Hey folks. Figured I would give a review on this item. My friends and I have been on the fence for years deciding if we should get communicators or not. That decision was made a lot easier by falling prices and specifically finding a closeout at MotorcycleGear.com for the units.

A friend and I went in together to buy the multipack. This version comes with two, already linked units. The first package we received had something wrong with one of the pieces. My friend contacted the manufacturer and was able to get a replacement unit within a week.

Installation
I was concerned that installing these items on our helmets was going to be a royal pain in the butt. I couldn't have been more wrong. On the first warm day we met up at fuel station that is between both of our houses. I was planning on riding back to my friends house to install the unit onto my helmet. He had other plans. After parking the bikes to talk, he pulled out the packaging and said 'let's put this on the helmet.' The installation process took about 5 minutes total. I removed the cheek padding from my helmet, placed a velcro strip on both sides of the helmet and fixed the speakers to that point. The microphone is a built in item and has a flexible boom. After placing the mounting piece on the helmet, screwing in two small bolts (with an included allen wrench), the headsets were ready to go.

Set Up
If you have ever used Bluetooth before, you know it's not the most user friendly interface. I was relieved to find out that pairing the communicators to another unit or sell phone is pretty easy. You basically end up holding a button down long enough to put it into a discoverable mode and it does it's thing. The same thing goes for pairing up a cell phone or Bluetooth GPS. It allows for a total of (3) units to be linked together.

The units operate on a priority list. Priority number one is the cell phone, priority two is the other unit, and priority three is the music. Whichever has the highest priority wins out over the others. So, if you are talking to a riding mate and a phone call comes in, your conversation will stop and it will patch in your phone (if you answer). If your music is playing and the other person talks your music will be muted.

Communicating to other bikers is rather easy. The units have a voice activated mode or push to talk. The easy choice would be voice activated so you can freely communicate. You may want to change the voice activation to push to talk for long segments on a highway. If you start singing to a favorite song in your helmet it will activate the voice piece to the other riders.

Use
I was floored with the performance of these units as we began riding for the day. I have gone so long without being able to hold a conversation and now was suddenly able to point out hazards in the road quickly. We spent the day riding up to speeds of 70 and had no issues throughout the day. The only time I ran into clarity and sound issues was on the ride home. Speeds were about 75-80mph with a 20mph headwind. If I ducked down behind the wind screen I could hear the music in the earphones fine. I do not not think I would have been able to hold a conversation, though.

Cell phone performance was exceptional. As I have talked to people on the phone while riding they had no clue I was on a motorcycle. The calls are clear and crisp from both ends. Even with my LeoVince exhaust in the background.

If I was able to change anything on the units it would be louder speakers. Don't get me wrong, I can hear everything fine and clear with the stock speakers, but having the ability to go louder (with the music) would be great for the highway.

Overall, I would recommend the units for anyone. They add a new element to riding that helps out immensely on long trips. I will never go out with some sort of communication device in the future. Especially when you can pick them up for a great value.

 

+1

 

Nice review!

I saw this one video of a guy replacing the speakers with inner ear music earplugs. It reduces the sound like normal earplugs and made the audio even clearer (at speed). I can't remember who it was exactly but it was a moderately known vlogger.

 

You know it would be simple to put in speakers of your liking. I am not a big fan of the inner ear plugs because it causes irritation over a few hours. To be honest, I think I will have a lot less issue for the highway riding when it's windy when I install my Corsa wind screen.

I was out yesterday and rode for a few hours listening to music and took a phone call. I still can't believe I went this many years with out a set. Next is to jailbreak my iPhone to allow more voice control. My friend can voice control just about every aspect while riding on his Droid.

I still haven't charged the batteries yet, either. I must have logged 7 hours of connect mode (with my friend) and then another 3 hours of music only and roughly 1 hour of talk time via cell phone. What was even better was getting the cheap price and splitting it 50/50 with my friend.

 

I used to ride with inner earplugs but they kept falling out. That's when I bought the iBike rider kit for the iPhone (cheap man's Scala rider). Unfortunately my iPhone got wet once and the button to answer calls doesn't really do much. I still use it daily for the speakers though. I connect it via a mini jack to my iPhone which is on a RAM holder on my windshield for navigation etc. My next purchase (after a new helmet) is the Q2!

 

Just got the Midland BT2D's for my wife and me. They work really well, it sounds like we are sitting in a room together. Quiet, not a lot of hiss between comments. I like being able to gas up or stop for a moment with out having to take off the helmets to have a conversation. Got them as a means to encourage my wife on the whole riding thang, but am really digging them myself. I got mine on ebay for $125 shipped! So was an cheap way to test the waters. I'm thinking this is like having a multi-monitor set-up, once ya try it, there ain't no going back!

 

Digging up old threads here, but I am thinking about this for a trip to the tail of the dragon with my brother later this summer. They make a kit with a corded mic instead of the boom mic. I would like to the the corded mic version, but since they are not as common, they are more expensive. Does the boom mic fit inside a full face helmet?

 

Yes it tucks in just fine. Mine runs along the bottom of my helmet and then curves up to place in front of my mouth. Can't even tell it's there when my helmet is on. Depending on how much space you have between your helmet and face, the mic may rub your lip just a tad bit. But you can position it where it is comfortable for you. I love mine.

 

I'm sold then.

 

How come?

I've had my multiset for about a year now and I love it. I use it everyday to talk to my pillion. I wouldn't want to be without it for sure.