Help, I don't know what's going on with my HD factory radio and my hog tunes equipment. Let me start at the beginning. I have a 2009 Ultra classic (13K miles). I have the HD Harmon Kardon radio. I had the Hog Tunes set up installed about 1 year ago, now it is causing me trouble. When I turn on the switch (turn the acc switch on the main console to the right, and before I press start on the handle bars) the unit works fine, full sound from all speakers. I am running the Hog Tunes speakers and amp on the front tweeters, and mains as well as the subs in the lowers. The factory amp runs the rear speakers. When I start the bike, the only speakers that work are the rear speakers, none of the others. At other times, the Hog Tunes amp makes a loud distorted noise loud enough to blow the speakers. I have to turn off the acc and radio to get it to stop. In order for the radio to play without this blaring problem, I have to start the bike and turn on the radio after it is running, and still only the back speakers are playing. If I turn on the acc but NOT start the bike, all of the speakers play normally. The dealer can't seem to identify the problem, even though the system was installed by the dealer. Has anyone else had this problem? By the way, this is my second radio on the bike. Original radio was replaced about a year ago. Was living in Atlanta, but have moved to Tampa. Anyone got any ideas, or should I pull everything out and just run factory for front anr rear? Seems like an aweful waste for such an expensive set up. Is the problem with the radio or the Hog Tunes amps and speakers?
Thanks, Dwayne

 

Have you tried talking to the Hawg tunes guys?

 

Something is loose enough to cause a vibration issue would be my guess. Could be a hook up, or even someting inside the radio itself. There seems to be a lot of post about HK radios crapping out

 

Sounds to me like the problem is that your amp has a loose connection somewhere from the vibration. I don't know if this is applicable but I was having problems with my radio sound quitting intermittently and I actually thought the problem was my radio but after some troubleshooting I found that the vibration from the bike was causing the inline blade fuse to pit around the connection to the fuse which would cause the amp to go into self protection mode. If you have access to the fuse you might want to pull the fuse and look to see if there are pitting marks on the blades.

Mike

 

As a stereo installer, I can tell you that your problem could be the radio, the amp, the wiring, or even the power sources you are using. There's no way I could give you an answer on here but if I had the bike, I could isolate the problem pretty quick with some tests.

If the dealership is not going to take care of it under warranty, take it to a reputable car stereo shop. They should be able to narrow it down pretty quick.

It does seem to me that your amp may be losing power when the bike is running for some reason. I would check my amp's power with the bike running first. You can also take the speaker wires coming from the radio loose from the amp and touch them to a known good speaker. If the speaker plays, that would eliminate the radio from the problem.

 

when your radio stops does it inadvertinly switch to intercom mode on your radio. thats what mine was doing and they had to replace the radio.

 

Dwayne,
I had the exact same problem that you are speaking about. When talking with Hogtunes I was informed that a weak battery will cause this problem. I replaced the battery and things got better but still was an intermittant problem. Called and talked with them again and was told to send my amp to them and they had to change a low voltage cutoff transistor. I sent the amp to them and received the amp promptly. After installing the amp in my bike it did not work; called them and they sent me a new one under warranty and I sent my old one to them. The amp that I have is the Big Ultra 160W; Hope this helps.

 

TexasVet, Is the new amp working OK and your problem gone?

I'm just getting ready to order the Big Ultra kit.

I've always had HogTunes speakers, but want to see how much better the amp will be - speakers alone were great by themselves over the stock ones.

 

I have not a problem since the repair and replace of the amp. When the issue started I was informed that on the first generation amps the low voltage cutoff transistor was too sensitive to low voltages and the new transistor had the voltage bar raised. The system is great and they provide top notch service.

 

I called Hog Tunes and they suggested that I send in the amp. This seems to be a text book problem with this speaker and amp set up. They will have to do a few simple electrical mods. The problem is that I have to remove the faring and un-plug the amp. I have never liked removing the faring, so I will have to go by the dealer to have it done. So for those that have had this problem, will I be without a radio until this problem is satisfied? Currently, only the rear speakers are working anyway. Now that I think about it, the amp and radio work fine when the bike is in the ACC mode, but not after is it started. The battery is about 1 year old, so I tend to believe it is a simple matter of voltage. I will send in the amp and update you once I have it back.
Dwayne