• Welcome, Guest! We hope you enjoy the excellent technical knowledge, event information and discussions that the BMW MOA forum provides. Some forum content will be hidden from you if you remain logged out. If you want to view all content, please click the 'Log in' button above and enter your BMW MOA username and password.

    If you are not an MOA member, why not take the time to join the club, so you can enjoy posting on the forum, the BMW Owners News magazine, and all of the discounts and benefits the BMW MOA offers?

  • Beginning April 1st, and running through April 30th, there is a new 2024 BMW MOA Election discussion area within The Club section of the forum. Within this forum area is also a sticky post that provides the ground rules for participating in the Election forum area. Also, the candidates statements are provided. Please read before joining the conversation, because the rules are very specific to maintain civility.

    The Election forum is here: Election Forum

Bike to Bike Communication

drmshapow

New member
Hi all. I am contemplating installation of a bike to bike communication system and finding it hard to chose between the Chatterbox X1 and the J&M CB system. Currently I have a Zumo 550 with XM radio and just about 1000 songs on an SD, using in-ear speakers for the music and Zumo instructions... My intention is to connect the Zumo audio output to the Chatterbox/J&M audio input so I will be getting all the existing audio on the new headset. Compatibility with other bikes is a non-issue as my son, who rides his own bike, will receive the same system. I realize none of you use both systems so I am asking for your experience with the system that you use. Also, if there is a 3rd system that I am not aware of, I'd love to know more about it..

My questions are:
1. What is the effective range of your system?
2. How would you rate the quality of music channeled through the system?

I will welcome any pointers you may be able to provide.

Thanks a lot.
 
I have the J&M CB and Zumo 550 also with the Garmin XM receiver. The J&M has a separate volume control for the stereo audio input. The weather channel is great. CB overrides the audio input. The two units work flawlessly together. I estimate our CB range (my buddies have the same radio) is at least 2 or 3 miles. Both XM radio and MP3 audio quality are excellent (I have the wired J&M helmet headset with the higher quality speakers). This is the setup I would choose if I were doing it all over again. I had a Chatterbox unit several years ago. It was a piece of junk.
 
If you have no interest in communicating with truckers or other CB users I suggest you look into FRS/GMRS radios. The quality of the transmission is far superior to CB and the ranges are equivalent. Most of the riders I ride with use the Kenwood FRS/GMRS enabled via the Autocom system.
 
Back
Top