Bluetooth

Advice please
looking at getting a bluetooth intercom for playing music and connecting to my tom tom sat nav firstly what do you recommend and the tech bit do I connect the phone to the bike and the intercom to the bike so i can use the dash to control the volume and tracks or phone straight to intercom ?

Crikey! Many ways of skinning this cat!

I use the NAV as the core which controls everything. I have an SD card in there with hundreds of MP3 tracks. I like the NAV to control everything as it's right in my line of sight. Also it "prioritises" everything, so if you're on music, and a call comes in, it will give priority to the phone call for instance. It will also speak the directions to you from the NAV as a priority (i.e. turn left in 200 metres), cutting or quietening the music whilst it speaks the commands to you.
My phone is bluetooth with the NAV (no phone to intercom connectivity for me)
So I can play music off the NAV, and the NAV also controls incoming (or outgoing) calls. The phone book is replicated on the NAV, and an incoming call pops up on the NAV with the usual green (answer) and red (decline) buttons.

If you don't want to talk to anyone via intercom (passenger, or another biker) then almost any bluetooth headset will do. Something like a Interphone Connect probably (I only say this as I have one and it's worked well with great battery life) https://www.sportsbikeshop.co.uk/motorcycle_parts/content_prod/450915 (you could spend a lot less, almost any unit will do)

I have never tried phone to intercom direct connection, as I like to see who is calling etc and control the call from my nav screen (I keep my phone tucked away, not in view)

If you only want to talk to one other person (pillion), then bluetooth comms is OK. If you want to talk to other bikes or a group, then you'll need to be aware what units they have, as the two market leaders (cardo and Sena) don't really talk to each other easily. MESH2 has redefined bike to bike comms as it's an open protocol but only currently on higher end units from Interphone (UCOM 16) and Sena (30 and 50 range IIRC). MESH2 works great in a group or riders and is a one-button-click to set up, and the range is excellent.

Moving off topic a bit, but some NAV providers seem to be developing VHF for inter-bike comms. That could indeed be a game changer! (Garmin Tread for instance)

If you want to control the volume by the wheel, your choices are limited. As far as I'm aware, only the BMW (Sena) intercom or the more recent SENA units with the latest firmware will do it. I know my Sena 50r does since a recent firmware update, it didn't before this. And to do this you will need to do what you say, connect both intercom and phone to bike, not to each other.

Im not sure if the other brands have caught up yet, sure someone else will confirm.

Good point GSian I was thinking of using the NAV (the NAV as "dash" not the TFT) to control volume etc...

MartinK said:

Good point GSian I was thinking of using the NAV (the NAV as "dash" not the TFT) to control volume etc...

Click to expand...

You can probably do that if you're using the BMW/Garmin NAV units Martin, not sure as I've not tried that. But definitely not for a Tomtom Nav.

As said already if your comms is for Sat nav and phone, just buy a cheapish unit.
my Lexin does that stood on its head.

if you connect to 1 other person then its usually ok too.

Where it gets complicated with cheaper units, is when you start to add 3 or more people.
then you would need to buy a premium product to make your life easier.

the new Mesh 2 units are the way to go if you can afford it.

With Sena and Cardo, Its a bit like the Playstation and Xbox situation
if you buy the opposite to your mates you will be on your own

If your mates are like mine who point out strange looking trees and sheep all the time, you might wish you was

Easiest way to control volume is with the volume roller on the Packtalk Edge