take me off of HW56 and around Morganfield to HW56 again.
And so on...

You can come up with your own short-hand and abbreviations, but mine seems to works for me. I always have a second copy in my tourpack or pocket in case one blows away.

I have a good friend who rides with me, and he has the Harley GPS as well as a Garmin unit, but he doesn't use them. He prefers to have me lead so he can just follow me and enjoy the ride. There have been times when I have successfully got us quite lost. In fact, so lost that the signs were in another language, the plants were all foreign to me, and the now very unusual looking trees were full of feathery lizards trying to learn to fly, but his GPS has always guided us back into civilization.

 

I'm not proud... I use an Atlas, GPS, cell phone app. and usually pick up a "state map" for local sight-seeing.
Seems like the information I need from my Atlas is DIRECTLY in the "crack" between two pages!

On my older ('13) GPS, many of the H-D dealer locations are either incorrect or the GPS directions are screwed up so I rely on either my HOG Handbook info or I use the app on my cell phone as it has much more up to date, accurate information.

For my overall "trip planning" I use Google Maps, my Atlas and I use the "Road Trip" section on this forum for tips on local info such as restaurants, motels, watering holes, etc., from those who live in a certain are, or have previously toured there.

 

I like the maps. You get the big picture. While looking at it you often find a route you may not have seen a reason to take.