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TechNote #1 - 11/29/2007 - Bluetooth and Motorcycles

I get a lot of calls and E-mails about Bluetooth headsets, so for the first of my "Tech Notes" I decided that this would be a good topic to discuss.

Bluetooth, for those unfamiliar with the term, is a short-range wireless audio protocol that is predominantly used for wireless cell phone headsets. It's not uncommon to see people walking around with a little "gadget" attached to their ear at all times. I've been guilty of it myself on occasion.

For the motorcyclist, though, Bluetooth can mean a lot more than just talking on the phone. In fact, many motorcyclists use Bluetooth extensively - and NEVER make or receive phone calls on their bike!

First of all, let me tell you what Bluetooth does NOT do. You're not going to be able to take a wired system (like a Gold Wing factory intercom, or an Autocom or J&M aftermarket system) and just replace your wired headset with a wireless one. It would be nice if you could, but the technology just isn't there yet for a variety of reasons.

As of this writing (November 2007), we carry Bluetooth helmet solutions from three different suppliers - J&M, Scala, and Chatterbox. We also carry Bluetooth-compatible GPS receivers from Garmin, and we have Bluetooth adapters for other devices such as iPods, Satellite radios, radar detectors, etc. from J&M and Cardo Systems. With the product mix we have, we can put together a Bluetooth solution for you that will do just about anything that is possible to do with Bluetooth. There's a real line in the sand there between "Possible" and "Impossible", though - but I'll get to that in a bit.

There are several other Bluetooth products on the market, and we're constantly evaluating them. If we find something that performs a function better than one of the products we already have, or does something new, or costs less but still performs well - we'll buy it. If it's a direct duplication of something we have, but we think ours is a better value - we don't buy it. Case in point: we tried out the Motorola Helmet HS830 headset. It has a nice physical design, paired up easily, and worked pretty well. But when we compared it to the Scala Rider, we found that the Rider's audio quality was a bit better, and the Rider's volume was noticeably louder. Plus, the rider is less expensive. So, we didn't buy the HS830. It's not a bad headset, it's just that we think the Scala Rider is better. We're constantly evaluating new products, and our product line will certainly grow and change as we do so.

So, back to the Possible and the Impossible. What can Bluetooth do, and what CAN'T it do?

The one thing that Bluetooth solutions are not so good at is flexibility. We can do a lot of things with Bluetooth, but not every Bluetooth product will support the same features. So, it's important to decide up front what features and functions you want to use now, and are likely to want to use in the future. Carefully evaluating the present & future capabilities of each product will help prevent you from purchasing twice.

Here are some of the things that you may want to use Bluetooth for, and a summary of how our existing Bluetooth products will (or won't) work for those functions:

Cell Phone - OK, so I took the easy one first. All of the Bluetooth products that we currently carry will pair to pretty much any Bluetooth-compatible cell phone with no problems. Since cell phones were the first major products to support Bluetooth, this should come as no surprise.
Rider to Passenger Communications - If you ride with a passenger, it makes sense to want to talk to them (especially if said passenger has any input into the budget for the gadgets you're attaching to your bike and helmet). Scala, J&M, and Chatterbox all have passenger intercom capability. The Scala Rider Teamset includes a wireless rider-to-passenger intercom, the only one of our products not to have a cable between the two helmets. The J&M headsets and the Chatterbox X1 Bluetooth will both support passenger headsets, but only with a wire between them. Slam dunk for the Scala if you want a passenger? Not by a long shot. The big difficulty with wireless passenger comms is that they take up a lot of bandwidth, and require constant switching of the Bluetooth profile to enable the microphone and prioritize passenger comms properly against other Bluetooth audio. Scala has gotten around this by implementing the passenger comm in a proprietary wireless fashion (i.e. the passenger's headset isn't actually Bluetooth, it uses a different frequency) - which is honestly a pretty good work-around. But, the Rider Teamset is a mono-only device, so may not meet the rest of your needs. Keep reading...
Music - If you want to listen to music in your headsets, all of the products are "technically" capable of doing so. However, Scala's headsets are all mono - so you won't get stereo separation of the sound. Some people don't mind that, some do. The sound quality with the speakers included with each product will rank J&M first, Chatterbox second, and Scala third - but none of them are terrible, especially considering the environmental noise you have on a bike.
Earplug Speakers - Many riders, myself included, use earplugs. A natural extension of that is, if we want sound in our helmets, to use earplug speakers like the S-Plug earplug speakers that we carry, or custom molded earplug speakers available from a variety of sources. The Scala products won't support earplug speakers at all (at least, not without some cutting & soldering). We carry an adapter for the Chatterbox X1 Bluetooth. J&M doesn't currently have an earplug option, but they have test units in-house that plug into the passenger output (so you'd have to choose between earplug speakers, or a passenger headset - can't have both). Hopefully that'll be out soon.
Bike-to-Bike Communication - Other than calling each other on your cell phones (which can work pretty well, actually) the only solution with bike-to-bike comm is the Chatterbox X1 Bluetooth. It has an FRS/GMRS two-way radio built into it, and will communicate directly with any other FRS or GMRS-based system. As of now, I know of no product on the market that will allow CB communication through a Bluetooth headset, so if you want to talk to Gold Wings and Harley Ultras, stick with a wired headset for now.
Integration with factory (or aftermarket) audio - If you have a Gold Wing or Ultra Classic and want to listen to your stereo and other built-in audio (including monitoring your CB, but not talking on it), we've had good luck using a 5-pin to 3.5mm adapter and an external Bluetooth adapter to accomplish this. Click here to see these products.
Pairing with multiple audio sources - If you have more than one Bluetooth device to connect to, cross the Scala headsets off your list. They will pair to only one item at a time. The Chatterbox X1 Bluetooth can pair to two Bluetooth devices, plus up to 2 wired devices. The J&M headset can pair to as many as 7 different Bluetooth devices at once.
Hearing Non-Bluetooth Devices - We have adapters that will allow non-Bluetooth devices, including iPods, Satellite Radios, Radar Detectors, or just about anything else with a headphone jack, to be converted to Bluetooth.
Using the Zumo 550 with Bluetooth - The Garmin Zumo 550 supports Bluetooth headsets, but only in a limited fashion. You can hear MP3 audio through a connected Bluetooth headset, but it won't be in stereo. If you have the XM option for the Zumo, you won't hear that at all. But, we have a work-around for this. As long as the headset you're using has the ability to pair to two devices at once (like the J&M and the Chatterbox do), you can use one of our iCombi 3.5mm Bluetooth adapter and plug it into the side of the Zumo. Pair the Bluetooth headset to the iCombi, and ALSO to the Zumo. Set the Zumo to "Phone Only" mode in the Bluetooth audio menu, and everything will work great. MP3 and XM will come through in stereo, the voice prompts will interrupt the music automatically, and incoming or outgoing phone calls will work with all the on-screen dialing functions of the Zumo 550 fully functional.

The above isn't a comprehensive list of features & issues - other factors like size & weight, battery life, ease of installation, etc. should also factor into your decision. The information above, though, can help you rule out products that just plain won't do something that you want to do. If you still have questions (and you probably will - this is a complex subject) - please contact us and we'll be happy to help you out!

TechNotes are occasional articles that we write to help people identify products and solutions that will work well for them, or for other technical subjects. If you have a suggestion for a future TechNote topic, please let me know.