8 Reasons Why You Should Buy a Motorcycle Intercom

Have you ever been riding with a passenger on your motorcycle and had to turn your head and shout to tell them something? How many times have you gotten lost in an unfamiliar city because you couldn’t watch your GPS and drive? What if we told you there’s a way to solve all those problems and more?

Installing a motorcycle intercom system can make your rides a lot more pleasant and safer. From things as little as being able to listen to your favorite music while you ride to things as big as being able to warn fellow riders about danger, this system is a great investment. Read on to discover eight reasons in this motorcycle intercom guide.

1. Navigation

When you’re riding around a city you don’t know, you have two options: try to look at a phone or a map or guess and pray. This means unsafe driving or getting lost a lot, and neither of those is conducive to enjoying exploring a new place on your bike. Enter the motorcycle intercom system.

If you have an intercom system in your helmets such as the ones from Sena and Cardo, you can dial up Google Maps, hook your phone up to the headset, and roll. Google will dictate directions to you as you go, leaving you free to watch traffic and enjoy the sights. No more trying to remember directions and read street signs from a thousand yards away.

If you’re following someone who does know the area, a headset can make that experience more enjoyable, too. Having a communication system in their helmet, they can warn you about upcoming turns or lane changes. If you fall behind at a red light, you can let them know so they can pull over until your light turns green.

2. Calling Emergency Services

None of us like to think about this, but accidents do happen sometimes, and bikers are about six times more likely to die in a crash than passenger car drivers. One of the most important things you can do to avoid becoming one of those statistics is to call emergency services if you’re involved in a crash. But what if you can’t get to your phone or get your helmet off?

Having an intercom system in your helmet can literally save your life if you get in a crash. Being able to tell your phone to call 911 can get help to you quickly if you’re pinned and can’t get to your phone. Systems like Cardo have voice activation that allows you to make calls completely hands-free if you’re pinned or can’t move.

When it takes more than twelve minutes for an ambulance to arrive at a crash time, twice as many people die as when it takes seven minutes. Those five minutes can save your life, which alone makes it worth it to invest in a motorcycle intercom system.

3. Warning Fellow Riders

On the subject of motorcycle safety, raise your hand if you’ve ever seen a fellow rider almost get hit by a car that wasn’t paying attention. How many of those times have you shouted out, trying to get their attention? What if, next time that happens, they could hear you and be a little safer?

One of the great things about riding with a group is everyone can help look out for everyone else. Motorcycle intercoms make that work even better. You can warn other riders if a car isn’t paying attention, if there’s someone pulling out into an intersection, or if there’s an animal about to cross the road. 

This warning system is good for more than just emergency situations, too. If you notice another rider’s bike is doing something strange or even just has a light out, you can let them know right away. You can also help diagnose any problems their bike may be having on the road while they can test different things to see what’s wrong.

4. Listening to Music

Some old-school riders are all about the whistle of the wind as you ride and the sound of the road racing past. And while this is nice for a little while, wouldn’t it be great to be able to listen to ACDC while you ride? A motorcycle intercom system can make that happen for you. 

In addition to providing two-way communication, headsets also work as a sort of wireless earphone. You can sync to your phone and play music, podcasts, audiobooks – whatever you like to listen to while you drive. Cardo headsets use sound technology from JBL to make sure you have the best possible listening experience.

It is important to note that listening to entertainment while you’re driving can be a distraction. You may get caught up in the music or the story and not pay as close attention to the road, or you may not hear squealing brakes or honking horns. Be honest with yourself about if you can be a safe driver while listening to music, and always keep things at a volume that lets you keep one ear on the road.

5. Talking to Your Passengers

Riding with a passenger can be a wonderful experience, especially if your passenger is also your significant other. While you’re riding, it’s natural to want to talk to your passenger, whether that be to point out the funny billboard you’re passing or to check directions with them. But talking in full-face helmets can be hard, and shouting over the engine noise won’t work very well.

If we’re having trouble hearing, our instinct is to turn our head to better hear what the other person is saying. But taking your eyes off the road for even that split second can be deadly. An intercom system can help make the bike to bike communication safer and easier.

If you and your passenger both have intercom systems in your helmets, you can communicate easily without having to turn around or shout. They can help you look for landmarks, help keep you awake on long drives, and keep an eye out for any dangers in traffic. 

6. Taking Calls

Whether you’re in a car or on a bike, sometimes we get calls while we’re on the road. In a car, taking those calls is a matter of answering the phone (perhaps by pushing a button on the steering wheel) and putting the phone on speaker. On a bike, it’s not so easy.

It’s certainly true that most of the time, you can pull over and take a call if it’s important, and that is the safest option. But too often we’re tempted to take the call on the go, which means taking one hand off the bike. We don’t need to tell you this is dangerous. 

Having a motorcycle intercom system can let you take those calls while you’re on the go. Sena intercom systems have intelligent noise control that can ensure your family hears you, not the sounds of the road. So the next time your family calls, you don’t have to go sit in the parking lot of a pawn shop while you listen to your mom talk about what the neighbors said about her roses.

7. Coordinating Rides

Going on group rides can be an amazing time, but it has its communication issues. You have the plan the whole route out ahead of time or agree to all follow one person. There’s no suggesting mid-ride that you go down a road that looks interesting or stop at a cool looking restaurant.

Motorcycle intercom systems fix that problem. You can talk freely with your other riders, making navigation and changes in the plan much easier. 

Do you ride with a larger group? There are motorcycle intercom systems that can handle those needs, too. Sena intercom systems use an open mesh to allow you to communicate long range with an almost unlimited number of other riders.

8. Hands-Free Texting

We all know texting and driving is dangerous, but there are some times when being able to check a text in the middle of a trip would be good. Maybe your partner texted you to ask you to pick up groceries on the way home, or maybe your friend needs some advice pronto. Normally you wouldn’t be able to check and respond to those texts until you get where you’re going.

Motorcycle intercom systems can link to the text to voice features of your phone and provide hands-free texting. Your system can tell you when you have a message come in and read it out to you. Then if it’s something you need to respond to, you can use voice commands to reply without having to look at the screen.

Install a motorcycle Bluetooth communication system 

A motorcycle Bluetooth intercom system can have a ton of unexpected benefits. From silly things like being able to call your buddy and brag about the cool place you’re driving to saving your life if you crash on a deserted back road, these systems are worth every penny. 

Make sure to check out our helmet Bluetooth comparisons in which we help you decide what device to choose.