Monthly Archives: April 2009
April 19, 2009
Getting ready for Arkansas
So, Justin came up with the crazy idea that we should ride our bikes to Arkansas during his vacation in mid-May. I thought about it for may 20 seconds, and said heck yeah. (The only possible hiccup is my boss okaying my vacation time, but I don't think it will be a problem.)
We're doing the normal pre-ride planning - figuring out a route, coming up with contingencies, etc. (Yesterday, an 80-mile section of I-80 in Colorado was closed due to snow, so we need to have alternate routes in mind, just in case.)
Justin got a nice tail bag from NewEnough that should hold almost all of his gear. I'm still trying to decide whether to go minimalist and only use my side bags, or go big and add my MotoFizz bag.
One thing I decided I really wanted as a bike-to-bike intercom. I like my current audio setup - the Zumo and the V-1 feed into my home-grown, custom built audio mixer, with my Shure e2c in-ear headphones handling the sound and blocking out (most) road noise.
And, I don't really need the whole StarCom setup, and don't want to pay big bucks for features I don't need.
The solution: BlueAnt Interphones. They mount on the helmets, with speakers and boom mikes. For bike-to-bike, they're full-duplex with a range of up to 150 meters (460 feet). On top of that, I can use mine to answer cell-phone calls using the Zumo as an intermediary.
Mounting is quick. A mounting bracket screws onto the side of the helmet, and the main unit clips into the bracket. A wire runs from the main unit under the helmet to the speaker and the boom mike. A single battery charge last about 10 hours.
We haven't been out on the road yet, but in our in-house testing the sound quality is excellent. Yes, we kinda felt like dorks walking around the house with our helmets on, but there you go.
I think I have everything else I need, with a couple of decisions still be made. I may get a bead seat, but I may not. And I may use my MotoFizz, but I may not. I would be nice to have the extra packing room, but it complicates things like eating lunch inside a sit-down restaurant. We'll see.
