"Any suggestions for a reliable, inexpensive and easy to install commercial .... antenna."
Phew! If you'd have included 'high performance' in those qualifications, you would have really been expecting too much!
I have to make a few assumptions. First that you are thinking about a VHF/UHF antenna, and that your bike is metal. That being the case, almost any of the commercially available mobile antennas could suit your purposes. The biggy would be where to mount the thing so that it's not going to be always in the way and at least reasonably safe for the rider while in motion.
Probably the most common, or practical mounting positions if on one 'end' of the bike, front/back. The back end would probably be safer, maybe? Then, what do you attach the mount to? The requirement for that is electrical connection to the rest of the bike, unless the metal part it's attached to is something like a 1/4 wave length at the frequency of use. And the mechanical requirement, the ability to support the thing without breaking/bending. Got a luggage rack on the back (or front)? Or would you object to running a wire counterpoise to act as the other half of the antenna? Then you get to connect that antenna to the radio(s), more cable running between them.
I'm also assuming that your radios are HTs with self contained power sources. If not, then where can you stick a battery to power them? And/or, where can you stick an extra battery or two just in case?
Getting complicated yet?
About the antenna(s). Larger ones are generally 'better' than shorter ones, within reason. Range is a terrible way of rating antennas, but the longer ones tend to have longer ranges than the shorter ones. It still depends on propagation, and where you are, and where 'they' are. The larger antennas tend to have some gain over the shorter ones, and that 'gain' is always relative to what the antenna is it's being compared to.
So, no matter how complicated I'm making it sound, it's certainly 'do-able' and not that uncommon at all. You know more about your bike than I do, so I'll leave all the decisions up to you. It amounts to the mount used, which is more practical for you to use. How much you care about looking like a bowl of spaghetti on wheels. And your imagination. A metal hardhat mounted antenna isn't completely unreasonable, and just stick the radio in your pocket. (It sounds silly, but it works.)
So... wada'ya think?
- 'Doc
