I’ve noticed that I rely more and more on my iPhone for my day to day and my traveling pleasure. This little device makes my life a little easier for my day to day life and now there are a few apps that make motorcycling a little easier. So I thought I would share a few of them with you.

AAA Roadside App is great if you have a break down. The best part of this app is that it displays your AAA card which is great when you are getting discounts at hotels.

Trip Journal was created more for hikers but has a very nice journal feature for documenting your trip. It allows you use Google Maps and Face Book your trip.

Greatest Road finds your location and will plot routes near you that other riders have uploaded to their site. This is great if you are just wanting to go for a drive and don’t know the area or looking for something a little different.

Motor Club is All-States App. This is the insurance company that is used by KOA membership.

MapQuest is a GPS program. This program does a good job of showing delays in traffic. When traffic is heavy it will display red lines on your route. This will help you decide if you want to find another route to your destination.

Bank Of America happens to be the bank that I use. Lots of banks have apps but the nice thing for the BOA app is that it will find you the nearest ATM.

Just Light is an app that is just that. It turns your phone into a little flash light. Handy when you are looking through your tank bag at night.

My Ride is the best app that I’ve found to track the maintenance of my motorcycles. It allows you to sort your bikes by pictures and stores lots of information from your bike’s information to safety checklist to maintenance log and much more.

Are you hungry for Chinese or Italian food? I use Siri to find what places and service I might need. This app helps you find restaurants, movies, events, local businesses, taxis, weather, Twitter and it will even let you set up reminders if you need it.

The Weather Channel. There are a lot of weather apps out there. I use a couple of them but The Weather Channel has the Doppler radar which is great when the rain is coming in. I use it to judge if I need find a place to park for a while like a dinner or something. It is always a great tool in deciding which direction you want to head based on upcoming temperatures. For example, this weekend I want to go to the mountains but it will be chilly for the most part so I’ve decided to explore the beach.

Vingo is an app that allows you to speak into the microphone to find a variety of information. This is handy if you have cloves on and need an address for something. For example, I say “find the Up and Coming”. It will then go to Google and give me the results. Two taps later I either have directions on my phone or a phone number to call there. It’s a great.

Weather. This app comes on the iPhone. It is a simple app that gives you the current temperature and upcoming forecast in a simple screen shot. It is one of the first things I look at when I wake up in the morning to decide how to dress for the day.

The Harley Davidson app has preloaded rides on it and the app will take you to either starting point of the trip or to the closest point from your location. I like these kinds of trips because I just ride. I know someone else has made the route but for me it is relaxing and think that if it was a good enough ride for someone to load up in a computer then it is probably a pretty good trip.

Maintenance Minder is another app for keeping track of your bike. I used it until I found the My Ride app but it is worth mentioning.

State Farm App. This app is good for locating hotels, gas, tow trucks, locksmiths and more. It gives you information on what to do after an accident, as well as holds your insurance information. There are other apps for insurance companies so check and see if your company has one for you.

My camera is awesome for most pictures. The iPhone has a 5 megapixel camera which is nice if you don’t want to carry a separate camera. It also has a built in video camera that does a decent job but the sound is not that great. .

As much as my iPhones does things I have not added a mount to replace it for my other tools. This is mainly because I use the Outerbox to protect it and it just does not fit the current mounting systems. The other thing about the iPhone is that during the summer it will tell you that it is too hot to operate. Once this summer I was at a stop and wanted to check my mail and had to actually put it in a freezer at the gas station. I asked the attendant if I could freeze my phone. Believe it or not, she knew why.

There are many apps and with the various platforms more and more are on the street every day. So keep looking for them. If you find a good one for riding please let me know about it.

If there is a topic that you would like to discuss you can contact me at motorcycle4fun@aol.com. RIDE SAFE!