Evening all Im trying to get my head around the purpose of the blue tooth facility on my 2020 Multistrada 1260 enduro Seems you can control the phone from the handle bar switches, but if the phone is paired to the bike, how does my sena intercom come into play ? I thought a phone could only connect to one device at a time ? Apart from answering calls, does the blue tooth connection provide any other useful function ? Many thanks Neil B
I can use intercom, Garmin sat Nav, and music from my phone, and phone/ text on my Sena. Don't know it all sorts itself out but seems to.
The phone controls via the switchgear using a Bluetooth connected phone are distracting at best IMHO. Maybe OK at a standstill, but not when riding.
This trifecta of technical fuckery is something I've dealt with over the years and have eventually come to the same conclusion each time I try to make it work - skip the bike connection, if it works, great, if it doesn't, move on. My normal order of process with my Zumo XT and Sena headset is to turn on both the helmet and GPS, they always connect to my phone, then I start the bike, a third device then connects in (audio queue through the sena headset) and I can see on the bike dash there is control for audio/phone, however... I rarely use it and control music through the zumo. My phone is always stashed away in the tank bag and not part of the control. I've had many issues where the bike will for some reason or other, lose media control or connection mid ride or after a fuel stop, requiring a chicken chase of connecting and disconnecting devices until it works. Or, if you try to adjust volume or skip a track through the bike, then through the GPS device, the bike and GPS simply throws a fit and the trifecta of technical fuckery begins again as you sit awkwardly in silence until you pull over to sort it. As Bumpkin says, the controls on the bike are not even that intuitive, if at all, unlike the GPS's forward, backward, pause/play buttons on the GPS screen along with other controls. All with common sense in design (to some degree), unlike the bikes. Plus, the obvious -- the eyeline for the GPS unit (if mounted behind the screen) is a higher eyeline than the bikes dash
To be honest I don't want to talk on the phone when im out on bike, id never get freedom from the GF, and I cannot currently see any benefit from using the Ducati app and having phone connected to bike, so I've decided not to bother with that connection, I'll stick to Phone connected to headset for Google maps verbal directions. roll on better weather!
That's the exact conclusion I came to after looking into the BT system on the bike.. it just seems needlessly unnecessary.
I can’t speak for the 1260 really but if it is anything like the V4S from 2021 onwards you’re supposed to connect the phone to the dash and then connect the dash to your comms, likewise with the passenger’s comms. The dash then acts as the central hub for controlling and distributing the data packets to/from the correct device. Thats the theory anyway - I’m sure your owners manual will confirm or deny that and/or advise accordingly.
Also the Ducati App only works (on the V4) if you leave your phone ‘always on’ if the phone goes to sleep you lose the connection. It also eats the battery on your phone. I tend to link the headset to the phone and sometimes the sat nav, but I don’t listen to spoken directions just use the sat nav to control my music.
