Episode 71: I Wouldn’t Hear it While I’m Being Incinerated

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This is the part where we write a little paragraph that tells you what we talked about in this weeks show. And it goes a little somethin' like this... Motus is making more noise, Chris got some new stuff, Leicester County in the U.K. is giving away retina burning backpacks and Chip Yeats goes really fast on an electric bike. We got a boat load of feedback from Denver Conway, David Laniuk, Ryan Hettenbach, Brian Medley, Ben Island and Mike Sandler. Thank you all. We talked a little bit about my review of the Cycle Gear branded knock-offs of the CRG mirrors. That review was written before I moved my page to a new platform and it didn't survive the transition very well. I'll post those links once I get it fixed but here's the big take away: You get what you pay for. We also talked about what we're going to talk about next week. We'd really like your help with that. You can find the Craftsman Experience presents Erik Buell Racing video below. What do think all of this means for EBR as it relates to street bikes?
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3 thoughts on “Episode 71: I Wouldn’t Hear it While I’m Being Incinerated”

  1. Pingback: We’re taking a week off – The Pace Podcast

  2. Regarding the Sena SMH10, I would like to chime in and let you know it’s not all peaches and cream with this headset. I do agree it is very clear with phone calls and with my Zumo 660. If that is all you want to do, it is a good unit. However, there are issues if you want to use the unit as a bike to bike communicator. To be fair I’ll list the good and the bad.

    The good:
    -) Battery life. I’ve used this for 8 hours at a time always connected live to the 2nd headset with no issues.
    -) “Always on” means you do not need to hit a push to talk to start talking. Very handy when I want to warn my wife about gravel in a corner.
    -) Audio quality is usually very good.

    The bad (most of this related to intercom mode):
    -) Voice activation is horrible. It will always take 4 to 6 seconds to connect, and often fails to connect in this mode. Also in this mode it will randomly lose GPS connection. You will realize that a few miles after missing your turn.
    -) The “always on” mode means there is always a radio hissing in the background. This hiss does increase as the helmet noise increases. It’s been challenging trying to train myself to ignore the noise. It’s always there unless you turn off the intercom connection.
    -) While the audio is good on a calm day up to 65 MPH, I’ve found that any amount of crosswind makes my Arai XD3 helmet very noisy which makes it very difficult to hear my wife on the intercom. Just turning up the unit only serves to distort the sound. This does seem unique to my XD3 since my wife does not experience the same issue.
    -) “Always on” means if you’re prone to talking to yourself don’t be surprised if you hear the other person laughing at you from time to time. This can actually get a little annoying.
    -) It is usually necessary to one or both of the units at least once during an 8 hour ride day. Once they lose connection this can be the only solution.

    I found the voice activation, and dropped GPS so bad that I contacted Sena Customer Service. They were very quick to get back to me and tell me the units were working as they expected. I was stunned. After switching to the always on mode they have been less frustrating.

    Overall I think the SMH10 works well, and my wife does not want to give them up. But there are issues which leave room for future improvement.

    Jon

  3. I’ve had no issues with hearing music or intercom with my SMH10 at 110 MPH. Even at 140 MPH (all on a closed course of course) tucked behind the windscreen I can still hear and communicate. It is very line of sight though. If you drop behind a hill while the other rider is still on the other side you will lose them.

    I didn’t get the SHINKO hate in this episode though ;). I’ve ran the Ravens (and now the “Verge” on my FJR) on a 1200 Bandit, SV650, BMW R1150R, and now my FJR and have never been dissapointed with their performance wet or dry, and they generally put down some good mileage around 10k or so an all those bikes.

    Still catching up on’em only 6 or so more hours to go and I’ll be caught up 🙂

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