Radar Detector - Helmet Heads up display

[jmgrif]

Just asking if anyone has experience with the H.A.R.D. system or others. I would prefer to hide the receiver in the helmet cheek pad but wonder if it is too bulky? I wear a Shoei RF 1000.

Thanks

Mark

 

[FJRocket]

I don't have a Shoei, but I do use the HARD system and like it a lot. I have my detector buried deep in the bike and the HARD keeps the setup stealthy. It works very well, too. And not uncomfortable at all in my Scorpion.

 

[na1g]

I worry about having that hard plastic box inside my helmet. It's not gonna be good if you happen to hit your head right there. I did use the HARD briefly a few years ago, but seemed to be replacing batteries too often for my liking on trips. It does work and gets you attention for sure. Scared the heck out of me the first time it went off at night!

I now use an LED display (from Aerostich) that is velcroed to the top of my Escort. Very bright, but maybe not bright enough in direct sunlight. Pretty good, tho, and no batteries required. On my ST1300 I had the Escort mounted dead-center on the dash where the LEDs were very noticeable. On my FJR I mounted the unit on top of the clutch reservoir which is not so good, so Im looking for a better location and mount.

pete :cold:

 

[jmgrif]

Great! Both sides of the fence. I will be mounting my GPS and XM on my Techmount and GAURAULD is selling me one of his adapter plates for the master cylinder! I would love to bury the Radar unit in the bike somewhere to hide it but haven't found a suitable location?

 

[blkredlinedrvr]

I have a Sensoro Traveler detector with an audio out that I run to an "audio combiner" (not sure what else to call it lol) along with my GPS and I get sound that way. It's not wireless but still works pretty good and I get Radar detector audio with it too. One way I've thought about doing it is to mount the mixer somewhere on the bike and plug an FM modulator to it then run with an FM receiver on my person.

I do like the HARD system though but neither of my radar detectors are compatible with that system.

 

[FJRless]

I've used HARD for years. In my Arai I was able to mount the receiver to the chin bar inside. There was plenty of distance between it and my chin. Did a 90 mph get off with it and no injuries above the neck. On My Shoei, it's too close for comfort so I placed it on top of the cheek pad. I have velcrow on the receiver and it sticks to the material the cheek pad is made of.

As far as batteries go, if you're careful to turn the receiver off EVERYTIME you stop riding, the batteries will last for months riding every weekend for hours on end. Same with a distance trip. You can easily travel from CA to NY on one set. I carry a spare set of batteries with me in case I forget to turn it off.

The light should not be in your field of vision. I position it in my peripherie. At night though, it is bright.

Hope this helps.

 

[jmgrif]

Unless I get stuck I never ride at night? I have been looking a a Bluetooth communication setup that if it works I won't have any wires running from the bike to me! If it works? Normally if I am not riding around home and on a trip I usually stay on the road about 1-2 weeks, but this year I am planning a trip across Canada and then down into the USA and back across to the west coast, then north back home! Right now I expect to be on the road for a least 2 months. Yippee!

 

[wheatonFJR]

Sounds like a great trip. Have fun....and don't get any tickets.

Remember, 55 means 55.

Even in the desert...

 

[CAJW]

I've used HARD for years. In my Arai I was able to mount the receiver to the chin bar inside. There was plenty of distance between it and my chin. Did a 90 mph get off with it and no injuries above the neck. On My Shoei, it's too close for comfort so I placed it on top of the cheek pad. I have velcrow on the receiver and it sticks to the material the cheek pad is made of.

As far as batteries go, if you're careful to turn the receiver off EVERYTIME you stop riding, the batteries will last for months riding every weekend for hours on end. Same with a distance trip. You can easily travel from CA to NY on one set. I carry a spare set of batteries with me in case I forget to turn it off.

The light should not be in your field of vision. I position it in my peripherie. At night though, it is bright.

Hope this helps.

I have the same experience as FJRLess, battery management will help extend them for quite awhile. I've used my H.A.R.D. in my Scorpion EXO400 and my current Shoei X-11. Fits inside both, but the Shoei was a bit more of a challenge to tuck it away inside, but it works. The exterior Velcro attached location is always an option. At night, I just turn the LED away and tuck it up in the liner, as the light is easy enough to detect even when pointed toward the liner.

 

[tmonroe]

Just asking if anyone has experience with the H.A.R.D. system or others. I would prefer to hide the receiver in the helmet cheek pad but wonder if it is too bulky? I wear a Shoei RF 1000.Thanks

Mark

I had this crazy idea that seems to be working, and I'm just finalizing it now.

I put the audio output from my escort detector into an FM transmitter, which I then pick up on my scala rider.

I tried a couple of different FM transmitters before I found one that I could reliably and clearly hear in the helmet. (part of this is finding a frequency that's clear everywhere I ride). I got delayed on finalzing the set up, because I had to send my detector into Escort to have it fixed. Now that I got it back, its on my list of projects to fix.

I have my MP3 player and the detector feeding into the FM transmitter on a Y cable, and then I hear the audio in my helmet. When the detector alerts, I hear the beeps along with the music. I set the volume of the MP3 player low, and the volume of the detector high to make it easy to tell the difference. The beeps also vary depending on the type of radar. I suspect for city driving, you could probably safely ignore X band, and maybe even K band, and it would eliminate almost all false alarms (although false alarms do tell you the detector is doing *something*...

The initial setup is a little weird/difficult, but once all the bugs are ironed out, I should be able to just turn on the scala rider when I get to the bike, and then turn on my Mp3 player and listen to music and if I hear beeps, I'll know the detector is alerting.

Part of this is that I wanted to conceal the detector, so I'm mounting it in a small locking box on my dash shelf. The N/Line dash shelves have been out of stock for several months, so I had to wait until I got mine to make more progress.

 

[FJRless]

Just asking if anyone has experience with the H.A.R.D. system or others. I would prefer to hide the receiver in the helmet cheek pad but wonder if it is too bulky? I wear a Shoei RF 1000.Thanks

Mark

I had this crazy idea that seems to be working, and I'm just finalizing it now.

I put the audio output from my escort detector into an FM transmitter, which I then pick up on my scala rider.

I tried a couple of different FM transmitters before I found one that I could reliably and clearly hear in the helmet. (part of this is finding a frequency that's clear everywhere I ride). I got delayed on finalzing the set up, because I had to send my detector into Escort to have it fixed. Now that I got it back, its on my list of projects to fix.

I have my MP3 player and the detector feeding into the FM transmitter on a Y cable, and then I hear the audio in my helmet. When the detector alerts, I hear the beeps along with the music. I set the volume of the MP3 player low, and the volume of the detector high to make it easy to tell the difference. The beeps also vary depending on the type of radar. I suspect for city driving, you could probably safely ignore X band, and maybe even K band, and it would eliminate almost all false alarms (although false alarms do tell you the detector is doing *something*...

The initial setup is a little weird/difficult, but once all the bugs are ironed out, I should be able to just turn on the scala rider when I get to the bike, and then turn on my Mp3 player and listen to music and if I hear beeps, I'll know the detector is alerting.

Part of this is that I wanted to conceal the detector, so I'm mounting it in a small locking box on my dash shelf. The N/Line dash shelves have been out of stock for several months, so I had to wait until I got mine to make more progress.

I tried using audio for about 6 months. Had nothing but problems with it in its reliability. I was unable to work all the bugs out. With the cost of a ticket/insurance premium increases I decided it wasn't worth it. Have used HARD for years and have never looked back.

 

[jmgrif]

Looks like H.A.R.D. may be winning? While were on the subject... has anyone had any real success with Bluethooth? Communication, GPS, Cell phone etc? Just asking!

 

[jmgrif]

I just back from the Bike show and looked at a Bluetooth Rider to Rider headset. Has anyone used one or know anything about them, reliability, quality of sound, range? Their site

https://www.torkworld.com/Rydercom.html The sales speak suggests up to 17 hrs before charging, but their advertising says 10hrs?

 

[markjenn]

FYI, if you're considering the H.A.R.D. system, be aware that they've changed the design to now use an external AAA battery pack rather than watch batteries internal to the receiver. While battery life is up and battery cost is down, this is a huge regression in my book - you have to velcro the battery pack to the back of the helmet, completely losing the self-contained stealth aspect.

I'm going with one of these:

https://www.marcparnes.com/Visual_Alert.htm

- Mark

 

[jmgrif]

My detector is a Solo S2 which isn't supported by that technology?

 

[FJRless]

FYI, if you're considering the H.A.R.D. system, be aware that they've changed the design to now use an external AAA battery pack rather than watch batteries internal to the receiver. While battery life is up and battery cost is down, this is a huge regression in my book - you have to velcro the battery pack to the back of the helmet, completely losing the self-contained stealth aspect.
I'm going with one of these:

https://www.marcparnes.com/Visual_Alert.htm

- Mark

This is a game changer. I'll have to nurse my 'old-style' HARD so it last me for the rest of my riding days.

 

[Checkswrecks]

Just waiting for delivery on a XBi2 bluetooth after finding a super deal:

https://www.webbikeworld.com/motorcycle-int...hatterbox-xbi2/

It'll pair to the radio and Blackberry, or, with a dongle, it'll pair to the output of the radar detector or most anything else!

 

[lnewlf]

I've had a H.A.R.D. on ever since it can out and it works great! Somewhat annoying at night if you get a long lasting alert and batteries die if you forget to turn it off at the end of the day. But it is now on the shelf ever since I put on Mamaha touring screen and I can easily hear the Escort at any speed..

 

[Moosehead]

I have a buddy with the HARD system. The led light is very bright and noticeable esp at night. It's completely wireless to the helmet and is small enough to be hidden in the cheek pad. The big downside is the battery life. It was getting maybe 40 hours of use instead of the 120 it's advertised to get (and that's turning it off every time the helmet comes off) He was able to overcome this shortfall by buying a 4 pack AAA battery holder with a switch for $.99 and soldering it to the circuit board. The HARD unit is in one cheek pad and the battery pack is in the other. So far with 4 batteries it lasted all last summer. (over 20000 km).

As an aside, Circuit City has a program when you buy batteries that they will replace them if they die within 2 years. Very useful if your HARD is using batteries like crazy.