Communications? Bike-to-car & Bike-to-passenger

[Misspent Youth]

I need to talk to the wife when she's a passenger on my bike, AND when she's driving a car within a reasonable distance from me on my bike.

What are some good/high quality choices of units that will allow BOTH functions (in other words, I'm not looking just for helmet-to-helmet communications, but the unit should permit that).

Thx for any help.

[il Duce]

The solution:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000F9NXW...0250032-4996736

and two of these

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000CMGJ0...0250032-4996736

I just bought that exact setup.

Cheap... and you are not tied to the bike or the helmet. PTT button on your handlebar attatches with a velcro strap. In the car, she can use the radio without the headset. Pretend you're truckers.

[Misspent Youth]

The solution:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000F9NXW...0250032-4996736

and two of these

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000CMGJ0...0250032-4996736

I just bought that exact setup.

Cheap... and you are not tied to the bike or the helmet. PTT button on your handlebar attatches with a velcro strap. In the car, she can use the radio without the headset. Pretend you're truckers.

That looks great. I've already got a set of very similar looking handheld radios, however, so I'll check to see if they're compatible with the headset. If not, I'll get the full ride. Thanks for the tip.

[Guest]

I actually have tried those to test, rather then getting the Chatterbox (250 a peice) and all i heard was wind and noise even at slow speeds.

If anyone has gotten these to work, please let me know how you set it up because i would be interersted.

[Birdman]

Cheap is good a lot of times. Although you get what you pay for.

My wife bought me an Autocom Pro for my birthday. It works exceptionally with phone, Ipod, passenger (no separate radio required, but you need another headset), radio-to-radio, etc. It ain't inexpensive. If you get the recommended Kenwood 3101K 2-ways and the Autocom thru eBay, you are talking about an $800 system. It's the best, but only get it if you've got money burning a hole in your pocket. You can view Autocom's products on their website.

I installed a Powerlet on my viffer's center fork cap, so I can easily detach my gizmos and lug them away in my tank bag. Great setup that Wirelesswill and others helped out with a while ago. Portability and ease of use is key with me.

Good luck

[Guest fjrvfr]

I have a Starcom made in England. It is great and you can hook anything you want into it. Do a search on Starcom.

[achfly]

Cheap is good a lot of times. Although you get what you pay for.

My wife bought me an Autocom Pro for my birthday. It works exceptionally with phone, Ipod, passenger (no separate radio required, but you need another headset), radio-to-radio, etc. It ain't inexpensive. If you get the recommended Kenwood 3101K 2-ways and the Autocom thru eBay, you are talking about an $800 system. It's the best, but only get it if you've got money burning a hole in your pocket. You can view Autocom's products on their website.

I installed a Powerlet on my viffer's center fork cap, so I can easily detach my gizmos and lug them away in my tank bag. Great setup that Wirelesswill and others helped out with a while ago. Portability and ease of use is key with me.

Good luck

I'm looking at their website.

This device is exactly what I've been looking for. oh, maybe.

I can't tell if I can use my own headphones. helmet speakers are a no-go. My little sony in ear types have the best sound quality and also cut out the wind but not the microns.

[Birdman]

I'm looking at their website. This device is exactly what I've been looking for. oh, maybe.

I can't tell if I can use my own headphones. helmet speakers are a no-go. My little sony in ear types have the best sound quality and also cut out the wind but not the microns.

I use earplugs and their in-helmet speakers & mic. Better protection for your ears and you can still hear everything clear as day. The other part of the equation is how well your microphone works to eliminate wind noise for the person receiving your transmission. Autocom is unrivaled in this respect. Plus, my Autocom seamlessly transitions from gadget to gadget, automatically sensing which piece of equipment to make most active. I doubt anything does this anywhere near as well.

Exercise some care to not play your music too loudly, which is easy to do with fancy in-ear headphones. You will be unable to hear anything else going on around you. :music:

[briguy_78]

Cheap is good a lot of times. Although you get what you pay for.

My wife bought me an Autocom Pro for my birthday. It works exceptionally with phone, Ipod, passenger (no separate radio required, but you need another headset), radio-to-radio, etc. It ain't inexpensive. If you get the recommended Kenwood 3101K 2-ways and the Autocom thru eBay, you are talking about an $800 system. It's the best, but only get it if you've got money burning a hole in your pocket. You can view Autocom's products on their website.

I installed a Powerlet on my viffer's center fork cap, so I can easily detach my gizmos and lug them away in my tank bag. Great setup that Wirelesswill and others helped out with a while ago. Portability and ease of use is key with me.

Good luck

I'm looking at their website.

This device is exactly what I've been looking for. oh, maybe.

I can't tell if I can use my own headphones. helmet speakers are a no-go. My little sony in ear types have the best sound quality and also cut out the wind but not the microns.

Yes, you can use your own headphones. You have to purchase their headphone adapter. I use my etymotic headphones and they are great at both cutting out wind noise and also producing great sound. I have my phone, Ipod (with an airclick remote mounted to my handlebars) and Kenwood 2 way hooked up to my Autocomm and it works seamlessly.

Brian

[achfly]

I'm looking at their website. This device is exactly what I've been looking for. oh, maybe.

I can't tell if I can use my own headphones. helmet speakers are a no-go. My little sony in ear types have the best sound quality and also cut out the wind but not the microns.

I use earplugs and their in-helmet speakers & mic. Better protection for your ears and you can still hear everything clear as day. The other part of the equation is how well your microphone works to eliminate wind noise for the person receiving your transmission. Autocom is unrivaled in this respect. Plus, my Autocom seamlessly transitions from gadget to gadget, automatically sensing which piece of equipment to make most active. I doubt anything does this anywhere near as well.

Exercise some care to not play your music too loudly, which is easy to do with fancy in-ear headphones. You will be unable to hear anything else going on around you. :music:

I know what you're saying. This pair of sonys actually doesn't go nearly as loud as some earphones because they are more focused on sound quality.

[YoshiHNS]

I bought two chatterboxes X2s with the full face mic. They work fairly well. Need to close your face shield once you get above 45mph. Cruising around 60mph i could hear my friend alright most of the time. Sometimes the wind noise would become too much though, even on full volume. Another friend wore ear plugs and said that the wind noise was reduced, but he could still hear me fine. Only other complaint is that during a ride, mine stopped working four hours into the ride. I thought it was a dead battery. Then, three hours later, i turned it back on and it was working again. Next time i used them they both worked fine for 7 hrs. Biggest complaint about the chatterbox is the PTT button. IT IS HUGE.

I also tried using had radios and a Firefox throat mic. Iffy results. It took my friend forever to find the right location. Never really got the sweet spot, but did get close. I could mostly understand what he was saying. Absolutely no wind noise, was comfortable, and stayed in place. Could have used a bandana or something to keep it snug around my neck, as it seemed a little loose. So overall, fairly nice. Feels solid. Just takes a lot of playing around to get it in the right spot.

[Bucardo]

I ride with a large touring club where many riders use bike-to-bike communications. Chatterbox, Starcom, Autocom and J&M have been used by different members. When it comes to being on the receiving end of of radio transmissions, we have all learned that Autocom is the best. J&M appears to have better speaker quality, which is great for music, but that doesn't improve a transmission with poorly filtered background noise.

The opinion of all our riding members, over the course of five years and various com products is Autocom has the best noise reduction microphones, which is essential to discerning radio or intercom communciations when riding a bike at normal speeds.

It is also essential to use better quality radios. Power rating seems to be almost irrelevant. Almost none of the cheaper (often promoted as high power, longer distance) radios produce clean discernable transmissions. Radio of choice in our group is the Kenwood TK3131.