F650GS (bike 2 bike) Radio mounting

[fritz]

Setting ourselves up bike to bike - could anyone (politely ) tell me where to put radio on Bev's F650GS? Autocom will go in glove compartment - radio too? Or is there space somewhere by dummy tank?
Most of our communicating will be (hopefully) quite close range so I expect having a radio in seat tray of my R100GS and one under the plastics of Bev's F650GS will work fine. Ta

 

[oblertone]

The important consideration ...

... is the orientation of the aerial which needs to be vertical. Of course, a remote aerial can solve this problem, but is considered by some (including HMG) to be illegal.

Laying the unit flat can seriously impinge on the effective range of a PMR radio.

 

[fritz]

vertical....hmm....that kinda b*ggers everything up then . Guess it would have to be tank bag or topbox then - will have to experiment, much prefer all the comms hidden excepting the connecting leads. Ta

 

[andyclift]

Although radio antenna should be in the same orientation it's not a big deal unless you need maximum range.

My radio on my GS is on a bracket on the bars with a vertical antenna. My wife has a CS and her radio lays flat in the soft "top bag". It's hard to give a maximum distance for comms as it varies with road conditions (bends, buildings etc.) but PMR radios are pretty well "line of sight" anyway and with the sort of distances we get apart there is no problem.

 

[Dakar Gal]

my 650GS autocom/radio setup

I have the autocom in the tail section, with a cable tie to the seat release, so I dont have to keep fishing it out from underneath the autocom. Autocom is wired to the power just under the seat in front of the tail pack. The radio (kenwood) is where the tool rollpack was. This is also wired into the bike power, and its lying flat. We dont have any major problems with range. The main problems we had were batteries running low on autocom and radios. Wiring to the bike power solved all those issues.

 

[fritz]

That sounds better I really want it for general chat while riding together...less important over greater distances, greatly looking forward to getting it together. Thanks all

 

[VAL. H.]

Setting ourselves up bike to bike - could anyone (politely ) tell me where to put radio on Bev's F650GS? Autocom will go in glove compartment - radio too? Or is there space somewhere by dummy tank?
Most of our communicating will be (hopefully) quite close range so I expect having a radio in seat tray of my R100GS and one under the plastics of Bev's F650GS will work fine. Ta

If you just want bike to bike with the possibility of connecting to a Zumo, try the Scala Rider Q2 system.
No need for anything attached to the bike, just a dongle thing on your lid. Good up to about 1500 ft I understand. Look on eBay or www.alan-uk.com They have many alternetives too.


Val.