Nav, tunes, and phone -- things change so fast, worth another thread?

Lee T

Lee T

Joined
Oct 19, 2024
Messages
25
Age
64
Location
Colorado Springs
Bike
2003 ST 1300
2024 Miles
000400
Hello all,

"Lazarus" is really starting to get there mechanically. With the addition of a new windscreen, I can take it up to 115 MPH with very little wind noise in my helmet - not that I plan to ride at that speed normally, just testing.
:)
That gets me to my latest quest, answering the "how do I get navigation, music and phone in my helmet" question. I've read several of the related threads and looked up the recommended hardware, but in this area, the tech is evolving so rapidly it seems like if the answer is more than a year old, it may be, if not obsolete, at least dated. I don't have a massive budget to work with, as the mechanicals took more than I had expected. Not in a huge hurry at present, as the snows started last week in Colorado, and will return next week. I'm wasting what may be the last good riding day of the season doing "honey-do's" (and a bit grumpy about it, but not as grumpy as the wife will be if I don't).

I'm wondering, given the state of technology, if the easiest answer is not just a really good phone case/mount with a hard wired charging cord and two sets of earbuds with their own charger in a pocket of the fairing? Might even avoid the phone mount, put the phone in my pocket, or the pocket in the fairing, and just have the audio for the nav -- as long as "betty" whispers in my ear that a turn is coming up in two miles, and bitches at me if I miss it, I'm not sure the distraction of the moving map down on the handlebars is needed or even advised.

I have to admit that I never modernized my '82 Interstate with GPS -- I still did the old school thing of writing down all of the turns and distances between them, putting it in a ziplock bag and taping it somewhere visible while riding. Hit the reset on the trip after every turn, and there we are. The stereo was in the fairing, and with the little wind noise behind the big Honda fairing with oversized aftermarket windshield, I never really had to turn it up much.

Thoughts/suggestions? I am not much into ear buds, so suggestions there would be welcome. I have looked at helmets that have the built in Bluetooth speakers powered off a helmet mounted battery pack, but I don't know how good the sound quality would be.

Thoughts?

Thanks!
 
I have fought with this ( music, nav directions, etc) for more than a few years. I like music while I ride, and I always ride with some form of hearing protection.

I have settled on two solutions, neither is great, but I believe that they are the best two , at least for me. I use Plugfones quite often, they provide quite a bit of hearing protection, while giving me fairly good sound quality. I hook them into a Bluetooth transmitter, which syncs with my iPhone. Of course, there is a drawback- they can make your ears sore after a while. Here's a link:




I have recently been experimenting with bone conduction headphones, which have worked fairly well, with the added advantage of not requiring the Bluetooh transmitter, and no cords to get tangled, or fail . It can take some finagling to get your helmet on over these, though, and with foam earplugs in, the sound quality is not optimal. It is adequate, though, and I have used it quite a bit. The unit I bought is not a high dollar one, a better unit might work , well, better.

Of course, to listen to sat nav instructions, you have to be using navigation from your phone, which I only do if i am in densely populated areas. I can do just fine with the screen prompts on my trusty vintage Garmin.
 
I have tried a few different ways, at different budget levels. First, I simply mounted my phone to the bars, with a ram mount and a quadlock case and bought a bluetooth com system for my lid, using speakers. Problem with this setup was that with speakers, you can still get wind noise, so earplugs were necessary, which interfered with the sound from the speakers . Also, I was always frustrated with the battery running out before my day was done. Then I went to a hard wired set of earbuds, plugged into the same phone. They double as sound devices and earplugs... much better sound and less wind noise. I like the buds, other than the cord, which can be a pain at times. Then I upgraded to a 7" tablet, replacing the phone on the same mount. The tab was much cheaper than todays phones, so along with being larger and easier to see and interact with, it was not a worry if something happened to it. Lately, I have gotten the Innov n1 pro. It has dual cameras and provides wireless android auto on the 6 inch screen, so my phone stays in my pocket or the storage compartment of the bike, protected from the elements. I am back to running the bluetooth com for now, with a battery pack in my pocket for when the thing dies. I am looking into a new com setup, with much better battery life. This last option is not for the budget-conscious.
Another option, the cheapest, would be speakers in your helmet with an extention cord to plug into your phone. Gets around your issue with earbuds, but no mic for phone calls. It does save the cost of a comms unit though. I never cared about a mic so I would have no issue with this,YMMV...
Sounds like a bluetooth comm system is your best bet from your described wishlist. One thing to keep in mind is that some have the mic and speakers hard wired into to comm unit, meaning you cant unplug them and some have removeable plugs, like my old cardo unit has. Along with being able to swap/upgrade speakers or run buds, it also alows you to put the device in your pocket and use extention cables for the speaker/mic. This gets the unit off the side of your helmet for a little less wind noise and close to a battery pack, for when the stock battery ran out (after 3 or 4 hours in my case). This was a cobbled up approach I took for 1 last trip this year and worked surprisingly well. I am looking at a new helmet (quieter) and intergrated comms this winter.
 
It really depends on your existing hardware. If you are going to buy new, consider a Cardo Packtalk Edge, your cell phone, and a Garmin GPS. This package should give you everything. I've not mated them all together but others have an I'm sure will chime in. I'm pretty sure @jfheath has connected all these. I'm sorry I don't remember who else has, but you can probably do a search for the Cardo Packtalk Edge and find some not too old info. I remember asking this question about mating all three, but for a variety of reasons*, I never followed through.

*I found the conversations while riding in our group somewhat less than ahhh scintillating, and I decided music was an annoyance when in traffic and concentrating on the fools in 4 wheeled tanks. It is funny, that I had anticipated really enjoying music while riding, but the reality for me did not make it. I also did not like the distraction from riding having to change songs or search for a song. I was using my iPhone w/ playlists and music. YMMV
 
I have the Packtalk edge (duo) as I ride with a pillion and that is our main use.

There are two ways of doing this. I like the Zumo to be at the centre of things - so the phone is paired to the Zumo, the headset is paired to the Zumo. That gives absolutely everything I want. I can talk with my pillion. If I'm out alone, she can phone me and the Zumo posts a message on the screen telling me who it is - The phone answers automatically - but I can press a button on the Zumo screen. I can play music from the Zumo MP3 player. It is possible to play from the phone as well - spotify or music player - but I don't rate that as a solution.

I don't think that you can control your phone - Hey Google, Hey Siri or whatever with it connected like this.

All navigation instructions come through the earphones. I also have the option of sending or denying nav and music to the pillion.

The edge has voice control over certain things. Radio on/off (FM). Volume up/down. Skip track. Start/Stop music. etc

The other way is to put the headset as the centre. THis does allow voice control of the phone - but all of your phone control is then via the headset. Voice for a limited set of commands. Button presses if not. I don't like that idea.

There are a number of ways of getting sound through the system. Rider to pillion, I have set up as Mesh - and it connects every time. Most other things are BT and there are a number of channels - so you can for example have two phones connected. (Hence you can connect the phone AND the Zumo to the headset)

I like the Edge - but I was used to having a side-tone - the ability to hear what you were saying - so not having it makes it not easy to tell whether your voice is being picked up. But it is not cheap. Especially for two. Its very nice not to have to worry about wires. Battery lasts for a full days ride.

I keep saying 'Zumo' - that is because the same facilities that I describe are available on the 590, 595, XT and XT2.

The XT2 seems to have the ability to pair additional phone / additional headset. But I haven't found a need for this.

Anything specific that you want to know. Let me know. If I don't know, I'll find out for you.

Having said all of that - I have a pair of wireless earbuds. They are connected together with a single lead that dangles under my chin. In the lead are two slim in-line 'things'. One contain the 3 button controls. The other a micophone. It cost me £10, and I use it for testing out things on the Zumo and phone rather than sitting at my desk with my helmet on ! I suspect that it would not do for riding - but I'm just suggesting that there are cheaper options.

If you ask a question on here - just '@ jfheath' (no space) my username - it will alert me to come back and visit this thread. I only popped in here because @SMSW mentioned me.
 
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