Blueant F4 Intercom installed

[Serious Groper]

Went on a spending spree last week on a few bits and bobs.

Most important was an intercom system. I have been wanting one for a while, autcom is highly recommended but by the time you add the bits and pieces together it is hellishly expensive.

The autocom kit200 was on special for AUD$160. I called the US and went to order 2 of them thinking it was all i needed but how wrong i was. I had to spend roughly AUD$500 on 2 x 2-way FM transmitters + AUD$450 on 2 x bluetooth modules to synch with mobiles. On top of that 2 x tank bags. Bloody hell!

So i went searching for the helmet bluetooth devices and ordered 2 x Blueant F4 Intercom Interphones for AUD$570. They got the best write-up in the testing of around 25 intercoms giving good distance, clarity and ease of use.

Installed they work like a charm. Mobile phone calls are a doddle with VOX answering capabilities. It's clear as a bell for the rider and the person calling said they could hear me better whilst blasting around on the bike than when speaking on my iphone.

Bike-to-Bike these bluetooth units are made for direct line of sight. We normally travel closely but at one stage direct line of sight we probably got 200m apart and it was still clear as a bell. Out of sight i got roughly 150m ahead, between houses, around 2 corners and it crackled up.

The intercom is 2-way and no need to break radio silence. Wind noise is pretty much non-existant up to 100km/h. At 120km/h only slight wind noise can be heard transmitting but that's not really relevant as the wind noise from the helmet drowns it out anyway. If you wore a neck warmer to block out more wind getting into the helmet, conversing at 150-160 could be achieved. BTW i use earplugs with the system and can hear clearly.

Each unit paired with our own iphones and with each other for intercom use, first try in just a few seconds. You can pair 8 devices in memory.

I haven't been able to test battery life just yet but we had 2hrs of full discussion on the bikes without it going flat. I have so far had 2hr 15min of riding to/from work listening to music and will not charge until it dies.

$570 for 2 of these intercoms is a bargain price vs the more complex and expensive autocom systems. The only feature missing is the ability to pair with multiple 'blueant' users like you can with an autocom system but it's not something i would use anyway.

On a side note my new Puma V2 flat boots arrived yesterday. Bloody fantastic albeit it they need some wearing in to soften up a bit. They match my new Astars gloves to. Next to come is a leather jacket, new bar end mirrors (lane splitters this time!), new headlight (i'm removing the front fairing), new exhaust, new numberplate, lots of carbon. Would be nice to do it all before our next meet

[goldFiSh]

Thanks for the write up.

I've been mildly interested in an intercom before, especially when it comes to the wsbk trips, but was too much of a tight arse to pony up for them. I get it in your situation where you and the girl ride together often..

But I'm not sure I'd want the phone connectivity.. some would say they need to focus on the ride etc..... I agree with this on technical riding, but on a tour (even a small one) there's usually plenty of places where the distraction is the wind noise and the boredom... For me in those situations the ipod works...

The issue of the phone for me is that I enjoy the solitude - just you and the machine kinda thing. Maybe cause I spend my working day dealing with people, solitude is something that is relaxing..

All that aside, I'd be interested to hear how things go after you've had more time with the units..

[Serious Groper]

Good point mate 

I'm a daily rider so i have the iphone blasting some tunes to/from work. I am so happy i have a wireless sytem! The headphone cable always got in the way. If you wanted it just for music, call RYDA and purchase the previous model Blueant intercom as i am pretty sure they were going for $150. Get 2 of them for around $280 and you have a very cheap, easy to use and reliable setup for 2 people.

The topic of distraction is an important one. After covering 60,000km in the past 2yrs including daily commuting, i have come to the conclusion that boredom which leads to daydreaming is the most dangerous thing i can do on a bike in traffic.

I reckon i lose 50% of my total concentration as i switch to auto-pilot which for me means sitting behind cars being a nice, docile citizen. For me, riding does become mundane at times and i do start to fall into the trap of 'cagers' where you switch off form the outside world.

I think anything to stop you getting bored/daydreaming is better than not doing anything. Music is great. Phone calls. Discussions. 'Active riding'. All those keep the brain active. Even if your concetration drops 15% it's still better than dropping 50%.

Initially i thought the same as you in that it would be very distracting having an intercom but i was surprised how easy and comfortable i was conversing at the same time as dealing with traffic 

So far about 3.5hrs of streaming music and battery still ok.

[john_ibraham]

I don't like blueant at all. I usually enjoy riding above 80km/hr. But everytime, above 65-70, my F4 starts annoying noices, so it becomes impossible for me to enjoy music or stay connected with riders. Its just a useless device for me.
 

[Dannog]

I've got the scala rider verson. Have never set up the pillion rider one but everything else including phone connection and even radio works fine.

[murley]

I was a user of scala, worked pretty fine for me. But then I sold out scala and bought interphone F4. I have made a biggest mistake. I

have wasted a huge amount, just to buy that cheap product. I was facing many problems with this device, including the voice quality

problem. When I went to return this product (the interphone F4) Blueant were a nightmare to deal with. I would not recommend this

product to anyone ? the voice quality is pretty bad. Try a can and a string ? it would work better.

[RBX QB]

I just installed a pair of F4s... one for me and one for my dad... and had the chance to ride about over the weekend.

My reasons were:
A) wireless music when I'm riding.
B) bike to bike when I'm with my dad, or friend.

I read a LOT of the online reviews (webbikeworld) and user reviews on other forums. It came down to the F4, Scala G4 and Sena units, as the 3 top devices.

Here's my 2 cents after a couple weeks of using it:

A) I'm having trouble (more annoyance, really) right now with the music, as the Chatterbox module I got for my iPod is only putting out mono (It also drains the iPod battery quicker, but is still good for 5 hours of iPod life (Nano)). I know the headset is working stereo because I get stereo if I let MP3s play from my phone (but my current phone has crappy sound quality for MP3). I think this problem will resolve itself when I upgrade my phone in the next month or so to either a Droid based phone or iPhone, as both have stereo bluetooth. Only gripe is that I paid $50 for that Chatterbox module. Tho, I can forward or reverse songs on my iPod at will with the Chatterbox module. I've gotten myself in the habit of wearing foam earplugs, and the F4 plays loud enough to hear over those. The volume is maxed, but I can still hear it, and the unit does adjust for ambient noise, so it's all working for me.

B) Bike to bike worked great. Like previously posted, line of sight is important for these units, but that's how I ride group anyway. Clarity was never an issue. I worried a bit, as my dad has old ears, but he had no issues, either... even with earplugs in. Several hours of riding and talking with no issues. Couple freeway parts, still able to communicate easily.

I've also used the phone (Motorola RAZR). Totally clear at 70mph. Like others have stated, I don't like having the phone on the bike, but I HAD to test the thing out. Even when I use the phone for music in the future, that doesn't mean I have to answer calls. I like the music to clear my mind while riding. I found the phone conversations a distraction on the bike, but not the bike to bike conversations... which is odd, but that's just my take.

Would be nice to talk to more than one rider at a time, but really I'm either alone or with one other rider, so this thing fits the bill.

I've installed and removed the speakers many times trying to get the perfect placement in my helmet (HJC FS-15), and am REALLY close to a final placement.

[mostro900]

Thanks for the great writeup Serious Groper! I've been looking at a solution like this for a while, but have never ponied up the cash.

ps. Interesting to note that your thread got 2 people posting negative reviews of the same product, but both those trolls have only made the 1 post each.

[Wells]

ps. Interesting to note that your thread got 2 people posting negative reviews of the same product, but both those trolls have only made the 1 post each.

Lol - nice pick up. I'd imagine there is quote the market in hired trolling.

[suzyj]

Oh my.  Two people just created accounts specifically to bag the blueant thingy, and then haven't posted anything else.

They must be very upset with their blueant thingies if they felt the need to do that!  Or else they sell a competing product, perhaps.