Well I went out for a good short cold wintery ride yesterday and thought maybe I use the Ipod for fun while I was riding through the twisties. Buddy of mine has an RK and uses his all the time so I'm thinking..."can't hurt to try it". I get everything set up with winter gear and all that. It's 37 degrees on the mountain but the suns out. Isetup the Ipod through my chatterbox and I'm ready. Head on down the highway to Eric Clapton and JJ Cale thinking this is going to be good......wrong, it was awful, first it so tin sounding over the low deep sounds of my thunderheaders, the only thing coming through was the voices no music, second it was distracting and a pain in the a** sort like a car tailgaitin you "it's there and it won't go away...at all! Well as soon as I got to the Saquatchie County line I pulled into this church parking lot and started working on it. I figure maybe the sound was too low so I put the bike in Neutral and raised the sound as a Rolling Stones tune started coming in....whoa not a good thing...put it in first turned the bike off put all those wires and crap in my saddle bag and left the sounds behind. What works in a cage definitely does not "turn me on" in my helmet. Screw it the bikes for riding, and enjoying the great outdoors and listening to the cool musical sounds of .......My Harley.

Great ride yesterday after I got rid of the sounds,

Wilbur

 

Ditch the crappy chatterbox and try some in-canal headphones from a quality (not sony or apple) company, like SHURE.

 

The chatterbox RUINS music. Keep in mind that the chatterbox is designed to accent vocals... That would be a lot more trebel than bass.

I wear the headphones that came with my ipod under my helmet and I actually enjoy it. Sometimes at stops it can be a little too loud... but not horrible. I am used to putting on my headphones and going into the data center though... So it could just be what I am used to.

 

I use the chatterbox with the group I ride with and it works fine for that mainly cause we don't chatter as much as use it for "I gotta pee" stops and "look out for that crazy cager" and the like.

The reality hit home real quick that I really enjoyed riding my bike and digging my surroundings a lot more than creating artificial realities while riding. Frankly I just really dig the sound of my bike and the beauty of Tennessee. Maybe someday but not these days.

Wilbur

 

Umm.....what's a chatterbox?

 

I put my earbuds under my helmet and it was great until I started the bike [&:]
Couldn't hear a thing and I didn't want to kill my hearing by turning it up louder. Will be looking for an alternative in the near future.

 

LOL I was thinking the same thing.

 

I agree. And it really isn't too safe either. You need to play it real loud to hear it over the road noise, which isn't good for your hearing. You may not hear the horn of that 18 wheeler or siren until it's too late. It's also illegal in my state to wear headphones while oporating a motor vehicle. It's bad enough out there without diminishing your hearing.

Don't get me wrong, I love my iPod. I just don't think it belongs on a bike with headphones.

If you have one of those big 'ol Road Kings with stereo speakers that would allow an iPod to connect, then that is legal and might be pretty cool, although I have never listened to music in that fashion so can't speak to the sound quality.

 

I found that, to hear the music well enough over the roar of the bike and wind, the music had to be so loud as to threaten my hearing and leave me unable to hear the sounds of the road -- sounds that just might save my life. Nope, the I-Pod stays home when I ride.

<><Peace

 

Haven't tried with my Ipod and don't think it's a real good idea. Maybe if I had a quieter import motorcycle.. But then I probably wouldn't want to ride as much - he he heee...