Sena 20

[Bud]

This was part of an email from the Raiders.

 

Can not vouch for the veracity, only that one of their members stated this is correct.

 

News You Can Use / Perhaps Avoid the Sena 20

 

A certain Raider who shall remain nameless watched his helmet fall off his bike's seat onto the tarmac thus causing a split in his Sena 20 Comm unit -- the unit with phone button and dial you see "attached" to the helmet. Recall that Sena systems include a BASE unit that attaches to the helmet. The boom mike and in-helmet speakers than attach to the BASE while the COMM unit itself is removable for charging and software update and "snaps" to the BASE. So, drop the helmet and you are going to split that COMM unit if it hits the ground. The "20" unit is more expensive than its predecessor the SMH10. You can get an SMH10 COMPLETE for under $160. The "20" unit complete is more like $270. Here's the rub. If you bust the "20" COMM unit you cannot replace it but MUST buy the entire package. If you bust the SMH 10 COMM unit you CAN just replace the COMM unit and snap it into the base on your helmet.

 

If you are thinking about buying one, it might be worth checking out if that information is correct.

[szurszewski]

Hi Bud -

I just ordered a dual pack of Sena 20ss this morning for $380, so they can be had for less that $270 each. Also, while I know you can buy extra clamp kits (what is referred to I think in your quote as the base) for the smh10 and 20s units, I wasn't aware you could buy/I have never seen just the comm unit for sale for any Sena system. I know the clamp kit for the 20s lists for $70 (people buy this extra sometimes to swap the unit between multiple helmets) so even if the comm were available "a la carte" you'd still be out some good $$s if you dropped your helmet on the comm. (My wife did just that to her SMH10, actually.)

 

Now I'm going to go look and see if I can find a smh10 for sale without the base/mic/speakers....

 

edit:

Ok - just looked at the Sena site and there is a SMH10 with just the power cable for $150 (vs $210 for the full kit). Perhaps that will be an option for the 20s in the future as well - it has only been available the last several months.

 

So, thanks for the tip but not a deal breaker for me. Hopefully we can go sometime without breaking the things!

[marcopolo]

As for the SMH-10, you can indeed buy just the main module. As for the 20S, yes, it would be an expensive replacement if you broke the main 20s module. One reason I never leave my helmet on the bike. I put it on the ground.

[szurszewski]

As for the SMH-10, you can indeed buy just the main module. As for the 20S, yes, it would be an expensive replacement if you broke the main 20s module. One reason I never leave my helmet on the bike. I put it on the ground.

 

So does my wife - but she often does it by first setting the helmet on the seat! Zing!

 

Ok - to be fair, she's only done that twice (I'm sure I've done it more), and once was in like 1994 or 95, and the other was last year - I suppose once every 20 years is pretty good. Both times though it was with a less than a month old helmet (first time it was MY new helmet). For the recent one I was glad it fell on the old Sena as that saved the new helmet.

[greiffster]

As for the SMH-10, you can indeed buy just the main module. As for the 20S, yes, it would be an expensive replacement if you broke the main 20s module. One reason I never leave my helmet on the bike. I put it on the ground.

 

Before the UN, I looked into the 20S for my wife's helmet. Instead, I bought an SMH-10 main module and the earbud clamp kit for way less. Done.

[szurszewski]

I think my wife and son would have been pefectly happy with the smh10 or even the 10r or 3s (or whatever the little tiny one is called), but I'd decided I needed a 20s...so that's what we got. I mean, if you're going to upgrade, you might as well go all the way up, yeah? Amusingly though, I didn't get a 20s for me though - I ordered a 10c - doesn't do all the cool stuff, and I didn't really want a helmet cam (does anyone REALLY want to watch hours of what roads look like?), but I DO want to be able to take pics of my son being adorable in the sidecar, so I figured this was a good compromise. We will see...