Connecting a Sena 20S to R1250RT

[oceanrider]

Perhaps this has been discussed before, but I could not find a lot of detail on the subject. I have a 2019 R1250RT with nav VI. I believe I have connected my Sena 20S / iPhone 11 / nav VI in the proper sequence. Unfortunately when I play music, it sounds awful. The sound is distorted and the volume is to low when riding at highway speeds. When the nav prompts a upcoming turn turn, the music cuts off and never re-engages. I have tried multiple times to delete all Bluetooth connections and re connect them. They always comes out sounding like crap. When I bypass the bike and nav and connect the Sena 20S directly to my iPhone, the music is fine. Am I missing something or is this as good as it gets. Needless to say this is the only area of this bike that I am disappointed in. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[craigjv4]

I couldn't get all three pieces to connect and work properly either.

So now I pair my iphone XR to my Sena and Nav VI to my Sena.

I don't pair my iphone to the Nav VI.

I can listen to music through the phone or Nav and it automatically dims the music for driving instructions.

I also pair a small, round bluetooth media button that I mounted on the bars to control the phone so I just push a button to replay or skip songs and never have to take my phone out of the tank bag.

All works great for me connecting this way.

 

[cap]

...So now I pair my iphone XR to my Sena and Nav VI to my Sena....

Do you use rider-to-rider comms?

My understanding of the Sena system, after many years of using it and sometimes cursing it, is that you are limited in the quantity and quality of the available connections. So, if you limit to two connections, you can get high-fidelity on both. But if you have more, then the quality goes down, and the auto-muting function becomes problematic.

I use my Sena for point-to-point rider intercom, and also to listen to the satellite radio. It usually works great at one-to-one comms, and the auto-muting works, and the fidelity is OK given that the sound is playing through small speakers in a windy environment. However, when we try group intercom among 3 or 4 riders, it falls apart. The fidelity drops, and the auto-mute function will not resume when the intercom session is ended. There are some settings in the Sena app that you can play with, but the documentation is vague regarding what the settings actually do.

However, if you do not use the intercom function, then you should be able to get good quality sound from two independent sources, like your phone and your GPS.

Having said all that, I still prefer Sena to other solutions at this point.

Cap

 

[jgoertz]

Have you checked YouTube? Lots of videos about pairing the Sena to your motorcycle are available to review. One -- or more -- may give you some ideas as to how to make it all work in your setup.

Of course, YMMV!

 

[oceanrider]

I couldn't get all three pieces to connect and work properly either.

So now I pair my iphone XR to my Sena and Nav VI to my Sena.

I don't pair my iphone to the Nav VI.

I can listen to music through the phone or Nav and it automatically dims the music for driving instructions.

I also pair a small, round bluetooth media button that I mounted on the bars to control the phone so I just push a button to replay or skip songs and never have to take my phone out of the tank bag.

All works great for me connecting this way.

Thanks for the suggestion. I will definitely try that set up. The media button is a great idea.