Shoei Multitec with BlueAnt Interphone F4

[roughwaterjohn]

I recently purchased a Shoei Multitec helmet and a BlueAnt Interphone F4 bluetooth device. I've used BlueAnt's bluetooth devices before in cars, and liked them very much, so I decided to try the M/C version.

 

The F4 works with phones, music players, GPS devices and can be a bike to bike intercom (assuming both bikes have F4's). I just needed it for the phone feature and to play audio books on my Ipod Classic.

 

I would rate the instruction book as "fair". It's huge at 140+ pages, but as it's split into 12 languages, the English portion was a manageable 9 pages, plus six pages of line drawing pictures. The images were relatively clear, but were unlabeled, and you kind of had to figure out what part of the instruction they were describing on your own.

 

The instructions were clear, but regardless of the manual, the installation was very straightforward and easy. You can mount the F4 using a sticky tape backed mount, or the additional clamp mount. I chose the clamp mount, which assembles against the shell, and is removable without damage to the helmet or compromising it's integrity. Once I laid everything out and got a mental picture of what went where and how I was going to mount it, the entire installation took less than 10 minutes.

 

The clamp mount slide fairly easily between the outer shell and inner lining. Nothing had to be removed to do it. After these photos were taken, I was able to easily smooth the padding down so it had no wrinkles. Two screws clamp the two halves together. They fit right below the edge of the helmet, so no drilling or damage is done. They supplied a spacer (which I used) when installing on thicker helmets.

 

The speakers attached with sticky backed velcro, and went right into the ear pockets on both sides without incident. I removed the snap-in cheek pads to make it easier, and to ease hiding the wires later. The major portion of the padding around the back and inside of the helmet is not removable, kind of a thick padded collar around the inside base of the helmet. The rest of the padding was loose, and could be lifted up.

 

I made two small 1/4" incisions in the flexible portion of the lining. This allowed me to feed the wire from the main (left) speaker to the right side speaker. The left speaker has the wire that goes to the unit itself, the mouthpiece, and the other speaker. Once the cheek pads were snapped back in, everything was routed and hidden.

 

The unit works great. The volume is very loud and clear. Once voice calling is activated, it's an easy single button push on the F4 to activate my phones "voice" calling feature. Once in voice mode, I could simply say "hello" (or anything really, and the call would be answered. Without using voice controls, it's still a simple one button push on the F4 to answer or end a call. The buttons are easy to reach and worked well with my motorcycle gloves.

 

When playing audio books on my Ipod, the F4 stopped playback whenever a call came in, and resumed in the same spot when the call ended. I think you can pair and use up to three devices at the same time, so you could use your GPS, phone and intercom feature at the same time, with the F4 prioritizing and connecting-pausing devices as they are used.

 

My overall rating is excellent for this device (oh, and I LOVE the helmet!). It was easy to install, is very easy and intuitive to use, and sounds clear on the freeway.

 

*edit* Forgot to mention, the F4 head unit removes easily from the helmet, whether for security reasons or for charging. Not sure why the link isn't working, others worked just fine here. You may need to copy and paste it.

 

Here's a link to an album of images. Click on any image to enlarge it, or to scroll through images one at a time;

 

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v116/krowsea/Shoei%20MulitTec%20with%20F4/

 

 

Here are some sample images;

 

 

 

 

[DaveTheAffable]

Well, it's been a few months. I'm considering F4. I have "audio challenges" and I've heard (pun intended) the F4 is very good, even though Scala Rider stuff seems to get all the press. I have a Blueant T1 earpiece I use daily with my DroidX in the cage. Even though I didn't like the little ear hanger thingy, I really like the audio and features.

 

Still like your F4? Comments?

[Lmar]

Looks good!! I really like my Multitech also. I'm going to have to do some research on the BlueAnt Interphone F4