Installing speakers in a helmet

Hi all and seasons greetings...

I am thinking seriously about stitching some speakers into my HJC helmet so
I can listen to music while cruising. I have a pair of quite flat 3.5 cm
speakers wedged out of an old pair of JVC headphones. They have a cable from
each speaker.

Does anyone know a smart way to route the wiring behind the helmet padding
and where is the best place to install a 3.5mm socket on the helmet? I
thought on the right side midway between front and side so I can unplug
easily while riding if necessary.

Also, my plan was to stitch the speakers onto the lining where the ear gap
is ... can't think of a better plan than that...

Any suggestions or tips would be really good...

Tony

 

In aus.motorcycles on Fri, 03 Dec 2004 07:57:24 GMT

When I did it, I glued some velcro hook to the back of the speakers.

In one helmet, I had to cut some polystyrene away to fit them, they
wedged in behind the lining OK without needing glue.

I then ran the wiring around behind the padding, and wedged the 3.5mm
phono socket around at the back where that helmet had 2 bits of padding
meeting.

Depends a lot on the configuration of the helmet as to how you can do
these things.

Zebee

 

Hi,
I have several helmets with speakers and microphone in them..
first set was installed by someone who sold me an intercom system that hooks
into radio and CB
there are only four wires ....two for Microphone and two for speakers ..BIG
drawback the speakers are now MONO ....and taken from jsut one side soundis
not too bad and when road noise is taken into account is fine ,,,,BUT
to do it properly you need 5 wires and next time round ill do it that way
but still have to figure out schematics for separating CB / intercom and
the Stereo Radio

its very simple to install the speakers though its a bit scary to start
pulling apart a $700 helmet..
Flat speakers generally fit nicely right where your ears are .. behind the
padding ,, and the use of hotglue makes sticking them in place a snack . to
reassemble a bit of hotglue holds everything in place.. i have not used any
sockets on the helmets as yet but kept the wires intact from speakers to
plug... and used a black curled cable similar to the ones on telephones
but stronger.

If helmet stays on the bike it stays pluged in
if i take it with me the cord just goes inside the helmet.. has not been a
problem so far
Ohh .. I tried cutting one cord and putting a din plug towards the rear and
outside of the helmet.. that works fine too... cable-tied itto the helmet
... ( cept i have misplaced the cord hehe) so keeping the helmet and cord
intact is safer , Plus less places where there can be interference/ loose
wiring etc

Peer
BMW K100LT


and
Cagiva for sale : http://members.iinet.net.au/~peer/cagiva.html

 

These wafer-like speakers work well. Double-sided tape also works to hold
them in place.
The problem, as always, is getting the damn thing plugged in somewhere. I've
tried a few things, including just running a length of speaker cable to a
stereo socket. so that I can plug in/unplug on either the helmet side or the
switch box side. However, the best I've done in terms of durability -- and
also because I wanted to put a microphone in the helmet and needed to use
more wires, is a 1m length of weather-shielded CAT5 cable
(http://antifsck.dyndns.org/albums/album102/10100012_G.sized.jpg is a pic of
the CAT5d helmet and a push-to-talk radio UHF switch box I hacked up). This
is quite stable at cruising speeds, unlike the lighter wire that picked up
every single up or down draught. Looping the wire throught the D-rings
fixture, along with the friction between the helmet shell and the foam
shell, is enough to hold it all in place, although it helps to tidy the
internal wiring inside the helmet with tape.
Of course, messing with your helmet may void the warranty and damage your
brain yada yada yada ...
- sanbar

 

you can buy foam ear pads that velcro in to the helmets, flat speakers.

or you can buy gel ear bud's that are soft, so you dont have to damage your
helmet.

 

Nath, What setup do the police use in their helmets?

Tim.

 

In aus.motorcycles on Sun, 05 Dec 2004 23:51:24 -0500

How much safety do you think a few mm of polystyrene over the ear gives
you?

Include in your answer the anatomical details of the head in that area,
and the difference in deceleration to be expected.

Zebee

 

Hardly gentlemanly, Al.

-----sharks

 

Al, some of us wear helmets to keep the sun off our heads and, of course,
because of the big green bugs.

Theo

 

I only wear mine because of the big blue bugs, Theo.

 

Just checking my screen, not cleaned since leaving Vic.
Little red ones, little blue ones, huge green smudges.

Theo

 

Yeah, but you've got more space to swerve that Pete does...

big (even with those cylinder heads hanging out in the breeze...)

 

In aus.motorcycles on Mon, 6 Dec 2004 14:27:11 +0800

Don't they ping you for "resisting arrest" if you splat the little blue
ones?

Zebee

 

Hi all,

Just a follow-up in case anyone was interested in the way forward with this.

I dug out a pair of old JVC headphones that's foam covers had perished, but
were otherwise OK. Pried them out of the case and they turned out to be less
than 5mm thick. Perfect!

At the moment, I have them wedged under the lining of my helmet (there's a
little "pocket" in the ear gap). I am still debating what to do about the
cables, which at the moment are just dangling out of the helmet, getting
wrapped around my neck and being generally uncooperative.

I've bought a soldering iron and a 3.5mm barrel socket that I hope to work
up the courage to install through either the helmet or at least the plastic
surround on the big hole. Not sure yet. Routing the cables is still a bit of
an issue too.

Total cost so far, including soldering iron and headphones, is about $25.
Tested them out on the weekend with a ride up to the Sunshine Coast and back
(in the pissing bloody rain) and it was great. Could have used a bit more
volume on the freeway, but what can you expect from an MP3 player running
off 1 AAA battery???

Any genuine questions will be respectfully answered.

TonyG

 

You might find the cables difficult to solder ... sometimes the
conductors are enamelled. Sometimes they aren't. It's hard to tell
from the outside. It might work to just tuck the excess headphone
cable into the helmet lining and leave the tail hanging down long
enough to reach your collar ... then make a little extension lead
from your collar to your most waterproof pocket.

What's the difference between a duck?

-----sharks

 

Both of it's legs are each the same as the other.
Clem
(and it doesn't climb trees!)

 

You mean like substituting a pair of ineffective, badly aimed mini-spots
for a proper headlight because it looks kool?

Moike

 

I thought it went "one leg is shorter than the other that's why it waddles".

 

You're pretty easily deplored then, aren't you?

big

 

Jeeeeezzzzeee!!! where you people been?

it's "One of its legs is both the same."

Moike