My wife and I enjoy riding together; up until now it's been two-up, but I just bought a new Sportster, so she is going to get her license and start riding my old bike. We bought a Chatterbox system a couple of years ago ( the hard wired version) and, well,...you get what you pay for.
It was inexpensive. It worked, sorta, riding around town. As soon as you got above about 40 mph, the road noise overcame the systems ability to cancel noise, and the volume to hear anything over the road noise just wasn't there. It became more frustration than it was worth, so we quit using it.
I spent a lot of time looking at various systems, what they could do and how much they cost. I also took a hard, objective look at our needs both now and in the future. Bluetooth seemed to be the way to go (no wires). Answer cellphone calls; might be useful...listen to tunes...same thing. Mostly, we needed (wanted) to be able to talk while riding at highway speeds without shouting, in full duplex, have resonable battery life, and be rugged enough to handle long days in bad weather.
We finally decided on a Scala rider system, and couldn't be happier with it. Although the newer versions ( Q2 series) have built in FM tuners, it wasn't something that we particularily needed, so we found a deal on a Scala rider twinset. They come paired from the factory, so all you have to do is charge them up and go. They last all day and then some; we have done 8 hour days in the saddle and they were still going. They pair with my cellphone (s), both iphone and Blackberry and since the Blackberry supports voice dialing, I can do that any time without any messing around.
The headsets have MP3 connectivity, so you can each plug in your ipod, listen to tunes that you want, and still be able to talk to each other without having to shut one device off, activate another, etc. All you need to do is clear your throat, the tunes silence, and you're on intercom automatically. if you have a zumo gps, you can also pair it with the system so you get the voice guidance as well.
Also, now that she's started riding herself, we have bike-to-bike communications for up to half a mile, which is VERY cool. I can follow her, give her pointers on riding techniques, etc.
She gets instant feedback, we can point out different things on the road, decide on stops, etc.
They have automatic volume adjustment based on ambient noise, and at highway speeds everything is crystal clear and as loud as you want. I have talked to people on the cellphone (they called me; I still haven't ever had the desire to actually phone someone while I'm riding) while riding at 70 mph on the freeway, and they did not know I was even on the bike. Most refused to believe it when I told them.
They work on full face, 3/4 or shorty helmets. Of course, you get the best sound with a full face (which we both use), but They are still very useable without a full coverage helmet.
Knowing what I know now about the quality of these things, I would have gladly paid a LOT more than I did. They are extremely useful, very high quality, easy to istall and easier still to use. I can't see any downside to them at all. Since they are technically "old generation", you can pick them up for a song ( I paid a little over $200 NIB from ebay) compared to the newer versions. I don't feel like I got shortchanged by not having an FM tuner, and the $200 I saved bought me some damned nice Kuriyakyn pegs. Win-win, I figure!
Wayne