Bluetooth Intercoms - webBikeWorld

Motorcycle Bluetooth Intercoms: Finally! The simple Bluetooth wireless intercom systems we wished for are here! Here are two units that claim to meet our requirements of a Bluetooth motorcycle intercom system that does NOT use a cell phone or other intermediary "hub" device; thanks to Jan from MC Sport in Denmark for sending us information on the Cellular Line Interphone (Italy). See our review of the Interphone Bluetooth intercom system, which is now available in the U.S.A. | Also, see our reviews of the Scala Rider TeamSet Bluetooth intercom and the IMC Camos Bluetooth intercoms

If you have information on using Bluetooth as a motorcycle intercom, please send it to us at

. See Bluetooth comments below.

Hybrid Bluetooth Intercoms: The Intaride Liberty Bluetooth motorcycle intercom apparently needs a hub to be used as a rider-to-pillion intercom but comes complete with two headsets, Bluetooth wireless connectivity and a "pod" connector. Visitor "J.G." writes "If you read the faq on their website you will see that they are not Bluetooth, but are instead a proprietary system that will only connect with their hub which can in turn connect via cable to their intercom box. It in turn can have a Bluetooth adapter fitted which will allow connection to a phone for example."

Stereo Bluetooth: These allow full stereo connectivity to devices like the Garmin Zumo GPS system, MP3 players, iPod, etc. See the wBW review of the IMC Camos stereo Bluetooth intercom system | The Parrot stereo Bluetooth device for motorcycles transmits music and cell phone calls but doesn't appear to be an intercom

Motorola Wireless Helmet Headset HS830: Many visitors have written to us about this Bluetooth system. However, it is our understanding from a conversation with Motorola that 1) this unit still needs a cell phone as a base unit and 2) the HS830 will be discontinued soon. If you have more information, please send it to the editor at the address above.

What is Bluetooth? Bluetooth is a short-range wireless communications technology and standard for secure communications. "The key features of Bluetooth technology are robustness, low power, and low cost. The Bluetooth specification defines a uniform structure for a wide range of devices to connect and communicate with each other", according to the Bluetooth Interest Group.

Interphone Bluetooth Intercom: See the wBW review of the Interphone Bluetooth motorcycle intercom system. The Interphone system was apparently jointly developed with several manufacturers in Europe and the UK. It is available through various retailers in the U.S.A., UK and Canada. Here's a description sent by Moto Comp Ltd. in the UK:

"We have been developing the Interphone Bluetooth Bike-to-Bike Intercom System with our Italian partners for some time. We believe it to be the only full wireless Bluetooth Intercom and phone System with true Bike-to-Bike (up to 150 meters) capability in the world.

It is now ready for launch in the UK. We will be launching to the UK trade at Motorcycle Trade-Expo in January. We are very proud of the performance we have achieved and are now looking for independent evaluation. The product is completely self-contained and comes with everything needed to fit in any helmet in a couple of minutes.

Problems With Bluetooth Intercoms
Bluetooth technology still needs some work to make it user-friendly, in our opinion. Bluetooth devices must be "paired" the first time they are used. Pairing basically means that the devices swap some kind of information to let them know that they should be communicating with each other.

The instructions provided with all of the Bluetooth intercoms we've tried so far are very poorly written and don't clearly describe the pairing procedure; it's like the instruction manuals were written by engineers and computer specialists rather than users.

What makes it more confusing is that the pairing procedure doesn't always seem to work the same way twice. We've found this to be the case with every one of the Bluetooth intercom systems we've tried.

Sometimes the two devices connect with each other as soon as the units are turned on; sometimes we have to follow the instructions to get them to "talk" to each other, and sometimes a different series of buttons must be pressed to get everything to work. It's way more effort than it should be, and the professionals tell us "it can't be done", but from the consumer's point of view, two intercoms need only 2 controls: on/off and volume.

The user should be able to turn on the devices and they work. Instantly and without any fuss. Who cares about pairing? All I want to do is talk! When I turn on a cell phone, I don't have to press a series of buttons and wait for LEDs to light up in a particular pattern as I try to negotiate with the carrier each and every time. I turn it on, press a number and talk. Bluetooth intercoms should be no different, and no different than a wired intercom system.

Our advice? We strongly recommend that 1) You copy the owner's manual in your language and bring it with you. You'll need it! 2) Practice, practice, practice with these devices, both before they are installed in the helmets and after. It's like a "black art" trying to figure out which buttons to press in which order, what tones and beeps to wait for, what the LED blinking lights mean...it's way, way too confusing!

Comments? Send them to Comments are ordered from most recent to oldest.

From "T.Z" (Responding to our "Problems With Bluetooth Intercoms" above: "Agreed! The problems we are trying to solve as consumers are:

Get rid of the headset cable that runs to the control unit.
Listen to MP3 music in stereo on the headset
Create a list of paired devices that automatically connect when turned on and in the same proximity and function properly based on their purpose. The Bluetooth 2.0 specification provides for up to 255 Bluetooth devices in each piconet (Bluetooth network).
Be able to use the headsets as Intercoms and use either speakers or earphones depending or preference with separate volume controls.
Be able to listen to a shared music source over the intercom. (Editor's Note: Music should stream from a single source to both rider and passenger).
The various devices should interrupt each other based on a prioritized connection scheme. Cell phones should interrupt music and Intercom, radar detector should always be heard by the rider but not the passenger.
Provide long lasting batteries that run at least 20 hours that install in the helmet. This should not be difficult as there are Li-Ion 3.7 volt batteries available for cell phones that are small enough to fit in a helmet that are rated at over 2000mAh (Milli-Ampere Hours) Most of the Bluetooth headsets operate at 4.5 (High end of a charged battery) to 3.7 volts (Low end of an almost fully discharged battery.) The batteries should either be swappable of there should be an option to plug in an optional battery life extension pack in to the charging outlet of the headset.
The devices should be lockable with security codes that prevent unauthorized Bluetooth devices from joining the piconet (Bluetooth network).
I don't care if I still have to plug the GPS, radar detector, XM Satellite, etc. into the control unit. I just want everything to talk to the headset over Bluetooth. The control unit can handle all of the complex stuff such as port prioritization.

There are a few more but that is my short list. I don't think that is too much to ask."

From "C.J.": "Just been reading your information on Bluetooth intercom/headsets. I bought a Motorola HS830 some time ago and installed it in my Nolan N42 Jet. I use it with my Motorola L5 phone which I keep in a cradle on my handlebars. Thought I would let you know that this system (about $120) DOES permit rider/passenger communication without a cell phone. There is an 'a-b' switch on the back of the device. Set one helmet to 'a' and one to 'b' and voila, there you have it.

Of course for bike to bike it's limited to Bluetooth range (30 feet) whereas the Interphone system will go 150. But for $120 bucks the Motorola just can't be beat."

From GiMoto Canada: "GiMoto Canada Ltd. is the approved Canadian distributor for the Cellular Line Interphone. We first brought the Interphone (Euro power plug units) into Canada several months ago and provided the units to several magazines within Canada, the feedback has been amazing.

The key difference to the Interphone over other products including the Scala Rider Team is the ability to use the Bluetooth intercom feature from bike to bike! Cellular Line specifies the product has a range of 150m at speeds up to 130 km/h. I have personally been at a greater distance and had a clear conversation with the other rider.

See the wBW review of the Interphone Bluetooth motorcycle intercom system.

Here is a brochure (Adobe Acrobat format) on the Interphone Bluetooth intercom and also an Adobe Acrobat version of the Interphone Bluetooth intercom owner's manual.

From "M.E.": "I just read your comment about the unavailability of rider to passenger Bluetooth intercoms. I too have been scouring the internet, manufacturers and motorcycle dealers for such a product...as have most of my motorcycle riding friends. It simply boggles the imagination that such a beast seems not to exist yet. Even products like the fairly new Chatterbox XB1, which was built from the ground up with Bluetooth in mind and can communicate with other riders 5 miles away, can't communicate with the person sitting 3 inches behind you without some sort of wire going to them."

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