Bluetooth communicators
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Stellar HDF Member
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 2,947
Likes: 234
From: Kentucky
Bluetooth communicators
I have no experience with Bluetooth communicators such as Sena or Cardo. When my wife and I feel like we need to talk during our rides we use the HD corded headsets and they work just fine but the cords are a bit irritating at times so I am considering Bluetooth communicators. It's for me and my wife as a passenger so long range isn't important. One concern I have is do the Bluetooth communicators use Vox like the corded headsets, or do you have to push a button every time you want to talk?
Road Warrior
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 1,291
Likes: 211
From: Independence, Missouri
There are a wide variety of models of headsets from each of those brands, as well as others. The price points vary along with the features, but most of those differences are the number of other units which can be included in a network at a time. All of the better units are voice activated (and they all might be); I just recommend you research the units before purchase.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 23,399
Likes: 8,509
From: Spartan Country, Michigan
My 3 riding buddy's and I have Cardo packtalk units. We are paired up, can turn units on, and listen to our music off our phones. When we want to , we simply speak into the mics and the group hears all. Not our music, that is our individual, but we can talk with one another. No buttons to push. These units are expensive, but it may fit your needs. Cardo does have units that are less $$$$ and may be more suitable for rider/passenger. As said, do your research..... Cardo, Sena, and I think HD is using cardo on some of their new helmets.
Road Captain
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 647
Likes: 151
From: Tampa, FL
If you are using corded headset now the assumption is that you have a fairing model with an intercom. Knowing the year of bike and radio model will help with matching some solutions.
if you have a 2014-pre 2024 Skyline radio then Sena units are best paired with those, assuming you add the Harley WHIM module which becomes a radio to headset Bluetooth replacement for the cord, if you do that you will actually talk to each other via the radio just like you do now. The Bluetooth functionality will be connecting the headset to the bike.
If you don’t care about hearing the radio sound via the headset then just about any make/model of communicators will provide rider to passenger model will suffice.
if you have a 2014-pre 2024 Skyline radio then Sena units are best paired with those, assuming you add the Harley WHIM module which becomes a radio to headset Bluetooth replacement for the cord, if you do that you will actually talk to each other via the radio just like you do now. The Bluetooth functionality will be connecting the headset to the bike.
If you don’t care about hearing the radio sound via the headset then just about any make/model of communicators will provide rider to passenger model will suffice.
Road Captain
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 503
Likes: 107
From: South Korea
"... the cords are a bit irritating at times"
Bluetooth (BT) headsets have their own share of headaches. First of all, you have to pair them to get them to work together (hopefully you only have to do this once). Then you'll have to make sure they're charged. Depending on model, you might get 7-8 hours on a full charge when new, but as they age the battery life gets shorter. As as mentioned by some other commenters here, depending on your bike's audio system, you may not be able to sync the BT headsets to your bike (if that matters to you). I've been using the built-in corded audio system (but upgraded to J&M headsets) for about 15 years and I'd rather use it than deal with the hassles of BT comms. These days my wife rides her own, and she uses BT (mostly Sena, but we have Cardo as well), but we use the corded setup on my bike if we are riding tandem on my Ultra Limited. Of course this means we have multiple helmets that are set up for either corded or BT comms. I would like to use BT to communicate with her when she's on her own bike, but she took all the Sena mounts for herself and I don't have a helmet set up for that .
Bluetooth (BT) headsets have their own share of headaches. First of all, you have to pair them to get them to work together (hopefully you only have to do this once). Then you'll have to make sure they're charged. Depending on model, you might get 7-8 hours on a full charge when new, but as they age the battery life gets shorter. As as mentioned by some other commenters here, depending on your bike's audio system, you may not be able to sync the BT headsets to your bike (if that matters to you). I've been using the built-in corded audio system (but upgraded to J&M headsets) for about 15 years and I'd rather use it than deal with the hassles of BT comms. These days my wife rides her own, and she uses BT (mostly Sena, but we have Cardo as well), but we use the corded setup on my bike if we are riding tandem on my Ultra Limited. Of course this means we have multiple helmets that are set up for either corded or BT comms. I would like to use BT to communicate with her when she's on her own bike, but she took all the Sena mounts for herself and I don't have a helmet set up for that .
Last edited by Far 3ast; Nov 25, 2024 at 12:52 AM.
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Road Captain
Joined: Oct 2020
Posts: 518
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From: Central Iowa
"... the cords are a bit irritating at times"
Bluetooth (BT) headsets have their own share of headaches. First of all, you have to pair them to get them to work together (hopefully you only have to do this once). Then you'll have to make sure they're charged. Depending on model, you might get 7-8 hours on a full charge when new, but as they age the battery life gets shorter. As as mentioned by some other commenters here, depending on your bike's audio system, you may not be able to sync the BT headsets to your bike (if that matters to you). I've been using the built-in corded audio system (but upgraded to J&M headsets) for about 15 years and I'd rather use it than deal with the hassles of BT comms. These days my wife rides her own, and she uses BT (mostly Sena, but we have Cardo as well), but we use the corded setup on my bike if we are riding tandem on my Ultra Limited. Of course this means we have multiple helmets that are set up for either corded or BT comms. I would like to use BT to communicate with her when she's on her own bike, but she took all the Sena mounts for herself and I don't have a helmet set up for that .
Bluetooth (BT) headsets have their own share of headaches. First of all, you have to pair them to get them to work together (hopefully you only have to do this once). Then you'll have to make sure they're charged. Depending on model, you might get 7-8 hours on a full charge when new, but as they age the battery life gets shorter. As as mentioned by some other commenters here, depending on your bike's audio system, you may not be able to sync the BT headsets to your bike (if that matters to you). I've been using the built-in corded audio system (but upgraded to J&M headsets) for about 15 years and I'd rather use it than deal with the hassles of BT comms. These days my wife rides her own, and she uses BT (mostly Sena, but we have Cardo as well), but we use the corded setup on my bike if we are riding tandem on my Ultra Limited. Of course this means we have multiple helmets that are set up for either corded or BT comms. I would like to use BT to communicate with her when she's on her own bike, but she took all the Sena mounts for herself and I don't have a helmet set up for that .
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Grand HDF Member
Joined: Sep 2022
Posts: 4,418
Likes: 3,823
From: Florida
I liked my Sena 50S until it got glitchy and soon stopped working. It was maybe 8 months old. I reached out to Sena who said ship it to them. A day or two later I had a confirmation and they sent me a brand new one in an original box with all the extra parts like headset and laptop connection adaptor.
Stuff happens.. I was surprised how quickly they sent the new one. I expected either them to repair or send me a single refurbed unit or something like that. So they stand behind their product. I did respect that.
Once paired with my phone the voice stuff works great.. Siri Play Pandora Thin Lizzy Station Siri call Wife Its hands free for 75% of what I might use it for. I had a zoom meeting once I needed to take while I was on vacation on the bike. I was able to log into zoom w/phone, listen and even reply through the Sena while riding. After the zoom call was over a colleague followed up with a phone call. He didnt know the phone call or the zoom comments I made were through Bluetooth. In fact when I told him he said my audio was better than most. He said it was crystal clear and nobody would have guessed I was wearing a helmet talking on a motorcycle with drag pipes doing 80 mph.
Stuff happens.. I was surprised how quickly they sent the new one. I expected either them to repair or send me a single refurbed unit or something like that. So they stand behind their product. I did respect that.
Once paired with my phone the voice stuff works great.. Siri Play Pandora Thin Lizzy Station Siri call Wife Its hands free for 75% of what I might use it for. I had a zoom meeting once I needed to take while I was on vacation on the bike. I was able to log into zoom w/phone, listen and even reply through the Sena while riding. After the zoom call was over a colleague followed up with a phone call. He didnt know the phone call or the zoom comments I made were through Bluetooth. In fact when I told him he said my audio was better than most. He said it was crystal clear and nobody would have guessed I was wearing a helmet talking on a motorcycle with drag pipes doing 80 mph.
Last edited by Rains2much; Nov 26, 2024 at 07:42 AM.
Road Warrior
Joined: Jun 2014
Posts: 1,934
Likes: 722
From: Ontario, Canada
I have no experience with Bluetooth communicators such as Sena or Cardo. When my wife and I feel like we need to talk during our rides we use the HD corded headsets and they work just fine but the cords are a bit irritating at times so I am considering Bluetooth communicators. It's for me and my wife as a passenger so long range isn't important. One concern I have is do the Bluetooth communicators use Vox like the corded headsets, or do you have to push a button every time you want to talk?
Agreed, Bluetooth is not all roses and sunshine either. I have a pair of Cardo Freecoms for my wife and I that I've been less than impressed with, yes they work but they leave a little to be desired for what I paid for them. Normally they sync up easily but on occasion they give a fit and have to be fiddled with before they sync. Also the audio will sometimes be terrible with a weird echo making it near impossible to communicate. One of the features that made me decide to buy the Freecoms was the voice activated features which happens to be it's worst feature, trying to use it is frustrating at best. I can live with not using the voice recognition but unfortunately while listening to music via the bike it will randomly recognize something from the audio coming from the speakers as a voice prompt and then activate whatever feature it thought it heard. I don't want to sound completely negative, they do work and we continue to use them but just wanted to point out that they can be frustrating at times.