Motikom MPlus Motorcycle Neckband BT Intercom Headphones (earbuds)

[Tim Thompson]

So, like others here, I've been testing/checking out the wireless CarPlay/Android Auto display unit...

Generally, I don't do phone calls, music, etc. while riding. However, the wife and I may start traveling on the bike this year. Considering this, the idea of an intercom has crossed my mind. So, I believe I will be adding this to all the testing fun with the CP/AA display unit...

Motikom MPlus MPlus Bluetooth Intercom Headphone

The ability to take important phone calls and maybe hear navigation directions might be a useful bonus on a rare occasion. Music won't likely ever be a desire (I don't listen to music much anyway). I do listen to podcast but wonder if doing so would be too distracting while riding.

One priority is hearing protection. I never ride without earplugs in. I've got a friend who uses Bose active noise cancelling earbuds. He says they work well for both audio and the hearing protection aspect. I've considered the Cardo/Sena options, but don't care for the idea of internal speakers in the helmet. Wind noise is an issue with either full face or half helmets (I wear both). Adding speakers seems to me would just compound the problem (making things louder/providing no hearing protection). For the half helmet, you would need wired earbuds anyway. BT Earbuds with active noise cancellation seems like it would check the boxes. With that in mind, I be checking this Motikom solution out. Bonus, they are on sale at the moment for $98).

Some reviews...

Web Bike World Motikom MPlus BT Intercom Headphones Review

Apparently, they've already addressed some of the needed improvements mentioned in that review.

Motikom MPlus Review | The first Noise-Cancelling Bluetooth Intercom Headset

[Con Hennekens]

I don't understand the idea of the headset...
Wearing a neck-belt (appalling...), still having earplugs falling out of your ears, still having to deal with wiring, not able to use otoplastics anymore, and still having to glue the mic against your helmet somehow...

the only fine helmet-headsets are those built into the helmet.

[Tim Thompson]

@Con-Hennekens said in Motikom MPlus Motorcycle Neckband BT Intercom Headphones (earbuds):

I don't understand the idea of the headset...
Wearing a neck-belt (appalling...), still having earplugs falling out of your ears, still having to deal with wiring, not able to use otoplastics anymore, and still having to glue the mic against your helmet somehow...

the only fine helmet-headsets are those built into the helmet.

That would seem to be somewhat limiting. Helmets by their very nature can already be self-limiting via head shape constraints etc. Adding the requirement of built in intercoms would seem to narrow things much further. IDK about anybody else's experience but I haven't come across a full-face helmet yet that didn't have wind noise to contend with. In my mind, speakers in the helmet are a non-starter. I presume helmets with built in intercoms have speakers.

I've tried custom molded earplugs before. So far, I haven't found any that really worked well for me. In the end, if we're just talking hearing protection, I would just go with some Hearos and be done with it. They are cheap, easy to come by, easy to use, all day comfortable, and very effective.

Mounting the mic... For a full-face helmet, it's just a piece of Velcro on the interior underneath the padding. Seems pretty innocuous to me. One won't even really be able to see it when installed. Don't need a mic for a particular ride, just pop it off. I don't see this as any worse (it's actually probably better) than having a Sena/Cardo hanging on the side of a helmet.

I've noted that I also have a half helmet. Speakers are not a thing for those. So, earbuds it is. I suppose one could hang a Sena/Cardo on the side of a half helmet and plug in wired earbuds. Such a setup just seems less than ideal. I'd rather have something like this neckband setup than a Sena/Cardo hanging off the side of a half helmet. The neckband and the wired earbuds in this case seem to be a plus in that should an earbud fall out, it won't be lost to the ages.

The initial cons that come to my mind... Earbuds can be hit or miss when it comes to comfort/fit. I won't know where these will fall until I try them. Another potential issue is getting a full-face helmet on with the buds in. I've had reusable earplugs that had similar issues with the full-face helmet. Generally, I've been able to spread the helmet enough by pulling on the straps to make it all work. Sure, it would be nice if one didn't have to contend with this. The world is full of compromises.

[Con Hennekens]

@Tim-Thompson, it always amazes me how far opinions can be different, and afaik we have had a few which is perfectly fine. The biggest NO GO for this headset, for me that is, is that it can't be combined with otoplastics, which is a MUST and to be honest should be a must for all riders.

I use a Caberg JustSpeak, that one is cheap, and completely built in. Speakers are just fine and I can hear "voices" quite clearly and loud enough even with otoplastics. No windcatchers hanging on the side of my helmet either (like Cardo and the like). I will be honest, it has one disadvantage: the volume buttons are located on the mic stem. They can't be operated with a closed helmet. Newer versions offer a practically flat keypad to stick at the outside.

[Tim Thompson]

Well.. They're here already. Shipped for free from Hong Kong. Ordered Wednesday. Arrived today. Impressive.

Some unboxing pics... for what it's worth...

Very nice/tasteful packaging... Nothing cheap about it.

Nice case...

Stuff...

Interesting LED lighting on the back of the neckband...

First impressions. Seems very well made. No cheaping out here. Everything - including the case - has that nice almost rubberized/tactile feel. The unit has a little bit of heft to it. Cabling, buttons, switches... everything... just seems nicely done.

Did a quick fit of the earbuds. Stuck with medium. Very comfortable. I couldn't say that about most earbuds (practically all) that I've tried in the past. These feel like they will easily pass the all day comfort test. How they'll do in other areas is yet to be seen. The earbuds are nice and low profile. I test fitted them with a full face helmet. They work. However, as you might imagine, it takes some additional effort (pulling on the straps to flex the helmet) to get the helmet on over them.

So far... Looks promising. Testing to come.

[Tim Thompson]

So... Did my initial test run with this system. Some observations...

Fit & wear:

The earbuds - they are actually pretty comfortable. In fact, until I put on my helmet's neck curtain (I'll get into that more later), I couldn't tell they were in my ears. The unit comes with different sizes of ear tips and what they call EcoFit Ear Gels (the gels are designed to fill the Conchas - to reduce noise and provide a more secure fit). You only get 2 sizes of EcoFit Ear Gels - medium and large. If smaller is needed, then the shape of the earbud itself is supposed to fill the bill. After some trial and error, I ended up using the small ear tips and the large EcoFit Ear Gels (seems contradictory - but it works for me). The Ear Gels do help in both respects - especially making the earbuds fit more securely.

The neckband - I didn't even notice it was there when wearing it. It remained securely in place around my neck and disappeared from thought relatively quickly. The controls on the ends of the neckband work great with gloved hands.

The mic - it installed nicely on my half helmet... No huge module attached to the side...

The magnetic mic lead connector connects/snaps up to it's mate very easily. No problems there.

Performance:

Pairing/Compatibility - The unit pairs up and functions as expected with a cell phone. I also did some testing with a Binize CarPlay/Android Auto display unit. All paired and worked well - The Binize Unit, Motikom MPlus and my iPhone.

Music sound quality/volume levels - This unit sounds excellent just sitting in my chair here and listening to it. On the bike, some adjustments were necessary on the EQ to deal with the wind noise. The base had to be increased to compensate for wind etc, at speed. Music sounded fine to me. Volume was adequate. I was wearing a half helmet with speeds ranging up to 75 mph on the interstate. Obviously, that listening environment isn't going to be perfect - particularly at high speeds. So, you have to have reasonable expectations. Allowing for that, the sound quality and loudness was pretty decent - very listenable. They won't be blasting your ears off in any scenario.

Call quality - On my end the sound quality/loudness was very good even at interstate speeds. Call quality on my wife's end... She said she could hear wind noise, but I was clear enough and easily understandable even at interstate speeds. I had to fiddle with the mic position to figure out how close to my mouth to put it. She said it was better when it was a little farther away from my mouth. Things could get a little distorted when the mic was too close. One thing that I noted is that the unit didn't produce sidetone. This made it difficult to tell how loud to talk. My wife said I needed to try to talk in a more normal voice. I was talking too loudly. I don't know if the lack of sidetone is part of the Motikom design or if it was caused by the Binize CarPlay unit which was acting as a intermediary for my iPhone. I plan to look into this further by connecting the Motikom directly to the phone and seeing how it works. I'll probably call my other phone the next time I'm out riding and leave a few test voicemails so that I can hear for myself how it sounds.

Active noise cancellation - I generally wear Hearos (NRR 33). So, I was initially disappointed in the overall sound/noise levels. The Hearos may have skewed my expectations a bit. The Motikom has 5 levels of noise cancellation. The lowest level is no noise cancellation at all. It becomes apparent how much noise cancellation is occurring (quite a bit) when you essentially turn it off. The noise cancellation does beat down the wind noise quite a bit, but it doesn't totally get rid of it. I do hear other things more than when I wear the Hearos (which muffle all frequencies). I can certainly hear the music of the motor and the pipes more. Neither of which are much of an issue - in terms of hearing conservation on my bike. It's actually kind of enjoyable to be able to hear those things better. Overall - as hearing protection goes. I think the jury is still out on that for me. My ears didn't feel traumatized when I got home after this ride - no ringing or anything. I felt fine- as if I had just been listening to music on headphones for a couple of hours (I listen to music at normal volumes). We'll see as time goes on. For right now, the setup seems doable.

I noted that I put the neck curtain on my half helmet. As anybody who wears a half helmet may know, the helmet straps can catch the wind and create a lot of noise. The Motikom combated this additional wind noise some, but I was looking for more. If you put your hands over the opening between the straps, it makes a huge difference. So, to test this further, I put the neck curtain on. Yes, the difference was significant. One downside - in this case - the neck curtain has a bulge of the bottom of it that causes the ear pockets to be pressed against the ears (to provide a seal) when you cinch down the helmet straps. This causes some pressure to be put in the earbuds impacting comfort a little bit. I'm going to be trying a pair of these half helmet ear pads to see how they work...

Now that I'm thinking about it... Probably should have put those on my helmet a long time ago - assuming they help mitigate the wind noise. Anyway, they would be preferable to the neck curtain in the summer and also for overall comfort of the earbuds.

That's it for now...

Some full-face helmet testing coming up soon.

[Jure Sirena 0]

I guess interpretation of what motorcycle helmet is are also different...I would never wear such helmet on motorcycle....this is maybe for bycicle But this is where we defere between US and EU also, we consider motorcycle gear as serious part of equipment - as a complete set jacket, pants, boots, gloves helmets, back protector (I use Dainessa DAIR Airbag).

I use it all even if go to shop, experience tells me...not n my self but I seen crashes at 5km/h bein serious.

I use C4 PRO with everything built in (battery, speakers, control...) no item on outside of helmet that would cause any wind noise. Schubert allows 4 rider intercom with any other brand (there is intercom and universal intercom in menu). Battery lasts 3 days riding (without FM radio) and still one of the lightest helmet outhere, especially carbon one

[Tim Thompson]

@Jure-Sirena-0 said in Motikom MPlus Motorcycle Neckband BT Intercom Headphones (earbuds):

I guess interpretation of what motorcycle helmet is are also different...I would never wear such helmet on motorcycle....this is maybe for bycicle But this is where we defere between US and EU also, we consider motorcycle gear as serious part of equipment - as a complete set jacket, pants, boots, gloves helmets, back protector (I use Dainessa DAIR Airbag).

I use it all even if go to shop, experience tells me...not n my self but I seen crashes at 5km/h bein serious.

I use C4 PRO with everything built in (battery, speakers, control...) no item on outside of helmet that would cause any wind noise. Schubert allows 4 rider intercom with any other brand (there is intercom and universal intercom in menu). Battery lasts 3 days riding (without FM radio) and still one of the lightest helmet outhere, especially carbon one

Crazy Americans! All they want to do is dress up as pirates and ride stupid Harleys. Right?

When I was a kid I rode Japanese standards (was always a Kawi fan) - primarily because they were ubiquitous here and were generally cheap and reliable enough that they could be had/maintained by a kid with no money. Back then you barely got a helmet on my head. Young and dumb - right? The only reason I wore a helmet (it was in fact a full-face) is because it did a better job of keeping the wind out of my eyes than my Ray-Bans. That and my brother could afford to buy it and was gracious enough to lend it to me.

As years progressed and I became more affluent (degrees, professional careers, and all that drudgery - but that's what we do) my taste in motorcycles changed. Now that I could afford it, I had to have the latest and greatest in motorcycle technology and performance. I absolutely had to have the most H.P. and cutting-edge suspension and handling to tackle all those back county roads and sometimes state highways. I mean how could a guy find enough machine to handle those 40 to (a whopping) 55 mph speed limits that would generally be encountered? Not only were bleeding edge sport bikes a must, but I also had to be ATGATT. Because you never know when that Geico squirrel was going to jump out and take you down while navigating one of those knee-dragging 35 mph (often blind) sweepers. Only problem... No matter what kind of mesh or breathable textile gear you could come up with, they could be brutally uncomfortable in the summer heat and humidity. It was almost better to take a gun out and shoot oneself in the head than to have to suffer a long/prolonged stop light. Eventually my desire to ride during the hot summer months began to wane. Still ATGATT was like a religion to me. It was a must. Long story short, I eventually decided to hang it up (being driven out in no small part by ATGATT killing comfort and fun) and at the time I thought for good.

Years passed and the riding bug once again became too much to ignore. And yes... I ride Harleys these days (but I don't do the pirate thing). Call me crazy but my Harleys (I currently have 2) just seem to be perfectly suited to the way I ride and those technically demanding back county roads and occasional state highways that I tend to navigate. Plus, the old tech of the Harleys is a feature not a bug to me. I'm no longer religiously ATGATT. Everything is a risk/benefit analysis, and everybody has a different risk threshold. Don't get me wrong, I have all the safety gear mentioned (with the exception of airbags) hanging in my closet. I even get some of it out and look at it on occasion. Just kidding. But in the summer especially, I'll make the trades and accept additional risk to gain on the comfort and enjoyment fronts. This includes making trades with helmets like the one pictured (I do also have a full-face which I still wear depending on the situation). Life is about risk. I've got the broken bones and a hardware store now permanently resident in parts of my body thanks to motorcycles, but I'm still good with the risk. If someday I get taken out while riding, I'll ask nobody to cry for me at my funeral. I went out doing what I enjoy. Besides, seems a better way to go than things like cancer, ALS, etc. In the interim... I plan to enjoy life the way I want - making trades along the way with risk when and if necessary - while I still can.

[Jure Sirena 0]

@Tim-Thompson we are all crazy, its why we live.
Last ride I got a huge bird in my helmet (i think young bird with first ‘flying lessons’ It broke - cracked my visior. Cant imagine what would be without.
Not to mention weather here demands to have full helmet. Not having the benefit of stable weather when it pures it really pures down. And more and more in summer we have strong hale on hot humid days

We are all aware what can happen on bike. But I am really surprised in US culture and regulations we look at things differentely. Its also true US drivers really obbay speed limits as cops are strict, here on bike we are wilder I am sure and still can get away with it.
Is it true that in Florida only sunglasses are a must on bike? Thx

[Jure Sirena 0]

Forgot to add. i guide a lot of US people on tours. They usually mostly drive harley or goldwing so driving a GS on turns like Stelvio is a unique experience and shows that we are from two different world ends. Even when wearing full gear gives US collegues a bit of uncomfort.

But this is a must we must share and socialize. Beer is our mediator

My winners were from roders from Jordan, almost every parking spot they fliped over GS….because they teach them to use only left leg down standing at rest. Even in right leaned turns

[Tim Thompson]

@Jure-Sirena-0 said in Motikom MPlus Motorcycle Neckband BT Intercom Headphones (earbuds):

@Tim-Thompson we are all crazy, its why we live.
Last ride I got a huge bird in my helmet (i think young bird with first ‘flying lessons’ It broke - cracked my visior. Cant imagine what would be without.
Not to mention weather here demands to have full helmet. Not having the benefit of stable weather when it pures it really pures down. And more and more in summer we have strong hale on hot humid days

We are all aware what can happen on bike. But I am really surprised in US culture and regulations we look at things differentely. Its also true US drivers really obbay speed limits as cops are strict, here on bike we are wilder I am sure and still can get away with it.
Is it true that in Florida only sunglasses are a must on bike? Thx

Yup one can't certainly get hit by things. Certain big/hard bugs suck too. Ask me how I know.

As to weather... Meh... I can and have ridden in foul weather with either (half helmet or full-face) just fine. Hail... wouldn't want to ride in that no matter what I'm wearing.

There are many states that have little to no helmet laws. Florida doesn't require one if the rider is over 21 years of age and has appropriate insurance. My state - Maryland - requires a helmet. Pennsylvania, just to the north of me, doesn't require Helmets for those over 21 and has either two years of riding experience or has completed a motorcycle safety course approved by PennDOT or the Motorcycle Safety Foundation. Most states with lax helmet laws will still require some form of eye protection. Sunglasses usually meet the requirement.

[Tim Thompson]

Ok. Did some more testing. Enough so that I can render some more opinions...

First, I want to talk about these earbuds and full-face helmets. Are they full-face helmet friendly? In a word - no. Not in my opinion. It's just too difficult to get the helmet on over these earbuds without dislodging them enough to impact their performance. Even if you get lucky, I believe their noise reduction capability is just not sufficient. Hearing conservation is a priority and I don't think this kit is up to the task - at least with a full-face helmet.

How about the half helmet? Do they get it done with those? I would say that it depends. I installed the ear pads I mentioned in my previous post...

The end result on my '18 Heritage with half helmet and ear pads installed? Acceptable. In fact pretty good overall. Wind noise and hearing conservation/noise reduction was actually pretty decent. Sound quality of music and podcast was quite good. Volume did not need to be turned up to overcome ambient noise. The combination of the windshield on the Heritage and the installed ear pads were key to these results.

So I wanted to present a more significant challenge... One which I didn't really expect the Motikom kit to be able to meet. Here it is... The Nightster...

Was I pleasantly surprised? Nope. As expected, the Nightster did this kit in.

Two challenges here... The direct wind blast and the Vance & Hines Sideshots. Even if the bike had the OEM exhaust still installed, the direct wind blast and resulting wind noise would prove to be just too much (even with the ear pads installed) for the Motikom unit. This bike also presents an additional challenge to full-face helmets. The Sideshots location etc. turns the full-face helmet into an echo chamber. Actual ear plugs with a NRR of 33 work well enough on this bike, but I doubt much else ever will.

Long term wear/comfort? Can these earbuds be worn all day? I don't know. I don't think they are too bad as far as earbuds go. But they are not as comfortable as the Hearos. The ear pads do press against the earbuds a smidgen, impacting overall comfort. I would say it depends on the individual. I probably could wear them a couple hours at a time without too much problem. But time will tell.

Controls... I would say the knobs and buttons are acceptable. However, I have to imagine that the controls on a Sena or Cardo are probably easier to work with (see button locations on the Motikom in relation to earbud wires and think gloved hands). Plus, the function of the knobs and buttons are probably more complicated and harder to remember on the Motikom as compared to something like the Sena or Cardos. I can't say this for certain, because I haven't used either a Sena or Cardo. But, on the surface the Sena/Cardos controls look like they might be easier to figure out and use.

Where to go from here? Well first... Let me say I'm not sold on listening to music or podcast while riding. To me, I find it a bit distracting and I get a feeling of being a bit disconnected from the bike, the environment, and what I'm doing. Plus, music is not that big of a thing with me that it has to be apart of everything that I do. In fact, I don't listen to music that much at all these days.

Navigation... Do I need audio directions/prompts from my Nav setup? Nope. Not at all. In fact, I generally have them turned off in my car (let alone the bike). The only Nav audio prompts I generally have enabled are Waze Alerts. I don't use Waze on the bike - so Nav audio is not needed.

What about phone calls? Sure... there might be an occasion where I'd want to take or make a call while on the bike. But I think it would be pretty rare.

Part of the pleasure of riding a bike is to get away from it all. This all seems counterproductive.

My wife on the other hand says she would like to listen to music while we ride and have to ability to more easily talk to me (she wants an intercom). So we must make the boss happy.

In the end... And has been mentioned... I believe that custom molded/fitted earbuds like these might be the best way to go....

inearz sport UH-2 STEREO custom fitted earbuds

But man... Are those things pricey or what?

Silicone - $329
Acrylic - $515
Fusionsoft - $750

Plus there's the cost of getting the ear molds made by the audiologist etc.

However, if this is a serious need/want, it might be worth it to get a pair of the Inearz earbuds and use them with a Sena/Cardo. The Inearz earbuds have a 29-32 dba noise reduction spec. So, they might check all the boxes... Hearing conservation (no matter the bike, helmet etc.), full-face helmet friendliness, sound quality, all day comfort(?) etc.

I talked to Inearz about the difference in the materials used. They said the silicone might be more comfortable for some, but that one's sweat and oils will tend to break them down over time. It might be more cost effective long term to get the acrylic.

Overall... I believe I'll need to do some more experimenting with the wife to determine just how desirable/necessary an intercom is (and her ability to listen to music) in the long run before I would consider the total cost of a system that would be needed to fill the bill (Inearz earbuds for both of us, Cardos for both of us, etc.). In the interim, the Motikom units might suffice to facilitate this experimentation.

Would I recommend the Motikoms in the end? Maybe... But only for limited use cases.

[Tim Thompson]

So, I've been using the Motikom units on a regular basis for a bit now. Opinions change? I'd say so... In the Motikom's favor.

I was critical of their use with full-face helmets. I've since tested the Motikom unit with my full-face helmet and the Heritage windshield removed. After getting used to getting my full-face helmet on with the ear buds in, I'd say the unit performed acceptably well, both in terms of sound quality and noise reduction. I'd now say their performance is pretty good overall (both in terms of sound quality and noise reduction) with both my half and full-faced helmets.

I've experimented more with the ear tips and the EcoFit Ear Gels. Fit/comfort improvements have been achieved. I've gotten more accustomed to how they feel and would say I could ride for long periods with them in my ears.

Both comfort and performance of the Motikom's have been good enough the I've dropped consideration of custom molded ear buds. The Motikom units will suffice.

Battery life has been excellent.

I still don't listen to music much. However, I do find myself listening to my podcast quite a bit. I've gotten more used to listening to the podcast while riding and my views of doing so have shifted in favor of it. The combination of the podcast and decent noise reduction makes for a pretty decent riding environment. Another habit that I've picked up... I never used Waze on the bike. I still don't for custom routes/trips (those duties are fulfilled by Scenic). But if I'm not actually navigating custom routes, then I have Waze up on my CarPlay display device so that it displays speed limits, traffic, road conditions and provides audio warnings.

[Mark bg]

@Tim-Thompson

@Tim-Thompson

Hi Tim,
Thanks for this very informative and comprehenhive review on the MPlus.
Unlike you, apparently, I do enjoy music on the road and have spent many years tweaking and fiddling, trying to finally settle on a solution.
A long time ago, I mounted a simple "Clarion" car cassette in the saddle bag of my Yam XS650SG and I've never been able to do better. Combined with the Senheiser headphones, the ride from East-coast Aus, 1800ml to Adelaide was effortless and the music was totally satisfying.
In saying this, My hearing possibly suffered as heavy-metal cranked above advisable, safe volume level, probably didn't do my ears any favours! The old Sony Walkman just did not cut the mustard...
Eventually life moved on and I endured a bit of an hiatus from two wheels until I finally saddled-up again and was re-born but the problem has resurfaced, how to get rewired.
ANC is really inspiring these days and I've been through (still have) a couple of sets of Bose BT Ear Buds, highly effective but unfortunately, volume level has been disappointing. Probably, partially due to my damaged and now ageing hearing. I've also worked in elevated noise environments albeit, always mindfull of the risks while being proactive with PPE.
I stumbled on the Motikom recently and have been watching a few reviews and looking for the tiked boxes. These seen to be almost there and I'm getting ready to jump.
Price seems reasonable, (Cardos etc are definitely OTT)
Build Quality has been reasonabbly well received,
ANC is nice tho it'll struggle to compete with the Bose - I hope to be surprised,
My question to you is:
Is it possible to crank the volume too high?
I want to have control! It's my hearing and if I want to over do it, that's my choice. I'm not a masochist but sometimes I just want to hear the guitar string rasp above the highway gale.
Do you get my drift??

Your assessment would be sincerely appreciated, should you have the time to share.

Greetings from over here...
KR
Mark