Bluetooth Communicators - Sena, Cardo, other?

[MattB]

Just pair your phones then you have much better range than FRS (essentially unlimited) when you absolutely need it.

Hmmm.... Rick I'm not sure that I follow you. Are you suggesting to basically open a phone call with your riding bud as a long range bike to bike intercom, or am I missing something?

I bought a Sena 30k unit. There is definitely some things that I like about it, but I still have yet to get everything in the bluetooth world shaking hands the way that I like. Wires, while a bit of a pain, I'd run once and then have consistent performance forevermore. I'm still not sure that wireless has been a step forward for me overall, but I do enjoy not having my helmet tethered... so there is that.

[K-K]

Hmmm.... Rick I'm not sure that I follow you. Are you suggesting to basically open a phone call with your riding bud as a long range bike to bike intercom, or am I missing something?

I bought a Sena 30k unit. There is definitely some things that I like about it, but I still have yet to get everything in the bluetooth world shaking hands the way that I like. Wires, while a bit of a pain, I'd run once and then have consistent performance forevermore. I'm still not sure that wireless has been a step forward for me overall, but I do enjoy not having my helmet tethered... so there is that.

Yes Matt, use the BT bike to bike most of the time but if you can't make contact or get separated by big distance then just make a cell call. I finally retired the Chatterbox last summer and went for a 20S EVO, blew me away how well the phone side of it worked though that wasn't something I bought it for or necessarily wanted. It was very nice streaming Pandora/Spotify and I've now totally ditched XM in the house, office and vehicles. Throw in Google Maps turn by turn which dims the music and even the GPS becomes less used...

[aviator]

Here is a tip for kids with older Sena units.
There has been a lot of talk about the batteries givin up the ghost. Maybe true.
If you have one and it will not ever charge up and turn blue on a usb, try plugging it into a wall charger with micro usb, like your phone charger. Presto it will wake up and go blue in a while.
Disclaimer: I never said I am a rocket scientist, but am just an aeronautical engineer.

[allikanbe]

I've owned this POS cardo bold crap for a while now. AUTOCOM and KENWOOD was so much easier. Turn on the bike and it worked. Cop radar and it buzzed. This crap cardo thing is a chore every time one wants to use it. You end up sweating your butt offf while you try to get a coup;e bluetooth items to work - and forget the RD.
Just had to throw that in. Can't wait for the winter so I can freeze my butt off trying to get the CRAPO to work when it's cold out.
YMMV

[aviator]

Mike just buy a Sena 10C EVO. Works, even with the new fancy TFT and Nav6 all in harmony.

[R111S]

I have read that leaving your Sena on the Charger overnight is a strong contributor to short battery life. It typically takes my 20S EVO a couple hours to recharge. I then take it off the Charger. So far the original Battery lasts all day. Lastly, there's a YouTube video that explains how to replace the Battery: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8chy14Btg4

[aviator]

I still have my original 20S that I bought in 2014 or so, a duo pack and still going strong. I top em off once a month along with a software update.
Dont use em these days. But they work great.

[cjs350]

I sprung for the latest Schuberth helmet at the end of last year and it has a built in Sena - for Schuberth communicator, with built in speakers. I have found on my '02 RS, that at highway speeds, wearing foam earplugs, I cannot make the sound loud enough to listen to music, or books. And without earplugs, the wind noise overrides the speakers. May just be the aero dynamics of the RS, don't know? Although the bike to bike communicator works well with foam ear plugs as long as there is not too much distance separating the bikes. So I've taken to wearing the very expensive custom ear pieces I bought from "Fit-Ear" a couple of years ago - I have a bluetooth "dongle" that connects my phone to the earbud speakers and they work excellently. I suppose I could figure out how to join that dongle with the built in unit, but so far I haven't found the need - go on airplane mode while riding so I'm not interrupted by the phone anyway.

[allikanbe]

update on the hey CRAPO. It still sucks. I set it up as the graphic said to (TFT, GPS) and then nothing worked, not even bike to bike. F this piece of expensive junk. eventually, B2B worked and nothing else did, but it should not take this much effort. POS CRAPO junk.

[802Mike]

Thinking of upgrading from my old Sena 10s Looking at Revzilla Site
they have a 20% off Presidents' Day Sale.
https://www.revzilla.com/motorcycle/...ku_id=10170322
I wonder about connecting my (non-blutooth) radar detector though?
Should be able to still connect to my SM10? I'm not high tech, it has
to be plug-n-play.
What's the latest you're using?

[allikanbe]

yes, it's about a year and a half later and the Crapo cardo is still crapo in my opinion. yeh, it works for talking bike to bike. i gave up on their stupid cardo app. forget the phone calls. not worth the effort. I returned one of the crapo units under warranty (I bought the duo system so my wife could also talk) because it would never connect with BT. I've not owned a sena unit, but I would try that if I had to do it all over. oh, and the earphones are huge so they fit in the helmet ok, but when you put your head inside the helmet, your ears fold over. f'n annoying. i've never used the pos crapo jbl earphones. glad i paid extra for them.

[EricM]

[Mike W]

Wow. Yes old thread but I never had a problem bumping these vs starting new. Strong Sena love and Cardo hate here.
We lost our first pair of Senas due to the finish turning into a sticky crumbling mess. Lost the next pair in a massive downpour and I was done with Sena.

Freecom 4Xs set up and testing fine so far. I liked the volume knob.

Anyone happy with Cardo?

[Pittsdriverwes]

I'm not completely happy with Sena intercom reliability but that hasn't stopped me from buying again - a 50C EVO. I took that headset from home to Tuktoyaktuk and back and it did the job.

[BillGsa]

I have a Sena 50R, the wife has a Cardo Freedom. I had to replace the battery in the 50R other than that I'm happy with it. No issues with the Cardo.
One thing I like better with Cardo is the speakers connect with a 3.5mm plug makes it easier to use earbuds either wired or with a Bluetooth transmitter. Also with Cardo the default setting allows for intercom & music at the same time with Sena it has to be changed in the app to allow intercom & music together. Not a big deal once it's changed it stays that way.