On the Road Again!

Still in service. I tend to use the Shoei helmet in the winter. The Teamset has been used on a variety of different helmets for many years. I'd have to check the packing slip to say exactly when. I still have the original box! It still works very well and is paired to both my phone and to the TomTom 410. The volume is good. Far better than my LS2 Metro. The problem is that it is so old they don't make the bracket and microphone any more. Once this has had it that will be end. It's starting to look as though it's not long for this world! I emailed them to see if they have any NOS headsets. Sadly their reply was that they no longer have stocks of this boom anymore. 

Sunday the 17th October 2021.  The Meldrews Sunday Breakfast meet incorporating Ride the World. Didn't happen. Why? The Meldrews part did and that is blogged already.  The Ride the World bit didn't. Why? To complete the challenge to ride to two places on the Overland magazine's challenge, I needed to have the TomTom fully functioning and on the bike.  I had done the groundwork. I had made sure that TomTom could communicate with the Cardo Scala fitted on my Shoei Qwest helmet. TomTom fully charged. All good. What was a stumbling block as that I had not actually foreseen nor had I checked was that the locking kit was in fact locked or maybe unlocked. There are two keys. One locks the whole shebang to the RAM ball on the bike that means the TomTom cradle is locked in place and can't be removed. The other key locks the cradle so that the TomTom can't be easily removed or it can't fly off the cradle in bumpy, possibly off road, conditions.   And yes, both were locked...

With it getting chillier, along with the Joe Rocket jacket being hung up for another year and getting the Frank Thomas Aqua Jacket out, it's time for the LS2 helmet to have a break. Cleaned and put away in the cupboard above the wardrobe and the Qwest taken down and dusted off.  I refitted the Cardo Teamset and made sure that it was charged and paired with my phone. It's not that I want to make a phone call, but you never know when there's an emergency and need to receive a call! Although saying that I did use it when a few years ago I was on the M25 to the south of London and I saw a car veering across the carriageway before crashing on the hard shoulder.  I kept my helmet on when I called 999 to get police and ambulance.  I did pull the guy out of the car and into the recovery position at the (safe) side of the road. A nurse stopped and helped me but the job of tugging him across the car from drivers to passenger side was done. I never listen to music as I prefer my own...

How frequently do they recommend you should replace your bike helmet? I bought my current "best" helmet, the Shoei Qwest on February 5th 2013 - EIGHT years ago today!!!!!!!! It still looks nearly new. Only the addition of the Cardo and the French law reflective stickers. It's still an argument whether the stickers are required or not. The French said yes for everyone but the EU legal service said not. So I put them on rather than have a roadside discussion with an Agent de Police. The Cardo works okay but is getting very long in the tooth. It connects to my android phone and the TomTom.  Unlike a lot of people I am happy for it not to play MP3 🎶 to me as I ride along.  As long as I get satellite navigation directions I am okay. So new helmet or not? I am feeling not at the moment.

I charged the Cardo Teamset, or at least the rider unit. Oddly it is sticky and covered in fluff! A bit of soap on toilet paper and I managed to clean most of it off. I went out for a short, 52 mile, run around East Kent and wore my Shoei instead of the LS2. The LS2 has plumbed in Bluetooth to pick up the TomTom but the Shoei needs the Cardo tacked on the side. In the end I left the TomTom at home so will need to get it set up in the next week or so. It will need pairing with the 410 and that should be all. After all these years it looks as though the plastic case is starting to crack. A solution I have been told is clear nail varnish. I expect colour to work as well. posted from Bloggeroid

Actually I don't know how many times I have visited and revisited the whole Cardo Scala subject. I surprised myself when doing a keyword search to find "cardo". Firstly that there were fewer blogs than I had thought and also how long ago some of them are! http://invictamoto.blogspot.co.uk/2007/08/bluetooth-revisted.html - this one from August 2007. So I guess it was about time I had another crack at it. I have a TeamSet that comes with a fully functioning rider headset and a second unit with less functionality; it will connect to a phone and act as an intercom to the other unit. It comes already paired. But we were never successful getting it to fit the Caberg flip-front J1S not my Schuberth C2; the biggest white elephant of my bike gear purchases. It's heavy and despite being so fantastic it, it steams up, fogs glasses and has to be ridden with the visor cracked for any ventilation. So the legendary "quietest helmet" claim is patentl...

After a damp squib of a week it was nice to get up this morning to see the sun blazing in through the curtains. A relaxed ride in even. It was the last day of half-term and so most people had decided to take the day off and so the run right upto the Blackwall Tunnel before the clag started. Since the bus lanes were opened it has opened a few more miles of tarmac that we don't have to share with four wheelers. Catch up with a bus and try to get out and round it and then things can get more complex. If you encounter some midget at the wheel of a 38-tonner. A guy on a CBF in front had a slanging match with a Scottish dwarf ranting at him from the safety of his cab. Quite exciting viewing though. Amazing though how many tough guys need 38 tons to feel like a man. The ride home even better. Away from work at 4.15pm and down to Holborn to Infinity to see about getting my C2 fixed at long last. Although I have never managed to get it working with my Cardo setup, I want to be ...

Rather than write up what has happened so far in my Quest to get wireless between GPS and helmet I have copied the article I wrote for the BMW Club "Journal" here and added a few photos.   The original idea behind the search for a Bluetooth solution for my Quest GPS was entirely down to the fact that I kept getting off the bike and the wire between my helmet and the unit kept pinging off. As well as looking a prat (steady at the back!) there was always the paintwork jack plug interface to be avoided! The options seemed quite limited. There are loads of Bluetooth earpieces available that stick in one ear for phones, but try to get a helmet on with one of them in place! Not going to happen. So, the solution needed to be more motorcycle oriented. The beginning of a solution came on two fronts; one in a shop and the other on the Suzuki OC Kent Centre run to Ypres at Easter 2007. The first was when I called into Infinity in Holborn to pick up my Schuberth C2 after a minor repai...

I have been looking at the Cardo "Scala" Bluetooth headsets that are being advertised on the Net and that Ian, a Kent Centre SOC member, has a similar solution on his helmet. I can't afford a set any time soon as the Zegas have to be paid for (!) as well as the Isle of Man trip next week. I might drop into Infinity as they are listed as suppliers but I didn't see them when I was there a few weeks ago to collect the C2. I'm just concerned how they fit to the helmet as it claims there's no glue or screws involved. The price does seem to have come down a bit and they are now about £65 for each or as a set of two, called a Teamset, you can save a couple of quid. Another option is Interbike and this one is nearer £149 per set. I think this is the one that Ian has. Whilst these would solve the problem of communicating with my passenger and also give us both the ability to answer our phones, I have an older GPS that has wired output. I have had the Quest for over tw...