Wondering about communications setups

[RaYzerman19]

For the G4 owners out there ...
have you found a way to charge it on the bike? Cig lighter USB socket or something?

Battery life is longer than a Q2, which can last more than a day. My new G4 has gone 2 days without a charge, so really not a concern if you charge it at night.

 

[teamx]

All three of us in my family ride, and ride together often. In all three bikes there is a Starcom Advance (Starcom Digital in my FJR), and Yaesu FT-60 2-way radios. The Starcoms mount nice, but you're right about a lack of mounting options for 2-way radios on bikes. My son puts his radio under the seat on his Yamaha T-Max, my wife slips hers into the side pocket in the tunnel bag on her Suzuki Burgman 650, and I have a small tank bag for my radio.
I'm a VHF ham radio guy as well, and I've been following this particular radio - the Yaesu FTM-10R - it's specifically designed for motorsports with a removable head unit that is weather-resistant and a cable so the main unit can be located under the seat or where ever. Check it out at

https://www.yaesu.com/indexVS.cfm?cmd=Displ...mp;isArchived=0

Now that I've looked it up again, I think I might go buy it!!

Looks really nice I use my Yaesu VX270 on my Husky but need to come up with something for the FJR.

 

[teamx]

So can you plug in a CB into the StarCom?

 

[Aasland]

So can you plug in a CB into the StarCom?

Yes, if there's a StarCom connector cable thingy and a hole in the CB deelybob to put it.

 

[The Flying Dutchman]

Why no love for Chatterbox? I never see anyone on the forum mention Chatterbox when communication systems come up. I do not have any communication system, just curious...

My first system was a chatterbox - it flat sucked. They probably have improved in the last 5 or so years. I don't know anyone that I ride with that currently uses one, they all had bad experiences when they tried them a few years ago.

hated my chatterbox, but love my starcom

 

[DeanFJR]

I use the BlueAnt Stereo F4 Interphone Motorcycle Kit. It allows me to talk wirelessly on my cell phone, talk to my wife via intercom feature who is using another F4 Motorcycle Kit. Also lets me hear turn by turn GPS direction and MP3 from my Zumo 550. I have the Wirevo D1000 dongle hooked up the Zumo 550 and it lets me hear the MP3's in stereo. Been using it for six months and have no regrets. :yahoo:

BlueAnt F4

 

[FJRGuy]

I've got an AutoCom and am very happy with it for music, phone, gps, and rider-to-pillion. Not great results with Bike-to-bike but that, IMO, is a function of my GMRS radio and not the AudioCom. Before I started looking I had only heard of ChatterBox. To me, having read and experienced what I have, ChatterBox is the McDonalds of comm. I considered StarCom but was lead to believe that the AutoCom had better sound quality. I looked at Bluetooth but the tech just wasn't developed far enough to meet all my demands. I'm waiting for the next breakthrough in Comm tech before looking to 'upgrade.'

AutoCom did not go out of business, but it did lay everyone off in mid December and file the UK equivalent to Chapter 11. My understanding is that the company has been purchased, not by StarCom, but by the company that owns StarCom. This may sound like splitting hairs but is significantly different from a business perspective. IMHO this is a good thing for the future of Motorcycle communications.

 

[Checkswrecks]

I've got a set of Chatterbox XBi2 units so can add a bit. The units themselves work well and have been out long enough that I got them separately off Craigslist for $100 each. I can get that out when selling them, too, so have a lot less invested than most comm systems would be. They've had no problem doing the bluetooth thing with each other, my Blackberry, my son's phone/mp3, etc. I can plug a patch cable from the MP3 into the XBi2 for music or use a BT dongle. The times I've tried the phone, people were surprised to hear me say that I'm on the bike. The intercom works well if within visual range for bike to bike.

People knock the bluetooth devices in having a battery range that would be undesirable for long distances. These things go about 5-7 hours, depending on how I use them, and are easy enough to swap that I don't even have to remove my helmet. That's 10-14 hours. You can not charge and use a unit at the same time, but you could get one of these and plug in the spare unit: https://www.denniskirk.com/jsp/product_cata...;utm_medium=cse

One thing I really like about the XBi2s is that the headset is not attached and the headset jack on the intercom means that you can change style of headset. I've got an open face and full face headset and have found that if the full face headset is installed, the chin bar of the Arai Corsair is too tight, while the Shoei is OK. With the Arai, I have to remove the velcroed mic before putting the helmet on and off or the mic will catch on my chin. Because of this, the open face headset is actually easier to use for the full-face Arai, because the boom mic is easy to move or push out of the way.

The headset jack is a TRRS, similar to the one on an IPhone, but wired differently. I've tried versions of IPhone type earbuds that have a built in mic and haven't found one that plays nicely with the Chatterbox connector. Plus the mics were not wind-protected well enough.

Which brings me to the down side of these and most others. IMHO - all helmet speakers suck eggs. You just can not beat earbuds for music and to cut road noise, instead of adding to the noise. After the honeymoon period with the XBi2, I went back to earbuds for just listening to the radio on my commute and use the XBi2 for when I'm out with somebody. No syncing the bluetooth for just riding home, no trying to turn the little speakers up enough to hear muddied music, no microphone issues.

The next thing for me to try is the Chatterbox "Student Racing Headset for XBi / XBi2 Communication System" (Model number CBXBIRSHS) I think that it's going to be the nice intermediate step that has a boom mic from the open face helmet, and will allow plugging in any earbuds for the sound. Here's a photo: https://classiccruiser.com/product.asp?item=847590