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Sena Users, Advice Please

12K views 30 replies 15 participants last post by  HappyTrails 
#1 ·
I'm in the process of getting a Sena bluetooth and Freewire system to go wireless on my bike. But of course, there are many options to consider on the models. Anybody that uses Sena I'd appreciate your input. Pro's and cons naturally. I'm looking at the S10 (dual pack) pretty closely right now.
 
#2 ·
I have a dual pack SMH10 headsets that I use with the SR10 Bluetooth interface. Battery life has been really good. I like the added safety of being able to listen to traffic reports and GPS instructions from the bike. I struggle with the clamp system but managed to attach them to our HJC helmets. When I went with the optional clamp that permits the use of earbuds, the extra earbud cord length that I would tuck inside my jacket would tug down the clamp's ear bud connector and it would rub against my collar. I probably got less than 1000 riding miles before the tiny wires frayed and failed. I just bought a replacement clamp kit (~$35) but have only used it once. I routed my earbud cord up over the top of the clamp before it drops down and it looks like that will prevent future chafing. Sound is clear and plenty loud whether from the intercom or Bluetooth link.
I really like the system, but find the tiny wires (the total diameter for the wire for the microphone is less than that of a pin shaft) on my units to be a weak link and they need to be protected.
 
#3 ·
I also have the SM10 motorcycle interface and SR20S headsets. As stated above the battery life is very good. I mounted the SM 10 in the left hand storage box incase I need to charge it. I found that if I use the 12 volt cigarette lighter on my bike I get a lot of feedback. I found that none of this is necessary since the battery life is more than I can ride in a single day anyway.

Pairing with the two headsets on mine was a breeze. I just put them in pairing mode and shake them both. Pairing with another rider (he had a different model) was not quite so easy but I followed the instructions for his and got them to work. The range stated in my information that came with the set (1.2 miles) was not possible between our bikes. My model has an antenna and the other guys did not so I can't say it was his problem or mine. The best we got was about 100 yards. My wife use the SR20S also but since she's sitting on my bike we have no issues talking on the bluetooth intercom. She also takes phone calls, listens to music on her phone and can easily switch back to intercom to talk with me. I keep mine connected to my XM on the bike and NAV.

My biggest issue is "repairing" after you leave the bike. I have to remember to restart the SM 10 or push the button to get them to connect again. No issue if I start the headset and the SM10 at the same time.

I like the fact that it lets the NAV override the XM radio for weather and directions. I can also receive phone calls and even dictate text messages sometime. The jog dial works pretty well with just a push of a button to activate SIRI on my phone.

steve
 
#4 · (Edited)
I also have the SMH10. Have had them for four or five or six years with probably 120,000 miles and all kinds of weather conditions.I keep one in the right top shell pocket charging while the other one is in use. The only complaint I have is the pins are not very robust. On two of the units I have broken pins but I do swap out the units while I am moving. In one case this happened during the warranty period and Sema replaced it. On the other one the pin that broke has no effect on the operation.

Also the new Freewire should be a nice option for interfacing to the wing system.
But check that the Freewire will do what you want. I believe that to get the full interface with the wing, CB radio functions, you need the 20S.

Bottom line I would not hesitate to purchase them again.
 
#5 ·
We bought our SMH10's in 2011 and have been happy with the purchase. Pairing is easy (to the other unit, to phone, and to the SM10 that we keep in the left pocket). Range is good, but I can't say I've measured it. I'd guess 500m with line of sight. Quite a bit less with obstacles such as buildings in the way. Battery life is terrific IMO. We normally leave them turned on all day and just remember to stick them on chargers as soon as arriving at the motel. I only ran out of juice one time - this summer after I had it turned on for about 14 hours, then forgot to charge it and still got about 3 hours out of it the second day. Still wasn't a big deal - I just plugged the 12V charger into my trunk mounted port and ran the coiled wire forward to my headset and charged while still using it.

The cons are few. Once in a while the pairing gets kind of garbled, but turning off and back on always solves that. Sometimes when we've had 4 units paired we've lost one and have to go through the pairing process again. Annoying but not a deal breaker IMO. I don't think we've ever lost pairing when only using 2 units. Be careful if you go to a modular helmet. You can't close the helmet on the microphone boom too many times without running into issues :Dang:

I will be VERY interested in hearing your views on the Freewire. I'd like to get a CB, but have little interest in going wired. If the Freewire works well I'll probably buy a CB.

I also have the SM10 motorcycle interface and SR20S headsets. As stated above the battery life is very good. I mounted the SM 10 in the left hand storage box incase I need to charge it. I found that if I use the 12 volt cigarette lighter on my bike I get a lot of feedback. I found that none of this is necessary since the battery life is more than I can ride in a single day anyway.
I had the same noise issue when trying to use the SM10 with power plugged in. I bought this from Wingstuff, but it made no difference. I then found the cheapest ground loop isolator I could buy on eBay ($6 I think) with a 3.5mm plug and that cured it.
 
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#6 ·
Still in Teething with my 20S

As others have said, the Sena 20S is just about the gold standard in communicators, but it does have some issues. First the positives. Battery life is excellent. Have not run mine to exhaustion, but all day talking is assured based on my experience. Clarity is terrific. Transmission/reception range is not quite as advertised and a bit dependent on terrain, obstructions, and reflectivity of surfaces between headsets. It is about 1/4 mile, +/-. Now the bad news. The radio is pretty much useless. Tuning and presets are way too complex to deal with when riding. Maybe experience will change this, but it is too much to deal with when low on the learning curve. Re-pairing with previously paired headsets is hit and miss if the units are turned off, as is often the case when touring throughout the day. Better to leave them on and not worry about battery life. The really annoying feature is the priority of sound transmissions between intercom, GPS and phone. My Zumo GPS will interrupt the intercom as its supposed to, but then the intercom won't come back on, leading to all sorts of manual intervention and knobulating. I have resorted to turning off the Bluetooth on my GPS to keep this from happening, a less than ideal solution. In time I may sort these glitches out, but for now I use the Sena as a simple intercom without all the other features. You can make them work in the calm of your living room, but aboard the bike it's just too much to memorize.
 
#7 ·
Great info and reports guys, very helpful thanks.
 
#8 ·
I have the sena 10U which is totally hidden except for a small button pad on the left side of the helmet. The mic and speakers are velcro unit that attach to the interior of the helmet (full face) and this setup virtually eliminated all wind noise.
This unit has a built in FM radio, will pair with 4 other devices. I run my gps on the cell phone for navigation and have the option to answer and initiate phone calls via headset ( I turned this off)
The unit also has a remote which clamps on the handlebar for easy operation. I recently purchased the sena prism camera which is incredible and it interfaces with the mic on the sena 10U perfectly.
All functions are programmable via computer or cell phone app so adjustment are a snap.

I have several youtube clips which were done with this setup and I am very pleased with the quality etc.
 
#9 ·
I just got the freewire so I could go wireless with my SRC-System Pro (designed for Schuberth helmets only). I put the Sena Freewire in the left front pocket and use the 12 volt power. It allows the use of the CB, GPS, intercom, radio, MP3 and phone all with voice activation.

I am planning a 1600 mile trip this week and will have a better idea after that how I really like it.
 
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#10 ·
Looking forward to your review and experiences with it.
 
#11 ·
Here is my run down of my trip from Houston to Georgia and back using my Schuberth SRC Pro (Bluetooth system) along with the new Freewire Bluetooth GL 1800 controller. I had the Freewire in the left front pocket plunged into 12 volt power.
I Just arrived back at 3 am today before the heavy rain started. It took me abut 7 hours before the system shut off on th trip out due to being out of battery. So I drove the other 8 or so hours with the external speakers going since I didn't have time to look at it and it was raining. I investigated further once I arrive at my destination where I had a dry warm shop to look at it. I thought initially the system had failed or gotten fried since my bike lights were doing some weird things after the rain started. I knew I had an issues with something in the trailer causing the issue since it stopped as soon as I unplugged it. I discovered water was getting at some connections causing the light issues and corrected that with some contact cleaner I carry in the bike at all times. At the shop I found out I didn't have the water proof power plug all the way inserted. It goes in hard so insure it is making contact. I guess if you are on a short ride you wouldn't need the power plug and can charge before and after it is used. So first recommendation: insert the power cord into the center hole of the Freewire plug until the small light indicates it's got charging power. I turned the main switch on the side before plugging in the 12 volt power cord and was looking at the large half moon power light that I later found out was using the internal battery power. Bottom line I was looking at the wrong light. (I guess it would have helped to read the instructions first) we all know as a MALE, that's something you only do after all other attempts to figure out the problem have failed.
My SRC Bluetooth system, for my Schuberth helmet, had a full charge before the trip back home. I started using it around 3 pm and plugged it into my trailer charger for maybe a total of 20 minutes during gas stops on the 11 hour return trip and just got a low battery beeping in my ear about 20 minutes before I got home. That tells me that when new, the Schuberth system has a battery life of a good 10 hours listening to the radio only. May be way different if talking on the phone, CB or other activities. I tried to connect both my I phone and and the bike radio system and couldn't figure it out. I had to disconnect one to allow the other to connect and not sure if that is the limitation of the Schuberth system or the Freewire system. I need to do more investigation (reading) on that to figure out where the limitation is or if I'm doing something wrong.
I still want to test the system with a passenger. That will be for a later date.
Hope this helps those looking at this system. If you have any questions let me know.
 
#15 ·
I have used a variety of earbuds over the years, including noise-canceling ones. Currently I am using Koss buds. I plug them into the earbud port on the SENA clamp that is designed for earbud use.
 
#13 ·
My Schuberth SRC Bluetooth system has a plug for the speakers go in the helmet that can be removed and any ear buds plugged into the same plug.
 
#18 ·
Hi everyone. Not trying to hi-jack the thread, but I just got the Sena Freewire a few days ago. I have a Sena 10C that I've had for a while now. I paired them up yesterday and was a little disappointed with the sound. I had quite a bit of hissing and a loud pop every now and then. I didn't have a lot of time to mess with it or research it. I'll try to do a little more with it this weekend I'm sure. Has anyone else had this problem? Any others out there have any experiences with the Freewire?
 
#24 ·
Mine goes snap, crackle and pop too. And this was before Freewire. Seems to do it when using comms or changing radio stations or when using the cb. Another thing that I haven't figured out is why the radio is so loud compared to everything else. Was hoping Sena would have adjusted that by now. Or maybe its just a problem with mine?
 
#19 ·
Have used SMH10 dual pack for a few years and they worked well. Last season I bought a Neotec and tried a number of Sena mic accessories to get it to my liking but nothing worked right. I wanted to be able to flip the helmet open whenever I wanted but the mics always got in the way. I ended up buying a Sena 10u that was designed specifically for the Neotec. And it works great also has its own fm radio built in which is nice. Sometimes I would have the bikes radio and my helmet radio turned to the same station and it worked out well. Shortly after I added an SM10 to the bike but like others said it was picking up grounding noise thru a 12v aux outlet. It took awhile to sort out but after I added an isolator everything works great. I haven't been using my cb so the SM10 fills the job pretty good. I mainly got the SM10 so I could connect a garmin. But I find myself using Waze a lot too.
 
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#21 ·
My wife and I have been using our SMH10's for several years and they work well. If I get the Freewire system will I need one or two Freewires for both of us to bluetooth to the bike? I don't have built in GPS or CB. Other than listening to the same music, what will we benefit from the Freewire? Can I still receive and talk on the phone and will she also have to listen to my conversation if using Freewire?
Thanks for the help. Can't seem to find these answers on the Sena website.
The Freewire is only needed if you have CB radio and the both driver and passenger each require one. In you case you if you want to hear the G/W audio system in the B/T headset you will need a SM10 and SNA-SC-A0121 cable.
And don't forget, Sena confirmed in another thread that the Freewire is not compatible with SMH10 headsets.
 
#22 · (Edited)
I have been researching the Freewire setup, but I decided to go corded. It would be nice to not attached to the bike, but I'm still not sold on having that radiation next to my head for long periods. I know there is no conclusive evidence that it's a problem and I'm no scientist, but I'm uneasy about it. The other thought I had was, I'm already forgetful as heck, and it's 4 more devices (mines + wife's) to remember to charge up before we ride.

I've ordered a device from J & M that will sit next to my left hand grip and plug into the bike. It will Bluetooth to my phone and will give me the ability to use the phone, which is about the only function missing when corded to the bike.

Here was another part of my analysis. The Sena Freewires are $249 each. I need 4 because I have two bikes. 1 Honda, 1 Harley. So that's $996. Then I need the 20s headsets from what I understand. That's just about $495. So, I'm looking at just about $1500 to go wireless. I compared that with the $490 for the J & M unit to Blue tooth the phone, GPS, etc.... Two J & M headsets at $79 each. So that's $158. And 4 cords to make the head sets interchangeable between the Harley and the Goldwing. Those cords were $22 each. Since I'm going to have someone install the Blue Tooth Unit, and it should take 1 hour of labor, which is about $100, the corded route was significantly cheaper at $836.

Not trying to hijack the thread or anything. Just sharing my rationale. One day, I'll come into the 21st Century and get on the Bluetooth train. Cheers!
 
#25 ·
I'd be happy with a "snap, crackle , and pop". better than the dead airspace that I've had for the last several years when the cords go for s**t. Last set last year were brand new out of the box and they still didn't work. What I've paid in cord replacements in the 8 years I've had my 1800 would have paid for the Sena and Freewire 3 times over. Done with cords forever.
 
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#26 · (Edited)
Wow, I didn't know thats what happened with cords. I've never had to use them. To be fair the Sena SMH10 was perfect for what it was. No crackles or pops but it wont work with Freewire. The Sena 10u I put in a Neotec is the one that makes the extra pops. And the pops are liveable and not deal breaking.

From what I can tell the Freewire works good. It seemed to hookup once I updated the firmwares and connected it to the bike. So you might go with a Sena 20s/Freewire combination then? I picked up a new helmet this year and would like a 20s for that. 0:)
 
#27 ·
In truth I reckon the Sena Bluetooth stuff is Junk
I have 2 SMH10's and their good for rider to pillion but when paired with a Phone you cannot get music from the phone?
I also have an SM10
It is wired directly to the battery but still has some static??
But you cannot disconnect one headset?
You either have two connected to the SM10 or none
I truly believe the Sena stuff was made in a cave
Remember we put man on the moon near 40 years ago and still we have cave man intercoms?
Just my view??
 
#28 ·
Remember we put man on the moon near 40 years ago and still we have cave man intercoms?
Just my view??
Lol, very true. :smile2:

SMH10's bluetoothed to the Samsung Galaxy 4 very well and music was very clear although Sena speakers really stink on this headset. There is a nice speaker mod you can do for cheap that is supposed to be very nice. I guess its one of those YMMV things when it comes to bluetooth to a phone for music.

My SM10 was plugged into a aux. plug socket that was wired directly to the battery. By itself it was clear but once I plugged something into the aux. port of the SM10 I got a background humm that caused the sound level to go low as if gps was talking. An isolator solved this problem. Have read a few other people ran into this issue too.

Have never connected 2 SMH10's and then disconnected one from the SM10 so I dunno about that issue. But I used to run my 1 headset connected on it and didn't have a problem. I didn't buy the SM10 to stream music to 2 comms but instead I needed it for a connection to my gps that didn't have bluetooth capability but I really liked the gps.

It feels like we are unofficial testers of Sena products sometimes. It doesn't feel well tested. And I feel like I got a raw deal on Freewire. Sena had the SM10 and SR10 but what I wanted to the capabiltities of both. And now they come out with Freewire. Have spent a lot of money on maybe too much trial and error. But I do enjoy bluetooth. 0:)
 
#29 ·
All so very true but how come you can't disconnect one headset from the SM10
And why all the crackling and hiss from a unit that should be a simple plug and play
Honestly believe we are getting ripped off when you buy a Sena product
'Worst thing is if you look at the Sena Help Forum

Link:https://support.sena.com/hc/en-us/requests

And they know all about it?
So they knowingly sell faulty products?
If My old Äutocom" was Bluetooth I would of stayed with that
None better
 
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