Infotainment systems are becoming so prevalent in cars these days, what once was considered a luxury item is almost expected in one form or another. While fancy in-dash screens and such were luxury items a few years ago, they can now come ready to go in trim levels of even the most humble consumer cars.
It’s a little trickier when you turn to motorcycles. While it’s not advisable in many cases, it’s still considered fair for a driver to peek at the in-dash screen of a car while in motion. But, do so too often or for too long on a two-wheeled vehicle that is only moving upright because of the loving attention of your inner ear, and you’ll soon understand why manufacturers struggle with how to design motorcycle in-dash displays.
Also: Sturgis 2016: 2017 Indian Motorcycle Scout Sixty: Less of a Good Thing Is Great
Indian Motorcycle showed off their latest swing at the bike infotainment system with Ride Command. Riders are getting their first chances to play with the technology here at the 2016 Sturgis Motorcycle Rally on Indian’s newest 2017 bikes. Ride Command uses the industry’s largest touchscreen display, increasing resolution and brightness.
The system is built front and center into the Indian bike’s dash. After fiddling with the interface, it’s intuitive enough, option customizable and (most importantly) fully workable with gloves, allowing pinch zoom. If you’re a sensible rider, taking control of your motorcycle with a helmet, leathers and riding gloves, your good habits often made operating old infotainment systems from across the industry nigh impossible.
The 2017 Ride Command system includes :
- Seven-inch display with an 800 x 480-pixel resolution
- A boot-up time of 10 seconds
- 100-watt or 200-watt audio system, with both touchscreen and handlebar audio controls
- Bluetooth audio
- AM/FM/weather band
- USB flash drive support with USB song shuffle
- GPS navigation with turn-by-turn directions, points of interest and compass
- Display of clock, air temperature, compass heading, fuel level, and fuel range
- Phone features available through Bluetooth pairing, such as phonebook download, incoming call notification, and incoming text notification
Obviously, not all Indian models can make use of Ride Command due to ergonomics. The need for a thicker fairing makes installation on the Scout, for example, impossible. So, the system comes standard on all 2017 Chieftain and Roadmaster models.
