Creature comforts...

[F5 Dave]

. . .I don't know if I'd like a screamed "SLOW DOWN" in my earhole mid-corner.
Lou

I believe the sign language for that is a smack in the kidneys.

Back to the creature comforts. I sort of recently (actually must have been May as before Brass) bought a heated vest.

click here

OK it cost a bit but it is great for winter riding. Actually the lass gets it for on the back as she seems to get cold when I am comfortable so it makes it more comfortable for me. She thinks it’s the best thing ever & if you make your woman warm she will just sit there uncomplainingly. If it gets silly cold then you can wear it as she won’t have been convinced to leave the house.

[Posh Tourer :P]

What about noise-cancelling systems? Given that most of the (hearing-damaging) ambient noise inside one's helmet is wind noise, which is reasonably constant in frequency, surely this would be an ideal environment for such technology? If this is feasible (and achievable), then the volume required for any extra noise (music, intercom, etc.) would be much lower.

As an aside, I personally believe that motorcycling is an inherently different pastime to sitting in your car or lounge, and the fact that one doesn't usually listen to music or communicate verbally with others while doing so is all part of the experience. However, anything I can do to make Mrs FS's riding experience more pleasant is worthwhile, as already she is the one who is instigating the rides we go on. So if she wants an intercomm, I'm all for it.

*cough* whipped *cough*

[Posh Tourer :P]

Cyndi Lauper's Girls Just Wanna Have Fun would surely be appropriate.

She *will* need to get something to play it on, though.

Do ya think Arlo Guthrie would go down well? Also, youd have to either play it very slowly on a long trip, or repeatedly, and I dont think "Grils Just Wanna Have Fun" (sic) would cut the mustard.

[Bonez]

Riding in to work this morning, I was toodeling along in traffic thinking it would be nice to have a little music... and that got me thinking.


Your thoughts?
MDU

Just a good sheep skin. Pillion just needs to tap on the helmet and stop for a conversation. Try humming .

[ALTRON]

I use my MiniDisc walkman everyday while riding Its fine when riding in built up areas (50k zones) but when I get out on to the highway (100km) I turn it off as I have to turn it up too loud to compete with the sound of the bike and wind noise.

[geoffm]

Being a Boring Old Phart, I like my heated grips (esp here in Christchurch, being a woosey northerner). Once you have toured with hard luggage, you would never go back. Nothing like turning up at a flash hotel valet parking, ready for a dirty weekend and wandering into the lobby in leathers and carrying your bags.
I had an intercom, which was good (until I lost it) and made the trip better for the pillions. I will get another one next year.
A good radar detector goes without saying.
Geoff

[magnum]

just got a corbin seat cause i want to do some touring and im a fat bastard,the oe seat is crap over 2 hours riding.

[Slingshot]

I looked into the whole intercom thing a while back, I'm too cheap to pay the couple of hundred bucks for the proper shop intercom si I had a chat to my old man (he's good with electronics).
He brought me a couple of walky talkies with VOX and we started to experiment.
With a standard earphone and mic the VOX is useless above about 40kmph, it starts to transmit constantly.

The old man was going to build some sort of noise cancelling set-up. The idea was to have two microphones in the helmet, one by my mouth that would pick up both my voice and all the wind/engine noise, then another one around further to the side that would only pick up the wind/engine noise. The ide was to wire them up to some sort of gizmo that would cancle the noise part out and only leave the voice.
Still waiting...must call him and find out what ever happened to that little project.

I also saw a device on the net a while back, you could plug in 4 or 5 input devices into it in the order of importance, ie.1. Radar Detector 2. Intercom 3. Music, etc. Normally you'd be listening to the music but if your pillion spoke to you it would shut the music off while they spoke and then if the radar detector went off it would shut the intercom off, it was rather clever.
Just did a quick google and found this

[sedge]

http://blogs.motorbiker.org/blogs.ns...5736MWEA74.htm

Expensive switcher thingy...

I tried active in-ear noise reduction headphones but the mikes stick out too far for comfort, I think a company called etymotic do in ear buds that block external noise passively... again, they are expensive.

Why can't anyone design a bluetooth enabled helmet with in-built active noise cancelling... Give it a couple of months eh ?

Sedge.

[F5 Dave]

Yeah I remember when ‘Beyond 2000’ did a TV story & had some little shetbox Yugo or something & they ran active noise cancelling & they turned it on & the car went quiet. Then for a laugh they could pipe in sounds from an F1 car or whatever so it linked with the throttle & rev-counter.

Neat, could filter out all those poxy 4 stroke sounds of our poofy road legal bikes & be riding an NSR500 V twin. Those things sound horn! Like 2 CR250s.

(that should upset the lads, esp. the Vtwin crowd)

[James Deuce]

http://blogs.motorbiker.org/blogs.ns...5736MWEA74.htm

Expensive switcher thingy...

I tried active in-ear noise reduction headphones but the mikes stick out too far for comfort, I think a company called etymotic do in ear buds that block external noise passively... again, they are expensive.

Why can't anyone design a bluetooth enabled helmet with in-built active noise cancelling... Give it a couple of months eh ?

Sedge.

Sony do a nice set in-ear headphones that act as earplugs as well. $100.

[sedge]

Sony do a nice set in-ear headphones that act as earplugs as well. $100.

I tried the active ones like that... quite a bit bigger coz of the mikes though...Went in the helmet OK... Started riding and they slowly pushed in and in till my brain got sore... couldn't get the helmet off, the plugs were at the wrong angle and I thought they were going to poke a hole in me, had to dig down through the top and pull them out...

Sedge.

[Cajun]

just got a corbin seat cause i want to do some touring and im a fat bastard,the oe seat is crap over 2 hours riding.

corbin seats are so over priced, they are very hard to get hold of now days as well. Ya should have come seen us steve and we would have made one molded to fit ya ass

[Slingshot]

I also did a few experiments with throat microphones. I used a normal condenser mic and plugged it into my computer then held it to my throat, I turned the stereo up to max volume, then started recording the sound from the mic while I was talking.
Could barely hear the stereo but my voice was easy to hear, it was just a little distorted.

I might have to start fiddling around again.

Beyond 2000 was the coolest program.

[F5 Dave]

Yeah but what would they call it now?