Hey ! Intercom two way communication system question ?

Hey Everyone ! I have a question

What kind of two way communication system do you use ?


And if you will add some pros and cons about the system you are using

Looking to purchase a system and need some feedback ! Thanks you guys and gals are the best !

I have a Starcom Digital system - not cheap but very good.
I moved the tool-kit from its place under the front of the seat and put the Starcom box in its place with a power feed up though the hole in the plastic (in-line fuse in the wire)

The cables feed out under the front of the seat.
I can plug in my Ipod, phone (if I want to), GPS, PMR and also have my pillion plugged in.
He can plug in his own phone and music and use them independently of mine.

One requires patience when setting the various levels - there are no knobs to twiddle.

Look up Starcom on the Internet for details of the systems.

I used to have the basic model. It's very good, too, but has fewer outputs.
Its advantage is that it can also be powered with an internal PP9 battery.
When I first had that one I kept it in a bum-bag (fanny-pack) and wore it!

I recommend it as an investment.

P.S. I'm not a fan of Blue-Tooth so have a wired system.

My friend bought a set of
Cardo SCALA RIDER G9 and they work great. Not cheep but you can connect up to 4 riders, listen to preset FM radio and it has built in Bluetooth. When you download the information to your computer, you can adjust the sensitiveness of he mike and the internal battery lasts all day ride. You can charge up the internal bat by a computer or the wall with the included adapters. And the support staff is there to help and have updates to the system.

The G9 will link up to 9 headsets, the G4 links up to 4 headsets. You can also get a charger to charge then with a cigarette lighter port. I have a set of the G4s and they say they are good up to a mile witch they my be if it is flat and line of site. We use them in our group rides, lead and tail. I think they are great.

The G9 gets my vote too having recently purchased the Powerset. My friend also got a G9 Solo after a short experience with mine. Its great when riding together being able to talk and warn each other of any road hazards. So far other riders we meet who have a comms system have a Cardo G4 or G9 they seem to be the popular make.

The G9 with six buttons looks daunting, each having dual if not triple functions is complicated (theres a quick press and release for the common function, hold for 2 secs to access the likes of the FM radio or MP3 player and hold for 5-6 secs for likes of pairing). But learning to use one function at a time the others soon become clear.

Check out this review: http://www.webbikeworld.com/motorcycle-intercoms/cardo-scala-rider-g9/review.htm

Other Intercoms here: http://www.webbikeworld.com/motorcycle-intercoms/

I use the BT-Multi Interphone i purchased off ebay for around $70 delivered.
The wife and i have used it all summer and give it two thumbs up. It is a wireless system with bluetooth so my iphone answers automatically totally handsfree. It is very simple to operate. It will last about 7-8 hours before needing a charge. We have a scorpion helmets that is made to fit (and hide) the small speakers of the system. The only con i have with the system is- my wifes mic will pick up wind noise (which activates the mic) and therefore i get some wind feedback in mine. We have open face helmets and she sits a bit higher on the rear of the seat. If we had full face helmets the system would be awesome. It still beats yelling back and forth.
Again i couldnt justify spending $300+ on a system when this one does the same!!

Cellularline Interphone F5 - probably known as BlueAnt over the pond.

Everything works as it should. Excellent piece of kit.

Cheers.

I have the Chatterbox corded system costs around 65.00. It will stay charged all day (8 hrs. +) and the sound is great. You can also add MP3, or cell phone to it. Best value for an relatively inexpensive price I have found. I use it with my Full Face Shoei, and my wife's full face HJC.

Interphone F4 kit, with enough headsets to fit my open face, flip front, Mrs M's full face, and a spare.

Thank you everyone for all the information ! You guys are awesome ! This is just one of many reasons this site is awesome ! So much info and input ! Thanks again !

I just installed a CB radio on my wife's '08 Silverwing. Decided to go with the CB so we have bike-to-bike communication when group riding (I and other riders have Goldwings w/CB's). Previously I was using a J&M Integrator and Motorola 75-822 handheld CB which gave my wife the CB radio as well as FM radio and ability to use an MP3 player. The combo was somewhat cumbersome to attach temporarily to bike or to wear on a belt (but it worked). Recently upgraded to a J&M handlebar mounted CB system. Other than time to remove and install all the body panels to route cables from the rear mounted antenna to the handlebar mounted unit, installation was straight-forward. Best part is, the unit works great and my wife is very pleased!

My wife and I also have the Cardo Scala's kit.

Installation takes about 10 minutes per helmet. You do not have to modify or drill on the helmet. The provided mount clamps to the edge of the helmet and is secured with two allen screws. The mount has a boom mike, two short cables to a couple of small speakers and the quick release connector for the radio. You press some peel-and-stick velcro tape (provided) into the ear-holes of the helmet and onto the back of the speakers. I worked each speaker harness behind the padding in the helmet to the ear-holes. I pressed the speaker velcro against the velcro in the ear-holes.

The boom mike is noise cancelling. There is a mic on the front and back of a disc at the end of the boom. It is covered with a foam diffuser. It took my wife and I a while to figure out the best orientation of the mike for clearest audio and  best noise cancelling.

Operation. Ours radio's were paired from the factory. We did go into the configuration and turned on the bluetooth feature on one of them. It paired to my wife's phone easily.

The top priority is a cell phone call. The next priority is bike to bike communication with the lowest priority the built-in FM radio.

Answering a phone call is hands free, the headset beeps, bike to bike comms is dropped and the caller is available. Once the phone caller hangs up, bike to bike comms is re-established hands free.

Our helmets are 3/4 with face-shields, we are able to talk at normal conversation volumes and the audio is very clear. Above 60, you begin to hear a little background noise.

The detachable radio's makes it easy to charge it's battery from one of the two chargers that come with the kit

Battery life is supposed to be 8 hours. We have ridden more than 4 hours with no trouble. Radio range is at least 1000 feet.

We are very pleased with these radio's.

Rjdoles fine explanation of the Cardo Scala headsets but what about the initial cost of the units ? $$

hotwings wrote:

Rjdoles fine explanation of the Cardo Scala headsets but what about the initial cost of the units ? $$

Cardo has several flavors with some having a lot more features than we needed and of course more expense. We just wanted basic two way hands-free communication between our two bikes. The model that we chose was the Q2 Pro multiset. We bought them last year on Amazon and I believe that we paid about $229 for the kit with two radio's.

After much consideration and research I purchased a Cardo Scalarider G4 Powerset (Comes with 2 systems and you can add on more) for $250. Has more bells and whistles than I will ever use. Quality, price point, ease of installation and use on multiple helmets (I have a few) helped make my mind up.

If I were buying today I might look at helmets that are pre set up for communications with built in speakers, mics and ports for the controller (Nolan, Bell etc).

I also use the G4 Powerset and they are very good but, there is always a but. The Cardo systems come with a two year warranty(good for the USA only) and if you have any problems they quickly give you a new unit but, (here is that but) after two years they do not offer any support at all. I guess that's two buts. It is a lot of money to spend for something that you have to throw away if it is over two years and it is broken. I had the Q2 PRO first then the G4 PRO and now I have the G9. So the lack of support after two years has not made my give up on the Cardo systems although it does leave bad feelings.

Roger, I would think that as popular as the Cardo systems are, there would be a cottage industry to repair older units. Maybe not, but I would think it would be worth exploring.

Bob and I had the Cardo G4 a couple of years ago. When it worked it worked fine but we had problems with Bob's set twice in a few weeks. Just as we were into our 2nd day of a week long trip.
Very frustrating to say the least.

Bob had the Autocom system on his old bike years ago with his brother. He wanted to give the Starcom system a try. But we decided to try the Cardo G4. We were disappointed with the overall performance of the units.

We now have the Starcom Digital system. We found a sale on it back in 2012. We like it better for a number of reasons. Longer talk time for one. We still need to tweek the system here and there as we use it for music, gps, phone, or intercom depending on interference with the engine on the bikes or loose connections. Overall it is nice to communicate with one another while riding. Good investment.

I use my iPhone and cheap 'marshmallow' in ear headset from target.
They were the smallest and roundest headsets I have been able to find.
The marshmallow is like memory foam. Squish it and pop them in your ear.
The have a microphone and single switch that is 6 inches from the ear piece
I tighten my chin strap so the microphone is about an inch away from the strap.

In the city I can talk in the city by pushing it up a bit. I have not tried on freeway yet as I need to get a a helmet with wind cover for chin area
Then I will be able to talk anywhere.

There Re walkie talkie software for the iPhone that I plan on testing once wife goes for a ride...

Take care.

Mike <><