My wife and I rented a goldwing over the weekend and enjoyed almost a 1000 miles in TX hill country. Great bike and great roads!

But we wished we had a way to talk while riding. We like spirited rides, so 80-90mph speeds are common. So wind is loud. We also use ear plugs.

I have been reading about Sena system. Are they loud enough for our purposes? Any better options? It seems there are a lot of options. But having a hard time finding some real world reviews.

And while I am at it... we rented a Harley Electra glide few weeks ago, and it was meh. Gave me this weird hip pain. The goldwing is amazing. I would love to rent BMW K1600gl since I love how they look! Amazing performance on all the reviews. We are in a market for a sport touring bike. So Wing or beemer?

I have a Sena (don't remember which model though). I'm able to adjust the volume plenty loud to hear both music and phone calls. The problem is the folks on the other end. I've been told that its difficult to hear me over the wind/bike noise.

Have been enjoying Sena 5's for several years.
I wear soft ear plugs, wife doesn't.

I have a SENA 20S. Just finished a 700 mile trip with a passenger last week and it worked flawlessly. Errant wind noise can be an issue with open face helmets, but any system will have that problem. With a full face helmet it's not much of an issue. I like the SENA because it syncs to my iPhone to make and receive calls and it has a built-in FM radio, so I use it every day even when I'm riding solo.

I am a fan of the Sena, at that speed with earplugs you may not be able to get enough volume.

However some of their models allow you to plug in earbuds instead of in helmet speakers. With those and noise blocking earbuds you should have no problems.

My wife and I have the Sena 20s. We did a 5 day trip 2 weeks ago and they were great. I would agree that it is probably better with a full face helmet, which is what we have.

As far as the bike, have you considered looking at the Yamaha FJR1300? That's another really great sport touring bike, although I am biased because that's what we ride.

Definitely Sena + full face helmets and you’re good to go. I’ve been using a SMH10/SMH!0R for many years now, and they work excellently.

From my friend's father. "I ride so I don't have to hear her!"

To each their own I guess. Just remember to wear your gear every time.

I have a 2012 Goldwing and first bought the communication system for it, but I don’t really like the cord connected to the helmet. I do like the fact you can mute it so you aren’t hearing everything from the other person until you want to. I also don’t like that Honda didn’t make it so you can use your phone with their communication system.

I then bought the Sena and have not bought the second one yet for my wife. I so far have used the Sena for myself and really like the fact I can use my phone hands-free and use the communication with no cord to the helmet. I have used the Sena with other riders which is also cool and something you can’t do with the Honda communication system.

I have not ridden the specific BMW you mentioned, but I have riden BMWs and they are great bikes just as is the Goldwing. I like the Goldwing because you get a lot of accessories with the bike that you have to pay extra for with a BMW. Don’t get me wrong, I drool over some of the BMWs anytime I am at the motorcycle store. I think the bike is a matter of personal choice and most dealers will let you test ride both bikes before buying.

I have had my Sena for years. Their customer service
is awesome and they replaced two units that I broke. I have ridden probably 50k and love it.

I have a Sena 10 I believe, it has the jog dial and is 4-5 years old. I have a full faced Shoei helmet and it is plenty loud for music and talk. I don’t wear ear plugs, but never had to with my helmet. I originally had minor issues with people hearing wind at higher speeds, but I put in the wind curtain (came with the helmet) and now people don’t even know I am on the bike.

My wife has the same one and sure, it is nice to say things like I need to go to the bathroom, or let’s eat there, but I quickly missed the silence. Now I get “watch out for that pot hole”, “slow down”, “speed up”, or “watcha thinking about”.

Another vote for Senas. My riding buddies and I all have them and they work great. I have the 20S EVO, but there’s a 30 out (or due out soon) that seems to have some cool features.

While I was in Japan my riding buddy and I split the cost of a Sena 10R 2-pack. They work great. We were both able to listen to our own music and patch in to speak with the other if we needed a decision on which road to take or whatever.

Now that I'm back in the States and riding alone I still use my Sena for music and GPS. I've only made a few phone calls with it, but I never had any complaints about my mic and wind noise. I initially had my 10R in an Icon helmet and recently switched it over to my new Shoei. Unfortunately, recent back surgery has forced me to retire the bike early this year and even though it's installed, I haven't ridden with it in there, yet.

I've been wanting to upgrade to the new 10C Evo which integrates a camera in the low-profile design, but their website has been saying "Coming Soon" forever.

Sena for the last 8 years, excellent.