BT intercom

[Vince Prince]

I'm looking to get a BT intercom so me and the mrs can talk on long runs. My '16 RT has not got the audio. I've looked at the sena kit so far. Any recommendations? I don't want wired stuff.

Cheers,
Vince

[guest2360]

Downside to BT kit on your RT. 
No make of kit except BMWs own will fully connect to the audio unit that has 2 separate BT connections in it. These come up as Helmet One and Helmet Two.
The vast majority of makes will connect to either one of these but only one.  So you or your pillion can listen to it but never both of you.
Any GPS you fit including the proper BMW one will also only ever connect to one helmet.
If you dig deep for the BMW headsets which also includes investing in a System 6 helmet, both of you can then connect and you will be able to control its volume using the wheel. pillion on the other hand will have to control her volume on her headset.
There is no mute facility on the kit so if you have the music too loud to shout over you have to manually mute it with the buttons on the left panel. Again only one of you will be able to connect with a GPS.
None of these restrictions apply to a top quality wired system connected to the audio unit.  My advice, think again, there is lots of detail here about all the options.

[Vince Prince]

Hi RTman10,
Thanks for your input but I think you may have misread my post. My '16 RT does NOT have the audio. I don't want a wired system cos I'll, or the Mrs, will forget and yank the wires out.
Cheers,
Vince

[guest2360]

Right.  Neither do I on my current RT. still have a wired system with a BT attached.  This way we both get the GPS with its loaded music and both get the phone. In my experience some pillions are very capable of destroying BT headsets as well as the odd extension cable. To be honest I'm not aware of any BT kit that will give you height quality sound at high speed.

[T6pilot]

Since your bike does not have audio Sena Unit on each helmet, I believe their latest offering is what your looking for

[Casbar]

Have a look at Cardo Scala Rider kit as well. The latest is the Packtalk, but probably too many toys for what you want. I'm using a Scala rider G9, I do have bike audio, but only use  the BT for sat nav directions and talking to my other half. Mine is 6 years old now and one unit has packed up, so am looking to upgrade, will probably go with the Pactalk or the newer smart talk. Do your research, the Sena systems have been good, but the latest 20s, seems to have been brought to market too soon, the dealer I buy mine off has had several Sena returns, and a lot have bought the Cardo Scala system. All makes have their fans. I have ours fitted to Shoei Neotecs, don't have system helmets, they don't fit my head shape.

[guest2360]

so if you have the audio unit but only use your headsets for your GPS and pillion do you not bother with the audio unit .

[Casbar]

Nope, don't listen to music when riding. Although I have pared my G9 with the bike, so can listen to the radio through the BT headset. But understand wouldn't work with the pillion. But both BT headsets have a radio fitted so if we wanted radio we would use those. I really only use BT to listen to nav instructions and speak to the wife, and very occasionally take the odd phone call. But that all seems to work ok.


Pared my BT to the bike, then pared it to the Nav V and the phone is pared to the Nav V as well

[Vince Prince]

Thanks Casbar, I think sena have a 10s out soon and I will take a look at the scala pactalk.
Cheers,
Vince

[Casbar]

I did look at the 20s, but had mixed reviews and people were complaining about speaker levels and noisy alerts. Might look at the 10s if its new. The only thing that put me off Scala is my G9 packed up, but for the years it worked it was very good, plus all my buddies have Scala, so we can chat when out on rides, but I think most of the later BT will work with each other, although better to stick with the same make I guess.

[guest2360]

Casbar.  You don't seem to get your money's worth from the audio unit.  And no you won't  get both headsets to pair with it. 
It's still the same old story with BT as far as I can see.  Unreliable, incompatible and short lived. My Autocom is on its 3rd bike and will no doubt do the next bike all for £300,00. 

[Casbar]

I agree. But as I didn't pay for the audio, not that bothered. As discussed in a previous thread, after having a rear cable from the socket to my wife helmet come adrift and rap itself around the rear sprocket on a previous Harley, I will never use a wired system again. Plus with my BT I can use it on all my bikes.

[Gman1969]

I have the Cardo Systems Scala G4 Powerset which have been ok. They are a bit fiddly to get the sequence of connections right and not always great when I try to talk to my brother on his bike but they are ok for most of the time its probably user error in most cases!
I would like to look at something that is idiot proof. I don't have the audio on my RT either and I will be using for Zumo 660 instead of the BMW one and an IPhone 6s so hopefully it will all connect and be ok.
Did you get the RT that was on the shop floor last week?

Cheers
Stuart

[Casbar]

I only paired my Scala G9 last week to the audio. For the first few weeks I used it with my 660 and all worked fine. Now have a nav v and it still works fine.

[Vince Prince]

After some research I think the scala Q1 teamset is the most cost effective way for simple rider to pillion BT comms. The sena range appears only to be water resistant, which for northern Europe is not good enough. Scala is 'dust proof and waterproof'. As this statement comes from the masters of litigation, I guess it can be trusted ish. Scala stuff gets good reviews as well a good price.
Cheers,
Vince