[dranged67]

New to the forum but have been reading a lot. Got my vtx-1300 a few months ago and I'm thinking about getting a bat wing fairing. In all my research I have yet to find anything about pros and cons of a stereo vs bluetooth helmet. I like the thought of communication but mostly just want music. Thanks in advance for your insight.

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[Hiramsaint]

Some batwings are just an outershell. There are a number of other manufactures that make them ready for your stereo to go in with either 2-6x9 or 4-5 1/4 '' speakers. Here's mine but these are out of production. Others are Reckless, Stealth and Woody's

 

[Fishingfoolemjak]

I used to use Bluetooth earbuds, but then I put a Bluetooth shark audio system on my batwing. I have the Memphis Shades batwing. You'll read in several threads that you should avoid the MS batwing and go straight to one of the better ones with an audio system built in it. That depends.

For me it comes down to looks. I like the rounded area over the headlight which none of the other brands in production have (that I could find). One like Matts (pictured above) is hard to find because like he said, they're out of production. And those that have them refuse to part with them.

The MS was reasonably priced, had the rounded nose over the headlight and easy to install. I also installed the big zipper pouch, spoiler windshield, and then did my own paint job on it (thanks to Baker6x6 for his advice). My shark audio is Bluetooth so I just turn it on and then play my playlist directly from my phone.





You can't see the speakers because I hid them behind/below the windshield pouch...

 

[dranged67]

Hanks for the replies. I've been doing a lot of research and this isn't my first bike. I'm thinking about the stealth batwing. I don't like the MS batwing because of how it sits back on the headlight. I can always move the headlight but the less custom fab work I have to do the better. I'm leaning toward a stereo over a bluetooth helmet for sound quality mostly but I was just curious to hear from anyone that has used a BT helmet.

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[Vinish]

I have a Victory Cross Country Tour with an excellent stereo, low wind noise, and not overly loud pipes. Up to about 50 mph I can hear the stereo very well while wearing a half-helmet. Above that speed, the wind, bike, and road noise tends to drive up the overall noise making the signal/noise ratio so low that I don't like it. For around town, I use the stereo but anytime I'm going to be going any significant distance - even just an hour at ~55 mph, I will wear my other half-helmet that has a SENA SMH10 bluetooth unit mounted on it with in the ear canal style foam ear buds. On the loudest of bikes, at the higest of speeds, I can hear the music VERY well and VERY clear through these in the ear canal type foam ear buds. These also provide another big advantage which is they block out the road noise which is quite damaging to your hearing over the long-term. I do NOT recommend using a blue tooth unit with the speakers mounted inside a full face helmet. There is just too much noise even in a pretty good full face helmet. I don't know if the road and wind noise is reduced enough in a really expensive full face helmet since I've never tried one out. But for anything below ~$250 full face helmet, they do not block out enough wind/road noise to make the use of BT speakers inside the helmet useful. I would still go with the in the ear canal type foam ear buds.

 

[Bassdude404]

Ran with earbuds and my ipod (yeah I know, not quite the same) back in 2009 and had an ambulance scare the crap out of me due to not being able to hear it until it was right upon me...Started shopping for a fairing the next day and the stereo system kinda evolved....6 speakers, two 300 watt amps, Pioneer mechless head unit that I run a USB drive loaded up with almost 5000 songs on "random"....Speakers in the lowers I can't hear on the road, as they're pointed at my shins, and the ones in the bag lids get drowned out by wind noise at highway speeds, but I can easily hear the 6x9's in the fairing...