onmyrt Posted June 17, 2007 Share Posted June 17, 2007 Well, the wife has hinted that on longer rides, it might be fun if we could chat with each other through something like an AutoCom device. But, I have problems with anything that takes my attention away from the business at hand, riding safely. I know the dangers of the road, I've seen it's bite marks on friends and loved ones, and I don't want to let my guard down unnecessarily. It takes 100% of my focus and attention to survive the roads ever changing challenges. Actually, it's that high level of awareness that makes motorcycling such an awesome experience. Devices like cell phones, or radios plugged into your ears, seem to me to be needless distractions, and I guess I'm just not willing to trade off safety for entertainment. So, in short, no AutoCom. Am I being too paranoid, or what. Link to comment
Firefight911 Posted June 17, 2007 Share Posted June 17, 2007 IMO, yes. With the ability to communicate beyond the leg squeeze, helmet whack, and side punch you can really expand the joy of the ride with a simple intercom system. Your concern of distractions is valid, however, you seem to imply that when driving you do not converse at all? Does this hold true while in the cage as well? My point is that it can be done safely with no major distraction. My suggestion is to go for it and just set some ground rules up as you become acquainted with your new found world of communication. Link to comment
Whip Posted June 17, 2007 Share Posted June 17, 2007 The Autocom and music(books on tape) have added so much to our travels I would have to say, yes your paranoid. Weather info. and some times news issues can be very helpful. Whip Link to comment
Boffin Posted June 17, 2007 Share Posted June 17, 2007 Two pairs of eyes are better than one. If you cannot spare brain power to talk you are either riding too fast for the conditions or are insufficiently relaxed to operate at optimum efficiency. Do you really need to be operating at that level of intensity 100% of the time? I ride on crowded narrow roads laid out in the dawn of civilisation and find talking to my life partner helps me stay focused and alert. Your pillion is not like a cell-phone. they can see what is happening around you and understand requests to be quiet through tricky intersections or in dense traffic - except for the extra alerts available from that spare pair of eyes. Andy (with Autocom) Link to comment
Deadboy Posted June 17, 2007 Share Posted June 17, 2007 The Bluetooth (phone)/MP3/GPS voice prompt is a distraction in my opinion...obviously others disagree but I for one have never used anything other than earplugs until recently. If it is that important to talk with the passenger/take that call/check the map I just pull over. I also would worry about hearing damage, the few times I tried music the volume level necessary at speed was pretty darn loud......plus 2 earphones are illegal in many states....I do now have one speaker installed for my V-1 (recent addition) and only added it because I felt like I was looking down at the detector too frequently...... YMMR, do what feels right to you/your situation.... Link to comment
upflying Posted June 17, 2007 Share Posted June 17, 2007 Motor cops constantly have loud chatter and distraction in their helmet headsets. Pilots fly aircraft safely while listening and transmitting to ATC. The use of an Autocom may make you a better rider due to the divided attention skills you develop. OTH, some may enjoy the break from listening to their wife. Link to comment
UberXY Posted June 17, 2007 Share Posted June 17, 2007 Motor cops constantly have loud chatter and distraction in their helmet headsets. Pilots fly aircraft safely while listening and transmitting to ATC. The use of an Autocom may make you a better rider due to the divided attention skills you develop. OTH, some may enjoy the break from listening to their wife. Pilots fly while listening for critical numbers on the radio (always spoken quickly), responding with critical info, watching a dozen guages, consulting a paper map on their knee or on a GPS screen, changing radio frequencies and fooling with the GPS, reading checklists, watching out for other traffic moving from 100 to 600 mph in three dimensions, listening for weird noises, keeping an eye on the weather, and about a dozen other things simultaneously. Sometimes they even take a moment to look out the window. It's a busy place. A pit-to-car radio system is standard equipment on race cars these days. If you think you are concentrating 100% on the road, then most race car drivers are concentrating about 500%. If you can't handle a simple intercom on a bike, please don't take up flying or racing! I rode for 26 years without a GPS, XM, or cell phone on the bike. Now I have all three and it's great. There are long long stretches of interstate where you can relax your white knuckle grip on the handle bars and divert some minor per centage of attention to something else, all the while using good judgement. Link to comment
Berkley Posted June 18, 2007 Share Posted June 18, 2007 it may actually keep you safer. YMMV: i would always fall asleep. when engaged in the ride (ie: not staring at "DOT", or craning to see around the helmet, but talking about the scenery, or what turn/road to look for next), i don't fall asleep. Mark can alert me to things much faster. there are no questions (like yelling, hand gestures, patting on the back or leg). plus, if you need to go pee or stretch your legs, you say so. communication is safer and more accurate. i can alert Mark to things i see - two sets of eyes looking in two different places are better than one. i'm much more engaged. your wife may enjoy more time on the back of your bike. you may end up getting an intercom with FRS capability. that opens you up to getting information from other riders in front or behind you, alerting you to dangers in the road! --- riding a motorcycle has that inherent risk you've chosen to take. you can look at the AutoComm as entertainment potential, but in my opinion, choosing it for its safety potential is just as valid. happy riding! i love our intercom. (i love being engaged in the ride. it's so much better being able to communicate. and we turn it off sometimes to have quiet pensive alone time too.) Link to comment
onmyrt Posted June 18, 2007 Author Share Posted June 18, 2007 Some very interesting and valid points to ponder. Enough to make me re-consider the idea. Thanks to you all. Link to comment
HappyMan Posted June 18, 2007 Share Posted June 18, 2007 I really think it makes you safer. Of course it could add to distractions but you can control that. Don't plug in an iPod or phone. Having to yell to hear or tap on the head to communicate I've found is more of a distraction. I also find that my passengers communicate vital information to me that keeps me safer. In the end, you have control over whether it's more of a distraction. DISCIPLINE!!! Same thing I tell my kids... Link to comment
Deadboy Posted June 18, 2007 Share Posted June 18, 2007 That is a vast oversimplification. Pilots and racers have one very distinct advantage, the other driver/pilots are also highly trained, licensed and not likely to be drunk, playing with their i-pod/tuning the radio, lost etc etc.......if every driver on the road was 1/2 as good as the average pilot accident rates would plummit, instead we have to deal with the unlicensed, the uninsured and teenage tuner kids street racing......not exactly the same set of circumstances. Link to comment
RonStewart Posted June 18, 2007 Share Posted June 18, 2007 I was able to borrow an intercom (from total strangers on this site, no less). Try to borrow one and see what it is like. I think you might be pleasantly surprised. Link to comment
W. Mazelin Posted June 18, 2007 Share Posted June 18, 2007 You're being too paranoid. I'll wager you talk while your driving the cage. Besides, what if that second pair of eyes sees something you don't, and can tell (yell ) the danger close warning to you? I think it will improve the experience by making the communication easier between the 2 of you. Link to comment
outpost22 Posted June 18, 2007 Share Posted June 18, 2007 If your wife is a "chatty Kathy", it may prove a nuisance to have a com system. If on the other hand she is not "prone to drone" it can be very beneficial. I am fortunate that my S.O. listens well, and if the talk needs to stop, all I have to do is say "not now" or similar if the situation requires no distraction. She doesn't take offense, and fully understands the "why". You should explain the same to your wife BEFORE installing a Com device. Tell her there may be times that no communication is a good thing, especially when you must not be distracted by it during some riding situations. I find that the pillions extra eyes helps a lot in spotting deer and other obstacles, and that the Com system works great for alerting me. Link to comment
Husker Red Posted June 18, 2007 Share Posted June 18, 2007 In the city during my commute I never use the autocom. In that situation I agree that I have enough to think about without the extra distraction. However, on the open road I really enjoy it, and my wife certainly like to ride more when we can talk. Link to comment
onmyrt Posted June 18, 2007 Author Share Posted June 18, 2007 That's a very reasonable answer to my concerns, thank you. Link to comment
Fugu Posted June 18, 2007 Share Posted June 18, 2007 Just this weekend I took my first ride with the wife and the new Autocom system installed. Prior to this, I had my V1 plugged into my helmet, sometimes an MP3 player. I've gone whole hog- Sat radio, terrestrial radio, or MP3 music, V1, and GPS all into my helmet... It's darn nice. The occasional - "hey look at that dog sitting on the 4 wheeler waiting for it's owner" or "wow what a view" is no distraction. The "Look out for that old lady in the Expedition" (turning in front of us) could have been a big help had I not already seen it. What is a distraction if you let it be is fiddling with things like the Sat radio controller. You cannot afford to be looking at that display in traffic PERIOD. Ditto the GPS and V1. But weren't those things able to distract me before the Autocom? Of course (save the sat radio, but the MP3 player could be it's own if something hit a button and put it in 1 song repeat for example- now you're trying to find the button to get it playing normally). So some things you should either ignore (crappy song) or pull over to resolve, but the overall experience of having the Autocom made riding with my wife a better time. I was afraid it would be annoying, it was actually quite nice. Unfortunately, the damn thing works so well there's no speed we've reached 2 up (105 mph per GPS) at which I can claim I didn't hear her ask me to slow down... I don't see going much over that two up.... Link to comment
onmyrt Posted June 18, 2007 Author Share Posted June 18, 2007 You would win that wager because I don't devote as much attention to my driving as I do my riding. Not to highjack my own post, but, statistically it's not required. Riding a bike is more dangerous than driving in a cage..... Link to comment
W. Mazelin Posted June 18, 2007 Share Posted June 18, 2007 You would win that wager because I don't devote as much attention to my driving as I do my riding. Not to highjack my own post, but, statistically it's not required. Riding a bike is more dangerous than driving in a cage..... True enough, but distraction is the same all over. The results can be equally perilous in either case. My point was simply to try and put a little perspective on the riding/driving similarities. The best way to communicate is to set the ground rules before venturing out, make sure your SO knows that if you say "not now" (or similar) that it's nothing personal - you're simply putting forth a higher level of concentration for whatever is coming your way. To be fair, if your SO sees something that you may have missed, then by all means, a verbal warning should be given. Carrie (nicewife) & I have Autocoms for bike-to-bike communication. It's quite nice to be able to communicate clearly when either of us needs something. Hand signals, jabs in the ribs, etc. only go so far. Link to comment
MrBee Posted June 18, 2007 Share Posted June 18, 2007 I only use my comm system to talk to my passanger. I find it useful. I can warn her of my next move, such as hold on to me while under acceleration. I find that she is very quiet when its called for. At times in heavy traffic, I hardly hear a word, except of caution. While out on the Interstate the conversation picks up. I happen to like it. Link to comment
kcscout Posted June 18, 2007 Share Posted June 18, 2007 As one who has recently added an Autocomm to my 2-up riding - I gotta say, I really appreciate it. It would scare the heck out of me each time I got my helmet tapped. Both of us wear full face helmets. So, pre-Autocomm - to actually "communicate" would require I lean back into her and she'd lean in to me. Then we talk real loud with lots of "What?" I think that's a much more dangerous system than simply talking to each other. We do have an iPod attached. It's wired to the bike (runs off of bike power) and controlled via a wireless iJet. As for a cell phone - uh uh. Nope. No way. It's rarely more than 2 hours between stops. I can be "unreachable" during that time. Link to comment
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