The German 'Motorcycle route' - GPX files
Carrying on from # post 20 above....
I have now compared the route generated from the track, with the original track.
The track's full length is 1,747 miles, whilst the route's length is 1,744 miles. Small discrepancies like this are not unusual especially over long distances. Providing the bulk of the route matches the track, it's nothing to worry too much about.
I then laid the route (coloured magenta) on top of the original track, which I coloured white, just to make it stand out. By zooming in I can then run along it to see where the two might differ.
Here is a good example of what I call a 'Garmin feature'. The track takes the bend on the L3139, just as any sane person would do. The converted route takes the rider on the diagonal, along some sort of small road, the Gotzen Ausserhalb.
This is all down to algorithms, nothing more. It - along with possibly some others along the way - also probably accounts for why the mileage differs slightly. If I were using the route I would have checked it (I hope!) before I sent it to my Garmin device and dragged the magenta line to take the curve by using an un-announced shaping point. Similarly, I hope I would have edited out any other silly glitches the software (or the original track's creators or Kurviger) had managed to make. For instance, cutting corners in towns, as you so often see. The truth is, had I been riding along and been told to turn down the Gotzen Ausserhalb goat track, instead of just riding around the nice bend, I hope I would have had the common sense to ignore the instruction, I being cleverer than the dumb device, at least this once.
Always check your routes before your send them to your device and after the device has imported and displayed them. If possible, do this at home home, before you waltz out of the door. Five minutes in the comfort of your sitting room, might well translate to an hour or more cursing the bloody device in the rain or broiling sun. Trust me on that. Not least, ALWAYS check a route that comes from any third party, even really nice people like me. Trust me on that, too.