A GPS speedometer for a motorcycle, a bike or a boat.
Speed from satellites needs nothing from the vehicle: no sensor, no wiring, no wheel size. Torq shows GPS speed, distance and time on a motorcycle, a bicycle, an e-bike, a boat or a golf cart, and keeps the route. The car-tuned analysis does not transfer, and this page says which parts do.
What transfers, and what does not
GPS does not know what it is riding in. The analysis does.
Speed, distance, time
Current, average and top speed, distance and duration come from the GPS receiver and are identical on two wheels, on water or in a cart. The gauge, the Lock Screen Live Activity and the trip history all work.
Route replay and export
Every ride or voyage is saved as a route with a speed heat map, replayable and exportable as GPX. A boat's track over water draws exactly like a car's over roads.
Corners, G-force, comfort
Calibrated for a car with the phone in a mount. A leaning motorcycle changes what lateral G means, a bicycle's speeds sit below the corner-detection floor, and a boat has no corners in the road sense. Treat those grades as a curiosity, not a measurement.
Speed limit alert
Uses road speed limits from OpenStreetMap, so it applies on a motorcycle and is meaningless on water. Turn it off on a boat, or set a manual limit for a no-wake zone.
A view of the sky, and a mount that holds.
GPS speed depends on satellite visibility, not on the vehicle. A handlebar mount on a motorcycle or a bicycle, a dash mount on a boat, a cup-holder clip on a golf cart: any of them works for speed, as long as the phone is not buried under a fairing or a tank bag.
On a motorcycle, vibration and rain matter more than they do in a car. Use a mount with vibration damping to protect the phone's camera stabilizer, and expect the accelerometer-based comfort grade to read poorly, because it is measuring the mount.
- Units: km/h or mph. Torq does not display knots; boat users read km/h or mph.
- Battery: GPS at high accuracy on a long ride wants a charging cable or a battery pack.
- Recording continues with the screen locked, so the phone can stay in a pocket for speed and distance only.
Why not a dedicated GPS speedometer gauge?
Dedicated GPS gauges for boats, motorcycles and classic cars are wired, weatherproof and always on, and for a permanent installation they are the right answer. The phone's advantage is everything after the ride: the route, the top speed, the distance, the elevation chart, and a history you can scroll through next winter. For a rented boat, a borrowed motorcycle or a bike you ride on Sundays, the instrument you already own is the one that keeps the record.
Accuracy on two wheels and on water
GPS speed on open water and open road is the same measurement: Doppler shift from the satellites, accurate to about 0.1 m/s at a steady pace. A bicycle at 25 km/h and a boat at 25 km/h read the same way. The only difference is sky view, which is better on water than almost anywhere else, and worse in a wooded singletrack than on any road.
Questions
Does Torq work as a motorcycle speedometer?
Yes for speed, distance, duration and the route replay, which come from GPS. The cornering, G-force and driving-score analysis is calibrated for a car and does not account for lean angle, so on a motorcycle those grades are not meaningful.
Can I use it as a GPS speedometer on a boat?
Yes. GPS speed over water is the same measurement as over a road, and sky view on water is excellent. Torq shows km/h or mph, not knots, and the speed-limit alert, which uses road data, should be off.
Does it work on a bicycle or an e-bike?
Yes for speed, distance, time and the route. A handlebar mount with a clear view of the sky is all it needs. Corner detection has a minimum speed of 12 km/h, so slow climbs will not register corners, which is correct.
Does it show speed in knots?
No. Torq's unit systems are metric and imperial: km/h and kilometers, or mph and miles.
Will a golf cart or a scooter register?
Yes. Anything above walking pace records speed and distance. Stops under about 2 km/h are treated as stopped time.
Can I record a ride with the phone in my pocket?
For speed and distance, yes; GPS works through fabric. The Live Activity on the Lock Screen shows the current speed if you take the phone out. The motion-sensor grades need a mount and will not be meaningful from a pocket.
Satellites do not care what you ride.
Mount the phone where it can see the sky, press Start, and the speed, the distance and the route are yours, whatever is under you.