Helmets Do we really NEED Bluetooth ??

There seems to be a great number of helmets coming out lately that feature "Bluetooth" technology for our cell phones.

WOW !! This is just what motorcyclists need. The ability to talk to someone about stupid stuff while riding on a motorcycle with cagers doing the same/same deal.

Distractions ?? I guess we're all fine and done here. We can talk on the phone to family, friends, the office, our girl friend, our wife, the vet, get a grocery list on the way home, find out what others are doing while you're riding 80 on the Slab, or hangin' in traffic on nice Sunday afternoon at the shore.

This makes me crazy !! But, I'm in the minority here. I think I have maybe 8-10 minutes of talk time on my phone each month. Maybe 2 minutes while I'm driving a cage .... "Honey, there's a LEO takin' pictures at the 85 and Camp Meeting road junction ... watch your speed.". That's the entire conversation while driving. The rest is done when I fuel up or stop to get a bite to eat.

Yeah, I'm a Neandertal for sure. I don't walk 'round the super market with a Bluetooth stuck in my ear looking all Borg alien-like .... that's too sophisticated for me. Nor do I drive down the road in my truck with a phone up to my ear drifting into traffic and kickin' up dust as I wander down the road at different speeds. Kewl. I don't have inane conversations while entering the eye doctor's office, or Whole Foods. I try not to have my phone ON ME while I'm out and about in stores or public places.

Sooooooooooo ..... now we have all these helmet makers coming out with Bluetooth tech ready helmets. Now, riding with a helmet has a different meaning when it comes to "SAFETY". But, I'm sure I'm not in the complete flow of things here.

Why not just pull over and make a call the 'conventional way'?? Why do we all need to be "connected" all the @$%$#^ time? This is BS and will result in more crashes and deaths on motorcycles.

Burning my soap box .... but, I wish they'd raise the cost per minute to $0.50 .... this was what it was 20 years ago. Now, every 12 year old has a phone. Why is this ?? "She needs it, fool .... what if there's a Columbine at her school, idiot?".

OK .... I get it.

Bagger said:

Now, every 12 year old has a phone.

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You'd feel differently if it was YOUR 12 year old...

I'm with you on the cell phone helmet....Leave me a voice mail and when I am gassin up I'll get back to ya...

Love my satellite radio though

My helmet is not BT, but I do talk to my pillion, listen to music, and receive phone calls in it.

There needs to be a cheap method of wireless transmission, but I have yet to see BlueTooth prove to me that it's worth a damn. I just don't think it's good for much beyond computer mice, and seems less than ideal for comms.

Personally, I feel terrible with my iPod running in my helmet, and really don't want much more to distract me. I can't walk around the house without stubbing my toe when on the phone. I really don't need that kind of distraction on the ST.:nuts1:

Kempo-STer said:

You'd feel differently if it was YOUR 12 year old...

I'm with you on the cell phone helmet....Leave me a voice mail and when I am gassin up I'll get back to ya...

Love my satellite radio though

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Well, I don't think so, Kempo-man. I see the 12 year olds all day texting and talking. Cell phones in school are not a good thing. Wonder what they'll do when they are nearly adults in the coffee can exhaust cars with their boy friends? Texting? Yeah, that's just great.

Why do parents think a cell phone on a kid is a good deal? I never had one. I was where I was supposed to be .... and had better been. I had to be responsible. "It's different today." No, it's not .... just made more complicated by society and parents.

But, that's another OT deal. I'm more concerned with motorcyclists talking on the phone while riding .... along with the Sat radio, iPod stuff.

Talking on a cell while driving is as dangerous as driving drunk. That has been proven. I see it every day. I was nearly taken out by a SUV as he spoke into his cell and looked at the golf course while gesturing.

Riding while talking, listening to NPR (I doubt that in this group), iPod tunes, and such are not good ideas while the "opposition" is driving at you doing the same.

BTW, Kempo .... didn't you once sneeze into your helmet phone and get an answer?

Gotta stay connected, eh. Aaaaaaaaaaaaah-cheeeeeeeeeeew !! "Who's this ???"

You make a valid point. Just this weekend I was debating if I need a bluetooth headset for my helmet. There are a few good reason's to have this capability, but from a safety point of view, you are spot on. As vulnerable as we are in traffic, do we really need one more distraction? I think not... Better to keep your eyes open and looking ahead as oppossed to answering a phone call, that most likely can wait. I think I can do without.

I totally agree with you about cell phones and motorcycles. And for years I was the only rider among my riding friends with no music. However, I was also known as the guy who would start to drift towards the shoulder of the road as I took a quick nap, or as I sometimes refer to it, as "doing push-ups" on the bike, as I start to slump forward and suddenly push against the bars to sit back up. Something about the long rides, the vibrations, the wind noise, just totally relaxes me. Used to have to stop and slam a Dew or energy drink to wake up to finish the ride.

A couple of months ago I began using ear buds and my wife's i-pod on long trips. I really believe the music helps to keep me awake. I don't use it in town, and usually only turn it on after 4 or 5 hours of motoring down the road. However much the music may distract me is made up for by me not taking naps on the bike.

Just like everything else, you have a choice of how you want to use a tool like Bluetooth.
I for one would like to see a better selection of helmets integrated with bluetooth for electronic devices.
I think it is a great advantage to be able to use my phone while I ride - but only when I want to.

Sometimes I wish I had my Harleys back. The tremendous vibration of the EVO motor, the lack of a windscreen, the awesome sound from the nearly open pipes. Yeah, I never fell asleep .... nor would I have answered the phone. How could I have possibly heard the call ?? "What .... who is this ??? Huh .... who you callin' a dork? Oh, sorry, Honey". :

I sleep small snipettes at night, now. I'm always tired. And ... sometimes I feel sleepy on the bike. I just stop .... walk around (I guess I could make a call to someone ... maybe call my spouse at work, or my kid at school ??). Spend a couple minutes walking 'round the bike checkin' it out. Then I'm back on the bike. If this is not sufficient, I'd opt from some java, or cut it short and just ride home.

Here's my problem with tunes on the bike. I ride a mountain bike on some rail trails. I come up on folks who are walking, riding, jogging .... all with iPods (or similar) in their ears. I call out, "Passing on your left", and most of these folks don't hear me. I am not a quiet speaker. I've ridden trails for 20 years. It's only lately with the iPods that I have a problem .... or the other person has a problem. I'm moving at 18 mph on the bike .... smashing into a person wandering all over the trail listening to Bon Jovi is not something I wanna do.

How does this relate to motorcycles? If you have to ask, you don't get the point.

All this crap in our ears is a distraction that will eventually relate to something less than a desirable out come for some ..... no one needs a trooper at the door.

I find that I am distracted enough with the ride ...the scenery ... the sound of the bike ... my tho'ts. I don't need a phone call, NPR (go figure), the sports score, or Nebraska football on the Sat radio to make the ride more enjoyable and less safe.

As the years have disappeared, I've found that riding a motorcycle has become less safe. This is grossly dependant on what cager's do ...but also it now has to do with what the person on the motorcycle does. The distractions that are around with the increase in traffic of all kinds make riding less safe every day. The bikes are faster, helmet laws relax, cell phone use increases (for everyone) and everyone is more into some other thing than driving or riding.

I don't think it's a good thing. I could be in the minority here, but it does not make it more safe the other way 'round.

You know a lot has been made of the drunk driving versus cell phone and use and that test was CRAP.

Why?

Because you can hang up a phone or choose not to answer it, BUT you cannot just get un-drunk immediately.

That test forced people to use a phone doing things that every single one of the users stated they would not do. There has yet to be a test done that was unknown to the people being tested and until there is one you can't use the data as proof of anything.

Is driving and talking dangerous? Yes! Is driving and texting dangerous? Yes!

Can you prove it more dangerous than a thousand other distractions in a vehicle? NO!

And it NOT as dangerous as a drunk behind the wheel, let's get real.

Riding a motorcycle is about risk understanding and assessment. If you don't want the risk of a rider with a Bluetooth connected system, don't ride with it, or with them.

I understand that some helmet manufacturers are working on a visor that has 'heads up display' ...... so riders can enjoy DVDs while they ride.

Of course these helmets will be Bluetooth ready, too.

I can't wait !!

Bagger, I agree with you. Driving/riding distractions are increasing and I see nothing changing that.

I'd say ea point made is a good one, it's really all debatable.

Have wanted a good bluetooth solution for a helmet though, but the reason is primarily to get signals from a radar detector. But because I wear earplugs... well helmets can be problematic for sure.

Cage drivers on cell phones is almost out of control. The other day I come up behind a car doing half the speed limit with their 4 way flashers on. Thought, this is odd, usually if someone has their flashers on they are broke down and trying to make it to a gas station, or some other type of 'emergency' situation.

Nope, just on the cell phone... pretty much with the attitude "everyone watch out for me", and "I'm not going to participate in driving this morning, even though I'm in my car going down the road"...

freakin unbelievable if you ask me...

Allright, I'll get involved in this one.

Bagger, I have a 90 minute commute every day. There is not a single day that goes by that I don't talk to someone about work during that commute. Most days, I'm on at least one conference call during that time. If I can't use my phone on my bike, I can't ride those days. I need to be able to communicate with my customers (hey, I'm running late, etc). I suppose I could leave really early and be where I need to be before the conversations start, but I like having breakfast and dinner with my kids.

I know it's something of a distraction, but it's a risk that I'm willing to take. I'm not typing, dialing, texting, etc, I'm just talking.

So, you buy the helmet you like, I'll buy the one I like. That's the great part of America and Capitalism... it's all about freedom of choice.

Tim

Sure Bluetooth can link to cell phones and some use it for that but keep in mind it can be used for much more than that. The best use I can think of is linking it to a Garmin Zumo 550 or another GPS device that can give you turn by turn directions. You may not take big trips or even go off the beaten path much with your bike so this may not be an issue. But the ability to hear the turn by turn directions means you don't have to watch your GPS all the time if you don't know where you are going. Right now I have an old Garmin eMaps GPS that doesn't do turn by turn directions. So that means I am constantly taking my eyes off the road to see where I need to turn. Since it won't recalculate for a missed turn it kind of sucks. I am planning on replacing it with a newer model but I really have a tough time justifying the pricey 550. The benefit of Bluetooth is that you don't have cables to connect to the bike. The drawback is that there is a device you have to remember to charge or it will be dead when you go to use it or halfway through your trip. I am still on the fence about what I want to go with but right now am leaning towards the Scala Q2 and for GPS the Streetpilot 2730 and use the FM transmitter to the Scala or the Streetpilot 2820 and use Bluetooth. I might link my cell phone to the headset but I really don't get many calls on it. By now everyone knows that if I don't answer I am on the bike. Typically it is my wife asking when I will be home from work. If there is no answer it pretty much tells her I am on the way and will be home in about 30 minutes.

One of the main reasons I ride is to get away from all of the phone calls, interruptions, constant background music and noise. I carry the cell phone for contact as necessary, but it is in my jacket pocket turned down and not on vibrate. All I need is the sound of the ST "whir", the wind noise, and the occasional blast of the STebel. Free... Free at last!!

Bagger said:

Well, I don't think so, Kempo-man. I see the 12 year olds all day texting and talking. Cell phones in school are not a good thing. Wonder what they'll do when they are nearly adults in the coffee can exhaust cars with their boy friends? Texting? Yeah, that's just great.

Why do parents think a cell phone on a kid is a good deal? I never had one. I was where I was supposed to be .... and had better been. I had to be responsible. "It's different today." No, it's not .... just made more complicated by society and parents.

But, that's another OT deal. I'm more concerned with motorcyclists talking on the phone while riding .... along with the Sat radio, iPod stuff.

Talking on a cell while driving is as dangerous as driving drunk. That has been proven. I see it every day. I was nearly taken out by a SUV as he spoke into his cell and looked at the golf course while gesturing.

Riding while talking, listening to NPR (I doubt that in this group), iPod tunes, and such are not good ideas while the "opposition" is driving at you doing the same.

BTW, Kempo .... didn't you once sneeze into your helmet phone and get an answer?

Gotta stay connected, eh. Aaaaaaaaaaaaah-cheeeeeeeeeeew !! "Who's this ???"

Click to expand...

Well as far as my girl have the phone is different that what where and when she is allowed to USE the phone...2 different worlds..

Samantha does not text on it and she doesn't use it that much for 'social calls'..I know about what you speak of when these people (regardless of age) walk into walls because they are oblivious to everthing but their thumbs..its pathetic..

Biggest reason is peace of mind on both sides if she ever needs us and vice versa..Yeah I know, we didn't have them and we grew up fine but one point we did not have internet either, doesn't mean we should not get it...

The only time I plug my phone into the Autocomm unit is on a long multi state ride..

I think I have had 3 conversations on the bike in 3+ years..

Yes REAL FUNNY about the Sneeze...
1st leg of the November 2006 Deal's Gap ride, 4 of us were on our way to Brian Northeast Rider's place outside of Philly..

I had to sneeze and I usually let 'em rip for all their worth..And the next thing I know my phone is ringing inside my helmet and apparently my sneeze triggered an auto dial..So curious to see who the heck it would call I got my good buddy and fellow STer Shavlan's voice mail..So laughing so hard I left him a voicemail telling him the circumstances around my call...

I came home from the trip to a PM from him saying "God Bless You!"crackup

Blue Tooth falls under the category of FARKLES..

FARKLES- by definition are required items.... therefore Blue Tooth is required...:chrfl1:

However, it is a tool and should be used carefully and only to the extent a riders ability or desire dictate....

I would love to be able to talk to my SO while riding two up.... Right now, my phone is synced to my Zumo... I can see when I am getting a call and can pull over to call back if necessary...