My 1990 has some rear speaker problems. The rear left side speaker is intermittant. When I first turn the radio on the speaker works perfect but after about 5 seconds it shuts off although I can still hear static coming out of it. The right side speaker cone moves when I turn on the radio but no sound comes out at all. I traced all the wires and I don't see any issues anywhere. I also tried new speakers with no change. Has anybody else had a problem like this? I am thinking the radio might be bad and that I will have to live with front speakers only this season until I can afford a new radio.

 

Anybody?

 

I have both back speakers working and the front left speaker works once in a while. I can't decide if the speaker is bad or if the radio is. I'm thinking radio, in my case.
Maybe if someone can help you, they can help me as well.

 

It could be any of a number of things. There could be an intermittent connection on the back of the speaker. There could be a broken wire or bad connection in the wire harness for the speaker that's not working all of the time. I guess it could even be in the fader circuit for that particular speaker. I'm not sure about that though.

What I would suggest you do first is, take the seat off, turn your system on and shake or wiggle the speaker wires for the side that's giving you the problem. If that doesn't find it, then you may have a more serious problem.

 

Sounds to me like one of the channels is cutting out when the radio warms up so it might be time for a new radio but I would check all the wires and connections first just to make sure.

 

My 05 Ultra radio is doing just that... after about 20 minutes of higher volume the right front speaker starts to fail. Seems like an overheating problem to me...wonder if the warranty will cover repair or replacement. Gonna guess no since I added Hog Tune speakers and then the 6 1/2 inch polks

 

I looked at the schematic in detail tonight and it appears the rear speakers run through the CB. There is a circuit board under the side cover that does several things regarding the CB and intercom system. I found the 5 amp POD fuse to be blown, the 3 amp CB power fuse was in very poor shape (the plastic was cracked and brittle). The 1 amp fuse for CB memory was ok. I wonder if my speakers weren't working because the POD fuse was blown. Once my new battery cables arrive (in about a week) I will know.
I also added an additional ground wire to my voltage regulator. I removed it, cleaned the base it mounts to and ran an additional ground wire from one of the bolts up the frame downtube and into a ground point under the fairing.
I don't think the charging system on this bike has any problems. The voltage regulator is relatively new, and so is the stator. At idle the battery is putting out 12.4-12.6. If I rev it to 2500 its up to around 14.1
Bike starts perfect too. I am trying to find a place that will load test my battery. The local Autozone doesn't load test motorcycle batteries.

 

I thought someone had already referred you to Radio Sound, HD's vendor of the radio/CB in your bike. If not, here's their phone no. (502) 267-6768. Ask for customer service. You'll probably speak to John; very helpful guy.

 

I wish I had the magic answer and I know thet throwing money at an older bike is not always the funnest thing.

The only thing I can say is this, I rebuilt my buddies 90 Ultra when he bought used 2 yrs ago. We went through a lot of electrical gremlins and radio / speaker issues as well.

He wanted the tunes badly , and did not have a need for the cb. We went with the entire Biketronics kit for his 'glide ( 4 new spekers, the IPOD compatable Radio, and the installation kit. ) It was a plug and play operation with minimal wiring. It does not provide for making the CB work though, which "for him" was not a deal breaker.

I installed the whole system within 2 hrs and the performance is light years ahead of the old system. Clear, clean and loud tunes...

So if your looking at replacing the radio down the road, spending a little more for the biketronics "retro radio" kit is worth a look...