[aprssig] APRS for a motorcycle - radios?

[apratt at bestbits.org]

Folks,

I've been reading about APRS a lot online and lurking on this list for
a little while. I want to put APRS on my motorcycle for tracking, and
I'd like to do it with (A) reasonable reliability and (B) reasonable
cost.

I have GPS on the bike already with NMEA out, so that's covered. I am
not a ham (yet) so the radio will be the major investment. I want to
be able to ride and be tracked in most all of California. I live in
the San Francisco area but my travels take my all over the state.

As I see it, there are two basic routes to go: 
  (1) Kenwood D700 or TH-D7A with built-in TNC/APRS
  (2) TinyTrak 3 plus any old radio with a mic connector and ear jack. 

Do I have that right? It seems like the TinyTrak route can be much
cheaper, but is it equally effective? Is the Kenwood "better" for
basic APRS transmit, or does it just have more features? I only need
to transmit APRS packets: I don't need to receive or digipeat or
change my routing or status message on the fly or 99% of the other
features the Kenwood has. I don't need memories or scanning or even
voice.

I guess I just want to know whether the TinyTrak 3 solution is less
reliable or "worse" than a mobile or HT with built-in TNC and APRS,
considering only the basic APRS packet transmission task. Thanks.

-- Allan Pratt, apratt at bestbits.org