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AM/FM radio suggestions

2K views 17 replies 10 participants last post by  wackokid 
#1 ·
I'm looking for a radio for the bike. I have the Sena SMH5's and can connect them to my phone, only problem is that my commute runs through an area of about 10 miles that has no cell service. Ideally I'd like to find a radio that is bluetooth capable so I can just have it connect to my Sena and not have to worry about speakers.

Anyone seen anything like this?
 
#3 ·
Why not just use music on your phone?

I loathe commercial radio particularly in the morning and afternoon. I can't stand it when there are two or more announcers rabbitting on. Actually, I loathe commercial radio most of the time because of the advertising.

I much prefer to use my phone.

(I also hate commercial TV because of adverts.)
 
#4 ·
My commute is an hour each way and I don't have enough songs on my phone to keep from having to listen to the same songs day after day. And at 5am, I don't have to worry about the morning shows on the radio.

I've found a couple radios that seem to fit the bill, but would like to hear some first hand reviews.
 
#11 ·
My commute is an hour each way and I don't have enough songs on my phone to keep from having to listen to the same songs day after day.
Buy an iPod with Bluetooth (or cheap MP3 player and use the audio jack input).

I like to hear people on the radio, even ads, as it brings a certain flavor.
I hate adverts with women doing the voice-overs. They are usually sickly sweet and drive me to distraction. I also hate adverts with kids in them.
 
#5 ·
Some phones have fm radio built in. There is also an app that might be added to your phone. This does not use internet/cell to run the fm. Here is a link to an example: FM Radio

I like to hear people on the radio, even ads, as it brings a certain flavor. I find XM/Sirius seems too much like listening to canned music after a while. The problem is that on trips an FM station only lasts a 1/2 hour or so till out of range. I wish satellite radio had many local stations to choose from.
 
#8 ·
Unfortunately my phone doesn't appear to have radio capabilities. And I'd rather not replace my senas that are less than a year old. Soooo.....looks like I'm back to a separate radio.

BTW....I have I heart and intune and both work great, as long as you have cell service.
 
#16 ·
Unfortunately my phone doesn't appear to have radio capabilities. And I'd rather not replace my senas that are less than a year old. Soooo.....looks like I'm back to a separate radio.
So you don't want to replace your phone...or Senas to something like the 20s...both which offer the fix to what you seek.

Guess that leaves something like a GPS...like the Zumo 665 (which I use to stream music through Bluetooth to my helmet speakers) but that requires the puck and the subscription to XM radio...or...you can always do what many Harley riders do and strap a radio onto your handlebars and just turn the volume way up for everybody to hear with you (lots of those kinds of solutions). :grin2:
 
#10 ·
Does your Sena have an aux-in (3.5mm jack plug)? If so, you can just connect any old radio you can find. Heck, my 1980s Sony Walkman (with FM!) would work just fine. Tuck it in a breast pocket or something and the wire won't be a problem, as long as you remember about it when taking off the helmet.

My Cardo Scala Rider G9 has BT (phone and MP3), FM radio, aux in, and inter-rider communications. FM radio works reasonably well, but you do need to retune every 100 km or so.
 
#12 ·
Maybe a little late to the party but I believe the Sena 20S has FM radio in addition to all the normal functions. It's a bit pricey but it is the latest and greatest and if you ride with others I'd look at getting it before I looked at some of the other ones because i found out over the weekend it's getting increasingly difficult to sync my OG SMH10 with the newer units and continue using all the functions.

I guess it's about time to upgrade... Bleh
 
#14 · (Edited)
I was looking for something similar last year and found one of these on eBay. Works pretty decent when paired with good headphones. It's wired only though and they don't make them anymore. So any you find will be used, refurbished, or left over stock.

Also it has a dial for volume which can be operated while wearing gloves. Runs on AA batteries and lasts forever.
 

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#17 ·
Like I said in my original post, I'd like a am/fm that has bluetooth capabilities so I don't have to have the speakers for "everybody to hear". Jensen has one, but it seems to get mixed reviews.

On a side note, I tried using the app on my phone this morning and it worked better than I expected...lost signal a couple times, but not long enough for it to shut off the app like it normally does. I could probably live with it, although it almost killed the battery on my phone in the hour it took to get to work. I'm due for a new phone, but I may still need to look at adding a charger. More wires to mess with...I hate wires!
 
#18 ·
I guess you can never box someome in with what they want on a bike.

FWIW I just recently had a friend that installed a stereo unit that has some type of JL Audio BT device (on his motorcycle (yeah!!!!!) but I am thinking it is BT device to the head unit and you stream your music to it from your phone (and not to the Sena). I just know that unit seems to have a pre-amp setup and he did all kinds of crazy stuff to essentially turn a BMW k1200RS Sport Tourer into a rolling boom box so he could hang with the homies while bbq'ing down at the city park.

Not my flavor but at a certain point you have to appreciate the hard work someone puts into make their own speaker pods to mount some componenet speakers on a sport touring bike. I'm definitely going to enlist his help when it comes time to make some speaker pods for my K5 Jimmy, lol.
 
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