Post by anon on Feb 6, 2007 12:23:36 GMT
From: GhostlyBlankStare Sent: 6/1/2005
If you have one, please tell us how you get on with it here
I'll start the ball rolling. I bought one of these for the 'usual' price of £50 (ignore anone who claims it's £99). At lower speeds it worked reasonably well, with good volume. Above about 60-70mph, however, mike wind noise from my wife's (chin curtainless) helmet became so great that the intercom was rendered useless.
It takes tiny 12v batteries (£1.99 from Tescos) and has an on-bike power connector as well. There is also a 3.5mm jack-plug input for music in and the intercom is full duplex (you can hear what you're saying to your passenger - useful for moderating your volume).
As the intercom uses standard 3.5mm jack plug connectors, substituting different linking cables was simply a matter of buying walkman extension cables. However, this never cured the annoying problem I had with the intercom's connectors which would occasionally create feedback loops and squeal terribly. This seemed to happen more when the battery was getting low or the volume was turned up too high.
All in all, I suppose it would have been worth £50 if I hadn't kept getting the feedback loops. I won't buy another.
From: InaneRedstripe101 Sent: 6/1/2005
i got a chatterbox rider to pillion real cheap (less than £20) off ebay. gonna try it out on the run up to the lake district for us hols this weekend.clips to helmet with boom mikes and earplug type speakers . only tried it so far in the living room where the minimum volume setting is plenty loud enough . we'll see what its like on the road. also got intaride bike to bike ,not cheap , but very good.
From: redrobbo600 Sent: 6/2/2005
Got the chatterbox myself, for when I take my daughter on the back. Must admit as it only cost £15 (eBay) I was very impressed. It seemd to work very well up to about 60ish, but didn't go above that speed as she's a pillion newbie.
Just recently bought a pair of Cobra MT-752s for when I ride out with my bro. Will report on that later.
Cheers
Robin
From: gordy Sent: 6/8/2005
I got shot of mine recently.
The plug connectors, (sockets) on the base unit kept going slack and caused unit to pack in. Shame really, it was very clear even at high speeds when it worked. A friend suggested soldering the wires directly into the unit but I thought that would make it too inconvenient for getting on and off the bike.
I'm an Auotcom man now!
Gordy
From: Bort1311 Sent: 6/8/2005
I used to have an oxford - within weeks the battery back plate had fallen off (as had the glued on logo on the front). The leads were 'iffy' after a few weeks use and intermittent use over a year had me relying on knots in the leads to get a connection. Their operation became random - they would work perfectly one day, then not at all the next. I gave up - the leads are really too thin and delicate. I paid full price (sucker?) and felt ripped off. I got autocom now and the quality of construction is far better.
From: barney Sent: 6/18/2005
I've been using a BikeMike 3 for a couple of years now and found it ok. Communication at 70-80mph is generally quite clear but is susceptible to picking up wind noise if the helmet visor isn't shut properly.
Running it from a battery was a joke. It had a frightening appetite for the tiny batteries so I wired it straight to the bike battery. Worked a treat til I left the cable dangling after I'd parked the bike in the garage and the kid's rabbit chewed through the wire! As the BikeMike was still connected to the bike battery, I hope bunny got a bit of a shock!