For many of us, riding is a form of meditation; a chance to detach from the distractions of the world around us and be alone with our thoughts, or immersed in the raw and immediate experience of the ride. Both demand concentration. The separation, the isolation, enforced by a helmet and 70mph fo wind in your face, even with a pillion behind you, is for me part of the essence of riding.
So why would I want to break with tradition and install an intercom system into my and Pau’s helmets for our two-week journey around north west Scotland? After all, we had coped with hand-signals for 8000 miles around South America. I was reluctant, but I also saw the advantages. Only two weeks earlier, for example, I had misunderstood Pau’s frantic signals as we drove along the M4 motorway when she had a severe attack of cramp in her arm and urgently needed to stop; not seeing the pain, and indeed the danger, she was in I continued to the next service station before halting, by which Pau could barely use the clutch on her Street Twin. This alone convinced me of the value of communication between riders, never mind the ability inform each other the need for a pee stop, the wish to take a photo or to warn a rider behind you of upcoming hazards.
We chose a pair of Interphone Tours - the latest and most sophisticated model from Cellularline. Being a purist in the male approach to new technology, I was eager to get it the system going as soon as it arrived and thus dispensed with the instructions. I was by and large successful, so intuitive is the system; the instructions were only called upon to pair the two devices.
The unit comes with a set of low-profile earpieces, the choice of a clamp-on or adhesive mounting bracket, both a boom mic and a adhesive mic for attaching inside the chinguard, and a selection of adhesive velcro patches to enable you to customise the setup. It also includes a small USB battery pack, a wall charger and the necessary leads. Because we were using ‘flip-up’ helmets we opted for the boom mic configuration. It took no more than five minutes per helmet to install the system.
Without further ado, (in other words, with no further reference to the instructions) we were chatting merrily away on our first ride. The sound quality of the intercom is excellent. The boom mic handled wind noise with the helmet face open up to around 55mph; and with the face closed, ear plugs installed and volume to the maximum we could communicate comfortably at around 75 or 80mph. In fact, I found using ear plugs, whilst reducing volume, increased clarity by removing more helmet noise. Above 75mph, audibility became less consistent; whilst I could usually hear Pau clearly, she sometimes struggled to hear me. I suspect variables such as helmet fit (and thus noise) and the use of a chin certain come into play at such speeds.
Review: paul pitchfork - cellularline intercom