2 WAY RADIOS? / inter com?

cruzerdog, head over to your local Salvation Army store & check out the cassettes. Ours has a wide selection and I can pick up most any type of music (except rap which really isn't music) at a cost from $.49 to $1.49 each. Have managed to put together a decent collection of moldy oldies without spending much. Garage sales are another place to find great buys & depending upon your haggling skills you might score a box full for a hand full of change, just to help the people get rid of those useless cassettes.

cruzerdog, we're generally happy with a set of the new-fangled bluetooth wireless intercom headsets, which are "relatively" inexpensive. There are several brands/options; check out the Scala Teamset for bike to sidecar communication. We are using the Scala Multiset Q2 for both bike to sidecar and bike to bike up to ~500 feet.

They're not foolproof and occasionally foul by interference from other sources, but our experience is OK. The batteries have thus far lasted at least 10 hours before recharge. And wireless is convenient. We haven't yet tried the line-in for music tho.

Cruzer Dog,

I have a new, never used Fox Fire intercom, Route 66 Intercom System, will look when I get home after work to make sure of the model name.

It sells for about $135.00. I will let go for $100.00. It will also let you hook up an aux. source; tape player, radio, CD player...

It uses throat microphones, so no wind noise from an exposed microphone.

Let me know if you are interested. I will cover the shipping.

Thanks,

Mike

Music isn't a problem. I bought one of those things that looks like a cassette tape with a wire hanging off of it. Stick it in the tape deck and plug in an Ipod. Play your choice of music through the radio's speakers.

Hint: You can pick up Ipods on ebay or Craigslist for $25 to $50. My 6GB Ipod Mini set me back $50 with external speakers, cables, and chargers and holds 1500 songs. I plug it in to my computer and copy all my old Country and Bagpipe CD's to it.

My son just bought an 30 GB Ipod for $35.

HI CRUZERDOG: IF you own Nolan helmets[like we do], you can install their N-Com helmet system w/ wireless Bluetooth capability. Saving up to do that meself. Just another F.Y.I. way to go. TTFN & RIDE SAFE.....Old Tom aka papasmurf in NH

I guess I'm the lucky one here. I have an 08 Royal Star Venture with built in com system. I just re routed the passenger connection across the back seat and my wife plugs in and we listen to the radio or what ever input I chose CB also. Intercom is always on so no interuption in conversation.

Rick A.

Try the autocom been working good for us for almost three years. Is a great intercom and can be attached to music and phones.

My wife and I have used a Scala Teamset for several years now. It works, eh, okay. The big problem seems to be my wife is very soft-spoken, so I have trouble hearing her. She says she has no trouble hearing me.

We both wear full-face helmets, so wind noise is not the issue.

Installation of the Teamset is simple enough. There are brackets that fasten to the lower edge of the helmet. The mike and earphones are connected to the brackets and stay in your helmet. The electronics packages can be removed -- they snap on and off the brackets easily. You can charge these units on or off the helmet. The wall-wart charger has two cables so you can charge both units at once.

A full charge will last many hours in intercom mode. But we've learned to turn our units off after riding. Left on continuously they will run out of charge during a weekend.

The units are easy to use as intercoms. (I've never tried to -- or wanted to -- use them for anything else.) In the intercom mode they turn on when you start to speak. I've gotten in the habit of saying "Carol" loudly to turn my unit on, then speaking. After about 30 seconds of silence the unit powers off again with an audible beep.

For reasons I can't explain they won't work unless there is background noise. That's mentioned in the manual. Forget testing them in your family room -- getting on the bike seems to be necessary.

Scala is making newer, presumably more advanced units with greater range, so you can talk bike-to-bike. Not really necessary with a sidecar. But newer may be better.

In theory the Scala Teamset can pair with any bluetooth device, and you can use it to make calls from your cell phone. Frankly, the idea of making phone calls while piloting a sidecar rig scares the peewaddle out of me. If I need to make a call I'll stop, take off my helmet, fish out my iPhone, and make the call.

As for listening to music, nope, won't do it. If I want music I sing in my helmet. Otherwise I don't need the distraction.

(Carol knows I sing in my helmet. She hears it.)

Overall, I've been happy enough with the Scala Teamset that I consider it a good, useful tool. If my wife would speak up more, I probably would have no issues. But there have been many times I've been glad I could speak to her. Definitely worth the money.

Best,
Ed Bianchi
'87 K75C/Dauntless "Lady Carol"

Ed Bianchi - 3/24/2011 2:25 PM

My wife and I have used a Scala Teamset for several years now. It works, eh, okay.... The units are easy to use as intercoms.... Frankly, the idea of making phone calls while piloting a sidecar rig scares the peewaddle out of me. If I need to make a call I'll stop, take off my helmet, fish out my iPhone, and make the call....

Overall, I've been happy enough with the Scala Teamset that I consider it a good, useful tool. If my wife would speak up more, I probably would have no issues. But there have been many times I've been glad I could speak to her. Definitely worth the money....

Jena & I use a Scala "Multiset" so we can talk bike-to-sidecar and also bike-to-bike up to maybe 500 feet. Our experience is 'bout the same as Ed's: It works well enough. It ain't as good as Goldwing intercoms/radio/CB, but it is worth the money. It really helps us navigate more safely.

Apparently available in England only, Midland has a bluetooth ready FM 2-way transceiver; simply pair the transceiver with the headset and talk to everyoene with a basic FM 2-way using only a push-to-talk button. But, alas, not available in the States yet. See it here if you're interested: http://www.alan-uk.com/midland/products_bluetooth_pmr446_radio.shtml

We've been using the "Sena SMH 10" Bluetooth v 2.1 stereo headsets.

Here's the specs from the company. I now see they have a "2 way radio bluetooth adapter". Next on my list of "wants" 🙂

Bluetooth Specification v2.1
Bluetooth Intercom up to 900 meters (980 yards)*
Multi-Pair Bluetooth intercom for 4 persons
Bluetooth stereo headset for Bluetooth audio devices such as MP3 players
Bluetooth music playback control by AVRCP: play, pause, track forward and track back
Easy operation by versatile Jog Dial (Patent Pending)
Sufficient sound level with integrated audio booster
Bluetooth hands-free for Bluetooth mobile phones
Bluetooth headset or stereo headset for Bluetooth GPS navigations
Stereo music by 3.5mm audio cable
Water resistant for use in inclement weather
Crystal clear and natural sound quality
Up to 12 hours talk time, 10 days stand-by time
Can be used while charging on road trips
Individual volume control for each audio source

We bought ours off of E Bay for $260 for the two headset combo package with one blue tooth adapter dongle (for my brothers MP 3). I also purchased and extra "bluetooth donge" for my GPSMAPS 376C with WXM. With my I Phone and the Bluetooth dongle with XM it's easy to swith from one source to the other. The simplicty of design allows for intuitive use while riding! By the way, the sound is very good with the usual "hankering" for a little more bass.
Oh, it has "VOX Intercom" for easier use, but since my Brother likes to sing to his music, Needless to say, I haven't tried the "VOX" ! 😉

Website: http://www.senabluetooth.com/products/smh10.php?tab_menu=overview

I've used one of these portables for years because I like being able to use it on a variety of bikes. http://www.csonline.net/crawford/Motocomm/Motocomm_Audioboss.htm I can use it with phone, mp3, FRS radio, GPS, etc as well. When we use the sidecar with all 4 of us on board, we use this for 2 people and plug in the FRS radio. Then, each of the other 2 passengers has a FRS radio with helmet headset and PTT button. It's not high performance, but it has served us well for years.

By the way, if you just want inexpensive intercom, we have also used the FRS setup with the helmet headsets (under $100 for each radio and headset) and then when we're off the bikes, we can just take the radio with us and use them as we wander around. I like the range and the battery life of the Midland GXT radios. For same bike operation, we turn them on low power and for bike to bike or off bike, we turn them on high power and get great range.

I do have friends who don't need the portability or the ability to have more than 2 passengers and they really like their J&M setups. Not inexpensive, but quality units. That also allows them easy CB performance and they are pretty adaptable for other inputs, but again, costly on the interfaces and headsets.

That's what we like about the Sena; excellent price point and quality sound rivaling our J&M set ups on the Harleys.
Regards, Russell