Communication Helmet to Helmet

[BajaRon]

Scala Rider G4 Power Set. I wanted to get the longest range of the head sets available at the time and this Scala had a much better advertised range than some and better than any I could find.

In actual use range is almost always going to be less than advertised. The manufacturers find ideal conditions (or they just go off of engineered projections) which most will never, if ever experience in the real world. But it is all relative.

The range on the Scala G4 is great, sound is clear and they have a lot of features. I have not tried anything else other than a set of Colletts. My limited helmet radio experience leads me to believe that the Scala is one of the more difficult systems to use. Not impossible, by any means but more difficult than most.

People who use their radios a lot seem to really love the Scala's. People who use them occasionally have more issues because you tend to forget the little sequences necessary to get various features to work.

Pros - great radios, lots of features, long battery life and good range.

Con's - a steeper learning curve than with other brands.

 

[Harley]

Thanks to Everyone

Thanks for all the info on communication. I really appreciate the pros and cons, now we have an idea on what to purchase... Great site and great people hyea:

 

[ulflyer]

Clarify "Bluetooth" terminology for me

I'm not current on electronic gadgets but am interested in a bike to bike commo system. Tried a CB on a previous bike and found it too cumbersome and didn't like the hooking/unhooking each time. Does "bluetooth" refer to a wireless system on its own, or does it require a cell phone to function? When I read some of the descriptions they refer to cell phones and that leaves me confused.

 

[Bob Denman]

Throw another vote on the pile for the Scala Teamset Pro... :thumbup:

 

[NancysToy]

Scotty, I'd probably jerk my head off when I got off and forgot to unplug the wired ones.

Cotton

It becomes second nature to unhook before you dismount. After eight years it is pretty much second nature to us. If you forget, the coiled cord tugs gently to remind you, like a shock absorber. It really isn't a problem.

I use wired systems because I have great fear of the consequences of fastening something to the outside of a helmet. Over many years of racing and serving as a racetrack official, I learned that was a no-no. Even a rigidly mounted vent can grab in a fall and jerk your head around...with unpleasant consequences. There is a reason some manufacturers, like Arai, tape on the external vent structures...they are designed to break away on impact. Yes, I know the risk is small, and there are millions of the other kind in use, but it is too late in my life to reprogram my brain. If I did a wired system, it would probably be the Schuberth, that fits around the neck portion of the helmet, and is not external.

 

[zrc]

Seems like a good place to ask another question, and I think helmet smart people can tell me more.

I know some helmet manufacturers are starting to place bluetooth modules in their helmets, anyone have these and use them?

 

[Bob Denman]

opcorn:opcorn: I think I've seen some Nolans with that feature.. opcorn:

 

[Sny]

I'm not current on electronic gadgets but am interested in a bike to bike commo system. Tried a CB on a previous bike and found it too cumbersome and didn't like the hooking/unhooking each time. Does "bluetooth" refer to a wireless system on its own, or does it require a cell phone to function? When I read some of the descriptions they refer to cell phones and that leaves me confused.

Bluetooth, when it comes to helmet comms, is used in a couple ways.

You can "pair" your bluetooth phone with a bluetooth enabled helmet comm. This would let you talk on the phone, but also use any other audio features of your phone such as listening to music or GPS instructions if your phone is capable.

You can also pair most bluetooth helmet comms with other bluetooth helmet comms of the same brand (various limitations apply here based on brand and model). The Intercom ranged helmet comms typically only go 30-100 feet and are mostly meant to talk to your passenger wirelessly, or to another bike close by such as when stopped at a light or riding in a tight group. For some that's good enough. There are also the "high power" bluetooth helmet comms that have claimed ranges of 500-1000yards or more. Most of the older models of these can only connect to one other headset or maybe 2 it some kind of complicated primary/secondary setup. But the current generations such as the Scala G9 and the Uclear HBC200 will let you connect 4 to 8 or even more other units together as one large group chat. The Uclear HBC200 goes one further and every Uclear acts as a relay point for other Uclears so the effective range goes way up in a group of Uclear equipped riders (700m x 8 riders is over 5km from one end of the group to the other.)

You do not need to pair your cell phone to use the intercom or bike-to-bike functions.

You can also "pair" these helmet comms with other bluetooth devices like bluetooth enabled GPS, bluetooth enabled CB or FRS/GMRS radios.

And last, there are bluetooth adapters which let you connect non-bluetooth devices to bluetooth helmet comms.

One more thing to note, the newer models like the Scala G4, G9, Sena 10 and the Uclear HBC200 all allow for software updates via USB connected to your computer. The manufacturers fix various bugs and send updates much like your windows updates and also add in new features occasionally (rarely?). For example Uclear increased the number of headsets you can connect to from 4 to 8 in an update. I believe Scala had an update to it's FM radio firmware to improve reception.

 

[Sny]

I use wired systems because I have great fear of the consequeces of fastening something to the outside of a helmet. Over many years of racing and serving as a racetrack official, I learned that was a no-no. Even a rigidly mounted vent can grab in a fall and jerk your head around...with unpleasant consequences. There is a reason some manufaturers, like Arai, tape on the external vent structures...they are designed to break away on impact. Yes, I know the risk is small, and there are millions of the otehr kind in use, but it is too late in my life to reprogram my brain. If I did a wired system, it would probably be the Schuberth, that fits around the neck portion of the helmet, and is not external.

It is a risk, but as you said a small one. I think the smaller the unit the better in this case. I don't know how people can stand having those huge Sena units sticking out of the side of their head.

I think the key for safety is for anything external to not be mounted rigidly. I haven't looked closely at all of the headset mounts, but some of them seem kinda locked on there tight. There are a few that feel soft mounted. From experience, the Uclear mounts are slip right off without a whole lot of force so I doubt they would catch on anything in a slide without slipping right off. But a straight on impact will change the angle your head contacts the ground so that's always a concern. That's where minimal size becomes important. No boom microphone kinda helps here too as it won't get caught up inside the helmet while detaching, but I think that seems almost nitpicky...

I liked the Schuberth "neck mount" in their latest helmet, but the price is very high and it was quite uncomfortable to wear. The features of the comm unit itself were outdated already, and I'd be stuck with that older featureset and performance while newer comm units came out cheaper and better. So I passed on that one.

 

[bikeguy]

I use wired systems because I have great fear of the consequeces of fastening something to the outside of a helmet.

I agree that's certainly a valid concern. I think my Scala unit would break off in a crash but it might cause some serious damage before it does. Oddly enough, one thing I had wondered about with wired units was what would happen in a crash. Are the connections designed to break away or do you feel like the wire will break before it causes any serious injury?

Cotton

 

[ARtraveler]

All five of my helmets are currently Nolan. They have the built in space to house the n-com system. I tried the n-com communication system and compared to the Scala 2, I did not like it. So, we have the Scala's attached to the outside of the helmets.

Speaking of Nolan: they have now updated their main helmet from the N-103 to the N-104. Supposed to be lighter by a pound, have a larger viewing port by an inch high in the front, and improved internal sunshade. I will probably pick up at least one this season to check it out.

Time to retire the two oldest helmets about 4 years old. I will put them up on the for sale thread. I have heard that you should retire helmets evey other year or immediatly after dropping them. But, that is a choice each one must make. My price will be $25 each plus shipping--by UPS ground--should be less than $25 anywhere.

 

[NancysToy]

All five of my helmets are currently Nolan. They have the built in space to house the n-com system. I tried the n-com communication system and compared to the Scala 2, I did not like it. So, we have the Scala's attached to the outside of the helmets.

Speaking of Nolan: they have now updated their main helmet from the N-103 to the N-104. Supposed to be lighter by a pound, have a larger viewing port by an inch high in the front, and improved internal sunshade. I will probably pick up at least one this season to check it out.

Time to retire the two oldest helmets about 4 years old. I will put them up on the for sale thread. I have heard that you should retire helmets evey other year or immediatly after dropping them. But, that is a choice each one must make. My price will be $25 each plus shipping--by UPS ground--should be less than $25 anywhere.

Arai says to retire a helmet five years from first use or seven years from date of manufacture, after an accident, or after a serious drop. Racing organizations update at every new Snell certification, to the previous one, making the legal helmets no more than ten years old. I have always followed the 5/7 year rule. Bell used to say two years back in the infancy of fiberglass helmets, and many dealers have perpetuated that idea (for obvious reasons), but it is overkill as we have learned more about fiberglass and liner materials, and the product has improved.

 

[gypsy_100]

I have to throw my 2 cents in for the Uclear boomless headsets. Easy to use, tiny little things, waterproof, best noise reduction (ride no windshield, helmet flipped up, 60mph, no wind noise on the other side.) We've done 12 hour days with the intercom open the whole time and never killed the batteries. Not sure how long they last really. Longer than I'll use them for in a given day.

Best feature tho, no boom in your face. No boom to adjust or knock out of adjustment.

Agree. UClear HBC 100. We had the best plug-in J&M equipment on our 'Wing and now went bluetooth wireless on the RT. Chose UClear based on good reviews. Not disappointed in the least. The two speakers each have built-in microphones and somehow manage to pick up the input sound just fine. Makes installation a snap. Battery life is fine (claim 10 hours "talking" and much longer "standby") and recharge is just about 45 minutes (claim two hours) so you only need one charger to handle two units when you get done with a day's riding two-up. When traveling, I hate packing a half-dozen chargers to handle our modern "conveniences".

 

[ARtraveler]

Thank you Scotty for the update on retirement of helmets. I am going to go by your advice on future posts. :2thumbs:

 

[RodO]

We also have this set. It works great.

Same here. AFAIR, the Scala Rider Pro was quite a bit cheaper than the newer Scala systems. It's great as a helmet-to-helmet comm, and connects to my iPhone and my Garmin 660
GPS. Battery life hasn't been a problem in the 2 years and +-25,000 km I've had it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ronrico]

Helmet to Helmet comms

I know this has been talked about a lot but I need a little help. I have 2011 RT-Limited with the comms package. At present I have a a hard wire connection to the byke. The question I have if I go wireless, maybe Scala Q9, can I get the GPS from my 660 and the byke's radio through the wireless unit? Thanks ahead of time.

 

[wildtexasrangr]

Vega blutooth

http://www.vegahelmet.com/summit3.0_V-com.html

Has videos all about the helmets on right side. What me and the wife will be using.:yes:

 

[Tigger]

I have the Scala Pro team set and they work well. Only complaint is that they could use a little better speaker set IMHO. But I play in a band and I am use to high quality speakers.

 

[R30SHIRE]

Before you purchase wired headsets talk with J&M out of Phoenix. There the experts on wired communications. They sell wired sets to match different brand helmets. Just google J&M

 

[Farmbanker]

Wireless Headsets

We have the Sena SMH10 and love them. Paired with my phone or IPOD, plenty of talk time. Crystal clear communication.