Sena 20S

I will be attending the weSTOC24 gathering in Calgary in late June. I will be traveling with a St1300 rider from Washington named Dale.

Dale has a Sena 20S and wants me to purchase one so we can communicate during our ride to Calgary.

I have noticed there are several models of Sena 20S units. I am completely ignorant of all of these units and would appreciate some advice before I purchase a unit. Any anmd all advice would be appreciated.

Any Sena - other than the passenger models - will work with any other Sena. His 20S will also work with headsets from other manufacturers. Sena SMH5 is their entry at the bottom for talking-between-bikes functionality. https://www.sena.com/product-comparison-smh

Cardo makes some nice units, too. https://www.cardosystems.com/products/

I've had a Sena 20S and only paired with another rider once in close to four years. I just don't have much opportunity to ride in a group. I needed a 20S because I need it to connect to my phone and a ham radio at the same time. It sounds like you don't ride in a group much, so I'd look for something more on the entry level.

Most of these systems will attach to the side of your helmet, and you'll have to move the padding while installing the speakers, and maybe the microphone. I'm assuming you ride with a full face or modular. If you ride with a half lid, you'll probably be hooking up earbuds in place of the speakers.

I'm going to save BigJohn some time here and suggest giving Alex a call over at Black Hills Moto. Your questions sound like just the type of thing he's known to come through for. The couple of times I dealt with him have been pleasant and a check of the Dealer and Vendor Feedback forum will show others feel similarly.

I'm going to save Jer some Money, I've got a Sena 20S setup with a bunch of extra mount pieces etc that I will sell to Jer for $100!

PM me your address Jer.

If he isn't interested I would be.

Worney

bigjohnsd said:

I'm going to save Jer some Money, I've got a Sena 20S setup with a bunch of extra mount pieces etc that I will sell to Jer for $100!

PM me your address Jer.

Click to expand...

Hope you all have better luck with Sena than I have. When I go back to corded units I'm going to use them for targets.

I have a starcom unit and have had no trouble with it but I have a buddy that wants to be able to discuss stops when we are riding together... Not sure I want the trouble of the batteries and pairing... I enjoy the "quiet" of the ride sometimes.

FJRay said:

Hope you all have better luck with Sena than I have. When I go back to corded units I'm going to use them for targets.

Click to expand...

You can pair Senas by holding them close to each other and shaking them. No shit. (Except in Oregon, Ray.) ;-)

Uncle Hud said

You can pair Senas by holding them close to each other and shaking them. No shit. (Except in Oregon, Ray.) ;-)

Shit, I wish it were that easy.

Just this weekend in Paso Robles we had 2 SMH10s, a 20s, and an older Cardio. We spent a good 40 minutes trying to get them all to talk with each other to no avail. We ended up with the 10 to the 20s on one Bluetooth network, and the other 10 to the Cardio using the universal intercom to phone pairing. Thats it, were done with this - LETS RIDE. Im sure that with some studying it could all be paired properly, but not in the hotel parking lot just before the ride.

Jer, as for your original question, go ahead, get the 20s. It will have no problem pairing up with your friends unit, and you will enjoy the newfound benefits with the direct 2-way communications system. It is a game changer.

If the offer is still open, jump on it! Even a used unit in good shape will give you years of service. And our forum friend is offering you a killer deal!

Brodie

And Ray

When you get back home to LaPine, please dont load them into your cannons and use them for grapeshot, Ill be more than willing to take them off your hands. Im sure other forum members would be willing to also.

Brodie

Uncle Hud said:

You can pair Senas by holding them close to each other and shaking them. No shit. (Except in Oregon, Ray.) ;-)

Click to expand...

I have 0 interest in pairing to other folks. I just want tunes,intercom and phone to work dependably. On rare occasions all three will work. So far this trip the phone worked once. That makes a total of 6 times in two years. Most of the time I get tunes and intercom if the units are on before the garmin.

FJRay said:

Uncle Hud said:

You can pair Senas by holding them close to each other and shaking them. No shit. (Except in Oregon, Ray.) ;-)

Click to expand...

I have 0 interest in pairing to other folks. I just want tunes,intercom and phone to work dependably. On rare occasions all three will work. So far this trip the phone worked once. That makes a total of 6 times in two years. Most of the time I get tunes and intercom if the units are on before the garmin.

Click to expand...

Maybe it's the antique phone. Just throwing it out there.

juniorfjr said:

FJRay said:

Uncle Hud said:

You can pair Senas by holding them close to each other and shaking them. No shit. (Except in Oregon, Ray.) ;-)

Click to expand...

I have 0 interest in pairing to other folks. I just want tunes,intercom and phone to work dependably. On rare occasions all three will work. So far this trip the phone worked once. That makes a total of 6 times in two years. Most of the time I get tunes and intercom if the units are on before the garmin.

Click to expand...

Maybe it's the antique phone. Just throwing it out there.

Click to expand...

Phone is less than a year old.

FJRay said:

juniorfjr said:

FJRay said:

Uncle Hud said:

You can pair Senas by holding them close to each other and shaking them. No shit. (Except in Oregon, Ray.) ;-)

Click to expand...

I have 0 interest in pairing to other folks. I just want tunes,intercom and phone to work dependably. On rare occasions all three will work. So far this trip the phone worked once. That makes a total of 6 times in two years. Most of the time I get tunes and intercom if the units are on before the garmin.

Click to expand...

Maybe it's the antique phone. Just throwing it out there.

Click to expand...

Phone is less than a year old.

Click to expand...

But how long was it at the Salvation Army before you bought it?

Ray

I only have experience with my SMH10, so you may take from this what you will...

Keep the setup simple. Pair your phone with your personal 20s, your lovely brides phone with her personal 20s, and make sure these connections are rock stable.

Power on...

Hello _____ beep .Phone Connected. _____ beep.

Push &hold the dial a couple is seconds _____ beep.

Music plays.

Push & hold the dial a couple of seconds _____ beep.

Music stops.

Momentarily thumb the button...

beep > speak your voice command to your phone <

for example... .Call John Doe. (address book entry).

When these work as advertised, then pair the two units together via Bluetooth.

Quick tap the dial, the intercom connects and mutes all other sounds.

Quick tap the dial again, the intercom disconnects and if you were listening to music it will resume.

These are your basic functions. Establish them then HANDS OFF, youre done.

Leave the Garmin out of the picture, it adds complexity.

Hopefully this makes it at least as clear as mud.

Brodie

Garmin's needs to be involved cause that is where the tunes are. I tried pairing the phone with Sena but then no tunes or GPS. Haven't tried pairing Patti's phone to her set. Maybe today it will be in a good mood.

Brodie said:

Uncle Hud saidYou can pair Senas by holding them close to each other and shaking them. No shit. (Except in Oregon, Ray.) ;-)

Shit, I wish it were that easy.

Just this weekend in Paso Robles we had 2 SMH10s, a 20s, and an older Cardio. We spent a good 40 minutes trying to get them all to talk with each other to no avail. We ended up with the 10 to the 20s on one Bluetooth network, and the other 10 to the Cardio using the universal intercom to phone pairing. Thats it, were done with this - LETS RIDE. Im sure that with some studying it could all be paired properly, but not in the hotel parking lot just before the ride.

Jer, as for your original question, go ahead, get the 20s. It will have no problem pairing up with your friends unit, and you will enjoy the newfound benefits with the direct 2-way communications system. It is a game changer.

If the offer is still open, jump on it! Even a used unit in good shape will give you years of service. And our forum friend is offering you a killer deal!

Brodie

Click to expand...

Just to fix my thoughts, I think that the SENA SMH10 and theSENA 10s [wihout the SMH designation} were different units. Just curious.

FJRay said:

Hope you all have better luck with Sena than I have. When I go back to corded units I'm going to use them for targets.

Click to expand...

See PM.

Its not an antique phone - ITS AN ANTIQUE GARMIN !!!
Like I said, leave the Garmin out of the equation. These smart phones have their roots as music players. Before the first iPhone there were the iPod and iPod touch. Ray, I dont know whether you have an iPhone or an Android or whatever; it is an up to date smartphone which will have no problem with your tunes. It also has an excellent GPS system which will pin you down on a map well within 15 feet. You need to look into the GPS apps available on these things, you will be impressed. My favourite on my iPhone is Senic, my buddy Russ swears by his Co-Pilot. Im sure the Android users will chime in with their go-to GPS apps. Its your Garmin thats the fly in the ointment, leave it out.

Again thats just my opinion, take it with a grain of salt.

Brodie