My sidecar passenger is getting to the age (three and a half) where it seems desirable to introduce a more sophisticated communication system. Up until now our comms have involved me giving 'thumbs up' as a prompt. If her response was 'thumbs up' in return, I knew all was good. If I saw tears, sad face, etc, I knew to pull over for troubleshooting. More and more though, she does neither, but tries repeatedly to say something and I'm reminded of a line from the song 'Comfortably Numb' by Pink Floyd - "your lips move, but I can't hear what you're saying..."
So, who is using what brand of intercom and why? I've found quite a wide range of products and prices on the web (from about $30 upwards) and while you'll have noted from the above that I'm quite happy to make do with a fairly rudimentary system, I do actually want something that works. I think my passenger could work out a PTT switch OK, so no need for VOX activation - I do foresee that a system with an option allowing me to transmit without receiving might be advantageous though.... 😉
I realise this query is tantamount to asking which oil folks prefer and apologise for that. I thought I had read some stuff about intercoms on this site before, but can't seem to find it now that I'm actively considering getting one.
Stout
'77 R100 + California FriendshipII
Motorcycle Consumer News has done some nice comparisons of this type of stuff in the past. You can peruse their article index by year to see if you can track down some reviews. Low end stuff includes the Collette Communicator while at the high end you have Autocom and Baehr. (All spellings are approximate!) I know there is some other low(er) end stuff too, just can't remember it at the moment. Google around on these three names and you should turn up some reviews and maybe some comparos. Good luck! My daughter and are sticking to our hand signals and my wife dosn't want me to know what she's saying ayway. 🙂
The folks at Auotcom are about to launch an new model so their current top line stuff should be available used at bargain prices in the next couple of months.
I ran a pice of dyrer vent hose over to the sidecar once..worked great.
My wife was not impressed by the dryer vent but it helped a lot. Maybe a different color would have pleased her more.
Arthur Cohen did one better with a shower hose that had the end on it that looked kinda like a microphone.
You all remember the old submarine movies where the guy hollered through the tube right?
Claude, I LOVE it!!! Sure beats one of those old ear phones that folks used to hold up to their ears.
Change of subject: Too bad you're not closer. I'm moving s-l-o-w-l-y forward to getting someone to rig up something to pivot Luke's seat by using a cool car jack I think I mentioned here. That, plus some possible heat for him will probably dictate going to a car battery in the trunk. Hey, I did buy an $0.99 cigarette lighter outlet on e-bay to get a source of power.
Sidecar Ron
