I have just purchased my first tourer (2007 EGUC). What little bit of 2-up riding with my wife has been while wearing 1/2 helmets. We are now interested in taking advantage of the communication ability of the new bike and would like some input from those of you who have gone from 1/2 lids to something else, or maybe stayed with the 1/2 lid and added two way com. What are the pros and cons between the helmets and com systems available.

 

My wife and I have the J&M setups in our 1/2 helmets (HCI-100), she has a J&M in her 3/4 and full (both HJC), I have an Edsets in my modular (Shark). No issues with any of them, though the Edsets allows me to plug my iPod directly into it, which is nice when I'm on the Night Train.

 

I live in a no helmet law state and, as such, take full advantage of that..With that said I do travel at least annually and have to wear a helmet in many other states. We (wife and friends) decided to get a communication system to allow us to actually talk to each other. We went with the scala rider G4 system. Having just gotten back from our summer touring vacation I can say they are great. Not only can we connect 4 people (the company says this can only be done with 2 bikes riding 2 up but we did it with 3 bikes) but we also have full bloothtoth control of GPS, phones, MP3 players or whatever else has bluetooth. The audio is exceptional and I can make and recieve phoe calls with a half helmet with no windshield attached and no one can hear any wind noise. It's flexible system that we can use on any bike and can easily transfer the system to a different helmet. It's also upgradable with software updates and has a built in FM radio (which is pretty much crap unless you are next to a radio tower) and you can plug an MP3 player into it as well. I know I sound like a commercial but I am really happy with these headsets and they work better then expected. As far as the 1/2 helmet vs 3/4 or full...doesn't matter with this system. They work well on any of them.

I hope that helps.

 

Take full advantage of the harley ultra classic electronics, just use two of the HD Boom Audio headsets and you and your wife can have GPS, Intercom, MP3, CD, weatherband and CB bike to bike comm with as many bikes as are in your group without ever having to worry about charging a battery. We love it and so do all the others who ride with us. We have had great success with several different styles of 3/4 and half helmets with the same headsets.

 

I agree with bmaier, use what you have. This allows you to use your cb which 9 out of 10 times is what any one else will be using if your traveling with Harley tourers or Wingers. I prefer the J&M headsets over HD and they will fit most any helmet out there. Check out the J&M website.
Good luck.

 

I got the Harley setup when I first got my 2009 Ultra.
We used it one the first trip to Vegas and never again.
Who wants to be connected to the bike by a phone cord on steroids?
And the stereo sounded like crap through the helmet speakers.

Why hasn't Harley or some after market company come up with a wireless interface between the bike and the helmet?
With the massive use of bluetooth you would think there would be something!
Several companies make bike to bike or driver to passenger wireless unit, but these do not interface with the Harley stereo head unit. Why not?

Who ever comes out with a unit that plugs into the port on the Harley where the large phone cord plugs into and has a wireless headset will make a fortune.
How many of you out there would plop down $300-$400 for such a set-up?
I know I would. To get Stereo, Intercom, and CB through wirelessly would be nirvana!

 

What's not nirvana is charging them up at the end of every day, or worse, in the middle of a 12 hour day your battery is dead, no thanks. And on the headsets, if you don't space the speakers up closely to your ears they do sound like crap, Ive shown that trick to quite a few who said the same. It makes all the difference in the world. I can't turn mine up past three clicks on the volume, they are TOO loud. The 2010 and newer BOOM headsets do offer a little more than 09 and older headsets but those will sound decent if installed correctly too. My wife and i plug and unplug every ride no problem, more trouble to drag a charger around IMO. Just my .02

 

Wife and I have had the Scala G4 Powerset for 2 years now, put lots of miles on - works well with the half helmets.

We ride seperate bikes and they are good for a fair distance (400 yards or so with the antenna down, up to a mile with it up).

Pretty happy with them, buy them on eBay though rather than at the dealer, saved us a couple hundred $$$.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/HARLE...d=244784307588

I have this one, works with half, no & 3/4 helmets. Works great

Toby

 

You can also buy an adaptor from Aerostich and other places that plugs into your communication ports. This way you can just use ear buds if all you want to do is listen to cds or radio. About $20.