Can anyone recommend a good blue tooth headset? Mostly for riding 2-up but will the ability to talk with other riders if needed. Looking around there are a lot of options and they all have their pros and cons. I had an old UCLEAR set that I liked but it finally died. I don't know whether to stay with UCLEAR or try something else. I typically don't chat with other riders. It's just me, my music and passenger.
I have been running the Sena 10s for a while, and I like it well enough. You can sync it with others you are riding with and talk to them as you ride along. The sound quality is surprisingly good, and the wind noise it much less than you might expect. The buttons and pairing can be finicky, tho I think they have improved that quite a bit since I got mine with software updates.
The in helmet speakers are decent, although maybe not loud enough for freeway use. Running around town they are good. One thing I also like about them is you can plug in your own in ear headphones with a 3.5mm jack. I use these which have significant sound dampening and they can plug right into the side of my helmet via the Sena. This is my current setup, and it seems to work fairly well. It pairs with my phone for calls and music. It's kinda odd roaring down the freeway and having a normal conversation with someone on the phone, but it works.
The eyes of the ranger are upon you.
2000 Suzuki DR-Z400
2005 BMW R1200GS
2003 Yamaha V-Star 1100
1978 CX-500 Scrambler (in progress)
I've got a couple of Sena 20s EVO units (Bluetooth only, no Mesh) that haven't been used in several years. No mounts, just the head units. I'll dig them out of a storage bin and see if they'll still hold a charge.
The mounts are about $85 each on Amazon. Probably cheaper elsewhere.
Bill
'05 R1200GS, '89 TransAlp, '05 WR450f, '05 WR250f, '04 TW200 and a 2018 PCX 150
Do you find mesh network necessary? I suppose it depends on your riding style. I’ve only used comms with passengers. Do most riders use comms on group rides?
@trent Depends on the rides. Most of the time, no, although I wish folks would use the mesh comms more. It's really nice to be able to talk to others during the ride and share info.
In the past part of it was just the hassle, but looking at it now it seems there is something called 30k which basically automatically pairs (when enabled) with nearby folks making it much easier. I haven't looked into this in a while so I may be wrong, but my sense is this functionality is new-ish. At least newer than when I was using it. I'm going to update my 10s and see what happens. This is just a brief refamiliarization of this tech, so take what I say with a grain of salt. I'll play more with it over the next couple days.
The eyes of the ranger are upon you.
2000 Suzuki DR-Z400
2005 BMW R1200GS
2003 Yamaha V-Star 1100
1978 CX-500 Scrambler (in progress)
Mesh is not necessary for rider/passenger communication. Bluetooth works fine.
In my experience, none of the Bluetooth or Mesh solutions are great bike-to-bike offroad. Bluetooth distance is pretty much limited to line-of-sight. If you can't see the rider ahead or behind you, you probably won't be able to talk to them. On the street, the Mesh units are an advantage because each unit acts as a repeater, daisy-chaining the signal from the front to the rear of the group. NOTE: That's a non-technical description of a Mesh network's behavior from the user's standpoint.
The guys I ride with use Sena 50 series Mesh units. They work well on the street and are OK offroad for everything except riding trails in dense woodland or mountainous areas. I know riders who swear by the Cardo offerings, but I've never used one.
In Baja, we use Bluetooth-enabled GMRS radios mounted on the bike with a wired PTT button on the bars. Connect the radio to your helmet communication system via Bluetooth, and you have comms that are good for several miles regardless of terrain. The downside to this arrangement is that pairing the helmet and radio (and keeping it paired) is often a PITA; the PTT hardware and radio mounts are pricey, and to be legal in the US, you're supposed to have an FCC License. A license is cheap enough at $35 for ten years, but many folks don't want an additional government paper trail.
I found the two 20s units. They both took the firmware update to the latest version, v2.2.2 and are charging now.
'05 R1200GS, '89 TransAlp, '05 WR450f, '05 WR250f, '04 TW200 and a 2018 PCX 150
@kaptslow Thanks for the clarification.
I really like the push to talk concept. A friend was recommending a radio like this to me a while back. Are they compatible?
The eyes of the ranger are upon you.
2000 Suzuki DR-Z400
2005 BMW R1200GS
2003 Yamaha V-Star 1100
1978 CX-500 Scrambler (in progress)
My friends and I run Cardo units using mesh and I very much like being able to talk to the others in the group. Last year, John yelled out "deer" and I looked to my right just in time to avoid a possible collision. More people run Sena than Cardo but the best unit is the one all your friends use. Cardo will connect to Sena but more often than not, after a half hour of frustrating effort to get them to connect we give up and someone gets left out of the rider-to-rider communication.
A new idea that is gaining popularity is using Discord to communicate. Simply download the Discord app to your phone, Bluetooth your phone to your headset and wherever you have phone service you have full communication with no limit on distance. The limitation of course is that you must have phone service for Discord to work.
@kaptslow Thanks for the clarification.
I really like the push to talk concept. A friend was recommending a radio like this to me a while back. Are they compatible?
Looking at the spec sheet, it doesn't look like this radio supports Bluetooth.
'05 R1200GS, '89 TransAlp, '05 WR450f, '05 WR250f, '04 TW200 and a 2018 PCX 150
Well, after 6 hours of contentedly flashing at one another, both 20S EVO comm units are at 80% charge. It looks like the batteries are OK.
Do you know if there's a private message function on the website?
'05 R1200GS, '89 TransAlp, '05 WR450f, '05 WR250f, '04 TW200 and a 2018 PCX 150
Do you know if there's a private message function on the website?
There will be, but isn't yet. I'll have that functionality up soon.
The eyes of the ranger are upon you.
2000 Suzuki DR-Z400
2005 BMW R1200GS
2003 Yamaha V-Star 1100
1978 CX-500 Scrambler (in progress)
@kaptslow User mentioning and private messages are installed. Enjoy!
Alex
The eyes of the ranger are upon you.
2000 Suzuki DR-Z400
2005 BMW R1200GS
2003 Yamaha V-Star 1100
1978 CX-500 Scrambler (in progress)
I have friends who swear by the Rugged Radios for Coms. See more at https://www.ruggedradios.com/ ,
I have friends who swear by the Rugged Radios for Coms. See more at https://www.ruggedradios.com/ ,
Rugged Radios makes top-shelf hardware. I'd bet that over half the pro riders/drivers in Baja use their stuff.
'05 R1200GS, '89 TransAlp, '05 WR450f, '05 WR250f, '04 TW200 and a 2018 PCX 150