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Looking for new Comms - what do you use?
- Thread starter easysuper
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Yabbadabbadoo
Active member
I had the UClear Motion Infinity sets for snowmobiling and then put them on our Spyder helmets for the summer. They worked well but in time had problems with their flimsy connectors and the rubber parts eventually disintegrated. Most of my friends had Sena's so I purchased a set of Sena 50S and a 50C for me. They work just as well as the UClear and their build quality seems much better. We've been using them for about 3 years now and they've been great. Now our regular group of 6 to 8 riders all have Sena's and we have a great time talking to each other on our rides.
mecsw500
Well-known member
My wife and I use Sena SRL2 units in Shoei GT Air 2 and Neotech 2 helmets. The helmets are coming up to 5 years old so next year it will be new helmet time. The SRL2 units work well, having been significantly improved over time by loading newer firmware updates into them. The fact they support Macs for upgrading is a positive.
I would have had it a no brain-er to go to the 3 models of the Shoei helmets with the new Sena SRL3 comm systems but for some reason Shoei have moved to a locking visor that requires a control on the front to raise the visor. I know I will absolutely hate that so we are not sure what to get next.
The Sena SRL2 units have been reasonably good, better than the externally mounted Sena units we had before on Arai helmets but that's over ten year old technology. The batteries on the SRL2s still last all day but I wish they had a USB-C connector, not a USB-B-Micro connector, as carrying another cable type around is a pain.
As Arai doesn't do a modular helmet we won't be going back to those so I'm not quite sure what we are going to do and whether we stick with Sena or move to Cardo.
I would have had it a no brain-er to go to the 3 models of the Shoei helmets with the new Sena SRL3 comm systems but for some reason Shoei have moved to a locking visor that requires a control on the front to raise the visor. I know I will absolutely hate that so we are not sure what to get next.
The Sena SRL2 units have been reasonably good, better than the externally mounted Sena units we had before on Arai helmets but that's over ten year old technology. The batteries on the SRL2s still last all day but I wish they had a USB-C connector, not a USB-B-Micro connector, as carrying another cable type around is a pain.
As Arai doesn't do a modular helmet we won't be going back to those so I'm not quite sure what we are going to do and whether we stick with Sena or move to Cardo.
jdgretz
Well-known member
I'm still trying to break in this new helmet. *sigh* I find I'm wearing my out of date GT Air most of the time. I hope continued wearing will eventually (SOON!) get it to the point where I can wear it for more than 45 minutes to an hour. I have an extensive trip planned for the end of July and the month of August. I'd hate to have to buy another new helmet and comm system before the trip.
jdg
racoon
Well-known member
I've always had problems with helmets putting pressure on my forehead. I bought my first bike and helmet from a friend who owned a Yamaha shop. When I complained about the pain on my forehead he had me bring the helmet to his shop.
He had me explain where it was pressing on my head pulled the padded lining out, and rubbed a baseball against the hard foam padding in the helmet to compress the foam a little, then replaced the lining and had me try it again. Several rounds of trying on the helmet, and then using a baseball to reform the hard foam lining of the helmet and it fit perfectly. When it finally fit, he put the baseball back in his desk drawer and we went for a ride. That was more than 30 years ago with a red helmet that matched the red Yamaha Seca XJ550 that I had.
When I bought my white Sea2Sky I bought a white modular helmet... and a baseball.
Dasmoetorhead
Well-known member
Nothing LOL.
I'm a Zen rider
I'm a Zen rider
UtahPete
Well-known member
Good info, Deanna. You and Peter Aawen both seem to think they're superior to the Senas (which I'm beginning to dislike)
mecsw500
Well-known member
My wife and I about 5 years ago started using a Shoei GT Air II and a Shoei Neotec II.
We fitted the Sena SRL2 comms systems which were the standard fitment for those helmets.
Our experience has been mixed though things have improved over subsequent firmware releases. I'd say they work pretty well now after the last few items were cleaned up in the latest release.
The good parts:
______________
First, the batteries are very good and are still holding an excellent charge after five years. They are always plugged in to a charger when not being worn. This has appeared to do them no harm.
The intercom between rider and passenger is reasonably good sound wise. I take my hearing aids out before putting my helmet on and I can still hear my wife clearly.
In five years I've never used any of the fancy features such as voice selection or even answering my phone. I do use Apple Maps and have my iPhone pair to the rider helmet to get voice directions and that works well, muting the intercom when it's issuing those directions so you don't miss anything.
It's very well integrated with the Shoei helmets. It works well with either the modular helmet with the boom microphone or the fixed face helmet.
It's easy to upgrade firmware from a Mac and configure them from an iPhone app. Firmware updates do fix issues.
We've never had any problems with rain. We ride in all weathers and the SRL2 units have performed without issue even in the heaviest of downpours. However, I don't know about the external mounting units on other helmets as we've not used those in many years.
The bad parts:
_____________
Sometimes interference squeals at us in our helmets at quite a volume. It's rare but it does happen occasionally. I've no idea what causes it though.
Earlier firmware releases used to drop connections between rider and passenger, but the most recent release has fixed that problem for good it seems.
_____________
Next spring our helmets will age out and we were planning to replace our Shoei version II helmets with the version III helmets. For this they recommend moving to the Sena SRL3, though they say the SRL2 will still work. However, the speakers are upgraded and that may help my deteriorating hearing.
I've never had anything but Sena units. The original externally mounted ones on Arai helmets were OK, but they had disconnection issues and I don't like the systems sticking out from the side of my helmet to be honest. The internally flush mounted SRL2 series are far better and got better with each firmware release.
Now, depending upon what features you want, all I can say is we just use basic comms and map directions. I've never used the FM radio or th voice recognition system. I just power up each helmet and wait for the phone to connect. It tells you in the speakers when everything is connected and that takes less than ten seconds. Then I press the center button and five seconds later I have comms with with my wife. It always reliably connects this way. I know you can control all of the features with voice, but I doubt it will understand my broad East End of London Cockney accent. My wife's from Philly, so that might not help either.
So that's my experiences. Other brands might be superior for your use case, but for the simple setup we use the current Sena SRL2 seems to do what it says on the tin at least.
Good luck finding what you need.
We fitted the Sena SRL2 comms systems which were the standard fitment for those helmets.
Our experience has been mixed though things have improved over subsequent firmware releases. I'd say they work pretty well now after the last few items were cleaned up in the latest release.
The good parts:
______________
First, the batteries are very good and are still holding an excellent charge after five years. They are always plugged in to a charger when not being worn. This has appeared to do them no harm.
The intercom between rider and passenger is reasonably good sound wise. I take my hearing aids out before putting my helmet on and I can still hear my wife clearly.
In five years I've never used any of the fancy features such as voice selection or even answering my phone. I do use Apple Maps and have my iPhone pair to the rider helmet to get voice directions and that works well, muting the intercom when it's issuing those directions so you don't miss anything.
It's very well integrated with the Shoei helmets. It works well with either the modular helmet with the boom microphone or the fixed face helmet.
It's easy to upgrade firmware from a Mac and configure them from an iPhone app. Firmware updates do fix issues.
We've never had any problems with rain. We ride in all weathers and the SRL2 units have performed without issue even in the heaviest of downpours. However, I don't know about the external mounting units on other helmets as we've not used those in many years.
The bad parts:
_____________
Sometimes interference squeals at us in our helmets at quite a volume. It's rare but it does happen occasionally. I've no idea what causes it though.
Earlier firmware releases used to drop connections between rider and passenger, but the most recent release has fixed that problem for good it seems.
_____________
Next spring our helmets will age out and we were planning to replace our Shoei version II helmets with the version III helmets. For this they recommend moving to the Sena SRL3, though they say the SRL2 will still work. However, the speakers are upgraded and that may help my deteriorating hearing.
I've never had anything but Sena units. The original externally mounted ones on Arai helmets were OK, but they had disconnection issues and I don't like the systems sticking out from the side of my helmet to be honest. The internally flush mounted SRL2 series are far better and got better with each firmware release.
Now, depending upon what features you want, all I can say is we just use basic comms and map directions. I've never used the FM radio or th voice recognition system. I just power up each helmet and wait for the phone to connect. It tells you in the speakers when everything is connected and that takes less than ten seconds. Then I press the center button and five seconds later I have comms with with my wife. It always reliably connects this way. I know you can control all of the features with voice, but I doubt it will understand my broad East End of London Cockney accent. My wife's from Philly, so that might not help either.
So that's my experiences. Other brands might be superior for your use case, but for the simple setup we use the current Sena SRL2 seems to do what it says on the tin at least.
Good luck finding what you need.
Deanna777
Well-known member
Hi @UtahPete,
I used to have a Sena 10S before I got my current com. The Sena 10 S did not keep a charge long during the cold months (I also used it on the Snowmobile).
My current com, which is a U Clear Motion 4, works better in the cold weather (I still use it when I'm on my snowmobile).
Deanna
UtahPete
Well-known member
I think I upgraded to the 20s a few years back. I don't have a freezing cold weather need for it (I hibernate in winter, wuss that I am), but I'd like to look into something less finicky and feature-laden.
Deanna777
Well-known member
UtahPete
Well-known member
The direct replacement for the discontinued UCLEAR Motion 4 Lite is the UCLEAR Motion 6, which steps up to support up to six riders in a mesh network and adds gesture controls.
That's disappointing. What happened to nice, simple comms? I don't need to communicate with other bikes.
You can HAVE that capability, but not use it!
I don't use the gesture controls on mine too often; and for the majority of my riding, I don't use any of the mesh features either, but on the odd occasion that I'm with a bunch of other riders, it certainly comes in handy and is very easy to use.
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