Cardo Scala Rider Q1 TeamSet
First up – Cardo’s Scala Rider Q1 TeamSet.
This guy is an endangered species. It’s a simple rider-to-passenger unit and there aren’t many of those left on the market. But that doesn’t mean it’s bad! I love the crystal clear Bluetooth linkup to my pillion. I like that I can toggle the intercom with my voice if I get bored of my pillion, and I can answer my phone by voice command too.
I also have a built in FM radio. AGC means the speakers will self-adjust their volume depending on how fast I’m riding. A2DP means I can control my music over Bluetooth and stream it to my passenger. The HS profile makes the Q1 compatible with a bunch of GPS units. Hot Dial means it can remember my wife’s phone number and call her at the click of a button. And the battery will give me 10 hours talk time and 1 week on standby.
I’m gonna unpack it for you guys. But can we take a minute to admire this case first? Semi-rigid textile, two-tone zipper … it’s gorgeous. I ordered a top-of-the-line Sena last year and it came in a cardboard box. So props to Cardo for giving me something I can actually use, even on their base model.
So, open it up. There’s a small novel that Cardo calls an instruction manual, and here’s the main feature. Two Q1 units – really slim and lightweight.
Waterproof too, which is a big thing that other manufacturers always drop the ball on.
Remove this felt display case, and there’s all my goodies. A couple microfiber device bags, some extra foamies. These are the stereo speakers and they’re really loud. I could also plug regular headphones into the Q1, but these are better in my opinion. Then there’s two wall chargers and two USB cords, so I can plug the Q1 into my computer or an outlet. These cords are micro USB to 3.5mm jack, so if you live in a different century, you could actually use the Q1 with a CD player. These are just little Velcro stickies to help with installation, and then these are the mounting plates. They clamp onto the outside of my helmet, with this thin panel between the shell and EPS foam. It works on pretty much any lid. And if I remove the lower felt, there’s one more present under the Christmas tree.
This box contains possibilities. There are corded microphones I can stick to the inside of my chin bar if I don’t like the boom mic, and there are sticky mounting plates if I prefer adhesive to clamps.
So that’s everything Cardo considers to be “basic” kit. Which says a lot about how seriously they take their comm systems.
Cardo Scala Rider PackTalk
Now, what if I want to talk to someone on another bike? Or 14 people on other bikes?
Then it’s the Cardo PackTalk. The Q1 was about 260 dollars for a 2-palk, whereas this guy is over 600 for the duo. So it’s a big jump up.
As I suggested, the new firmware upgrade means 15 different riders can get in on the conversation. I can chat with three of my buddies at the same time. They can be riding alongside me, calling in from a mobile phone, whatever.
The main thing about the PackTalk is DMC, or dynamic meshwork communication. It’s kinda hard to explain, but basically it creates a self-healing network. If a few riders leave the group, the rest of the connections stay in tact. If they come back in, they’re automatically absorbed. And if I fall behind, the PackTalk leapfrogs my voice – through the other units – to the rider at the front.
I can even set it so that – when my intercom buddy goes out of range – the PackTalk automatically switches to a mobile phone call.
Basically, this is designed to take the hassle out of large group communication. It just does whatever it can to link up – in the best possible way – so I don’t have to worry about it.
I do have to call bullshit on a couple of Cardo’s claims though. For one, they say 13 hours of talk time and 1 week on standby. But in my experience – especially on DMC mode – the talk time is 10 hours or less. Cardo also claims a 1.6 kilometer range from unit to unit, and up to 8 kilometers if you account for leapfrogging across the group.
Meh, maybe in Saskatchewan. But if you ride anywhere near mountains or trees, you’ll be lucky to get half that.
Even still, the PackTalk is head and shoulders above the competition. Trust me – I own a Sena 20S – and I wish I bought this instead. It’s built better, it’s waterproof, it’s more reliable, it has more features. This is the King of Comms for the time being.
So the Q1 is the best option if I want to talk to my passenger, and the PackTalk is the best option for everything else.
UClear HBC200HD Helmet Bluetooth Communicator
But what if I wear a half helmet?
Of course I could install one of those Cardos anyway. The boom mics are wind cancelling so they’ll work okay. But Uclear came up with something better and they call it the HBC200HD.
See this uses vibration mics. You run these little nubs up into the helmet, and let them feel the space above your forehead. It’ll pick up vibrations when you talk and – somehow – turn them into a clear and audible voice at the other end.
It’s one of those things that seems like it shouldn’t work, but it does.
The benefit is that I don’t have a mic hanging out over my face. And I like that. It also comes with earbuds, which is great for riders that don’t use ear flaps and – therefore – have nowhere to install regular speakers.
Much like the PackTalk, the HBC200HD is great for large groups. It can link up to 10 different riders. It can multihop across long distances. It’ll do phones, music, GPS systems, voice commands … all that jazz.
SPOT Trace
And finally, I’m gonna end the comm system video with … not a comm system.
Well, not quite anyway. This is a SPOT trace and it does communicate one thing. Location.
Using satellite technology, I can track this thing anywhere in the world. It can show up on my Google Maps, and if I want it to, the SPOT will send me text messages every time it moves.
Obviously, I’m gonna chuck this thing on my motorcycle. And there are two benefits to that. For one, if I wake up to an empty parking space, I can call the cops and tell them exactly where the punk who jacked my ride is.
And the second benefit is safety. SPOT just celebrated their 4000 th rescue and the story hit close to home. It was a dual-sport rider, off-roading alone when he took a hard bail. Emergency responders were able to find him thanks to a SPOT device.
Now the rider in that story had a unit that’s specially designed to send emergency signals. But even this anti-theft SPOT Trace could save my life. Let’s say I don’t come home from a ride one day. All my wife has to do is go online and see exactly where I am.
The SPOT is rugged, waterproof and small. Three things I need if I’m going to make it a permanent fixture on this V-Strom. It came with adhesive foam in the box, so I’d probably just stick is under my seat right here.