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Intercom integration on new TFT system

5K views 49 replies 6 participants last post by  TouringTim 
#1 ·
I have just taken delivery of my 2022 (White K1600GTL) and getting on well with the TFT and Nav etc. Great bike, the only show in town in my opinion. Still waiting for the charging wire, so phone battery doesn't last long (2 hrs) with the Navigation running on it. The radio, media and phone function all work well with my helmet (BMW communicator system on Series 6 helmet). The last piece of the jigsaw is to get the passenger helmet intercom working.
I have successfully paired both helmets to the bike, though surprisingly the choice of either helmet appears to be selectable into the rider position or the passenger position. When the rider helmet connects, a helmet icon appears in the display to show the connection is active. Should a second helmet icon appear when the passenger helmet connects, or do you only ever see one helmet icon on the display?. I only ever see one hemet icon on the display, despite having my wife's helmet paired to the passenger helmet position.
Lastly, how do you activate the intercom so that you can talk to one another? When radio is selected you can hear that in both helmets, so it seems the passenger helmet connection is definitely active. So far, no intercom though. Any one have any ideas on this? How do you activate intercom and how are the other sound sources handled when intercom is active? The manual seems to be silent on it.
 
#2 ·
Lastly, how do you activate the intercom so that you can talk to one another?
I had heard this is not as good as the old system where helmet intercom was through the bike.

I now understand that the two helmets have to be paired together and I'm not sure if the pilion can listen to music from the riders device.

I could be completely wrong as my bike is in the UK and I'm not so I haven't had a play yet. But i vaguely remember reading something about this.

So I will watch this question with interest.
 
#3 ·
On the previous set up the connection was helmet to helmet. When bike was switched off we could still chat as she went into the station to pay for the fuel and I could tell her the final amount on the pump. Maybe that is what still needs to happen now. However as the helmets were also paired to the bike she could listen to the radio and switch to intercom on the helmet main button or I could press what is now the number 1 favourite button to activate it (or press again to deactivate her!).
 
#4 ·
could press what is now the number 1 favourite button to activate it (or press again to deactivate her!).
We had exactly the same setup. Interestingly we could also talk why she went and paid in the petrol station, so maybe we have our helmets paired together. That would imply 3 pairings for her phone because she's also connected to her phone
 
#6 ·
I’m still waiting (yet another saga) for my 22 GT however I have a 22 MY XR with TFT screen which is hooked up to our system 6 helmets.
From the top;

Pair both helmets together with the bike switched off so your rider to pillion helmets are connected

Switch off both helmets then pair your phone to the bike

Switch on both helmets then pair both to the bike by selecting each one from the menu on the TFT

You can now talk to each other; the rider can hear the nav and both rider and pillion can listen to music.

To switch between the intercom and music you must double click the helmet power button quickly (number 2 button in the manual) It take a little patience as if you don’t click it quick enough the helmet simply shuts down.

So, if we are listening to Spotify and my wife wants to chat, she double clicks the button and we can talk, to go back to the music she double clicks the button.

That operation doesn’t mute the nav if its active so I can still hear it and of course she cannot.

This is all documented in the system 6 comms system manual which you should have got when purchasing the helmet – the book part number is 76 01 7 723 987.

I would say that I had multiple attempts at getting this to work but now it set up it connects and works every time, at least on my XR.

When I was initially trying to get it to work there were occasions where I have to select the helmet icons from the TFT to ensure connection to the bike, that was invariably after a lack of use but if I use the bike regularly its seems to find each other pretty quickly.
I would also say that the System 6 helmets can from my experience anyway, take 45 seconds or so to fully discover the bike so when you jump on it its preferable to ensure its all connected to stop any furious poking and prodding of buttons / phones etc etc.

I’m thinking the K16 TFT system must be the same so hope what every you got from this helps you.
 
#8 ·
When the rider helmet connects, a helmet icon appears in the display to show the connection is active. Should a second helmet icon appear when the passenger helmet connects, or do you only ever see one helmet icon on the display?. I only ever see one hemet icon on the display, despite having my wife's helmet paired to the passenger helmet position.
If this is the same as the XR TFT then only one helmet is illuminated, that just confirms a helmet is connected to the bike. Even when we have both helmets connected just the one is shown illuminated in the display.
 
#9 ·
I'll give that a try today and let you know how I get on. BTW Do you see 2 helmet icons on your TFT when both helmets connected, or not?
 
#10 ·
Sorry, just read your previous again and see you've answered this.
 
#12 ·
So, I took the bike in for its 600 mile running in service today and asked them about intercom integration at the dealers. They don't really know for sure what you might expect on the TFT!
Today I paired the helmets with each other again, as per the old set up on my 2018 bike (and the previous ones) and it all works pretty much as before. So I have "my" helmet paired to the rider position in settings, "her" helmet paired to the passenger position in settings, and both helmets paired together with each other.
With ignition on, phone connects via bluetooth and eventually wifi. Switch on rider's helmet comms and it connects with the bike, helmet icon displays on TFT. Switch on passenger helmet and it too connects to the bike, but no indication that it has done so (unlike the old design, with the 1 or 2 icons, 1 for each helmet connected). You can tell both helmets are connected as you can hear the radio in both helmets when radio is selected on. So I've never seen more than 1 helmet icon on the TFT display.
To activate intercom, "double press" the middle button on the BMW comms on either helmet and a few seconds later you get a short double tone (be-bop sound) and the intercom connects between the helmets. This cuts out whatever radio or media you are listening to. Also when a phone call comes in and you answer it using the wiz wheel, intercom disconnects and rider gets the call. On ring off, intercom re-establishes after a few seconds again.
So all in all, the set up seems very similar to before. Phone integration is much better quality and more reliable. Radio quality seems better. The navigation set up on phone seems fine to me. Getting it in and out of the cradle and connecting the power cable is easy once you get used to it. Works best with no phone case on the phone ( mine's an iPhone X) Create your route on the connected app, complete with waypoints to shape the route. If you need to drop a waypoint which has not sequenced as you fly by it, that is easily done as there is a command for that, selectable from the nav controls, via the wiz wheel. This was difficult to achieve on the BMW NAV 5 on the previous bike as you had to lean forward to select it on the NAV 5 screen. With a gloved hand this was always tricky, often ending up with it selecting the wrong thing. The new set up is much easier to control.
Base camp routes are easily imported as GPX routes. However the waypoints planned on Basecamp don't seem to come across as waypoints in the connected app navigation (ie. not visible or deletable as described above). The imported route still holds its shape, but not so easy if you want to cut a bit of a route off by deleting a waypoint or two, towards the end of your ride. Shame you are not able to navigate to a point on the map that you define with your finger, only named places in its database. That is a limitation.
Overall though, I'm really pleased with it and how it all works. It's all very easy to navigate around once you get used to the menu structure. Remember to look where you are going and don't get consumed with all this when riding.
Enjoy!
 
#14 ·
So all in all, the set up seems very similar to before. Phone integration is much better quality and more reliable.
Good to hear that you have sussed the connectivity. I’m finally collecting my GT this afternoon so will work through the hook ups at the dealership for the ride home, fingers crossed for all of that.
I’ve decided to go down the bike dedicated phone route for the navigation side, I have a spare Samsung S10 which will do the job and keep my daily use phone separate from the bike.

Base camp routes are easily imported as GPX routes. However the waypoints planned on Basecamp don't seem to come across as waypoints in the connected app navigation (ie. not visible or deletable as described above). The imported route still holds its shape, but not so easy if you want to cut a bit of a route off by deleting a waypoint or two, towards the end of your ride. Shame you are not able to navigate to a point on the map that you define with your finger, only named places in its database. That is a limitation.
I concur with your thoughts on this and have used the connected app on my XR without any problems for the past 10 months however you might consider not using the basecamp platform to create .gpx routes for the connected app, the mapping Garmin uses is different to the connected app (there are threads with more information elsewhere on here about that subject) If you try and use Basecamp routes in the app things just don’t line up and will lead to frustration. @DavidMcK has put a lot of very useful information on here about route planning using “my route app” and the connected app, based on that I tried that platform for route planning and have to says it’s been extremely good and reliable so will continue to use it on the K16, I have a planned route home via the Cotswolds this afternoon so that will be my first test of the K16 system.
The only downside as you alluded to is if you want to change something on the fly with your route as the limited database held on the app holds it back, I found that when I was riding around Snowdonia and tried to chop the planned route around a little which proved somewhat frustrating. Sitting on a computer planning a route is all very well but if you want to change something once out on the road it all becaomes a bit Meh. That is a limitation that requires addressing IMO
 
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#16 ·
Evening David,
Thanks for your comments - two things then?
Firstly, why export using the HD Boombox setting - any particular reason for that? Isn't the HD Boombox Harley Davidsons inbuilt nav system?
Secondly, the issue I;ve had in the past is making adjustments when trying to modify a route on the fly. For example, I stop for a coffee and try to adjust the route to take in something I hadnt thought about when putting the route together on the PC. I struggle to add in waypoints from the phone app - it might just be my sausage fingers causing the problem but I don't find the inbuilt directory that good.

One other point I would ask you, I took delivery this afternoon of my new GT, set everything up (helmets / phone) for the ride home, I had already set up a pre planned route configured using MRA of about 100 Miles and everything worked very well but...............................despite my helmet set to max volume, the bike volume also set to max, the spoken instructions were very faint. I haven't checked my phone volume settings so I supose it could be that but any thoughts that you may have come across on that.

On a personal note, and I hope I speak for others on here, thank you for taking the time to guide us newbies through this new fangled sat nav system and posting the extensive Q and A posts on the forum.
From my part and using my XR TFT as the guinea pig, I've learnt an awful lot from your posts.
 
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#18 ·
Hi all

Today I picked up the bike, nice ride up to Oxford and back on the old roads.

But I can't figure out how to connect my phone. Do I need to buy a cable? USB C male to male? My phone had USB C connector.

Also for half the trip it just said calculating route and a dotted straight line from where I am to my destination, but then on the other half of the trip it was just a normal sat nav with voice prompts that I quickly turned off because the old roads were not the preferred route of the Nav Unit.

Any advice on either issue?

Thanks
Tim
 
#19 ·
Your phone is connected to the TFT via Bluetooth, check your manual and follow the instructions. You will need a cable to power your phone and it will need powered.

Tim, its a bit confusing if you were getting voice prompts then you must have had your phone connected.
 
#21 ·
The cable IS supplied by BMW, you just have to pay for it. The reason it is not included is because different phones have different connectors (mine is an iPhone so it's USBC to Lightning). Sounds like you need the usb-c to USB-c version.
It's a short cable with the phone charging plug set at right angles. As such the cable tucks into the compartment nicely. Before it arrived at my dealer I tried using a 1 m long apple USB-C Lightning cable coiled up and not surprisingly it doesn't fit in the space! Though it does charge ok.
I have found that I have just needed to modify my personal prep before riding off.
Arrive at bike and switch on ignition, load BMW app on phone with route if using a pre-prepared route. Switch on helmet. Put on your jacket, helmet etc By the time you've done this it is all connected up and ready to go. Connect phone to charging lead and insert in stowage. Ride off. The only slight hitch I have sometimes had is that my home wifi signal is quite strong outside my garage, so sometimes I have had to select it onto the correct wifi network for the bike before it will let go of the house wifi. I haven't had this problem when out and about elsewhere.
At riding breaks, switch off bike to buy coffee and leave your phone on the bike. When you come back to the bike switch on ignition and about 1 minute later it's all connected again. Added bonus is that as you don't have your phone in the coffee shop you actually talk to your wife instead of looking at your phone. These BMW engineers think of everything :cool:
 
#22 ·
The only slight hitch I have sometimes had is that my home wifi signal is quite strong outside my garage, so sometimes I have had to select it onto the correct wifi network for the bike before it will let go of the house wifi.
I experienced this problem when I tried the Connected app on a loan R1250RT. It was a royal PITA.
Added bonus is that as you don't have your phone in the coffee shop you actually talk to your wife instead of looking at your phone.
The corollary is that if, like many of us, you use your phone as a payment mechanism then your "money" isn't available when you need to pay the bill because you left it on your bike...
 
#24 ·
It's just a USB cable. For my Samsung, I ordered USB-C to USB-C of differing lengths and angles from Amazon to try different mounting options. I'm now mounting my phone to a Quadlock with the vibration and wireless charging options on a RAM mount. My Mo-Door is occupying the space in the dash.
 
#25 ·
See the link to the cables on the BMW motorrad website here.
 
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#28 ·
Got a perfect setup, velcroed my old cockpit bag to the top, found a flat male to male usb cable that gets the power outside of the compartment without breaking anything.

I plug the phone into my cable and put in the cockpit bag. I never plan to open that compartment except to hide anything illicit. 😁

Hood Automotive tire Tire Bicycle tire Motor vehicle


Wheel Tire Motor vehicle Shorts Automotive tire
 
#29 ·
I never plan to open that compartment except to hide anything illicit. 😁
:ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO:

As a side note, I did about 100 miles yesterday afternoon playing with the nav / media etc and the fan was roaring away in that compartment. When I stopped for a reccie and switched the bike off the fan ran on for about 5 minutes, its really noisy too. The phone was pretty warm by then :oops:
 
#37 ·
In the saddle for most of the day riding through heavy Paris traffic in 38c/100f heat and then down to Dijon area. Had the phone in my cockpit bag, but with the bag zipped, finally no music or Nav and when I stopped, the phone said it shut down because it was overheating, good to know it had that feature.

Anyway, set off again but left my bag open and not a problem, worked all day playing music and telling me where to go as the temperature hit 40. The fan was on in that compartment every time I slowed down as was the engine cooling fan. But all in all I think the cockpit bag has saved the day especially as I have my credit cards there as well and my French tag for going through tolls without stopping

The new bike's fully loaded but doing a great job in tough weather.

Tire Wheel Vehicle Plant Helmet


Now I have the first service indicator on, so won't do too many miles until the first service, which I booked today for Tuesday morning just outside Lyon.

Does anyone know how to set those favourite buttons, I'd like to switch between speakers and helmet without drilling through the menu. I held down the 1 button whilst on that menu option but nothing happened
 
#39 ·
I'm curious how others are setting them. So far I've set the first two to Music and Nav.
My current favourite button set up,
I - Navigation
2 - Music
3 - Heating
4 - Suspension
 
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#49 ·
When you are looking at the rides you want to merge, tap the 3 dots at top right, select merge, select the rides you want to merge, tick to accept. Done
 
#50 · (Edited)
When you are looking at the rides you want to merge, tap the 3 dots at top right, select merge, select the rides you want to merge, tick to accept.
Thanks for the reply, strangely, that feature wasn't there for a day or 2 and came back, I don't know exactly why. But I've been happily merging all this week. Here's today's ride out to the summer Gardens, Berlin and back
Map World Font Slope Line
 
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