Listening to the Radio as you go

gok

I know this may sound a little distracting but is there any means of listening to the Radio as you travel?
I know some bikes can have speakers fitted to the dash area but at motorway speeds, I don't see how this could work.
I travel pretty much the length of the M50 each day and it would be nice to be able to tune in - any one able to do this, I'd be interested in knowing how well it works around 120 km/h
~/gok

Steffano2002

Quite a few bikers listen to their iPod, MP3 Player, Radio using ear phones. However, I would never do it as I want to be concentrating on the road 100%! With all these cagers trying to kill us we need to focus on the road IMO!

paulieeye

Steffano2002 wrote: »

Quite a few bikers listen to their iPod, MP3 Player, Radio using ear phones. However, I would never do it as I want to be concentrating on the road 100%! With all these cagers trying to kill us we need to focus on the road IMO!

I'd agree with this in inner city and even M50 but what about long journeys? One guy I've talked to said he would never wear headphones on a bike as you need all their concentration even in long distance. But at motorway speeds all I hear is engine and wind noise anyway.

Whats peoples opinions on this?

jaycen

Most tourers with big fairings are suitable for a car radio up to a certain speed.

faceman

OP, get yourself an Autocom. Its a device that you can get wired to your bike and it comes with special headphones and mouth piece for your helmet. You can plug in your mp3 player, ipod etc and mobile phone. Its deadly! The top line model even has a wind noise monitor which automatically adjuts the volume as you ride!

BMW motorad in Bray sell them as Megabikes in Dublin city centre.

Krusty_Clown

I use a Bluetooth headset with built in FM radio - Scala Rider FM. Works great. It also has an off switch, for those situations where you require plenty of concentration. It has two ear-pad speakers, rather than in-ear, so I can still hear traffic noise. It also adjusts based on wind/engine noise, and connects to your phone/satnav/bluetooth device. Great piece of kit, but not recommended for use in heavy heavy rain.

omb0wyn5ehpij9

Steffano2002 wrote: »

Quite a few bikers listen to their iPod, MP3 Player, Radio using ear phones. However, I would never do it as I want to be concentrating on the road 100%! With all these cagers trying to kill us we need to focus on the road IMO!

Agreed, I never liked listening to my mp3 when i was on a bike, i found it too off putting!

CrazyRabbit

Personally I think radio's, MP3 players etc should be banned in cars for the same reason using a phone is banned. Too much of a distraction.

As for bikes, anything that stops you from concentrating 100% on driving is a bad thing.

I tried listening to an MP3 player once while driving. This may sound strange, but I felt kinda blind to what was happening around me. Really uncomfortable feeling.

faceman

Im getting deja vu here, i think this has come up before.

Personally i only use the autocom on long journeys as opposed to city riding but in saying that, i use ear protection on my bike so i imagine thats almost as bad!

Idleater

if you are going down this route, try ultimate ear (or similar) for in-ear monitors.

I have them and I can listen to music at a very low volume and still hear everything else around me.

The difference between these and normal headphones is that you have to overcome the windnoise with headphones to hear properly.

that is what causes distractions, and why it is dangerous.

galwaytt

paulieeye wrote: »

........One guy I've talked to said he would never wear headphones on a bike as you need all their concentration even in long distance. But at motorway speeds all I hear is engine and wind noise anyway.

Whats peoples opinions on this?

If you all you're hearing is wind noise, then you should wear ear plugs. The constant high frequency noise generated by wind is very tiring, and so is distracting, even if you don't notice it. If you do a lot of miles, you will get tinnitus from it.

Try disposable squishy earplugs, they actually improve the situation, and, funnily enough, improve your ability to hear in-helmet speakers.

This is due to the frequency range of the sound they are targeted at. What you'll find is that wind noise is much lower/gone, but you hear lower frequency sounds much more clearly. Stuff like, speech, your engine (ticks, rattles, etc ! :eek: ), traffic around you - you'll actually hear them better, an on the bigger roads, you're not half as knackered when you get there........

gok

Thanks Krusty_Clown for that, I googled that Scala Rider FM - looks pretty good but I'll need to shell out > €140 by the looks of things unless I can get a friend to bring me one back from the states..Any recommendations of where I can get it cheaper - did you get the model with 2 ear-pieces?, where did you get it?

The Autocom looks good and quite sophisticated (read pricey too ) but seems more intended for talking to others than for just listening to the radio? which is all I want - maybe I just saw the wrong models and prices when googling..

nereid, tell me more about the ultimate ear - when I google it, I get loads of hits on different models etc, which one do you have? - is it effectively an ear-phone that you have plugged into a seperate FM radio somewhere?

My bike is a Deauville and does have a place for speakers on the dash but i'd be surprised If I could hear anything at 100 km/h using this..

Thanks for the earful on the tinnitus Galwaytt :rolleyes:, I do currently use ear-plugs but thats another discussion..I am looking here for a means of listening to a radio.

Thanks all
gok

Krusty_Clown

I got mine from the US, via eBay. I did not get stung for duty, but there is every chance that you can be. Cost me closer to 100 euro. It is chiefly for use as a Bluetooth receiver for your helmet, but the radio works fine too. I have to recharge it every couple of weeks, but taking the Bluetooth receiver part off of the helmet is a doodle. It's worth it if you want both a Bluetooth receiver for your helmet (for phonecalls, GPS, MP3 player etc) and a radio. I wouldn't recommend it just as a radio solution, as it would be an expensive radio! I generally use it for longer journeys, but the radio is handy for commuting too.

There's a newer version available also (Q2) that supports bike to bike communications via Bluetooth.

Hotblack Desiato

I definitely woudn't recommend listening to radio or music in city riding. Masking out traffic sounds isn't the problem, I've tried phones in one and both ears (mobile phone radio*) and it's the concentrating on what is being said, instead of what is around you that's the problem. Music might be better, but if you like it it will involve you...


* every time I did this, it was when I heard on the radio at home that some twit was going to be on later giving out about bikes, etc :pac: so listened in on my way to work.

here.from.day.1

gok wrote: »

I know this may sound a little distracting but is there any means of listening to the Radio as you travel?
I know some bikes can have speakers fitted to the dash area but at motorway speeds, I don't see how this could work.
I travel pretty much the length of the M50 each day and it would be nice to be able to tune in - any one able to do this, I'd be interested in knowing how well it works around 120 km/h
~/gok

120 km/h? Have you been on the M50 lately?? Despite the fact that 60 km/h for most of it!

faceman

nereid wrote: »

if you are going down this route, try ultimate ear (or similar) for in-ear monitors.

I have them and I can listen to music at a very low volume and still hear everything else around me.

The difference between these and normal headphones is that you have to overcome the windnoise with headphones to hear properly.

whats the sound quality of the headphones like? quite pricey but am thinking about it...

Idleater

As regards the ultimate ear, I bought a pair of uep87 and a pair of monitors that don't seem to be listed on http://www.ultimateear.com/motorcycle.htm.
They were the model down from the uep75's but were basically the uep87's with the speaker drivers on the chord between the plugs rather than in the plugs themselves. The deal was to buy one set of monitors and get the 87's for £20 or something like that.

I rarely use the monitors, preferring to have all my hearing available for the m50, but on long journeys or the sunday spin I use the monitors with music. I agree with Ninja about the radio as conversation/news does tend to sap more concentration than AC/DC.

The music level is no way as good as normal headphones, but then you are listening to it with wind/engine/traffic noise thrown in.

Like I said the level with the plugs is very low so I can easily tune out of it. I haven't tried it yet, but the original idea was for use with a rider/pillion/bike to bike system, that as yet I have not gotten.

Chipboard

Got an intercom set for the bike a few years ago. Brought it back 3 days later as you had to turn the volume up at speed in order to hear it and meself and the missus were a bit deaf the whole weekend after doing a 100 mile trip down the country to the folks.

Rode a Harley Davidson Electra Glide from Miami to Key West a couple of years ago and the sound from the speakers was so good that when I first turned it on I thought for a second that the helmet was wired for sound. Was only cruising most the time though as that road is very heavily patrolled (I found out when I opened her up that the car which had been behind me for the previous 20 mins was an unmarked police car).

With all the muppets on the roads these days I would say that there is enough 'entertainment' without radio.