Communications
Autocom
On earlier bikes we have found rider-pillion communications useful so when I got the GS I fitted an Autocom system. Bike fitting was straight forward enough. The unit sits behind the tank on the little frame which, I think, is designed for the bike manual. It powers from the back of the accessory socket and has a lead running to the handlebars for the satnav.
I tried various places to bring out the helmet leads and eventually found between the seat and tank was best  for the rider and between the seats for the pillion (the pillion one pushes down out of sight when not in use.
Fitting the headsets to my System 5 and my wife's System 4 helmets was reasonably straight forward but a bit fiddley. I later bought a Schueberth C2 and fitting a headset to that was a real bugger. I eventually resorted to using a hot spoon to melt away some of the foam in the side pieces to make room for the speakers.
I can't fault the Autocom. The output from the satnav and the Rider/Pillion is clear at highly illegal speeds and has been 100% reliable.
Bike to Bike
When my wife took up biking a second Autocom was fitted to her bike which we tried to use with a couple of Binatone PMR radios with very limited success. Poor reception and muffled sound. I bought a couple of Alan 456R PMRs and the difference was astounding. At £50 each they are not too pricey and do the job over quite long distances.
We did find that positioning was important and range was low, but OK, if stored on the bike. Placing them in top pockets gave really good range and I have since made a mount for mine behind the screen which is just as good and easier to use.
 The one problem was the need to use VOX for communications. It did not matter how we set up the Autocoms we either had one radio on transmit all the time so the other could not be used or we had to shout to hold the channel open. Even when VOX did work there was a danger of losing the first words so every sentence had to be started with something like "Andy to Sarah" to get the VOX open.
The solution was a couple of Autocom Push to Talk buttons. These plumb in between the radio - Autocom leads and have a big button to "push to talk" and a switch which selects VOX, always transmit or push to talk. They are designed to fit under the left grip with two cable ties but I found my big hands did not have enough room so mine is turned upside down and fitted between mirror and clutch reservoir. Now bike to bike is perfect.
The Alan radios, as supplied take 3 X AA batteries but a charger and Ni-Cad kit is an option. I have one and it is OK but the supplied Ni-Cads are a bit low on capacity (enough for a couple of days). I normally use high capacity NiMi batteries and use a standard fast charger.
One of the deciding factors in buying the Alan radios was that they took standard AA batteries rather than a dedicated battery (as my Binatone radios). Although normally used with rechargable batteries I do have the option of buying some normal dry cells if, as has happened, the rechargables go flat. |
