Interphone Urban Twin intercom.

I just received my new intercom today, I'm looking to install in to my helmets tomorrow, just thought I would mention incase anyone was considering purchasing something similar, I should be able to answer a few questions on it by tomorrow hopefully

Hiya,
I have a pair of BT Interphone sets (one for my non-existent female pillion - but I live in hope).

I found the speakers were just a couple of millimetres too thick to fit comfortably. The helmet had speaker recesses in the expanded foam, but I didn't want to cut more away - it would've been difficult and possibly weakened the expanded polystyrene foam structure, which is there for the purpose of cushioning one's skull in an impact.

So, I got a hot soldering iron and melted the foam back slightly to increase the space. As it cools, the foam hardens with a "skin" or shell that keeps the integrity of the foam helmet liner.

I used the set with a friend on a tour up in Scotland. For around £50 the pair off ebay, they worked beautifully - clear as a bell, and adequate range. I just couldn't shut my mate up!

Nowadays, my main use is for a Bluetooth connection to the Co-Pilot satnav app on my phone. Still no female pillion, but Satnav Sally is at least a female voice in my ear.

Are you referring to a Bluetooth unit like a Sena? I've had the Sena Bluetooth helmet units on my helmet as well as on my pillion rider and a friend's helmet. We get excellent intercom performance and communication with my friend works very well at freeway speed with a range up to half a mile. Works better than the CB on my previous Goldwings. I also like the link to my iPhone and GPS. Very handy to make a hands free call or take a call as well as listening to the directions from the GPS. The only down side is that the Sena units don't have any kind of push to talk, the microphone is always hot. So you don't want to mumble to yourself, sneeze or cough with the unit.

Flyingpanman wrote:

Hiya,
I have a pair of BT Interphone sets (one for my non-existent female pillion - but I live in hope).

I found the speakers were just a couple of millimetres too thick to fit comfortably. The helmet had speaker recesses in the expanded foam, but I didn't want to cut more away - it would've been difficult and possibly weakened the expanded polystyrene foam structure, which is there for the purpose of cushioning one's skull in an impact.

So, I got a hot soldering iron and melted the foam back slightly to increase the space. As it cools, the foam hardens with a "skin" or shell that keeps the integrity of the foam helmet liner.

I used the set with a friend on a tour up in Scotland. For around £50 the pair off ebay, they worked beautifully - clear as a bell, and adequate range. I just couldn't shut my mate up!

Nowadays, my main use is for a Bluetooth connection to the Co-Pilot satnav app on my phone. Still no female pillion, but Satnav Sally is at least a female voice in my ear.

Yeah My Garmen has Yeti and he yells at me when I go off the route or the satellite reception is lost. WW

Flyingpanman: I'm pretty sure your not meant to compress or melt/harden the foam inside your helmet, as it will not protect/cushion your head should you need it to, it might be worth having your local helmet retailer check it out for you, safe than sorry eh

Maxi-lover wrote:

Flyingpanman: I'm pretty sure your not meant to compress or melt/harden the foam inside your helmet, as it will not protect/cushion your head should you need it to, it might be worth having your local helmet retailer check it out for you, safe than sorry eh

I did ask around but I found it's like oil or tyres. One of those things that different makers/authorities will give differing opinions. You could simply say that having a couple of hard plastic speakers in there is dangerous, but then again why were there already speaker recesses in the foam? I know some manufacturers build helmets with BT already installed and maybe that would be the best course if so concerned, but do they get top safety ratings? Not when I last bought a helmet.

Obviously speakers will add to the risk. OTOH, having a satnav (yes, yes, I know they're not perfect) will reduce the need to be looking out for road signs/lane markings, etc. Any aid that allows you to focus more on the real dangers, in my opinion, is extremely important. To me, this outweighs the risk of modifying the helmet foam very slightly around the ear cavity.

When melting the foam, I don't stick the iron into the foam. Holding the iron near it will allow it to melt back without any loss of material and retain what little strength there is in expanded polystyrene. Anyway, this modification was done on my old helmet. My new one allowed perfect fitment of the speakers.

What can damage helmets more is perching them on top of mirrors when parked up. Over time, it compresses the foam at the top, front, and rear. Look around at your next bike meet and maybe 50% have done this.

I doubt that deepening the speaker recesses in the foam by a couple of millimetres would make any difference to the structural integrity of the helmet at all.
If it did they wouldn't have put the recesses in there in the first place.

exavid wrote:

Are you referring to a Bluetooth unit like a Sena? I've had the Sena Bluetooth helmet units on my helmet as well as on my pillion rider and a friend's helmet. We get excellent intercom performance and communication with my friend works very well at freeway speed with a range up to half a mile. Works better than the CB on my previous Goldwings. I also like the link to my iPhone and GPS. Very handy to make a hands free call or take a call as well as listening to the directions from the GPS. The only down side is that the Sena units don't have any kind of push to talk, the microphone is always hot. So you don't want to mumble to yourself, sneeze or cough with the unit.

I have the Sena SMH10's. They either have the always open or push to talk option. Personally, I've found the always open to be a real drag, lots of wind noise that drives me batty.

I prefer to use the push to talk option.

the foam is an impact absorbing liner, i would have thought removing part of that liner or hardening it will decrease how much it can absorb and make the helmet less safe, the recesses that are already in the helmet have been tested and are there for a reason, its quick and easy to drop the manufacturer an email or quick phone call, your heads worth a 2 minute phone call

dekare wrote:

exavid wrote:

Are you referring to a Bluetooth unit like a Sena? I've had the Sena Bluetooth helmet units on my helmet as well as on my pillion rider and a friend's helmet. We get excellent intercom performance and communication with my friend works very well at freeway speed with a range up to half a mile. Works better than the CB on my previous Goldwings. I also like the link to my iPhone and GPS. Very handy to make a hands free call or take a call as well as listening to the directions from the GPS. The only down side is that the Sena units don't have any kind of push to talk, the microphone is always hot. So you don't want to mumble to yourself, sneeze or cough with the unit.

I have the Sena SMH10's. They either have the always open or push to talk option. Personally, I've found the always open to be a real drag, lots of wind noise that drives me batty.

I prefer to use the push to talk option.

I did some homework and for rider to pillion the Interphone Urban seemed a good set, hopefully it is, it also has the new BT 4.2 which i wanted

A few years ago I fitted an Interphone 3 system to my Schuberth J1 open face, my Scorpion EXO 900 flip front, and Mrs M's HJC full face. There's space to fit ear speakers in all three helmets but it's all trial and error getting them in the right position as to not press too much on your ears which is uncomfortable after a hour or so riding. This would be worse wearing disposable ear plugs which can become painful to wear if not inserted just right.

A lot of helmet manufacturers have made provision for speakers in the helmet inner, but how comfortable the earpieces will be depends the shape of your head, because not all helmet manufacturers produce helmets for the same head shape. Add to that any wires and connectors that are part of the set up and it's quite a trick getting it all right. It's also a bit of a faff having a boom mike inside an open face or flip front. Out of my two helmets fitted with the Interphone the Schuberth was definitely the more comfortable to wear, because the Scorpion is suited to a narrower head shape.

Last year I replaced my Schuberth J1 with the Schuberth M1 open face. No fannying about with fitting kits with this bad boy, speakers are all ready installed in the helmet and it's boomless, there's a built in microphone each side of the liner at jaw level, none of which I can feel when wearing the helmet. All I have to do is plug the SRC intercom into the socket at the back of the helmet, no clamps or Velcro holders at the side of the helmet like the Interphone system has for it's unit.  Another great feature of this helmet is the liner is heat welded not stitched, so there's no pressure points on the forehead.

Meldrew wrote:

A few years ago I fitted an Interphone 3 system to my Schuberth J1 open face, my Scorpion EXO 900 flip front, and Mrs M's HJC full face. There's space to fit ear speakers in all three helmets but it's all trial and error getting them in the right position as to not press too much on your ears which is uncomfortable after a hour or so riding. This would be worse wearing disposable ear plugs which can become painful to wear if not inserted just right.

A lot of helmet manufacturers have made provision for speakers in the helmet inner, but how comfortable the earpieces will be depends the shape of your head, because not all helmet manufacturers produce helmets for the same head shape. Add to that any wires and connectors that are part of the set up and it's quite a trick getting it all right. It's also a bit of a faff having a boom mike inside an open face or flip front. Out of my two helmets fitted with the Interphone the Schuberth was definitely the more comfortable to wear, because the Scorpion is suited to a narrower head shape.

Last year I replaced my Schuberth J1 with the Schuberth M1 open face. No fannying about with fitting kits with this bad boy, speakers are all ready installed in the helmet and it's boomless, there's a built in microphone each side of the liner at jaw level, none of which I can feel when wearing the helmet. All I have to do is plug the SRC intercom into the socket at the back of the helmet, no clamps or Velcro holders at the side of the helmet like the Interphone system has for it's unit.  Another great feature of this helmet is the liner is heat welded not stitched, so there's no pressure points on the forehead.

I have a Shoie GT Air the set I bought has a premium headset you can get for only £50 especially for my helmet, I'm going to try the standard headset first and if I'm not happy I'll upgrade to the specific set, the premium headset  does look pretty awesome so I might get it regardless, as it clips into the helmets body clips asthough it's part of the helmet, that way I get the helmet I want and a custom fit, when you realise you love bikes and scooters no one tells you the cost involved once you have bought one, you could go on forever