Feature: motorcycle intercoms

With spring riding time approaching and those longer trips planned, it’s a good moment to think about new gear and communications is an area more and more riders are considering. Just the other day while shopping for some gear at my local motorcycle store, counter staff told me intercoms were big sellers with several sales daily.

"Selling like hot cakes and really popular for bike-to-bike communications especially”, said the staff member. In fact, a middle aged couple were just walking away with a set as we chatted at the counter.

For some couples it can make the difference between your partner coming on the ride or staying at home, so worth considering if you’re in that category. Being able to chat about the route, choose when to pull over and generally comment to one another adds a whole new dimension. However, there are generally mute buttons, so you have the choice! But as the bloke at the shop said, bike-to-bike communications is a simple way of keeping groups together and, in the bush, as I’ve found out myself, it’s an excellent safety net to prevent riders going astray at junctions, etc.

When looking for gear the choices are generally between wired and wireless systems. Some riders might prefer fixed, and some manufacturers would argue, higher quality wired connections. But as my adventure group found out in the bush recently, wires can foul up and simply get in the way.
Alternatively, the maturing Bluetooth protocol and wireless connectivity is used by some of the leading brands, so I took both designs for a ride.

Scala is one of the leading quality brands and makes a wide range of bike intercom products. It’s also used by other manufacturers for voice communications – such as the Tom Tom Rider Pro bike GPS which uses the Scala Rider Solo unit.

The Scala Rider G4 Powerset, supplied by Strike Australia, comes in a neat box with two headsets and all components tidily organised. It also includes a detailed 30-page manual which really does have to be read thoroughly to get the best out of this complex and quality system.

The G4 really is a multipurpose system as it can be used solo, with pillion and with another rider. In solo mode it connects to a mobile phone, GPS, MP3 player and also has an FM radio. Between riders, it claims a range of 1.6km and has a small boost antenna on each headset. Plastics used throughout are sturdy and all the wiring is strongly fixed to the various components.

Installation and setup
After a four-hour charge to each headset followed by clipping the electronic module into the speaker headset, the G4s sprung into life. As they are automatically paired at the factory, pressing the waterproof ‘on’ button brought instant communications between the two G4s. The G4s are speech activated so send and receive your conversations automatically. I also successfully paired the G4 with Scala’s Rider Solo unit that came standard with my Tom Tom Rider Pro, so freeing up a spare G4 for another rider.

Ensure you fit the units carefully to helmets by cleaning surfaces with mentholated spirits or similar and be careful the rubber bumper strips make full contact because my first go allowed the unit to fall off (but was saved by the cabling) while riding. Alternatively use the permanent glue and plate supplied by Scala. For permanent use, routing the wires behind the cheek liners of your helmet is necessary to avoid snagging them (but for my temporary use I taped them). Also, ideally insert the speakers in the natural recess between cheek liner and outer shell so that it doesn’t interfere with the fit.

On the road
As a busy journalist I travel a lot – nearly exclusively on my bike to get through the Sydney traffic – so pairing the G4 to my Tom Tom Rider Pro was important. Initially the Bluetooth connection didn’t work so an email was dispatched to Scala support and right away they responded, advising me to do a factory reset of the Tom Tom.

I was reluctant to lose a lot of waypoints from previous bush trips but did so and hey presto the G4 connected! Heading off on an assignment through the busy Sydney traffic was made much more bearable thanks to the excellent FM radio inbuilt into the G4 which worked simultaneously with the directions the smooth English tones of Karen from the Tom Tom was giving me. I also forgot to mention I had already paired the Tom Tom with my mobile phone which was relayed through the G4 so I could receive calls as well.

Controls are easy to use on the G4 with three top buttons and two channel buttons on the side. These are rugged enough to work with my leather gloves while driving along. Hearing proved very good between rider and pillion, with clarity and tone carried through the Bluetooth connection. Volume adjustment was simple with your fingers easily finding the three top buttons, with the indented middle on/off switch also the phone answer button. As mentioned this is a powerful unit with most of the buttons doing several jobs so referring to the well written users’ manual pays big dividends later.

When riding with another rider again the G4 proved itself well, with clear voice recognition as the two bikes drove in convoy through Sydney. Both in traffic and at high speed the G4 maintained clarity with volume adjusting with the ambient noise. Also, despite the wind noise caused by the semi-open motocross helmet my mate used the G4’s mike and speakers maintained the clarity of voice, so it should good for open face helmets as well.

In terms of distance of communication between bikes we estimated about 600m without the small flip-up antenna deployed, but with the antenna up the distance (in a reasonably flat straight line) increased easily to about a kilometre before our voices began breaking up. So, the maker’s claims of 1.6km could indeed be the case on a completely flat, clear surface.

Other good features of the G4 are its waterproofing (rated at IP67) and long battery usage. Battery life is claimed at 13 hours talk time and for the radio, 8-10 hours, which I’d say is about right.

Overall, I found this an excellent system, both functional and robust. The Scala Rider G4 Powerset sells for $629 (includes two headsets).

For more information contact Strike Distribution, tel 1300 792 044, www.strike.com.au

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Tomcat’s system is a hardwired headset that connects to industry standard UHF radios. It comprises of a waterproof button for handlebar mounting that connects to a cable for input to the UHF and earphone sockets. Tomcat also has the iPhone headset (the iMC Motorcam) as well which worked in a similar way.

Installation and setup
Connection to the GME TX6100 UHF is straightforward: plug in the two pin UHF connection then connect the jack plug to the handlebar button (for speak mode). Then, insert the flat speakers into the recess in the helmet (ideally on inner shell to avoid bumping your ears during donning the helmet).

Finally, connect the speaker cable plug to the handset. This was simple to do and once connected it instantly worked between the two GME radio sets (once my mate and I had agreed on the channel).

On the road
I was keen to try the Tomcat with my adventure riding guys, a bunch of mates who regularly go bush riding on dirt, single tracks and fire trails. This is the kind of riding where you need a sweep rider to watch the back while the point rider takes care of oncoming traffic (or yahoo KTM riders, as often is the case in state forests!), so an ideal use for an intercom.

Turning the GME’s to maximum power (five watts) we headed over the Blue Mountains from Sydney. Communications along the highway was good especially if we stayed within line of sight of one another. The volume had to be adjusted quite high to overcome wind and engine noise however, but once adjusted it proved really useful.

It was good to discuss what we were doing, warning about oncoming speed traps and generally have someone to talk to. The following day we left the tar behind for a high country route with twisty, tree-covered gravel and our group of five spread quite far out, as slower riders throttled back on the slippy surface.

It was comforting to check with the sweep rider that everyone was upright and motoring along. However loss of reception was to be expected occasionally as trees and hills blocked communication. Pressing the button (attached by Velcro to the handlebar near my thumb) was fairly easy to initiate a chat.

As I was the point guy with my GPS and waypoints programmed in, I had to ensure the other riders took the right direction at junctions and so on, so the Tomcat headset proved really good at keeping us all together. Another plus was battery life on the GME UHF, which lasted throughout our three day trip.

Punctures can be an issue in remote spots, so on that trip I brought along Tomcat’s small air compressor which worked well for topping up a soft tyre and is a bargain at only $31.95. I also packed the Stop and Go Pocket Tire Plugger Kit ($41.95) in case my mate on his new Multistrada had a blow out.

Overall the Tomcat headset is simple and works pretty well. Only slight issue is the quality of the connections into the speakers themselves which are lightly soldered so may not last forever. The Tomcat headset sells for $82.50 and the GME TX6100 has a street price of $250 per unit.

For more information contact Tomcat Distribution, tel (02) 4305 2200, www.tomcatdistribution.com.au

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