CB Radio?

[Pluggy]

I keep an eye on the used motorcycle market in my area, often to help friends.  Some bikes listed have 40 Channel CB Radios.  That means Citizen's Band, right?  I recall they were popular back when "Smokey and the Bandit" was a hit movie.

Is that CB still a useful feature?

[sandy]

My wing has an OEM CB. In 12 years of ownership, I’ve used it very little. On a 4 week trip, I was with another bike who had one. We used it daily, but other wise it was almost never used.

[WintrSol]

Very useful, if you ride with others that also have them. They have better range than bluetooth headsets, especially through trees and over hills and buildings. That said, I haven't used CB in many years, and do use BT headsets with a couple of guys. A cell phone with good coverage makes up for the range of the bt system. A CB would be mostly dead weight on my bikes.

[old2soon]

          Still very much a Truckers tool. Right after I retired I gave my 3 C B  radios away. While I was trucking they helped specially when the weather was Delta Sierra. Should you have a C B go on or near a busy route and tune the C B to chnl 19. Do NOT let the young uns hear it. Could care Less if I ever hear another C B radio! 10-4. RIDE SAFE.

[Jess from VA]

Very useful, (but only) if you ride with others that also have them.

This. 

[Bagger John - #3785]

All of my bikes save one (my I/S) not only have CBs installed but also incorporate a dual-band amateur radio transceiver and the ability to use FRS/GMRS and MURS communication devices through their sound systems - by way of a custom-constructed Kennedy Technologies FRSet-4.

The I/S will get a Hondaline CB installed next time I have the bike 'way down' for maintenance. Like my first one, I plan to install the transceiver body inside the battery box area.

It's nice to have options. Not all of my riding friends are licensed hams, and not all of them have CBs on their bikes - but this arrangement pretty much guarantees communications interoperability in some fashion.

[Pluggy]

Remember the highway sign "State Police monitor CB Channel 9".  I think Virginia had that.  I no longer see that one.

[Jersey]

All of my bikes save one (my I/S) not only have CBs installed but also incorporate a dual-band amateur radio transceiver and the ability to use FRS/GMRS and MURS communication devices through their sound systems - by way of a custom-constructed Kennedy Technologies FRSet-4.

The I/S will get a Hondaline CB installed next time I have the bike 'way down' for maintenance. Like my first one, I plan to install the transceiver body inside the battery box area.

It's nice to have options. Not all of my riding friends are licensed hams, and not all of them have CBs on their bikes - but this arrangement pretty much guarantees communications interoperability in some fashion.

Ham here as well. Would be curious how you did the hookup for the I/S.  I've looked into it for basic vhf/uhf but seemed a bit pricey.  Would be fun to attempt 10m DX Mobile! 

[Bagger John - #3785]

All of my bikes save one (my I/S) not only have CBs installed but also incorporate a dual-band amateur radio transceiver and the ability to use FRS/GMRS and MURS communication devices through their sound systems - by way of a custom-constructed Kennedy Technologies FRSet-4.

The I/S will get a Hondaline CB installed next time I have the bike 'way down' for maintenance. Like my first one, I plan to install the transceiver body inside the battery box area.

It's nice to have options. Not all of my riding friends are licensed hams, and not all of them have CBs on their bikes - but this arrangement pretty much guarantees communications interoperability in some fashion.

Ham here as well. Would be curious how you did the hookup for the I/S.  I've looked into it for basic vhf/uhf but seemed a bit pricey.  Would be fun to attempt 10m DX Mobile! 

What I did for all of mine thus far is to use the FRSet-4. It integrates into the OEM Honda wiring (in the case of the Valkyrie) and for my Concours 14s I used a JMCB-2003/FTM-10SR combo with a custom harness I built. Jon of Kennedy built a custom version of the FRSet-4 which allows the Yaesu and an FRS/GMRS or MURS radio to be connected into the Hondaline or J&M audio systems. I can select which radio is routed to the bike's audio system via a dash-mounted push button. I don't have an FTM-10 installed on the I/S at the moment, but the hookup is there to allow connection of my VX-7R, an FRS or a MURS rig.

Kennedy's wiring package for the GL1500 'Wing needed to be reworked a bit to get it to work with the I/S's passenger PTT switch when using the CB function, and to make the Clarion CB rig not TX when the integrated radio's PTT switch is pressed. I modified the OEM I/S radio control head to provide independent control of transmit functions for the CB, amateur and other connected rigs, documented all of it and sent the prints along to Kennedy for anyone else who happens to run into the situation.

Regarding an HF transceiver: An SGC 2020 or something similar would be ideal for a motorcycle mobile application. I'd love for someone to come up with a waterproof, remote-head transceiver which covers 20-10M and puts out 20w PEP or so. Closest thing I can come up with is an IC-706 but I doubt the head will tolerate getting wet.

Opek makes an antenna that covers 440-2-6-10-12-15-17-20-40M and is roughly the same size as one of the existing I/S whips. My Tourer - which wears an I/S trunk - had one of the OEM antenna mounts modified for an SO-239 double barrel connector; the Opek or a tri-band VHF/UHF antenna can be screwed onto it. For the AM-FM/CB side of things I use a splitter from a GL1100 Aspencade and route the bike's stereo and CB to each radio port with the combiner port going to an OEM center-loaded CB whip.

[Jess from VA]

Remember the highway sign "State Police monitor CB Channel 9".  I think Virginia had that.  I no longer see that one.

VA has all kinds of old signs along the roads.  Like speed monitored by aircraft.  No it's not, for years and years.

It costs too much to go find them and pull them down.

And besides, it's fun to screw with the motorists.  (looking up for suspicious aircraft)

[Pluggy]

Thanks, guys.  Locally, Goldwings are listed for sale and CB radio is prominent in the description.
Seems that in 2020 most of us can go without it.

[shadowsoftime]

I use mine on highway with truckers for radar, accidents,traffic congestion, road work,weather, lot lizards

[Bagger John - #3785]

Thanks, guys.  Locally, Goldwings are listed for sale and CB radio is prominent in the description.
Seems that in 2020 most of us can go without it.

Better to have and not need than to need and not have.

Way back when - in the early 2000s - me and my ex "Blondie" used to go to such things as the Honda Homecoming, Vintage Days and other rallies on bikes. I set my Valkyries and her 'Wing up with CBs so we'd have a way to coordinate fuel stops, bathroom breaks and whatnot. During one Homecoming ride she got so much crap from the oglers commenting on her riding her own bike that she asked what communications medium could be used instead of CB.

"Get your ham ticket."

That started a rather comprehensive/expen$ive upgrade series.

Fast forward to today. In my (Akron, OH) area there is only one local CB channel in any sort of regular use, apart from Ch19. I seriously doubt any agency save the OSP actively monitors Ch9. Yet, I'll keep the gear around and in good repair because you don't know when - or why - you might need it.

[Mikerthebiker]

If any of you who don’t use your stock CB’s would like to part with them, let me know. If the price is right, I would pay the USPS costs to the Great White North.

[CoreyP]

I use mine on highway with truckers for radar, accidents,traffic congestion, road work,weather, lot lizards

You can use Waze on your phone, does all of that.

[F6Dave]

They were still very popular when our Valks were built.  Honda sold a CB kit for the Interstate, and the all the necessary switches are in the left side handlebar unit.

I had a CB on 2 bikes I owned back in the 1980s.  I added it when I rode with a group of Wing riders who all used them. Some of these guys had been riding since the 40s, on Harleys, then BMWs, and finally that fancy new Honda Goldwing. I had the only non-Wing, the sport-tourer of the bunch, a 1981 Suzuki GS1100E with a Vetter fairing and German Krauser saddlebags. Everyone built their own custom touring bikes back then, adding a fairing and saddlebags and maybe a trunk from a wide variety of suppliers. Remember that in the 1970s Goldwings had only been sold as 'naked' bikes.

To communicate with the group you had to get creative. Most of these guys took an automotive CB radio and mounted it on the handlebars or somewhere in the massive Vetter fairing that most touring riders used. For audio some kind of marine grade speaker was mounted wherever it fit. The CB microphone usually had a bracket on the handlebars, and the rider would grab it and 'press to talk'. It all actually worked fairly well.

This club scheduled several long rides around Colorado and the surrounding states every year. The most unique was their 'all night ride'. It was held on the weekend closest to the solstice, to take advantage of maximum daylight. We left Denver at 7 PM and had dinner in Fairplay, Colorado. Through the night they rode through some of central Colorado, usually getting to Pueblo for breakfast around daylight. I remember riding down a mountain pass in the middle of the night, when a sheriff's deputy heard some of the group talking on channel 19. He broke in to say 'you fellas sure look pretty riding down that pass'. You can't do that with a Sena.

[Bagger John - #3785]

I use mine on highway with truckers for radar, accidents,traffic congestion, road work,weather, lot lizards

You can use Waze on your phone, does all of that.

I wouldn't be playing with a phone while riding a motorcycle.

Some cager absentmindedly playing with his or hers can catch you at a distracted moment and it's game over at freeway speeds. Witnessed this myself as recently as last Saturday morning while coming back from the CLE area on my Tourer (pickup all over I-71 because the driver had his phone on the windshield pillar, texting away). OSP definitely missed a gimme on that one.

The only interaction you should have with 2-way comms while underway is via the push-to-talk switch, and possibly the channel selector if using it doesn't involve compromising your grip on the bars.

[shadowsoftime]

I use mine on highway with truckers for radar, accidents,traffic congestion, road work,weather, lot lizards

You can use Waze on your phone, does all of that.

I wouldn't be playing with a phone while riding a motorcycle.

Some cager absentmindedly playing with his or hers can catch you at a distracted moment and it's game over at freeway speeds. Witnessed this myself as recently as last Saturday morning while coming back from the CLE area on my Tourer (pickup all over I-71 because the driver had his phone on the windshield pillar, texting away). OSP definitely missed a gimme on that one.

The only interaction you should have with 2-way comms while underway is via the push-to-talk switch, and possibly the channel selector if using it doesn't involve compromising your grip on the bars.

    and it is already set up.