in helmet CB

[loe_tek]

here is the deal:

I am riding my 05 FJR from WV to WA in June of this year. My wife and two young kids are taking an airplane ride about the same time and we will meet up out west to vacation with both our families who live in WA. Then I will fly back with the kids and the wife and her dad will ride to WV, wife on my FJR and her dad on his triked Goldwing.

The question:

Dad in law has a CB set up in his wing, and does not want to go with anything else. I do not really want to buy a CB and mount it to my FJR, if I need bike to bike, I will go with something more better.

Does anyone have a solution for an in helmet CB that the wife can wear and maybe plug in to power on the FJR and get bike to bike with her dad?

For the record, I am looking for a bike for my wife, and if she wants, I would let her have my 2005 and I would start seriously looking for a GenII with an upgraded suspension.

thanks

 

[Harald]

A temporary installation is easily done by putting a CB in/on a tankbag and plugging it into battery power off the FJR. If you don't already have a powerlet or SAE plug on the bike, then you should install one anyway to be able to power tire pump/battery tender/heated gear or any number of other accessories.

Or if you win the lottery anytime soon, then just install a J&M system with CB!

 

[Pete Bansen]

Does anyone have a solution for an in helmet CB that the wife can wear and maybe plug in to power on the FJR and get bike to bike with her dad?

I have spent far more time and money working on this than I like to think about. Tried Autocom without success, Starcom looked promising but fell flat on its face, tried several cheap-o solutions with poor results.

Among the hardcore endurance riders who use CB radio and are not on Wings with a built-in, factory CB option, the J&M handlebar mounted CB/intercom is the overwhelming choice. There are a few electronic geniuses who have gotten some radio or other to work with an Autocom or Starcom or some other system, but my highly scientific study (walking through the parking lot at the Ironbutt Association National Meet last summer in Denver) reveals that the J&M unit is the way to go. It's sort of expensive, but it's the most plug and play solution out there if you have to have CB.

Good luck,

Pete Bansen

Truckee, California

 

[DaJuice]

Midland makes a nice little unit and J&M has incorporated it into a portable kit, more details here <LINK>. More details on the radio itself here, <LINK>. To go on the cheap and portable, you could probably find a less expensive option for the headset than the J&M like this <LINK>. The radio and Midland headset linked will run about $150. The J&M headset will run around $250 alone by the time you get all the cords needed to hook it into the CB and is just too much money for what it is in my opinion. The problem you'll have is range unless you go with a bigger antenna but it sounds like you don't need a lot of range, just be able to talk to each other while you go down the road so that shouldn't be an issue. I do not have any 1st hand experience using this CB on the bike, but I do have the CB and use it for non-motorcycle related items and it works well if you have line of sight to who you are talking to.

Having said that, I have the J&M CB-2003 on my FJR and really like it, but it is expensive and would have never done it if I didn't get as much use out of it as I do. I have the CFRG-D setup integrating it with my GPS, phone, radar, MP3 and FRS radio.

 

[Jim in Phoenix]

One of the guys I ride with had a similar system set up on his Honda ST1100 (Midland). It worked very well. I'm not sure what kind of helmet set he used. I was using a tank bag mounted system from Chatterbox at the time on a 2000 Concours and had trouble talking due to wind noise (I'm pretty sure this is no longer sold). Here in AZ, I have had communication over 5 miles using standard CB. I am now using the J&M handlebar mounted system on my FJR1300 and am very satisfied. I believe it adds to the safety on the rides.