bike intercoms

[blackryder]

Was wondering if many here wear and use any intercoms while riding.
I have been riding with my daughter as of late, as she has just got her Q-ride licence now, and when riding with her, it would be great to be able to talk with her and send some tips and general chat to her.
I have my eye on a Sena 20S model, i believe this is the best of the best as far as communications go, but i could be wrong.
I have viewed many many hrs of intercoms on you tube, and the Sena 20S does seem to be up there with the best of them, the SMH10 unit (previous version) also rates very highly.
What do you guys wear & use?, Do you use it alone, or when just riding with others or in a group.
When i owned my old '12, i had a bike-pillion intercom, and that was great, we could chat and talk about where we are going or stopping without having to yell at each other or stopping unnecessarily.
I've read up a lot on the Sena 20S, it has great distance between rider, great standby & talk time, can link with other brand intercoms and play music with others also.
Tell me your experience with them, do you love them, do you hate them, i' dont judge who or who doesnt use them, everyone is different with this type of gear.
Alternatively, does anyone have a dual unit for sale, i know they are very expensive the Sena 20S model, but have been told personally by 2 people they are worth every cent. Or maybe someone knows someone that may know someone that could possibly know someone that could help with acquiring a new dual set, on the cheap
Thanks all for listening and hopefully responding

[BrettZZR]

90% of the time I time with the missus on the pillion, and the intercom makes it GREAT. It's quite a social thing riding, if we are cruising through the hills to brekky or on the long road for a weekend away we use it all the time.

When I was looking, it was a toss-up between the Scala G4 and the SMH10, and most reviews had them much the same. I chose the G4, can't remember why actually. I was half expecting it to be gimicky and not very effective, but it is awesome. The only criticism I have is that there could be a bit more power in the speakers - I have poor hearing and a noisy SHOEI and a bit more poke in the little speakers - even at the cost of the (really good) battery life would be better.

It has auto volume, so turns up when you are at speed , and turns down when you stop. The missus struggled most with this - she would raise her voice and I had to prompt her to just speak normally...

I would not have asked for the phone feature, but I have taken some calls on the road, and that works so well I have no problem using it. The guy on the other side will probably not realise you are not sitting on your couch:
"No, I mean where are you right now?"
"Yeah, mate - on the bike on the freeway!"

When I'm on my own I'm listening to MP3s or the built-in radio.

(-8

[blackryder]

I found when i was riding with the missus, it kind of made the journey a little better, we would chat about whats happening of late, and keep up to date with everything going on, just made it that much easier to found a place to park or somewhere to have lunch, or to even look at things i may have missed.
I'm guessing there is a lot of blokes here that are the exact opposite, i know one mate that has said "mate...i'm not getting one of those, i ride to get away from the missus..... not have her nagging in my ear all day". I dont think everyone is like that, but i'm sure a few are.
To be honest, i haven't looked into the scala too much, i have seen a few reviews, and they seem good, but just seems to be every review i have seen for the Sena is always positive. And i have no affiliation with Sena, just what i have read & seen on you tube clips for bike intercoms....i was even thinking of buying some of those cheap crap ones from china for $50, but to be honest not even sure if they would even work, would much rather pay for a quality item than a cheap one and be guessing all day.
My only gripe now is why are they sooooo bloody expensive, are they just that good, or are they too new to be cheap, or is the cheaper ones are just crap, and not worth the small outlay for them.
keep the reviews and opinions coming, am really keen for personal reviews on them, if i am going to outlay so much money, it would be great to know i am fully informed of my decision and have all the facts.
And ofcourse if anyone knows a mate in a shop that can help me with a purchase, that would be awesome too
cheers all.

[BrettZZR]

Aka "the simulated flat battery"! Heh!

Exact opposite... Too right! I had pretty much decided to not get a bike here when I hopped the pond to Oz. Made the mistake of taking the missus away for a weekend on a rented Bandit. After that is was "When you going to get a bike? Let me pay half!" What's a bloke to do? Heheh!

Yeah we have long chats and solve the problems of the universe. Occasionally I get "Ooh - look at that!" but mostly I reply "Sorry didn't see it - can't look now."

When looking at the reviews, I went specifically to the US based reviews as I knew I would be saving heaps and buying off eBay. Can't argue with people that don't want to do that because of support concerns, but that is what they are paying for (and I'm not at all sure they will get the support if they need it). I'd be buying from eBay every time.

BTW: According to the box, it'll do bike-to-bike "...up to a mile away". I seriously doubt that because on occasion the missus has walked back into the house while I waited, and is lost pretty much straight away. This was highlighted in the reviews I saw of both the SMH and the G4. It's only Bluetooth so don't expect too much range, but if you are riding together it'll be right.

(-&

[MickLC]

I picked up an S20 last year after riding with some mates who had them and realising I was missing out on a heap of what was going on.
It's important to get the helmet speakers setup right so they work properly, but you can also plug ear buds into them as well which i do on longer rides.
It can be setup so you can have a heap of people in on the same conversation. The range is good line of sight (handy if someone spots a cop). It's great for playing music off the phone via bluetooth on the long boring sections as you can control the playback and volume from the unit, and making calls is easy and very clear. Battery life is long, it can go all day as an intercom and playing music in between.
I never thought it would be as handy as it's been and i don't regret buying it at all.

[blackryder]

quick update...

I picked up my new Sena 20S dual unit the other day, have now fitted to a shark helmet and a Bell star carbon helmet, which was very easy to fit.
Initial thoughts...fantastic, very clear in the helmet, and good sound, some of the better sounding helmet speakers so far.
Haven't actually used it on the road yet, but did walk around the neighborhood with the helmet on, which got a few interesting looks.
Have also worked out most of the features, have paired with each unit, & mobiles, have upgraded firmware, and also got the FM radio and music from phone also connected.
One thing i haven't worked out how to do is music sharing. I've done everything they say to do, and i get an audible noise saying it has connected to the unit, but no noise goes thru to other unit...unsure what to do, may need to get someone that has these units on next ride to look at it.
Apart from that, great units, cant wait to use it on the road, will report back once this has been done.

[Possum]

Its all fun and games till someone starts singing lol

[Possum]

Its all fun and games till someone starts singing lol