TomTom’s Vio bike sat-nav will get your motor running
Twist through traffic without getting lost, or getting on the side of the law
City-dwelling scooter riders can now cut through congestion without getting lost on the way – TomTom’s new Vio is the bolt-on GPS built just for bikes.
It’s a whole different beast from the Rider: that was aimed at Sunday riders after a quick blitz down winding roads, but the Vio is built for commuters.
The puck-shaped package bolts onto your bike’s handlebars or mirrors, and acts as a second screen for your phone. Turns out lots of riders are flouting the law and getting their phones out at traffic lights to check directions – TomTom hopes this’ll stop that.
Once you’re paired over Bluetooth, the app beams maps, navigation and traffic information to the Vio’s screen – a bit like how your phone does all the heavy lifting for the apps on your smartwatch.
The whole screen flash red if you’re speeding, and it’ll warn you when there’s a speed camera coming up. Handy when you’re busy zipping past lines of stationary traffic.
Torrential downpours won’t be a problem, as it’s fully waterproof, and it’s got a glove-friendly touchscreen so you won’t have to peel off your leathers just to check your route.
You can answer calls with it too, but the audio still gets piped through your phone – which is useful if you’re wearing a headset for music, or have a mic’d-up helmet.
It’ll last about five hours on a full charge, which should be enough to get the average biker to and from work every day for a whole week before they need to juice it up.
You can customise pretty much every part of it too, so you can have a Vio that matches your Vespa. That silicon cover? You can swap it out for a different colour. Do the map colours clash with your mod look? Change ‘em through the app.
You’ll be able to snag one for your Suzuki later this month, when they go on sale for £149.
Tom Morgan-Freelander
Deputy Editor 
