Advice for a novice....

ptfjjj

Making the move from Sport Touring to Adventure
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I have basically been a "lone ranger" when it comes to riding and have not done any long distance cross country rides, so I have no experience regarding communication equipment or GPS for motorcycles. There are tons of options out there, so it is a bit overwhelming. I think that all I really need is some way to use my android phone and listen to music while riding, and I may find that I want to add GPS. I don't want to spend a fortune on a bunch of "extra" capability that I will never use, but I will spend extra for something that actually works. I know that many of you have likely tried many setups and have seen many more. Please share your best or favorite gadgets that you have found to be tried and true.

Thanks in advance,
Paul
 

pqsqac

Bike Name: Blue Spirit
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My buddy that always takes the lead when our group rides, uses a Garmin Zumo model 440 and he recommended the model 220 Zumo to me. It is priced around $400 but does all I would ever need a gps to do. I don't need bluetooth, xm radio etc just get me where I'm going. I don't want voices talking to me in my helmet just let me glance at the screen every so often. I haven't picked one up yet but they are motorcycle/auto rated come with mounts for both and have great reviews.

ptfjjj said:
I have basically been a "lone ranger" when it comes to riding and have not done any long distance cross country rides, so I have no experience regarding communication equipment or GPS for motorcycles. There are tons of options out there, so it is a bit overwhelming. I think that all I really need is some way to use my android phone and listen to music while riding, and I may find that I want to add GPS. I don't want to spend a fortune on a bunch of "extra" capability that I will never use, but I will spend extra for something that actually works. I know that many of you have likely tried many setups and have seen many more. Please share your best or favorite gadgets that you have found to be tried and true.

Thanks in advance,
Paul
 

2XADV

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My .02: Listening to music is cool, but when I have done it I find that when I get to a town and traffic, I make mistakes. Avoid listening to music while riding for best safety.
Also go to Webbike world for communications reviews. http://www.webbikeworld.com/ A lot of those units link to some of the bluetooth equipped GPS units and phones. The Zumo with bluetooth links to the phone and your communicator and then your communicator only needs to link to other communicators and the GPS. The GPS does the phone linking.
 

AVGeek

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I had an Autocomm on both of my FJRs (moved it from one to the other), and I eventually wore it out. I bought the extra headset (for 2up riding with the missus) and the radio interface (only thing I ever used it for was my Yaesu handheld for radio reception), but mostly I used it to listen to music from my iPod. One thing I didn't like on it was the lack of volume control for the iPod, so I added an Ampli-Rider (headphone amp with a remotely mountable volume knob) inline. When the Autocomm wore out, I removed it, and just kept the Ampli-Rider, and changed from the headset to in-ear buds. For the Super Ten, I plan on getting another Ampli-Rider .
 

markjenn

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ptfjjj said:
...have not done any long distance cross country rides....all I really need is some way to use my android phone and listen to music while riding, and I may find that I want to add GPS....
Getting setup to answer/make phone calls while riding along with a good audio system for music is still a tricky area. All the cheap options tend to not work very well, and the expensive options start running into big money and are often tricky to get setup. Audio into the helmet that is comfortable and convenient is still something that tends to be very difficult. (I was very impressed with the bluetooth setup of the Schubert C3 though.) I'd try and find someone who has your same basic phone and has got something working - duplicate what works for them.

You didn't ask for a lecture about safety and riding priorities, but I'll give you a small one anyway - if you're a new rider to long distance rides, I think listening to music and making phone calls should be something you put off until you have a lot more experience, perhaps indefinitely. It's a HUGE distraction in a sport that requires more concentration than most of us can deliver, even when we're not yakking on the phone or listening to music. I'd prioritize in this order.... 1) the very best safety personal equipment (helmet, gloves, boots, jacket, etc.); 2) good cold weather and rain gear; and 3) good accessories and setup on your bike for long rides. The first piece of electronics to consider would be a GPS and I'd just get a dedicated/relatively inexpensive GPS like a cheap Zumo or Nuve. But for most riding on good roads, a GPS is a "nice to have", not a requirement and I still carry maps even with a GPS.

I'm not one to say "my way is the right way", but I've been touring for 40 years and have tried a lot of music audio systems and bike-to-bike comm systems. None have been worth the hassle and they all made safety tradeoffs I'm not comfortable with. I do like GPS's though and they're super useful on backwoods adventure rides. Take that for whatever it is worth.

- Mark
 

Swagger

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I use a Zumo 550 with Scala Rider comms. I don't listen to music on the bike ... I ride for the joy of getting away from all of that. I'm with Mark ... I prefer to be totally aware of my surroundings. ::)
 

keeponriding

Don't want a pickle Just wanna ride my motorsikle
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I took a two-up tour with my son last year...bought the Scala Q2 Pro to communicate with him.

It also had the ability to answer phone calls and listen to music. I didn't use it to do either, but my son did. I think I made one phone call, only because it just kind of happened....I found the fidelity and usage to be great. My son listened to his iPod during the trip and I was able to talk to him as needed. At high freeway speeds (above 70), even with a big wind screen, it became hard to hear or, for my wife to hear me (the one time I used it for a phone call). I would recommend the Scala.

To markjenn's earlier point....I'm not into music or phone calls on the bike...I ride to get away from it...so I sold the units on eBay when we got home and got what I paid for them. A
 

Buckeye56

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My take, if I am riding the twisteis aggressively, then no distractions. Cranking it down the slab, I like having music to listen to. The wife and I have CBs so we can talk but usually we do not carry on conversations, just short exchanges.

YMMV
 

Venture

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I have a Scala Rider Q2 that I use for bike-to-bike communications only. Once I paired it with my Motorola Droid and told my wife that she could call me if need be. Of course she calls exactly as I'm doing about 70 on a major highway through a major curve. Let me just say this, I do not pair the Q2 to my phone anymore. Calls can wait.
 

fredz43

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My son who rides a 650 Wee Strom and I got the Q2's over a year ago, primarily to use as bike to bike conversations on our semi annual week long expeditions. We really enjoyed the ability to carry on short conversations about road conditions, having to stop to pee, looking for a good place to stop to eat, etc and they even added a degree of safety such as when I spotted a deer coming our way from a farm field and I gave warning to my son. Additional features I came to enjoy was tuning the FM receiver to the FM output of my Sirius radio and linking my Garmin's bluetooth and my bluetooth phone to my headset. One one trip coming back from Texas, we changed our route when I got info from the weather channel that there were severe storms and tornado warnings ahead near Dallas, our intended route. This allowed us to reroute and avoid that hazardous situation. Any of these features can be turned off when you are in technical situations, but when we normally travel 500 miles or so a day, most of it isn't that technical.

We have since upgraded to the G4's mentioned in this review and they have some significant improvements. They are stereo and the volume is better. We both wear earplugs and have no trouble hearing. The AGC turns up the volume per ambient noise and the VOX feature means you do not have to press a button to make a call. An important improvement is that the cord for the charger has a USB plug on it so you can plug the G4 into your PC and check Cardo's website for updates. Cardo has been very good at listening to feedback and making changes that can be downloaded free. BTW, they just came out with an update this week and it addressed an issue I talked to them about at the Indy show. I had some problems with the VOX not being sensitive enough in some situations and now you can choose three sensitivity settings for VOX and also for AGC.

I know that some are concerned with devces such as this being a distraction and as with anything, they can be. Heck, your speedo and tach can be distractions if you stare at them all the time. On the other hand, the Cardo has added to our safety in some situations, such as the deer incident previously mentioned, a road hazard, or even a missed turn. If I am following a route from my GPS, I don't have to keep looking at it to see where the next turn is. Instead the nice lady announces upcoming turns in my ear. In addition, when I am riding down a long boring road, it is nice to listen to some tunes, latest news, etc.

Not everybody's cup of tee, but it works for me. By the way, I am a guy who has resisted new fangled technology in the past, saying I would never need something such as that. For instance I never thought I would ever have a cell phone, after all who the heck would I call? GPS? why I have lots of fine paper maps. Anyway, I usually weaken and join the rest of the world and find out that I am now hooked. ;D
 
B

Bill310

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Yep,

J & M CB. Air Rider headset. XM from via a Garmin 478

Works well




k woo said:
Interesting. Anybody use a comm set with an Arai XD3?
 
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