Chatterbox HJC-27A CB, with custom antenna mount and Wilson 2000 center-loaded whip antenna (5" stalk)

Running a CB on a motorcycle used for cross-country travel is, IMO, invaluable. The important key for me was to be able to multiplex the audio signal from my radar detector into the CB headset. Fortunately, Chatterbox makes a bike-to-bike communicator which is simply a CB unit. Even more fortunately, this Chatterbox setup comes provisioned with the capability to integrate external audio sources into the CB audio, relieving me of the hassles involved with building/buying an external interface box. While the Chatterbox unit is not perfect (it defaults to Channel 9 each power-on, it prioritizes CB audio over the external audio signal), it is a simple and self-contained setup that is less than half the cost of competing solutions.

The unit comes with a weather-proof Push-To-Talk (PTT) switch, headset, antenna, antenna bracket, a mini-tank bag to hold it all, and the CB unit itself. The CB unit is about five inches long, three inches wide, and two inches thick. The controls are sized such that they can be operated with gloves on. The radio unit is NOT weather-resistant, and must be kept from getting wet. Since I am using the Multivario tank bag, I am not using the supplied Chatterbox bag but have the Chatterbox radio tucked into the left side of the Multivario top compartment.

I found that the supplied antenna and bracket were less than useful For true CB-range communications, and had fabricated a custom bracket which locates the CB unit off my rear luggage rack. I chose a Wilson Trucker-2000 antenna, because it gives outstanding transmit/receive Range and is a whip-style (which places less stress on the antenna mount than would a fiberglass style antenna).