At some point in our riding lifetime, nearly every one of us has come to a fork or intersection on the trail, stopped and wondered, “okay, now which direction do we go?” In fact, it might have happened several times—on the same ride.
There is no doubt some of us are more directionally challenged than others.
GPS systems of all kinds have helped us in our quest to not get lost and we here at Dirt Toys Magazine have used a handful of products over the years. And with the Internet and all of its capabilities (with such programs as Google Earth, online topo maps and online trail maps) and smartphones, well, wayfinding has come a long ways since the days of carrying paper maps around with you (which, we admit, we still do sometimes).
As technology has progressed so has our ability to work out the logistics of a ride (or find that hidden hunting/fishing spot). That technology has taken out a lot of the guesswork (and sometimes unplanned detours along the way).
Polaris was one of the first manufacturers to get that technology onboard a side-by-side with its Ride Command program and 7-inch display but, as with most everything (especially technology), someone is always working on the next best thing.
And that next best thing might just be Yamaha’s all-new Adventure Pro powered by Magellan.
Practice
We were able to spend a fair amount of time using the Adventure Pro during the media introduction of Yamaha’s new Wolverine X2 (“Does X2 Mark The Spot? Yamaha’s Does, Dirt Toys Magazine, July, 2018, page 18). One advantage we had during our initial exposure to the Adventure Pro was we got to be passenger and play around with all the features of the unit while someone else drove.
And there are a lot of features. One of the best features, we think, is that Adventure Pro is portable. You can take it out of the side-by-side when you’re done riding, take it in to your house, download the ride information (including photos, which you can take with the Adventure Pro), share it with others on social media and save it for future reference, among many other things you can do with the unit.
The Adventure Pro is powered by a mobile Android-based MagellanTRX7 tablet and is easy to attach and detach to/from the RAM mount in your side-by-side. The RAM mount installs on the passenger handhold.
Adventure Pro is preloaded with more than 115,000 designated OHV trails with more being added. Or you can map your own trail from point A to point B and back, marking way points and other reminders using preloaded symbols already on the unit.
