Installation Of Mic/speakers Into Helmet

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Espia4ci

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I am planning on getting a Autocom system in the near future and I have a question regarding installation of the speakers and mic system in my Shoei RF1000 helmet. I have several friends with various comm systems, including the Autocom, but they have all had motorcycle shops install the speakers and mics into their helmet. How hard is it to do a good job yourself? Have you guys did it?

 
I am planning on getting a Autocom system in the near future and I have a question regarding installation of the speakers and mic system in my Shoei RF1000 helmet. I have several friends with various comm systems, including the Autocom, but they have all had motorcycle shops install the speakers and mics into their helmet. How hard is it to do a good job yourself? Have you guys did it?
I did another brand of helmet speakers (no mic) and it was no problem. I removed the Styrofoam material and took a small amount off of the backside of the foam to allow the material to seat over the speakers. It worked well, and I can here them even with earplugs in. Sorry I could not give you specific answers for the system you are getting.

 
Putting speakers in a good helmet is not difficult especially if you can remove or at least get under the padding around the base of the helmet. I have the Shoei X-11 and it was a piece of cake. The speakers I used required you to apply an adhesive velcro pad where the speaker would go then all you had to do was press the speaker onto the pad, same for the microphone. Then all you had to do was route the wires under the padiing to where ever you wanted the attach point to be.

Having said that I ended up switching to Challenger custom molded ear phones. I had always used ear plugs and turned the volume up so that I could hear the speakers through them and that seemed to be working in opposite directions. Now with the ear phones, I am killing two birds with one stone. I have my hearing protection and the volume required to hear all my "stuff" (Xm Radio, Cell Phone, V1 Radar Detector and GPS) is set at a relatively minimum level. The other benefit is that as I go faster, I do not need to increase the volume on anything at all. I hear the same at virtually any speed, at least through 100 mph.

The trick with using the custom molded phones is getting them fit correctly. They send you a kit which is easy to use with another person helping. Inject the goop into your ear as directed, then as it hardens move your jaw around as well as pulling a little on your ear itself (about 30 seconds). Do this with each ear, send the molds in and in a couple of weeks you have a great set of custom molded earphones with a 3.5mm plug on the end.

I have worn them on an 8.5 hour ride only taking them out at two gas stops. Although it does feel good to get them out at a stop for awhile, just as earplugs would, they are not uncomfortable on a long stretch of riding. Add in the benefit of very clear sound, I am sold on the custom molded ear phones. B)

 
I have looked into the custom molded ear plugs and was seriously considering getting them. I have a hard time with the standard off-the-shelf ear plugs, and I am currently using the ear putty style, which works well enough.

On of my riding partners had the custom molded ear plugs, but he said the ear plugs protuded out enought that with helmet mounted speakers they pushed on the ear plugs and made it very uncomfortable. He went back to the squeeze-and-insert ear plugs.

I really like the idea of having the speakers included in the custom molded plugs, but would they be compatible with the Autocom system?

Overfly, what system do you use?

 
StarCom 1 is the system I use and really like it. Those molded ear plugs should work with any of the autocomm systems. The molded ear plugs end in a standard 3.5mm male plug, so the real question is does autocomm provide a 3.5mm input for this type of headset? StarCom did as an option on their helmet setup, standard microphone and a 3.5mm female for your own headphones all ending in the standard StarCom plug into the rest of the system. I don't know if autocomm has something similar or not.

 
Autocom has an adapter that allows those type of earplugs to be used. Just check their site.

Careful on the testing of the placement of your speakers. I was testing the placement on my RF1000 and the speakers lifted up from my apparently large ears and took a little skin with them. I had to wear a slik for a week after that till my ears healed.

Eventually I had to cut about an inch of the foam from the cheek pad nearest the ear so that the speakers fit directly over my ear canal and also felt comfortable. The cheek pads are cheap ($17) from Shoei so not to worry if you cut too much.

The helmet is a little less comfortable putting on now since it's a bit tighter putting it on.

As soon as I can I'm going to get some earbuds and molded plugs and never look back.

 
Espia4ci

I''ve installed speakers like I described on the other site, I've also cut speakers off and replaced them with smaller units from a Sony headset.

Next project is replacing the speakers with a 1/8" plug to use Shure and/or Eytmotic earplug/speakers with.

I'll post pics of the speaker installs (standard Chatterbox in a RF-1000 and Sony-replacements in a Shoei Syncrotec) when I get back home (7/12)

 
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