Intercom and CB questions from a Neewbie

[Bigdogcc]

As a new owner of an 09' RSV and never having a bike like this before (1st bike was an 78 Yamaha 1100xs) The whole CB/intercom thing is a mystery. I have questions maybe someone can help me.

 

1) Do people still use the CB much? On my 1st ride after purchasing the bike I donated my antennae to the highway gods and have debated getting a new one but not really sure that its used much any more.

 

2) What advantages are there using the built in intercom system vs buying a blue tooth system? I can see lots of advantages to the blue tooth but I have no idea what the built in system brings to the table. I mainly want to talk to the Mrs on longer trips and it would be nice to have access to the phone since we have kids that may need to get in touch while we are on a road trip.

 

3) if there is an advantage to the wired IC where can I find a low cost headset to try it out. Most the ones I have seen are 200 bucks and I feel at that price I could be at the Bluetooth cost.

[Bert2006]

Welcome to our world, these are great bikes...

 

As for your questions(and just speaking from my experience):

1. CB use is not often. I have used it a couple of times during group rides when I coordinated with others that also had CB's but other than that NADA.

2. I got the headsets for the built in intercom as that was the cheapest way to go. Allows me and the missus to communicate when we ride. The wires can be a hassle sometimes though.

3. As far as value of headsets, you get what you pay for. I got the mid range J&M headsets and the sound is great on them.

 

What I miss is the ability to communicate with others in the group that have wireless headsets, but again I do not do group riding that much.

 

Hope this helps and welco0me to the site. You will find a great bunch of people ready to help on here.

[MikeWa]

If you have a friend you ride with and you both have CBs you will find you use it quite a lot It is also handy for group rides. Otherwise not so much. The intercom on this bike is 'always on'. So keep it's volume low when not in use unless you want to pick up highway noise through your mic. It is nice that my wife and I can just talk to each other when she is riding back seat. We are plugged in so 'no batteries needed'.

 

Mike

[vzuden]

I have traveled in groups a few times and listened only. I don't have a mic and just listen to the leader and the tail guy converse through the bike's sound system.

For phone, music, navigation, converse with passenger, and talk to other riders I use Bluetooth with the speakers added to my helmet. Completely wireless. I use the UClear brand in a modular helmet (wife has full face).

UClear does not have mic to add to the face of your helmet or a boom mic as the mic is built into the speakers. Visit their website to see the technology behind this.

[DblTrbl]

All good info. I would just like to add my 2 cents

 

Even though the intercom is always on, there is a harness which you can "plug and Play" which converts it to push to talk so that you don't get the feedback from road noise if you have it too loud. I have the harness but have not installed it....yet.

 

Also, if you are on a long trip and use Bluetooth, you need to have extra batteries or a way to charge them. They may or may not last a full day depending on how much they are used..... This Is not a problem with being "wired" to the bike.

[XV1100SE]

Have to agree on using the CB for group rides. Even bluetooth only connects to a certain number of other riders. With CB everyone in the group can listen and if you get spread out works for a greater distance than bluetooth.

 

As for other use....even the truckers don't use CB as often as they used to. But on a highway/interstate when traffic is heavy or congested, I'll flip to ch 19 to hear what is going on.

 

I use head sets all the time and like using what is with the bike - I have my gps connected directly and bluetooth between my phone and gps and have the Buddy Rich cable so I can make and receive phone calls. Most of what I listen to is mp3's from that I have loaded on my (Garmin Zumo) gps. My wife and I use the intercom and I wouldn't want to go back to not having the ability to takl at a normal voice level rather than shouting to be heard. It would be nice to go wireless. I have the J&M headsets.

[frankd]

One other advantage to having headsets plugged into the bike is that you can hear the radio better at highway speeds using the headphones. I don't use my CB very often, but when you're travelling with others that also have a CB, it's great to have bike to bike communications as long as you''re within about 2-3 miles of each other.

[EtRider]

Even though the intercom is always on, there is a harness which you can "plug and Play" which converts it to push to talk so that you don't get the feedback from road noise if you have it too loud.

 

Is there a site to look up this harness for information? Sounds like something I would like to look into.

[Freebird]

There are two solutions that I know of.

 

Mic Mutes is great. I had it on the '99 and it worked very well. Passenger or rider just toggles the push to talk button to active or deactivate the mic. Installation requires some time but not very hard to do.

 

http://mic-mutes.com

 

The other solution is a plug and play by AirRider. Just plugs into your cables. Have not used it but heard that it works fine also.

 

http://www.airrider.com/AIR_RIDER_5_PIN_MIC_ON_OFF_SWITCH_p/03-04-75-ar.htm

[vzuden]

When using the phone, especially for navigation, you will need to have it plugged in to keep the battery charged. I use a Ram mount to mount it to the handlebar and wired in a charger that I added inside the fairing. I bought a cheap (less than $10.00 charger on ebay) with a USB output. I tee'd into the harness going to the fairing power outlet for power and ground then shrink wrapped a USB cable to it and routed the wire up to the handlebar mount area.

My headsets have never died even after a full day of riding. I charge them in the hotel room on multi day trips but I also added another 12V weatherproof outlet near the passenger footrest. We can charge hers from there and mine from the fairing outlet if needed but never had to (yet).

[alwrmcusn]

I never use the CB, never have. I prefer Bluetooth to the wired communicators simple because sooner or later I'm gonna step off the bike and break the cable. Bluetooth does not have that problem.

[Bigdogcc]

Lots of great info sounds like I have to find a CB antenna. I am assuming I can listen through the bike speakers even though I don't have a head set which for now is fine.

For the price of a head set (2x) I can buy 2 blue tooth units. The cable doesn't bother me that much but what does it having to buy and mount more stuff to tie the bluetooth into the bikes system.

I want to talk to the wife but I also want to listen to the gps and make calls if necessary and I think the BT does that in a cleaner set up. Maybe if I can find a cheep headset that is wired I would get one as a back up in case I do need to talk on CB but I have to find anyone that uses it 1st to justify it in my mind.

 

Thanks for all the great info and a few of you are a lot like me (I want to use the bikes built in) but in this case I think I will go a different direction.

 

On another note is there a way to get more radio reception? Seems like a very limited system.

[DblTrbl]

Even though the intercom is always on, there is a harness which you can "plug and Play" which converts it to push to talk so that you don't get the feedback from road noise if you have it too loud.

 

Is there a site to look up this harness for information? Sounds like something I would like to look into.

 

I'll dig thru my boxes of parts and list info as soon as I find it.

 

Just saw Freebird's post, I do believe it is MicMute

[flynvy5]

Yes it is mic-mutes.com I just installed mine. Love the cb/intercom. If you need to change out the cb antenna you'll need the following. Antenna, mounting stud, and cb to Motorola cable.

[bongobobny]

And yes, you can hear the CB through the speakers as long as "speakers" and not "Headset" is selected on the controller.

[Larry1963]

I have had my bike 07 RSV for about a year. I found out that the headset on a Goldwing works on our bikes too. In fact someone told me that the audio system is about the same

 

As CB goes, I hated them back in the day, a lot of trash talk on them. I have been a licensed ham radio operator since 1976, so I was looking at changing to a 2m rig. However twice this month I was in group rides and the CB was nice.

 

Two weekends ago I was to meet up with a CMA (Christian Motorcycle Association) from around the area. I was on one side of the highway in a Sonny's parking lot they were on the other side of the highway in a share a ride parking lot, we could not see each other. I figured I had missed them and was thinking of heading home, but then I read the chirp of a CB and made a call and was able to hookup with the ride. So well worth it.

 

I have a blue tooth helmet too, and a friend of mine has the same blue tooth helmet, the same blue tooth system. we have a hard time syncing then if one of us gets ahead or left behind at a light we break communication and sometimes they will not resynic. So yes the CB is sued very little but when riding and others that have a CB it is a nice feature .

[Jthomas]

Thanks for this thread. I just got my 07 rsv and had pretty much same questions and thoughts. I would love to take advantage of the built in features of the IC and CB. Does anybody have a link to a good but affordable 3/4 face headset for this bike, google searches are either not coming up w what i need or im too much of a newbie to know if it works.

Once i get a headset, is it permanently mounted? I commute w my bike and i dont want to have a mic in front of me unless im riding in groups and/or w the wife. A system that can be quickly dismounted would be preferred.

Do they make an adapter to plug your phone in via aux cable (or even bt) so u can still use the phone while still wired to the bike?

[RDawson]

Thanks for this thread. I just got my 07 rsv and had pretty much same questions and thoughts. I would love to take advantage of the built in features of the IC and CB. Does anybody have a link to a good but affordable 3/4 face headset for this bike, google searches are either not coming up w what i need or im too much of a newbie to know if it works.

Once i get a headset, is it permanently mounted? I commute w my bike and i dont want to have a mic in front of me unless im riding in groups and/or w the wife. A system that can be quickly dismounted would be preferred.

Do they make an adapter to plug your phone in via aux cable (or even bt) so u can still use the phone while still wired to the bike?

Depends what you want the phone to do. You can run music by plugging in beside the cassette. Using an Edsets splitter cable and either their Bluestreak or certain Garmin GPS units you can talk on the phone through the wired headset. I used an EBay Bluetooth receiver mounted in the fairing to stream music but the Bluestreak will do that too.

[rollingjones69]

On 5/11/2016 at 10:37 AM, Freebird said:

There are two solutions that I know of.

 

Mic Mutes is great. I had it on the '99 and it worked very well. Passenger or rider just toggles the push to talk button to active or deactivate the mic. Installation requires some time but not very hard to do.

 

http://mic-mutes.com

 

The other solution is a plug and play by AirRider. Just plugs into your cables. Have not used it but heard that it works fine also.

 

http://www.airrider.com/AIR_RIDER_5_PIN_MIC_ON_OFF_SWITCH_p/03-04-75-ar.htm

LOL, I like the mic-mutes but having a hard time translating the website. May want to check it out.

[Freebird]

I was under the impression that MicMutes is no longer in business,  I may be wrong but I though that he had retired and shut it down,

[rollingjones69]

11 hours ago, Freebird said:

I was under the impression that MicMutes is no longer in business,  I may be wrong but I though that he had retired and shut it down,

I'm sure they are judging by the website it took me to when I clicked the link you posted LOL