Bike to Bike radios - What do you recommend?

[ElevenFifty]

FRS? CB?

 

Autocom or Starcom or whatever the com system is . . . what RADIO do you use and recommend?

[AZKomet]

The Kenwood military grade is what I use. I do believe it is the 3100? I would steer you away from this for 1 reason. To get to the privacy channels it is complicated and a PIA! There are other Kenwoods that have a digital readout that is much simpler to use. The 3100 has no dig readout. It is sturdy and weatherproof but that is where it stops. Check out the Kenwood site for all your options.

[Mr_Ed]

Dependa on who you want to talk to. Overwhelmingly folks on this board use FRS or GMRS radios. Personally I use an ICOM GMRS radio. It has the ability to work on the FRS channels and is able to transmit at a higher wattage than standard FRS units.

Oh.... and go with an Autocom.... top rate units.

[mikeR1100R]

My wife and I use an Autocomm system with Kenwood TK 3101 GMRS radios. The system works very well for us.

Do not cheap out on the radio. You will not be satisfied and will wind up paying out the money for the good ones anyway. (We learned our lesson the hard way).

Good luck.

Mike.

[E30TECH]

My wife and I use an Autocomm system with Kenwood TK 3101 GMRS radios. The system works very well for us.

Do not cheap out on the radio. You will not be satisfied and will wind up paying out the money for the good ones anyway. (We learned our lesson the hard way).

Good luck.

Mike.

 

I have the same. The Kenwood TK3101 can be found on Ebay for reasonable prices. New they are @ $200. Autocom sells the bike powered interface for @ $80.

[waverider]

I have Baehr, top shelf stuff... you get what you pay for. Never had a problem, never heard of any.

[Shaman97]

Are there radios out there that will not work with the Autocoms/Starcoms? If I get a unit that has the remote input/headphone outputs, should they all be at least functional? If not, what are the 'bare-bones' requirements of the handheld radios to work with the different interfaces out there?

[johnlt]

One advantage of going the Kenwood route is the "bike powered" interface with autocom. You don't have to mess with batteries. Quality is great. The only disadvantage of autocom is that it is problematic with CB radios. I use both. CBs when alone on the interstates. I got it to work ok but had to screw around with cable routing etc. to get clear signals.

[Aluminum_Butt]

Are there radios out there that will not work with the Autocoms/Starcoms?

 

There is a pervasive rumor that the Midland GXT series does not play well with Autocom.

[Bill_Walker]

The Kenwood military grade is what I use. I do believe it is the 3100? I would steer you away from this for 1 reason. To get to the privacy channels it is complicated and a PIA! There are other Kenwoods that have a digital readout that is much simpler to use. The 3100 has no dig readout. It is sturdy and weatherproof but that is where it stops. Check out the Kenwood site for all your options.

 

I use the Kenwood TK-3131 (aka Freetalk XLS, vs the 3101 Freetalk XL). It has a display, which makes channel changing much easier. Unfortunately, Autocom only has a bike-powered lead for the Freetalk XL, so I have to use batteries. I've found the provided NiCads are good for a day, but I do have to lug the charger. On the other hand, it can also use standard AA batteries, available everywhere.

[Hawk28]

I just went through this and, boy, did I feel like a rookie.

I went with Baehr for comm and Midland GMRS radios. A buddy of mine said to check with the communicator co. (Baehr, Autocomm, J&M , etc, etc.) first as some comm units seem to work better with certain brand radios. This is no slam on any radios or comm units, just some are more suited to each other. We have now reached the end of my expertise in this area.