Bike to Bike communication

[rednairb]

Hello All!
My wife does not ride *****, but she does ***** a lot (hehe, not really!). We just took a trip to Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon, and on the way out her bike has some electrical problems (turned out to be the battery), and on the way back, she was getting irate, because she wasn't sure where we were going to stop (I am the tank to tank kind of guy), and she thought she was going to run out of gas. Since her bike, is my old bike (an 05 HD Dyna Superglide), I am well aware it's fuel range, of course that didn't happen.

Anyway, now she says she wont go on another trip, until we get a way to communicate while riding down the road. Does anyone have a good solution? I bought a Nolan N102 helmet last year, with the thought that I would eventually get the communication system for it, and then of course get my wife one too. However, the cost (helmet about $300, comm about $350 per helmet) is not economical. Plus the reviews I read on it, are very negative.

So, I am looking for a cost effective solution, that works well.

Thanks!

[OnegoodHorse]

Pre-determined hand signals for almost anything you can think of have served us well for a very long time. Trick is to have everyone know them and know which to use.

[DaFish]

+1 :whs:

DaFish

[rednairb]

Pre-determined hand signals for almost anything you can think of have served us well for a very long time. Trick is to have everyone know them and know which to use.

Problem with those is that I have to constantly be watching my review mirror. They really don't work going from the back to the front, when she has a problem. However this last time, after she had the electrical problem, I did tell her to pass me next time, and then pull over!

[Furcifer]

You might try bluetooth with cell phones and voice-activated dialing, (or just walkabouts with wired earpieces), but you might want to find a way to power off the bike rather than use batteries of any kind, especially if you are going to be camping overnight in non-powered areas. In either case, you could probably even modify the helmets/dedicated components with a bit of ingenuity to develop a more versatile, finished solution. In the cell-based approach, you could leave a dedicated bluetooth mounted in the helmet and then either have a separate one for other use or just use the cell phone by itself when you're helmet is off. Many cell phones can work with multiple bluetooths, as long as you don't activate them both at the same time, in which case you would have to manually select which one to connect to. You should probably test it with a bluetooth on your ear first against the ambient noise in your particular helmet, and make sure you can get a gloved finger up under the helmet to push the button, if necessary, to initiate the voice-dial/answer. (I have a Motorola, but there are other options that function differently) Obviously you could make and receive calls from anyone with the bluetooth solution, virtually hands-free, with the exception of a single button push per call.
:cylon:

[DeuceDog]

I just picked up a Chatterbox unit for just that purpose. While I don't have a lot of miles with it yet, I have to say it works pretty darn well. My biggest problem is that I have a 1/2 helmet so the microphone sticks out in the wind.
The voice operated mic is difficult to get adjusted so that it isn't activated by the wind. A buddy has a full face and his works perfectly. It's extremely clear. If I use the 'push to talk' button, then it works just fine. I'd just rather not have to have the button on my handlebar if I don't have to. I have the GMSR X1 model, which can be attached to a cell phone, an Ipod or other MP3 player, and also to a GPS unit. You can then hear them all in the speakers right inside your helmet. I can talk/hear my passenger as well as other bikes. (This one has a 5 mile range.) The battery life is pretty good. I've had it on the bike for 5 hours one day and 6 hours another.
Mine is not Blue Tooth capable, but Chatterbox does have models that are.

http://www.cyclegadgets.com/Products/product.asp?Item=CB-X
(Check with DJ first, I'm not sure if he sells them.)

[old skool]

I just picked up a Chatterbox unit for just that purpose. While I don't have a lot of miles with it yet, I have to say it works pretty darn well. My biggest problem is that I have a 1/2 helmet so the microphone sticks out in the wind.
The voice operated mic is difficult to get adjusted so that it isn't activated by the wind. A buddy has a full face and his works perfectly. It's extremely clear. If I use the 'push to talk' button, then it works just fine. I'd just rather not have to have the button on my handlebar if I don't have to. I have the GMSR X1 model, which can be attached to a cell phone, an Ipod or other MP3 player, and also to a GPS unit. You can then hear them all in the speakers right inside your helmet. I can talk/hear my passenger as well as other bikes. (This one has a 5 mile range.) The battery life is pretty good. I've had it on the bike for 5 hours one day and 6 hours another.
Mine is not Blue Tooth capable, but Chatterbox does have models that are.

http://www.cyclegadgets.com/Products/product.asp?Item=CB-X
(Check with DJ first, I'm not sure if he sells them.)

herd these where pritty good too, of course for me, i couldn't stand talking to someone for such a long ride, i like headphones with good tunes or just the wind to listen to, its real serien :usaflag: :viqueen2: but if ya must :whs:

[DeuceDog]

herd these where pritty good too, of course for me, i couldn't stand talking to someone for such a long ride, i like headphones with good tunes or just the wind to listen to, its real serien :usaflag: :viqueen2: but if ya must :whs:

I'm not much for listening to music while I ride, and I certainly don't think talking on a cell phone is good idea. :)
However, I just may get the cord for the GPS because I sure can't hear that voice at 70 mph on the scoot. I'm sure it's not a good idea to be looking at the GPS display instead of the road so being able to hear it would be good thing.
Fortunately, my 'better' half is not the type to want to keep up a running conversation on the bike. Plus, she's not much of a back seat driver/rider either so it wouldn't be a problem for me.

[mayhem311]

Ive hear that the scalia teamset (or something like that) is a pretty decent bluetooth set. Ive been thinking about getting it but i wear a half helmet so not sure how well it will work for me.



Mayhem

[pigletFXDI]

off and on i see the 'kids' on those rocket things with a walkie-talkie kinda thing on their shoulder - next time i'm next to a swarm of them i'm going to ask about 'em. sometime hand signals don't cut it - esp if when i have no freakin' idea where i'm going yet, for the most part. :tard:

[old skool]

I'm not much for listening to music while I ride, and I certainly don't think talking on a cell phone is good idea. :)
However, I just may get the cord for the GPS because I sure can't hear that voice at 70 mph on the scoot. I'm sure it's not a good idea to be looking at the GPS display instead of the road so being able to hear it would be good thing.
Fortunately, my 'better' half is not the type to want to keep up a running conversation on the bike. Plus, she's not much of a back seat driver/rider either so it wouldn't be a problem for me.

cool beans, my wife, i love her to death but i think she would want to talk the hole trip LOL:usaflag: :)

[rednairb]

Thanks for all of the feedback. I will be checking into some of these. I have thought about the cell phone idea before, but in general, I try and avoid the high traffic area's (interstates and what not), and cell phone coverage isn't always good on the back roads.