Cardo Scala Rider Q2 Multiset

In all my years riding there has been something missing: good communication. Sure, I can yell at my buddy, stop and talk, maybe make hand signals. But I've never ridden with a hassle-free communication system, and I've tried a few. Cardo is a big name in the Bluetooth wireless industry, and it has a thing for motorcycles, obviously.

Cardo designed this Scala Rider Q2 Multiset so you and a buddy can hook the system up to your helmet and communicate while riding pretty much hassle-free. The setup requires about 20 minutes to install in each helmet, a few hours to let the detachable brains of the operation charge with a plug into the wall jack and then you are ready to ride and talk. The amazing thing is that with this system you can just talk, even talk at the same time, and it is as if you're standing right next to the person, even if you are up to about 200 feet away, provided there is a clear line of sight. Beyond that it will work, but the conditions and performance change rapidly. The sound is crisp and clear, adjustable for volume that is plenty loud even at higher speeds or with louder motocross bikes.

The system does an amazing job of only picking up your voice and not bike or wind noise. But that doesn't mean your buddy won't totally miss your wide-open lunge up a hill, your "whoopee!?" at the top and all with the faint background music of your bike; just enough bike noise can come through to keep the feel alive.

If just talking isn't enough, there is more. You can answer and make calls on your Bluetooth-enabled cell phone. If VOX technology means something to you, then your talking GPS can be patched into your helmet (we didn't try this since I have a GPS implanted inside my head from a strange medical experiment we don't talk about). Like music? Add an MP3 player through a plug-in cable and music is playing any time you're not talking, and the sound there is pretty good, too. A further bonus is if you like FM radio, the set has a tuner built in. There is a hierarchy, so the cell phone call takes priority over all, then talking, then the radio or MP3. Reading the instructions makes things pretty simple to understand; remembering it all is another thing, but practice makes it all come together.

You can communicate for an easy six hours, and we got over 10 hours on a charge a couple of times-it all depends on how chatty you like to get. The MP3 feature uses the power of the MP3 player; music is cut off when you talk and comes back up after 30 seconds of inactivity.

The truly interesting thing was that I was treading new ground with some of my longtime riding friends and we were wondering if we were crossing a forbidden boundary. Riding has been a solo activity carried out in groups, but now we could instantly communicate. And we liked it. In fact, everyone who used the system liked it and found it fun to chat, harass, curse, congratulate and even warn our buddies while on a ride.

Helping another rider with tips was never so easy. Although, I'm still a little wary to trust it 100 percent in the warning department since you never know exactly if the person on the other end got the message. The Q2 Multiset is $395.99 and the Q2 alone is $219.99 so talk isn't cheap, but once you start doing it, it is kind of addictive. Since this set was so hassle-free, it is definitely worth the price. -Jimmy Lewis