Intercom Advice

Yes I know Autocom is the only system worth having and that whatever I buy I'll end up junking it and getting an Autocom . . . but has anybody had any success with any other bike-to-bike intercoms? I've just returned a pair of Acumens because one was faulty which was fortunate because the other one demonstrated their total worthlessness above about 40mph in PTT and 30mph in VOX.
Has anybody tried IntaRide?
I really can't afford/justify splashing out over £800 on an Autocom setup for myself and girlfriend and am looking to spend less than £300 if possible . . . unless, of course, someone knows how I can get a useful Autocom setup at a lower cost.

Have a scoot around Ebay www.ebay.co.uk in the last few weeks there have been a coupl of Autocom sets on there. You don't say what you're after whether rider2pillion, bike2bike or both.

The market has recently been flooded with PMR446 radios which are coming with headsets/earpieces - these might fit the bill as well - depends largely on the requirment though my friend.

Regards, Andy

Should have made it clearer . . . I want Bike-to-Bike: my 1150GS to her 650GS but I'm not necessarily bothered about hard-wiring it to the bike.
I've tried to systems so far, both were pretty useless, although one improved when I wore a helmet skirt under my Arai. However, I want something to work with flip-up helmets which tend to be noisier with wind-rush.

The radio aspect of bike2bike has certainly become more affordable in recent times there is no need to spend 200 quid per radio as Autocom's catalogue will have you believe. A friend of mine bought a couple of PMR's off eBay for £40 quid - unfortunately the noise reduction technology in proproetory headsets from what I've seen just don't come up to the job and it is highly unlikely that anything else will do the 'at speed' thing especially in chin-up mode.

I'd reckon on 100 quid for the radios and 200 quid for a second hand autocom kit, you'll just have to keep your eyes peeled on eBay/GSClubUK/BMWClub (not sure I'm allowed to mention them pages.

I'm Sorry but Autocom is the only way...

Simon,

I feel your pain. Over the last ten years I have spent over a thousand quid on intercoms that cost less than a couple of hundred quid to save me the expense of buying an autocom unit.

I finally gave in last month and bought an autocom unit and now I see the error of my ways & how trying to keep the costs down hs resulted in me wasting a load of cash on plastic trinkets that sit unused in the attic.

I know they are pricey and it is a lot of money (I know we all used to buy bikes for less when we were younger) but if you want to be able to have a means of communication that is useable, practical and more importantly, comfortable, there really is no choice.

I think your best approach maybe to reach some kind of compromise. There's no way you can live without the main Autocom unit or headsets so go and get those. Where you may be able to save money however is to take advantage of the new range of PMR446 radios that are now coming in to Europe, all you need to do is find a cheap pair that are compatible with either Kenwood or Icom headsets and you're quids in. I've been looking at this myself and think it is the best way to go.

Not the answers you were hoping for I know, but save yourself the pain and aggriviation, put the money you would "waste" on a cheaper unit towards the cost of the Autocom, it's cheaper in the long run...

Dave

Cheaper Autocom

Simon

Try phoning Infinity M/C's in Hanger lane Acton, they are selling the discontinued Autocom Kit 31 for £50 you then need a Kenwood Radio at £199.
The Kit 31 is a bike powered box with PTT and is bike to bike only it comes with the mic, Headset and PTT Switch, the radios can be bought from sites on the Net for £139 +Vat or from Autocom.
They can also be bought without the battery and charger for £175 but you then need to power it from the bike which means buying another lead for approx £10.

Simon

Great news/advice . . . many thanks.
I was in the process of testing of a nice and reasonably effective system from Intaride.co.uk that does the job for two people for £158 all-in. Better performance than systems from ACumen and Nady costing up to twice as much. But, I've just sent the units back to Intaride (they offer a free 72-hour trial, money back if not satisfied) after receiving your posting . . . good timing!
I've bought two Kit 21 sets from Infinity (020 89 91 59 69: speak to Stuart) at £50 each and two Kenwood TK3101 Protalks with batteries and chargers for £139 (Crystal Radio Systems in Bromsgrove: 01527 872777).
Fantastic . . . Autocom system for £189 per bike instead of £400. I've saved over £400 and I'm well chuffed.
Infinity have hardly any Kit 21s left, but about a dozen or more Kit 31s . . . Kit 21s are transceiver powered, Kit 31s must be hard-wired to the bike. I've got several bikes so I wanted a fully portable system.
Anyone else out there looking at bike-to-bike intercoms, this is the deal of the year!
Cheers Simon

I did get around to trying the Intaride system. Plus points: Comfortable and inexpensive (<£200 bike to bike). Negative points: Poor Quality sound even at farily low speed. I nearly always wear ear plugs, so need the sound turned up a bit, and there was just too much distortion from the earpieces. Sending back for a refund under their 3 day trial offer.

I ended up taking Cecil the Cat's advice and went for a K21 and a K31 plus the Kenwoods from Crystal. They're definitely the cheapest for TK 3101's. Whole system £447 inc VAT plus postage. I'll post another reply when I've had a chance to try it over the next few weeks, unless Simon beats me to it!

Regs,

Richard

OK, I've had time to test it. It's so good I'm lost for words! I've joined the "Don't waste your money on anything else club.

Richard

Autocom

Richard

I'm glad that you got sorted with the Autocom equipment, I have just returned from a trip around Scotland and used the Intercoms for the complete trip, the quality is second to none in my opinion. We got a usable range of approx 1.5 ~ 3 miles and the only problem that we found was user error, this was due to my friends kit being mounted in a tankbag and him moving the volume and vox knobs everytime he used the bag.
At one point we forgot to plug in and spent about 20 mins without the being able to talk to each other, this is when you realise how good they are and they certainly add a new dimension to riding in a group.

Simon

P.S I see that you are down as Sheep Squasher, We had a guy on the Scottish trip clip a lamb at approx 120mph in the wet, that slowed him down for the rest of the trip.
The trip was an Aprilia owners club event and consisted of 20 RSV Mille's and my mate on a R1150GS, well it was a twin and we used the excuse that he was the official photograher !!!

Watch this space

I've just come across a new intercom manufacturer that lloks very promising and am going to contact them for more details, so watch this space