two of us are off to africa for a few months and were wondering about getting some form of bike to bike communication. in-helmet seems like the best idea but probably more expensive. What systems have peple tried and which are any good? cheers in advance. karl.

I think I know the features of what I'd like but haven't looked for a supplier yet so am also interested in others views.

This would be ideal:

• In-Helmet based mic and speaker
• Switchable VOX/Manual talk, preferrably switch and PTT on handbars
• Standard UHF CB channels to allow for listening and communicating with other road users (mainly for OZ)

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Just spent 9 days riding thru Vietnam using the Scala G4.

Four of our riders were hooked up on the Scala G4 and we were all stunned at how good they were. Open faced helmets, visor up or down, the sound quality, range and noise suppression was superb.

One of the guys tried to stream music from his phone, but this interfered with the intercom and he promptly desisted. Possibly an RTMF issue? And given we hadn't taken the time to RTFM, we seemed to fiddle around for about 15min every morning to get everyone on channel. After that, sweet.

Passing trucks on difficult roads was so easy that it felt like cheating. Put your gun rider out front, get the comms protocols correct, and the back 3 riders just breeze through the difficult passes. I just wish I had them for India/Nepal last year.

Haven't tried any other intercoms, and maybe they're all this good, but I was shocked at what they can do with a bluetooth signal.

I've used the Scala and it wasn't reliable enought in my view. It was excellent at first, but appeared to deteriorate quickly, and even when replaced we had issues on trips. I've returned to Autocom now, and accepted the fact that I'm "wired" to the bike. Audio is excellent, no faffing re pairing the bluetooth ( a well worded process !) and all works fine. I have my PTT , and radio based comms that works well (you can mod many PMR 466 radios to 3 watts power from the standard 0,5 by the way) so all fine

I have been told that Autocom and Starcom (being the same parent company) have a bluetooth module that will replace the rider lead, and also provides radio PTT, but have not seen one yet

Iain

I have been using the Sena SMH 10 for over a year now. My wife and I use them for bike to bike. They work at about 1km. If you want to go further, they have a bluetooth hub that you can hook a 2 way to.

This allows you to still be wireless, and have a PTT button on the handle bars and talk on a 2 way. I have used this setup and it works well.

Ryan

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We have also been using the SENA SMH10 for some time, and before that, Scala Rider Q2. It is hard to go back to rider with my partner w/o bike to bike comms.

Why do I have the SENA ones right now? Because the Q2's wore out -- physically, and the battery on one eventually died. The decision to go with a new brand was one of perceived technical merit, but I expect that these will wear out as well.

We are planning a long trip in the range of a year or so. In the planning stage, I am considering what to do about bike to bike comm (important to us, maybe not as much to other couples -- you decide). While I love the convenience of something like the SENA or Scala Rider, I question doing a longer trip w/o carrying a spare set.

I can think of one travel blog with members on HU who became, understandably, rather anxious when their comms died on their trip.

I am researching what options are available which are more "hardwired", perhaps in both longevity of operation as well as resilience in build quality and if this is workable for us. On a 10 day road trip (with long days) we found that we had to not only charge at night but also during lunch breaks.

That said, I love having the SENA paired to my Android phone. While I am not an advocate of phone talking and riding/driving (don't get me started on this one), it does allow me to pull over safely and take a call, or check for voicemail, or call back, especially as required for my job -- w/o taking my helmet off.

Adam

Have a look at our site, The prep page and and Thank you's page could be helpfull. Look at the Autocom and RS Hill comments.

Our Autocom systems have been reliable-ish but we have needed to replace Mic's when they got rained on through open visors.

I'd go for a Peltor system from RS Hill if I was spending out again

Altough bulky I prefer an auto com and a vox walky talky system. But in a wast pack they're ideal.

Cardo scala are good but not as waterproof as they pretend to be. 2 out 3 died on us during rain going through northern france last june.

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we have the G4 of Scala, and about 20% of the time it works great!
the other 80... it is a nightmare!

We use the Autocom series 7 system coupled to small 3Watt Icom UHF radios. The system works very well, VOX and noise cancelling works well too.

The only problem we have encounted is the microphone foam covers deteriorate and need replacement (fair wear and tear I suppose given their age). We made our own replacement covers as it was hard to get the OEM units due to where we live

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Whilst convenient, all the Bluetooth systems suffer from the same downsides.
Need to recharge frequently.
Lack of range bike to bike.
Not as robust as a bike mounted system.

My advice is either Autocom or Starcom (now the same company), hardwired into the bike, a 5 watt UHF handheld plumbed into the system, advantage of having the handheld is that you will be able to take it with you when you are off the bike, and still be able to talk to others of your crew.

Don't worry about being wired up to the bike, you'll soon get into the habit of unplugging before you get off, and if you and the bike have a high speed separation, the wiring will separate, thus not ripping you ears off.

The hardwired systems usually have better volume, and thus better sound, better range (assuming you use a good quality UHF), better reliability, you don't have to remember to recharge, and they can be trained to make a damn good cup of tea.

I have been using the Interphone F4 and F5 for 2 years now and have had no problems with them. The battery lasts all day with constant use, long range(400-600m proven) with clear audio. The build quality is top notch plus you can recharge them off a standard cigarette USB charger it only takes 2 hours or from a standard wall charger. There are 2 types available one for full face and another for flip helmets with a boom microphone.
The difference between the two models are that the F4 has menu selection with bleep prompts(cheaper) and the F5 has voice prompts which is easier to set up.

I have mine paired with my Garmin Zumo 660 and my Iphone which makes life much easier out on the road.

Well worth a look at and buying you will not be disappointed.

Scala G4, when it works is great. When it works being the key statement. My microphone now no longer works and Scala are being very difficult about sorting it over warranty. They have no European service support it appears. Give their unreliability and poor service, go elsewhere. Maybe they will see the light with some further pushing, but we shall see.

We've had a couple of Sena SMH10's since last year and find them great, as far as 2up riding goes. I've just not used them between 2 bikes to know. However I did a distance test with them and got almost 1km before it lost the connection.

What I like:
-Easy to use jog dial, tap to talk, turn the dial to adjust the volume, can answer phone easily if needed.
-Easily connects all our devices.
-Great battery life, every trip this year they have easily lasted the entire day of riding (we do turn them off at breaks).
-Great sound clarity.
-No cables
-Price was right.
-Overall simple to use

What we don't like:
-Battery operated so you have to make sure you charge up every day. We did have a day that I just forgot to charge them, and strangely enough we managed most of the next day on the same charge, although we limited our usage significantly. Other solution is to buy a spare unit and charge the spare on the bike, while using the fully charged that day, then swap the next day.
-Does stick out on the helmet somewhat. Although I've not measured how much this ads to the wind noise, I'm sure it's a factor.
-Durability could be a factor with anything attached to the outside of your helmet. I think that if I crashed or even a low speed get off, it would be more likely to get damaged beyond repair vs a wired unit sitting snugly under the seat. I suppose the spare would fix that. But by the time you factor in a spare I can't help but think a wired set is the way to go.

I realize you weren't asking about wired systems, but those are my thoughts. We like the Sena system very much but I'm seriously considering going back to wired for our RTW, we're 2up mind you.

Cheers,
Mark

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I will ad that I've met a few people that ended up with cheap knock off BT units from Asia and have been super happy with them.

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