Bike to Bike Comms - Are these any good?

[kentfallen]

I am looking at ways in which I can keep in touch with my mate when out on the road. We both ride BIG trailees (XT600E and XR650) and it's nice to keep in touch when on the move. I found these things on the web - Motorcycle Handsfree Communication Kit --- muuk - The New Technology Store which uses this throat mic - CoolTalk VoiceBox Sport --- muuk - The New Technology Store
Has anyone any advice regarding these gadgets????
Thanks

[kentfallen]

I'm surprised no one can help me with this one, surely there must be someone else who has a need for bike to bike comms?

Neil

[Martynbiker]

like a Curates egg that one!

theres good......& bad.......

The Good

VOX voice activated so no need to push buttons and get distracted, but also every sneeze. whimper, etc will be transmitted to your buddy! so he WILL know how scared you were coming down that shale hillside!

Long Range

lightweight

useable off bikes as walkie talkies. great for Rallies/ shops/ fairs/ etc

THE BAD

rechargeable.... what happens when they go flat? do they take batteries too?

exspensive for what they are, I got a pair of walkie Talkies similar for 25 quid, 3 KM range. OK, without the headsets & the VOX capability.

Headphones & Mikes look uncomfortable.


martyn

[Alexlebrit]

I've never been a fan of throat mikes personally, but that probably comes from experience of Army one's which were either too loose and didn't pick anything up or too tight and stuck in.

But perhaps things have moved on?

[juddadredd]

Never met a throat mic I liked they all suck, on the 351's (radios) we used to use we modded them it work with hand held mics, always better to let the squad leader do the yacking whilst you watch for the bad guys, I was always the better shot.

Now considering that I passed my DAS last year and the instructor had STATE OF THE ART KIT again it sucked at anything past 50mph.

If you must talk do it at petrol stations, make up some foot signals so you know what’s what, and get the guy in the rear to flash lights when he wants to grab your attention, then he can move up to the front and do his foot stuff.

See Easy, not rocket science is it?

[Birdy]

Before I start - I should say that, I don't have personal experience of that exact system so feel free to disregard everything that I say!

But, I will reinforce Alex and Judadredd's opinions, that throat mikes are not the way forward, especially VOX activated. For all the reasons already stated, too tight, too loose, too receptive, too ignorant, too good at picking up whimpers or tears etc.

Does anyone know if you can buy PRRs? That would be a perfect bike to bike system, pressel operated, hardy, comfortable and works on batteries for hours..

Joel

[Alexlebrit]

I know you can get them in Europe and the States, but how for instance will you be looked upon in Russia, the Stans or the Far East, with any walkie-talkie?

Of course the ideal for me would be something I can connect to my iPod too, and even to my dinky little voice recorder, so I can record my thoughts as I drive along.

I would do footsignals, but it'd be hard in this:

[kentfallen]

Just found these -
Maplin > Helmet Speaker and Microphone Kit

Taking into account what you all say, these might be better as they don't rely on a throat mic...

What do you think?

[kentfallen]

Just found these -

Maplin > Helmet Speaker and Microphone Kit

I wonder if this is a better buy?

[stevesawol]

Look's like they could do the trick. Be interesting to hear ('scuse the pun) what people say about wind noise etc??

The concept of inter-bike comms is a great one, and i'd be interested to here what people have used.

Neil, What do the police use? They need to have comms on the move for sure??? How well does it work?

[kentfallen]

When I left the job they were changing over from VHF/UHF transceivers to Airwave (Tetra) which is owned and operated by Cellnet. This new system uses local digital re-broadcast facilities and I am told that the Police are very happy with the quality and reliability of voice comms using Airwave. The police authorities are not so happy because costs have doubled! The Tetra system is not available to non-emergency service users and in any case it would be too expensive.

For years the old UHF/VHF radios were plagued by poor reception in low lying areas which was a big problem when you were relying upon the system to be tasked with emergency "flash" calls. The issue helmets and mic system were pretty high tech stuff and if the radio system worked they worked very well indeed. If my memory serves me correctly most forces used to use a company called "Sonic Communications" for radio equipment including most specialised Motorcycle kit.

I am experimenting with 2 simple 446 Mhz handheld personal radios (producing about half a watt with a range of about 2 miles max) with the intention of reliable and quiet voice comms between 2 bikes. The Maplin PTT (Press to transmit) mics seem the way to go... £80 for the 2 radios and £60 for these mics, not bad...

[Dakota]

We used these a couple of years ago - not sure if they're the exact model we had, but they're from the same range. Cost around £100 for a set of walkie talkies and closed-face bike kit.

Two Way Radios : Cobra Radios : Cobra Microtalk MT200 PMR446 Walkie Talkies
Two Way Radios : Motorbike Handsfree : Motorcycle Handsfree PTT Closed Face MT550 MT750

They have a push to talk button which is easy to use. Mike and ear piece easily fit in your helmet. Reception was still good using foam ear plugs, but but as mentioned before, anything over 50mph and you can't hear much.

Using foot/hand signals is great, but only if you can clearly see the other rider. Being stuck in fast moving traffic 4 lanes wide in the middle of Paris during rush hour with only one bike having sat nav made buying these worth every penny for us.

If you're on the same channel as others, of course you'll hear them - we had a signal come through from a construction yard where a crane was dropping a huge i-beam into place. "Left at bit, left a bit, left a bit, slowly ......" - it was so temping to say "Noooo right a bit, go..." . We also seemed to pick up the police radio channels a lot, both in France and Spain.

[Alexlebrit]

Does anyone know if there's a standard frequency which is OK to use worldwide? Or would/could there be difficulties with these in different countries? How for instance are these received at border crossings into say the former Soviet Union? Or is it a case of having to "hide and hope"?

[kentfallen]

U.K 446 Mhz PMR radio band is O.K to use anywhere in the E.U. These low powered radios are licence free and can be found in shops throughout Europe... Even in areas where they are unlawful, they are so low powered that their use is very unlikely to cause interferance or come to the notice of law enforcement.

I seldom go over 50 MPH on my bikes - a XT600E/XBR500 (both big Jap thumpers) and they don't like prolonged high speeds.That said they will happily stomp along all day at 60 MPH. So wind noise isn't likely to be that much of a problem.

I never experienced any problem using force radio in the Special Escort Group. I think the use of bike to bike comms is often overlooked by many riders without basic radio knowledge. They can turn a boring ride into a very interesting one... Providing of course they are used properly with safety/defensive riding in mind.

[stevesawol]

Hi Neil,

I've just found this site;

Motorcycle Communications Headsets

Worth a look.