Could you advise what you think is the best system/ product/s for bike to bike comms

I would suggest that there is a choice of two options for the best bike to bike comms:

Autocom or Star Com. Personally I have never used the Star Com unit although I know of people that have who highly rate it. I have used an Autocom system though when I was working as an instructor and I simply cannot fault it, the VOX capabilities were nothing short of perfect. It isn't cheap but it's worth the money.

Scala Q2 is a very good system which I use.

It is bluetooth and you can keep in touch well over 500m if you are in sight of the other rider.

I use Autocom in conjunction with Motorola Talkabouts. VOX works OK but it's best to have Auocom's handlebar mounted PTT (press to talk) button.

Tim

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"For sheer delight there is nothing like altitude; it gives one the thrill of adventure
and enlarges the world in which you live," Irving Mather (1892-1966)

We use Dainese helmets with built in bluetooth. No messing trying to fit after market kits, no wires and stuff to plug in every time you get on and off the bike. One charge does 8 hours of use. Works great up to at least 100 metres and further depending on conditions. They will also link to a bluetooth phone so if you are out of range you can still be in touch if you need to be.

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If you think you are too small to make a difference you have never spent the night with a mosquito.

I use an autocom 300 pro avi together with a kenwood tk3201 radio powered direct from the autocom unit.A zumo 550 is connected to the autocom by bluetooth as is a mobile phone.I would also suggest that you include a ptt in your system as you can have the option of vox or ptt.I have used this system to talk with four other bikes in a recent trip to france and spain and feel the ptt option was the method I used most of the time as vox has to be set up just right and other factors can affect the quality so you need to take a little time to adjust carefully. the only problem we had on the trip was one of the guys using his vox and having to adjust his mike levels at every petrol stop as the wind kept activating it.Although his was a system a few years old ,the lack of the latest background sensor meant his mike was very sensitive ,and for the rest of us a real pain.Its probably something to bear in mind if you are going to ride with a group of friends, compatible systems of a similar vintage and test the units before your trip to sort all the niggles out

This intercom stuff is a maze to me. I've bought some 5w UHF radio's and a throat mic and they work brilliantly. Only thing is that there is so much wire I want it all bluetooth now. Big $$$ and it's still going to require modding, so I'm working on building my own now.

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Tacos Tyring Travels.com

I use Interphone (bluetooth) line of sight will reach up to 1 mile.

Had some niggles with connections dropping and static, but found it was due to slightly bent contact in the plug..

Great system, no wires, excellent sound quality, battery life is somewhat limited, but 6-8 hours of speaking time is not all bad is it?

We rode all around Japan with these and found that the main problem was that after a day of chatting away the batteries would go flat when we were looking for a hotel in the dark

Autocom 200 kit with cobra mics. VOX sensitivity varies between helmets/wind noise so you need to play around with them. And remember not to sing along and annoy the other person too much.

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Find out details of my 2011 trip to Siberia on a lightweight dirtbike:
www.brighton2expeditions.co.uk

Anyone ever used something similar to this:

https://www.evotactical.com/index.ph...a60594d57000dd


I'm in the research process and already own a pair of Motorola's small radios.
So I would like to use them...I don't really mind the wires, so far, maybe that'll change...

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"Coffee should be black as hell, strong as death, and sweet as love."
RIDE like your LIFE depends on it.
BMW R1150GS '02 crashed
BMW R1150GSA '04

Tmotten

I know where you're comming from - you want to talk, but those bloody wires - for all the world you'd think you'd remember but . . .
Scala Q2 - have a look and ponder. No wires, clever electrics and features, and lots a guys on various forums that have tricked them up to do more.
I rate them

H

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Howie
V-strom 650, Transalp 650, DR-Z250

I use Scala Q2 and works perfect within 400m!!!Very happy with their solution, I´ve mine connected to my Zumo with my phone and music.

Hello,

I have just come back from a little tour of europe using bike to bike communication.

Both bikes are running Autocom Active 7 intercoms (well I think they are Active 7, but they are quite old and they keep updating them and changing names!! ) But they are just the simple bottom of the range items.

They are linked to Kenwood Funky radios (also old and now out of production, but basically cheapish £60 PMR radios) using voice activation. These radios use x3 AA batteries, but I cheated and fitted them with a wooden dummy battery and wired them into a 5V USB transformer. This gives them plenty of power and worked perfectly.

Once they are wired into the bike power you need to fit a GROUND EFFECT ISOLATOR otherwise there is too much hum on the system. I bought these off of eBay for around £3.75. I needed to graft this into the lead from the radio to the Autocom but it wasn't difficult and only involved cutting the audio wires and wiring in the isolator.

Everything was then strapped under the seats and off we went.

On the whole everything was fine and worked well. Had a few problems with power plugs unplugging, but that can all be solved easily and fitted into one box when I have time.

We did have an issue with distance especially in the Alps with a few corners between us. But on the whole I would recommend using them and will look at upgrading to Intaride PMR radios as they are delivered at 0.5 watts but you can unlock them to 4 watts! and fit external aerials! I've been told the position of the aerial is pretty important. If yours in laying flat then it is best that the person you want to talk to is the same.

Cheers,
Simon

It seems that the best brand is AUTOCOM, so… like how much could be for a decent AUTOCOM Communications system. It is for a tow bikes in a Round World Tour?

I have a starcom 1. However, earlier models are not compatabile with a Blackberry, which is a huge shame as i have one which does music, phone, and sat nav all in one unit and If it worked, it would only be one wire!

Starcom have said that hey will look at the unit to see if it can be upgraded, but i imagine that there will be a cost!

I used to run a Nokia N95 through the unit but this needed a converter from stereo to split mono to make it work.

The rider to pillion is good tho. Ideally, i would like a separate volume control to match varying conditions.

matt