Starcomm - Took the plunge

[mdisher]

OK, I had to decide between Starcom or PowerCommander and I chose StarCom for now.

It will be here tomorrow and I plan to install it to be used for the Indy Gawker ride with wifey or my daughter if wifey finds her self grounded.

I bought all the necessary stuff to be able to hook in the iPod, Valentine, and Quest (though I don't need to hear that chick really), as well as the Cell. Don't need bike to bike yet. Dad might do this next year.

I plan to mount this puppy under the seat I suppose?

Then the head set cords do what? Lay under/strap/just under the seat somewhere?

Audio cords run up to the front where the V1 is already mounted as well as the Quest, and XM was?

iPod will lay in tank bag, so Audio from it can also go to cable up there as well all in a nice neat little bundle I suppose.

Does all that sound about right? I plan on using one of the Er6/headsets for the Starcom since some have complained about the speakers. For as much as my wife rides with me I think she'll be fine with any sound at all. It's more about the intercom for her.

I hope I don't regret this.

 

[quicksilver]

I plan to mount this puppy under the seat I suppose?

Does all that sound about right? I plan on using one of the Er6/headsets for the Starcom since some have complained about the speakers. For as much as my wife rides with me I think she'll be fine with any sound at all. It's more about the intercom for her.

I like my tankbag setup. Be glad to show you Saturday. Everything is in the bag and portable. When someone switched me bikes at the EOM, I just pulled my magnetic bag and 12V plug. Slapped it on his bike and jacked into his outlet. I was up and running.

I have considered an underseat setup many times. But, I've concluded that I would not be happy without adding bulkhead plugs, and I don't want the extra complexity and cost.

Personally, I think the Starcom headset speakers are way strong. I couldn't considered 1/2 volume.

I rock out regularly.

 

[mdisher]

I am all about eliminating wires between me and getting fuel

That's my current dilemma and having my MixIT and stuff that's already mounted routed back to the tank bag for sound, then sound from tank bag to my head.

Because the V1-s sound's controller also carries power, that's two cords power out, then sound back, plus power to tank bag for charging cell phone, iPod, V1, Mixit and what not.

Then my earphone cord, which flaps in the wind going into my tank bag, which I then sit on and rip an earphone out of my ear. When I get gas or stop it's a mess.

I need, and want to be more efficient and wanted intercom too.

It only gets worse when I break out the gerbings and that cord too.

Plus having hard mounted doesn't bother me, I don't always have a tank bag nor need one. I also rarely switch bikes but I see your point. I may hard mount or get the adapter plate that mounts the jacks if this works out like I like.

So your pillion cord running up into your tank bag doesn't bother you?

I know I or her would get off and yank my tank bag across the parking lot.

-MD

 

[SilveradoSlick]

Put mine in the tool tray and got the bulkhead connectors. Mounted one in the fairing lower on the left and one in the tail section. Drilled a hole into the glove box and kept the MP3 player in there.

 

[OrangevaleFJR]

stuck mine in the tool tray and have the cables come out between the seats...tuck them in when not in use. I keep meaning to get the bulkhead connectors, but it never gets done.

well...it's worked for 26k miles so far

 

[mdisher]

Starcom helmet/headsets...

What's the secret to securing them? Seems to me a good yank would just pull that stuff right out?

What am I missing here? Hrms....

The headset setup is definitely the most time consuming piece. Holy molly.

But speaker location is everything. Moved them a bit and you'd think I cranked my iPod up to 11. Yowsa.

 

[KYFJR]

I ran all the wires on the inside middle of my flip up helmet and used the left pad snap to secure my main wire in case I wanted to change layout. It has worked well enough that I haven't changed yet. When I don't connect I just tuck the main wire dangling from my helmet into my jacket zip shut.

I used the stock speakers because I'm still in the "tickled pink" stage and don't know any different.

I've done the same as Orangevale except when I use the MP3 player or motorola 2 way I stick those in a small tank bag so that I can change volume easy enough. I've notice when I use the stock shield I crank it up more and when I use the cal-sci (like now) I don't need too.

The phone works great too! I use a blackberry and the only time folks know I'm on the feej is when I'm using the stock shield in the down position.

Interesting to note that I've tried 2 different helmet set ups to see which folks preferred when talking on the phone and noone liked my Shoei set up - they preferred the HJC flip up.

Good luck!

 

[mdisher]

Alright, I think I have it...

Err...

OK, so I mounted this baby under my seat.

Of course I talked Jeff out of sending me the 'right' cable for the Valentine-1 but the one he sent me will do. Thought I have to use an adapter. I knew it had the same plug as the Quest, so I chose the cable that had 'Quest' in the description, silly me.

As I mentioned I mounted it under the drivers seat in the tool tray. Mounting might be a strong word, the thing weighs nothing and it's kind of just laying there for now with some foam tucked in to keep it from moving around.

I peeled off the plastic around the tank, lifted the tank, and removed my battery pannel. I tapped it into my battery tender cable. I also ran the V1/Garmin cable and an Audio cable up to the front tripple.

I used Spiral wrap to tidy it all together and make it look purty and keep everything together.

found it at Wally World today, more than enough for $2 bucks.

Like so:

(I didn't take actual pictures cause I was too lazy).

I re-did my V1 power, yanked my hard wire power adapter from my old Van and tapped that in too, plugged in a cable and dropped it into the void behind the battery. Warchild was right, there isn't **** for room on the 06's to hide or mount a damn thing. I looped that cable up to the wire looms on the forks so it's there when I need it.

I heavy duty velcro'd the V1's remote sound thingy to the side of the brake cable resivoir. Plug power into that and I'll make a 7" cord tomorrow at work to reach from that to the V1 which sits on top of the resevior.

It will be nice. To remove I only need to unplug 2 things. Waterproof-ness comes in the form of a heavy duty ziplock bag and rubber band. Have used that method now for a couple years so far so good. Plus being local, Valentine fixes them for free if you drop them off.

For sound, well, I have that spare music cable I ran to the tripple tree as well. I can plug that into the Garman or plug an extender onto it and use the iPod in the tank bag.

Yeah, I'm gonna like this.

Setting up the helmets was a *****.

Right now the phone cord is coiled up under the seat. I don't want to talke to people while I'm on the bike. Made that decision a long time ago, but I have it just in case. I can pull it up into the tank bag if need be but that will defeat my cord issue that I so wanted to get rid of.

When I get two-ways, I may re-do the loom and add a phone cord and two way cord to the harness so everything I could ever want will just be up front. I didn't have time to do this all before Saturday so I rolled with it.

Git-R-Dun.

My MixIt-2 will be for sales shortly. 1 Month old works well if that's what you want.

Wh00t!

-MD

 

[KYFJR]

Right now the phone cord is coiled up under the seat. I don't want to talke to people while I'm on the bike. Made that decision a long time ago, but I have it just in case.

I take it you won't use the bike for commuting to work? Or...you don't get many calls from work...or, you just ignore them. Hmmm. Maybe a practice I should look into! I only use it going to work - going home is my time in which I prefer to hear the engine wine <-- music to my ears!

 

[mdisher]

Right now the phone cord is coiled up under the seat. I don't want to talke to people while I'm on the bike. Made that decision a long time ago, but I have it just in case.

I take it you won't use the bike for commuting to work? Or...you don't get many calls from work...or, you just ignore them. Hmmm. Maybe a practice I should look into! I only use it going to work - going home is my time in which I prefer to hear the engine wine <-- music to my ears!

I commute every day I used to use the Scala rider blue tooth headset with my prior phones but it didn't work right with the phone I have now. (But I had a beta unit, so a new one might work better).

But yeah, the distraction thing is a big part of it. We actually have a policy in our manual that employees are NOT allowed to use their phones while while driving on company business. We don't want that liability, and trust me, we have plenty of people that can barely walk and chew gum.

However I do have one of _those_ jobs. But I decided this year that there isn't anything _that_ important that they can't leave a message. My commute isn't that long, 30 minutes, 50-60 if I wander off.

My ride home is my wind down so I don't kill the wife and kids and kick the dogs. My comute in on the other hand, sometimes I miss taking or makeing calls but it's not that bad. I don't miss it that much. Maybe I will change. I'll revisit it in the spring, and probalby add the bluetooth module.

 

[Badcat]

I mounted mine under the seat with audio cables run to the glove box for my cell phone and Ipod and one to the GPS mount. The CB or FRS radio is under the rear seat. It is easy to do and doesn't take long. My headset cables come out in the hand grab on the left side. I really like the Starcom earplug speakers. Good sound and comfortable in the ear.

 

[Greg E.]

Since you guys have had your Starcoms for awhile now, How do you like 'em? I'm trying to decide between it and the Autocom. I'd appreciate feedback.

 

[twowheelnut]

Tool's tool tray, here.

Like the Starcom. Don't have it set up for two up riding just right, but that's ok, silence is bliss.

 

[mdisher]

Since you guys have had your Starcoms for awhile now, How do you like 'em? I'm trying to decide between it and the Autocom. I'd appreciate feedback.

It's awesome.

It is however all in the setup. For one-up riding, I'm set... Still have some two-up intercom issues that I think will be taken care of. The weather and my wife's schedule have not cooperated in the last two months so we haven't tried.

You can put me down the in the "Happy with it" category.

Jeff at sportbike effects has been awesome to work with.

-MD