I am needing a couple of headsets for my 98 GL1500. I saw in a previous post that Terryj made headsets for these for a reasonable price. Sent him a PM although received no response. Are their other options/and/or people I should look to? Maybe I am cheap although paying $ 100 for some of the sets out there seems a bit extreme to me...
thanks
headset for GL1500
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HALBUDD
- Posts: 879
- Joined: Sat Aug 14, 2010 9:14 pm
- Location: New Albany In
- Motorcycle: 1984 gl1200a&1985GL1200A & 1996 gl 1500 aspy. us army 74-77
Re: headset for GL1500
I have found a couple of sets on e-bay that where in good shape and not to bad a price. The only other ones are from J&B electronics good luck.
A woman that can use tools is worth her weight in gold !!
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Mh434
- Posts: 1531
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2014 10:24 pm
- Location: Manzanillo, Colima, Mexico
- Motorcycle: 1997 gl1500 SE
Previous:
1981 GL1100I
1989 Kawasaki Concours
Re: headset for GL1500
I ended up going with J&M in the end, because there wasn't much else out there. Yes, they ARE expensive, but they seem to be pretty good kit and, as long as you take reasonable care of them, they'll last for years. Plus, you CAN get parts for them...
That having been said, I see that Show Chrome now has a 5-pin headset, as does IMC, suitable for all GW's, both brands at around the $80 per set mark.
The J&M sets run around $150+, and the Honda brand units seem to be roughly $200+.
One thing to consider on used units (they'd most likely be J&M) is that some of the older sets had the bike-to-helmet cord plugging in to the helmet at a steep downward angle. If the previous owner habitually sat the helmet down right side up (always better than on its side or upside down!!!), the weight of the helmet on the strain relief eventually breaks the wires loose inside the connector & you'll lose one or both speakers, or the microphone. One used unit I had had this problem. The newer J&M's don't have this issue - they've redesigned them so the helmet's weight rests on the headset's helmet clamp, rather than the cord & strain relief.
***Word to the wise, for EVERYONE using clamp-on style headsets - check the clamp screw tightness from time to time!*** I didn't, and on a recent trip, my wife's (used, but new to me) headset shed both of its screws & the inner portion of the clamp, causing the whole thing to fall off & dangle from her helmet. I put it back on, temporarily, with Gorilla tape (successfully, for the rest of the trip). Luckily, I still had the clamp parts from my failed, older-style headset (with the broken internal wires in the strain relief), and they worked perfectly to put it back in service.
In the end, I was happy with the build & performance of the J&M, despite the price point.
That having been said, I see that Show Chrome now has a 5-pin headset, as does IMC, suitable for all GW's, both brands at around the $80 per set mark.
The J&M sets run around $150+, and the Honda brand units seem to be roughly $200+.
One thing to consider on used units (they'd most likely be J&M) is that some of the older sets had the bike-to-helmet cord plugging in to the helmet at a steep downward angle. If the previous owner habitually sat the helmet down right side up (always better than on its side or upside down!!!), the weight of the helmet on the strain relief eventually breaks the wires loose inside the connector & you'll lose one or both speakers, or the microphone. One used unit I had had this problem. The newer J&M's don't have this issue - they've redesigned them so the helmet's weight rests on the headset's helmet clamp, rather than the cord & strain relief.
***Word to the wise, for EVERYONE using clamp-on style headsets - check the clamp screw tightness from time to time!*** I didn't, and on a recent trip, my wife's (used, but new to me) headset shed both of its screws & the inner portion of the clamp, causing the whole thing to fall off & dangle from her helmet. I put it back on, temporarily, with Gorilla tape (successfully, for the rest of the trip). Luckily, I still had the clamp parts from my failed, older-style headset (with the broken internal wires in the strain relief), and they worked perfectly to put it back in service.
In the end, I was happy with the build & performance of the J&M, despite the price point.