Choosing the Right Intercom for Motorcycle
If you are a rider, you are probably interested in learning about motorcycle intercoms and Hands-free Kits. Here, let’s have a look at them and learn more.
Intercom and the motorcycle helmet: The characteristics that allow you to choose the models most adapted to your case are: attachment, microphone type, headset placement, the way the Bluetooth kit is installed in your helmet.
Adaptable kit or integrated kit?
There are two categories of communication kits. On the one side, the adaptable (or generic) kits, which can be mounted on any helmet (or almost any). On the other side, the integrated kits, developed especially for a specific helmet model, or a helmet brand when supplied by the official house. The former has the advantage that it can be mounted on several helmets if, for example, you have a jet for summer and a full face for winter.
The seconds are generally perfectly integrated into your helmet, in the space provided. Therefore, the integrated communication kits save you from having to attach an unsightly box to your helmet. But this advantage generally translates into a higher price than their adaptable counterparts and is only available for a few helmets.
Motorcycle intercom systems: Which types of helmets are these for? In principle, the hands-free kits and universal intercoms available in the market are equally well suited for full-face helmets as well as for modular or jet helmets. But as it is not something systematic, check well before that your device can be mounted on your current helmet without getting in the way. The difference is often in the type of microphone, corded for integrals and “headband” (a flexible rod) for jets and modules: sometimes neither is included in the box.
Adhesive mounts are the most common due to their simplicity and lower price, there are still kits in the market with fixing clips (which are attached to the helmet shell, under the cheek foam). The other option to avoid damaging the paint with an adhesive is to check if there is an integrated kit, that is specially designed for your helmet.
Have you said wireless?
By “wireless” we mean without a wired connection between the helmet intercom and the phone. For legal and safety reasons, kits with cables are no longer allowed on the road. Communication systems must offer a voice navigation function.
The microphone with a headband or with a cord?
It all depends on the helmet in which you are going to install it! For a full face helmet, the most comfortable is an adhesive wired microphone. The headset microphone and its imposing windproof foam could indeed take up too much space between the chin guard and your mouth, and could annoy you. That is why it is reserved for jet and modular helmets. Both types are supplied in many communication kits, but it’s best to make sure before buying!
Placing the headphones
Intercom headsets are getting thinner, but with better and better acoustics. That said, any additional thickness in a helmet is noticeable, and a small annoyance quickly turns into torture after a few minutes. Aware of the increase in intercom equipment, helmet manufacturers have begun to provide small compartments at the height of ears on the inner polystyrene covers. To make sure that your helmet is of this type, the easiest thing is to check that it has these holes. To do this, you will have to separate the foam gums from the cheeks and perhaps remove a small patch of acoustic foam that fill them.
