Bluetooth Helmet Adaptor

I just got a Bluetooth earpiece, and figured out how the whole voice dialing and answer thing works, so I just put in an order for a Cardo Scala Rider Wireless FM helmet adapter. I'll give a full report after I get it.

you can fit a bt earpiece under your helmet??? looking forward to the review! how much was the adapter?

good stuff- post pics of the installed unit as well. :thumbup:

The unit was $175 directly from Cardo, plus eight bucks shipping. I'll post some pics. I've been considering it but the only thing that really held me back is this whole issue on how to initiate calls - but I just got a normal Motorola Bluetooth earpiece for the car, and it's a snap to use, and I've got the voice dialing all set so I think I can manage okay with the helmet unit. Basically, it's: 1. A receiver unit that clamps on the bottom of the helmet. 2. A couple of speakers that go under the foam. 3. A boom mounted microphone that goes under the chin.

My work has one of them in stock. It's called a Cardo Scala Rider. Been working here for almost a year and noone has bought it. Considering most of my business caters to truck drivers there is no market for them. Not quite sure why our corporate sent it to us. It sits in the shelf and collects dust. I may employee purchase but when I ride my bike it's to escape everything in life and just enjoy the ride. A headset won't exactly let you do that with phone calls. Post some pics when you get em cuz I'm sure there are different models of it. This one clips on the outside and a mic that extends inwards to the mouth. Looks pretty cool.

when I ride my bike it's to escape everything in life and just enjoy the ride. A headset won't exactly let you do that with phone calls. I agree with this 100%. Sometimes you just gotta put the phone to the side and just enjoy the ride w/o distractions

I don't like the idea of being on the phone while riding. Be safe.

Well, my thoughts on that are: 1. As a pilot, I know that one can learn division of attention. Riding or driving is a cakewalk compared to simultaneously answering a radio call, tuning in a radio, setting a navigation device, reading a map, watching for traffic and montoring engines, all while keeping the airplane on course, sometimes in zero visibility while continuously scanning the basic flight instruments. 2. Police motorcycle cops don't seem to have a problem communicating and riding. 3. You just need to use common sense. If you're tearing up the curves or doing some serious lane spitting, you don't use it. If you're on the freeway for an hour, why not.

good point :D

I agree with this 100%. Sometimes you just gotta put the phone to the side and just enjoy the ride w/o distractions +1 A lot of people seem to get upset if you don't immediately answer your cell. I always tell people that just because i have a phone and its ringing, doesn't mean i have to answer it. I grew up before it was practically mandatory to be "connected" 24/7. and everything was just fine.

I don't even have a cell anymore. I carry my laptop with me, in a motorcycle-specific messenger bag (i'm thinking about a special "holster" on the bike for my laptop) and check my emails pretty regularly, so if there's something important I'll get back to people. I've always hated phones in general, but I'm considering some kind of sound device for my helmet, to be able to listen to music...

+1 A lot of people seem to get upset if you don't immediately answer your cell. I always tell people that just because i have a phone and its ringing, doesn't mean i have to answer it. I grew up before it was practically mandatory to be "connected" 24/7. and everything was just fine. Oh I don't disagree with that at all - and yes riding (or driving) needs to come before cell phone and/or radio use. I don't feel compelled to answer every single call that comes in right that minute, but, there are times when the capability would be nice. I ALWAYS answer a booty call immediately.

what most people are saying when they say put the phone aside means they ride to get away from everything. examples are: girlfriends, wives, kids, family, jobs, and any other stressfull thing in their lives. they use their bike to relax. so having a wife or significant other being able to call you whenever is out of the question.

Oh I don't disagree with that at all - and yes riding (or driving) needs to come before cell phone and/or radio use. I don't feel compelled to answer every single call that comes in right that minute, but, there are times when the capability would be nice. I ALWAYS answer a booty call immediately. Oh well booty call! Hell yea, those get returned almost immediately !

Okay: Here is the report. I played hell with this image thing but anyway: http://hotimg1.fotki.com/p/b/64_148/198_219/h1.jpg http://hotimg6.fotki.com/p/a/64_148/198_219/h2.jpg http://hotimg2.fotki.com/p/a/64_148/198_219/h3.jpg http://hotimg2.fotki.com/p/a/64_148/198_219/h4.jpg The unit comes with a clamp base with a boom mike, and speaker, and a rechargeable bluetooth unit that can be removed from the base. The base clamps to the outer shell of the helmet, and is secured by means of a couple small allen screws. It took about... five minutes to install. It was ready for use after about two hours of charging. As you can see, the earphone piece simply routes between the padding and sticks on to the inner padding by means of velcro backing. The boom mike simply gets routed under the helmet, and ends up almost in the optimal position at the side of the mouth for talking. There are four buttons on the unit - the largest is in the center of the unit (blue) and has lights, this is the main control button for answering calls, or initiating them. Behind it on the side of the unit is the button used for turning on the radio, redialing a call, or hanging up on a call. On the rear of the unit is two volume buttons that are also used to select radio stations. The initial pairing was straightforward - you simply set your phone up to enable bluetooth, set the helmet unit in "pair" mode, and tell your phone to look for it. It paired up on the first try. If you get a call, you hear the ringing in the speaker, and you tap the blue button to answer. To initiate a call, you tap the blue button, and say the voice tag. To turn on the radio, you push the radio button in for several seconds, and hold down the volume buttons (up or down) for several seconds to tune. Observations: 1. Voice dialing works well at a stop, or at speeds below 40 mph, it's marginal at up to 50 mph, and doesn't work well at faster speeds. Actual speech is crystal clear at up to 40, manageable at up to about 70, but you have to adjust your riding position to be as upright as possible. Tucking makes things worse. Past 70 it's difficult for the other party to hear, although you can still hear fairly well. 2. The big blue button is easy to use, with gloves. The small radio button and volume controls are... not so easy to use with gloves. I had problems ending a call on my own while riding because I couldn't feel the radio button. The volume controls don't matter much - the volume automatically increases with speed and noise, almost a little too much. The minimum volume setting works best for me. 3. The radio has presets, but it is very difficult to use on the fly. Plan on using it on one station, or not using it, if you're riding. Don't try to mess with the controls in traffic. Pull over if you really need to mess with it. Hits: All in all, the unit lives up to my expectations, and more or less matches the reviews I've read on it. It's not perfect, but it's fairly good. The sound quality for speech is pretty good, and the radio sound quality is so-so but acceptable. The mike is a noise-canceling unit which isn't as good as a $1,000 aviation headset mike, but pretty good for a phone unit, and better than the standard bluetooth or phone microphone. Misses: The biggest complaint I have is the operator controls - they are difficult to locate while wearing gloves. The phone answer button is okay but the cancel button is difficult. Also, and this isn't a fault of the unit, but if you are talking or listening to the radio, and you lean into a turn, or put your head in a cocked position, there is some wind noise feedback that sounds like a jet taking off. My guess is that some helmets are better than others with respect to noise. My HJC is fairly noisy - I don't key in on it for normal riding but I'm sure the unit would be more effective on a better, quieter helmet. It's wind noise, not engine noise that makes conversation difficult. Regardless, it works acceptably even on my noisy HJC. The next step up from this probably won't be a better clip-on unit, but rather an integrated helmet with controls and circuitry built in. These already exist - I'm sure active noise attenuation like that found in expensive aviation headsets will be available at some point. For now, this Cardo unit does as advertised.

my co-worker bought the same exact thing. He said it was garbage and returned it ASAP.

I don't like the idea of being on the phone while riding. Be safe. same here.

I will say that it's still a useful thing even if you don't use it while you are riding. If you're stopped at a gas station or pulled over, it's a whole lot easier to make and receive a call if you don't have to take your helmet off and dig out a cell phone. But it's probably not $180 worth of usefulness if all you use it for is that.