I've been using an Autocom Smart-7 kit for around two months now and it's the cat's ass and bee's knees, all rolled into one. I can listen to my MP3 player through my earplugs and talk to people on the phone while riding all the way up to around 140km/h.

Over that, the wind noise starts to interfere with my voice, but I can still hear the music. As with cars, talking with someone on the phone does distract me a bit from scanning ahead, but the music doesn't. Fortunately, I don't talk much - I think I have gotten all of three calls while riding these two months.

The Smart-7 is the middle model of three - it has stereo sound but doesn't mute the music if there's an incoming call. This is not as much a problem as I thought it may be since the phone output level is so high (I have an Ericsson R520m and needed a small, cheap adapter to hook it up). I haven't enabled the voice-dial in the phone yet either. The unit has adjuster knobs for sensitivity (ie when to trigger the talk - you need to set this low enough to avoid screaming but igh enough to avoid wind noise activating the unit) and microphone output. The phone and MP3 player volumes need to be adjusted on those units, respectively, the Smart-7 just pipes their sound into the headphones, it doesn't amplify it.

The unit can hook up to a GPS giving voice directions, a short range radio for bike-to-bike communications and/or to a passenger with a set of extra mike/headphones.

The installation was straightforward, but did require a bit of disassembly of my brand new AGV GP-Pro helmet to fit the headphones into the cushions. I'm still tweaking their placement a bit, they really need to be positioned exactly right to get the best sound, but when you do you are rewarded with a rich sound with a full bass. Same thing with the mike, it needs to be placed directly in front of the lips for maximum performance. I put the unit itself in my (also brand new) tank bag and ran a regular lighter-type extension cord to a socket installed in my right inner fairing panel. I keep the phone and MP3 player in the map compartment, so I can see who's calling before I pick it up. :-)

I can heartily recommend this system for anyone looking for a way to add a bit of extra zing to their riding experience, especially on long trips. The Star Trek:Voyager theme has never sounded so good as in Warp 9.6. :-)

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