SENA 20S

[jasnmar]

I didn't mount the radio. I just turned it on, made sure it was working and threw it in the trunk.

I do use an X-Grip, but it just holds my phone.

[SwiftTone]

I didn't mount the radio. I just turned it on, made sure it was working and threw it in the trunk.

I do use an X-Grip, but it just holds my phone.

Ah, I thought you had it mounted on your bars. How well does the x-grip hold it. I don't have the luxury or a trunk unless some people

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[jasnmar]

Don't know. Will try. The radio comes with a belt clip thingy. Might be able to re purpose it into something that could be attached.

[jasnmar]

Just checked the Sena battery. Is shows "high" which indicates more than 70 percent charged.

I left the house Sunday, shortly after 9:10. Got to Bedford at 9:47. During this section of the trip I was only connected (and listening) to music on my phone.
We left Bedford around 10:20. Arrived in Concord at 2:20. I was connected to both radio and phone for all of that time. After 2:20 I switched back to phone only and listened to music for the 20 minutes home. We weren't chatty on com, but there was some talking as we went.

I am not a fan of the radio in the X-Grip. I don't think it would ride there. There is a "loop" on the rubberized antenna that could zip tie it to anything, or, a mounting bracket on the back.

[Eric Baker]

Good to know the MU35 works with the Sena like that, I have been wondering and thinking about that for a while. I'll have to pick one up.

[jasnmar]

Yeah, that part just worked. Sena offers a dedicated device for interfacing with things like this, but it was basically as much as the 20s (OK, not quite, but I'm cheap). I couldn't find anyone who had tried, so decided to experiment.

[SwiftTone]

Thanks for the update Jason. Just to be clear, for the Sena unit to work with Chatterbox, all you need is a Bluetooth enabled two way radio like the MU35?

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[Dmitry]

Where did you find a dual pack S20 for $350 list? The cheapest list I see is $550

this guys had it listed for $330, after I bought the set for $300 (They accepted the offer) auction got cancelled and then relisted at $349, assume Sena stepped in and shut them down because of MAP violation (minimum advertised pricing). Now they have it listed at $389 but I would still try to lowball them at $300

Sena 2s Bluetooth Communication System Multiset | eBay

[jasnmar]

Thanks for the update Jason. Just to be clear, for the Sena unit to work with Chatterbox, all you need is a Bluetooth enabled two way radio like the MU35?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk

Certainly worked in my case.

[nhbubba]

Is the 20S for me?

I'm getting itchy to upgrade my vulnerable SMH5. The -5 is far from broken. In fact I love it. It works the balls. But I have a trip on the horizon with a bunch 'o fools and would like to be able to get in on multi-way chats.. for the entertainment factor. Most I know are running SMH10's, which pair up to 4x. The -5 is limited to 2x. The 20 is 8x? Maybe more?

One thing I like about the -5 is it just fucking works. Relatively simple and reliable. Battery life could be a little better, but we manage. Audio quality is good. Pairs easily and well with my phone and does the basic play/pause/next/last functions easily and reliably. 98% of the time my headset is blasting tunes paired with my phone and nothing else. I don't have nor have interest in pairing the set with a GPS or a plethora of other devices. Just phone most of the time and other headsets occasionally.

Is the -10 enough? Or do I want a 20S?

Thanks.

[jasnmar]

I skipped directly from the 5 to the 20, so I don't have any first hand experience with the 10...

The 20 does allow up to 8 people total, but I don't know if that will work with the 10s as well. The way the intercom group would is basically each device connects to 2 other devices, and the group exists by "daisy chaining" everyone together. So I would be connected to Mike and Colin, Colin would be connected to Jason and Matt, Matt would be connected to Colin and Joe, but then when I'm in "group" mode and you are in "group" mode it transmits to Mike as well, and you "transmit" to Matt, and Matt transmits to Joe.

Latest firmware updates seem to have fixed my issue with the bluetooth randomly disconnecting. Now that my bluetooth is reliable, the 20 has worked as well for me as the 5 did for just listening to music. It just works. Both were also excellent at actually speaking on the phone (people literally don't ever believe that I'm riding a motorcycle and speaking to them).

One thing that annoyed me about the 5 was that you put it on the mount then plugged it in. I don't know why, but that just pissed me off. The scala that this replaced was more advanced in this regard. I haven't looked at the 10, but the case design makes me believe that it is similar to the 5 in this regard. The 20 has a couple rows of connector integrated into the mount and a "lock" button to make sure it's in the right place.

Battery life on the 20 was at least as good as the 5. The voice menu in the 20s is also pretty useful, since I can't ever remember what weird combination of buttons do what, and I "mostly" just use it for music.

[-Dutch-]

The 10 also has the connector pin design, fwiw.

[nhbubba]

One thing that annoyed me about the 5 was that you put it on the mount then plugged it in. I don't know why, but that just pissed me off.

Meh. That's never really bothered me. I broke part of the mounting plug at one point and it still worked. I did have a problem where one of the headset wires off the connector was worn through, either through chaffing between the helmet shell and liner or between the bottom of the helmet and whatever I set the helmet on when not wearing it.

I believe the SMH10 and -5 share the same mount and headset/mic cabling. That's actually a pro for the -10 as I have a couple mounts and 2 speaker/mic sets now. I have waaaay too many helmets and being able to have more than one setup for the headset gadget would be cool. If I go -20S I'll need to open the wallet again to buy all new again. So it goes.

Still, sounds like the -20S is the way to go. If yer gonna buy, might as well buy the latest. Else spend the next x years wishing you had.

Thanks.

[PinHead]

Been loving my S20, but I don't have any of the others to compare it to.
And here is a lengthy thread on ADV rider on it. Sena S20 experience | Page 64 | Adventure Rider

[loki32687]

Started out with the SMH10, upgraded to the 20S, and now have the 10U.

If you don't need the 8x connectivity(can't remember the last time I rode with that many) and have a Shoei GT Air, I HIGHLY recommend the 10U. Audio quality IMWO is better than the 20S and blows away the SMH10. The 10U is specifically designed for certain helmets. From my understanding, the GT Air has the best speakers since they have deeper speaker pockets. Comes with the handlebar remote and everything is tucked inside the helmet. If you aren't running a GT Air then I'd recommend the 20S. It was great all last season. Sound quality is still much better than the SMH10 and with the jog dial still pretty easy to use. For me, it was easier than the 10U(which I'm still learning). I liked my SMH10 and had it for I think 2 years. It worked flawlessly but I just wanted better audio quality.

[nhbubba]

Can anyone think of any reason why a 20s would not work well with SMH10's?

I'm leaning 20s for the moar better bluetooth bits being more future proof. But it seems I may be able to get in on an SMH10 group buyage for way less $.

I'm not going to buy a special helmet just to work with comms. So 10U's are out.

[Rosco61]

Can anyone think of any reason why a 20s would not work well with SMH10's?

I'm leaning 20s for the moar better bluetooth bits being more future proof. But it seems I may be able to get in on an SMH10 group buyage for way less $.

I'm not going to buy a special helmet just to work with comms. So 10U's are out.

They work just fine between the two versions. I have both and communicate with both versions easily.

[SVRACER01]

i just got one of the 20s, although its the harley davidson branded version. im demo'ing it so that at least one person in the dealership knows how they work. ive got a second one coming for the wife.
so far (1hr with messing with it) im not a fan of the FM radio seek, but i think i just need to figure it out.
the phone. the fucking phone. i hit the button and i get the prompt. "call 330-3330" beep "do you want to call 330-3330?" beep "yes" beep...nothing. try again. and again. and again. and again. after 7 or 8 tries it finally dials. i think its the phone and not the sena though so i need to look more into that.
i was test riding a customers bike today and doing a trial run on the sena at the same time. after several attempts i finally called my wife. when the call was over i hit the phone button to hang up. then i tried to turn on the FM radio. nothing. no beeps. no prompts. no matter what button i hit. i try to look in the mirror to see if the light is on but i cant tell for sure. maybe the battery had died. stop at a light and i hit the power button and it says "goodbye" meaning it was on, but not working. gonna spend some time with it tonite and upload the new firmware and mess with the app.
i was bummed to learn that i cant sync it with the radio on my road glide. thought i was gonna be able to to that guess not.
i wish the speakers were a little thinner. maybe the ear pockets arent big enough in my helmet (icon variant) but its a bit uncomfortable. i may source a different set of speakers.
hoping these work out. i have wired headsets for Harleys but my road glide doesnt have comm ports so they only work on my dads bike.

[aldend123]

Assuming it's the same as the SMH5, all phone stuff is just a pass-thru to your phone's system. E.g. Siri. Practice using the phone separately. Some of the audio commands take a little training to learn the best way to interact. But I've seen my iPhone do some vaguely similar stuff.

If you want to sync it to the roadglide's radio, you might need their extra bluetooth dongle device. It hooks in to whatever audio source, then serves as the interacting device with the headset. *Never used it, just know it exists.

[SVRACER01]

I cant seem to get the sena voice commands to work.
"Say a command"..."music"..."say a command"...."music"..."say a command"..."music"..."cancel"
Ive got the button mic hooked up, maybe ill try a boom mic and see what happens.

[SVRACER01]

Assuming it's the same as the SMH5, all phone stuff is just a pass-thru to your phone's system. E.g. Siri. Practice using the phone separately. Some of the audio commands take a little training to learn the best way to interact. But I've seen my iPhone do some vaguely similar stuff.

If you want to sync it to the roadglide's radio, you might need their extra bluetooth dongle device. It hooks in to whatever audio source, then serves as the interacting device with the headset. *Never used it, just know it exists.

I dont think that will work. That looks like a way to turn a non bluetooth device (i pod) and making it bluetooth-able.
Stock radio has no audio output

[aldend123]

I dont think that will work. That looks like a way to turn a non bluetooth device (i pod) and making it bluetooth-able.
Stock radio has no audio output

Right, then you'd need to wire up an audio out cable off the system. But how else were you trying to connect? I assumed you were going wired. Does it have a bluetooth radio?

Edit: Is it this?

[SVRACER01]

Yes. There is no audio out. Only audio in via usb or aux cable if installed.

[aldend123]

When they're connecting the phone to the device, they're pulling music from it. I believe it's a different interaction mechanism. I think you need to find out if the Boom Box supports pushing music out to bluetooth devices. It has to do with the Bluetooth profiles the device (Boombox) is designed to support. I'm a little weak on this, so I'm not sure what is typical, nor do I know what profiles the Sena uses. The easier way might be to find out if you could connect a bluetooth earpiece, or bluetooth speaker, to the Boom box. If you can, then I'd figure you could connect the Sena.

Edit: Is There Bluetooth Headset That Pairs Harley With Boom Box
He shares a reply from Sena Support

A Sena headset will probably not pair directly to the Boom radio on the Harley since it lacks the HSP (headset profile).

While you may have noticed that a bluetooth HFP smartphone does. If you’d like to incorporate a Sena headset into the Harley Boom systems, check out the SM10 along with the 3.5mm Stereo Jack to 7 pin DIN Cable for 1998-later Harley-Davidson Ultra Classic (Part # SC-A0120).

However, if you do not have the 7 pin DIN port on bike, this will not work.

[jasnmar]

Please do update the firmware.

I've honestly never used the fm radio. I get all of my music from my phone. I'm no help in using the fm radio. I don't even know how to make it work.

The voice thing is weird. You can use the Sena voice utility or you can "pass through" to the phone. A few months ago I was using the Sena utility, but at some point I switched... I'm not sure when. I'll have to investigate what I'm actually doing.

Start by updating the firmware. Seriously.