You are correct !!! I have a Maco 300 watt linear set up for 11 meter that you can't tell if it is on or not. Except you can't get away from the signal very easy.....
I don't have it on the Trike, but still available for when needed. The Trike doesn't have enough battery.

 

I can't seem to get much action on the SWR with the antenna that I now have on. It is a short 22". It has come down some, but not enough. Like Namvet1966 is doing, I have also talked with others that have done the Firestick antenna with good luck. I think that is going to be my next move. The Firestick has an adjustable tip.
If you want to try & trim the coil loaded antenna,(after market) you can hook up your SWR meter & get away from all buildings especially metal. Take the coil wire & pull a short amount out & trim it off at about 1/4" at a time. Check SWR each adjustment. If you are going up on SWR you might have to split the plastic cover just far enough to reach about 5 turns of the coil & slide them toward the end of the antenna shaft Just a little at a time.
The cover cap should cover up the slit when finished. I used a silicone glue to put the cover tip back on.

 

Thanks sloufoot, I'll give that a try. Guess now all I have to do is go find a meter.

 

We tried out the Fire Stick and found it to be little better that stock but the range is still very limited, maybe just over a mile and then falls off quick. It is very clear, for what that is worth. I could have gone with a longer antenna but the HD mounting does not seem to be that secure and the longer antenna would move around too much putting stress on the HD mount. I am still concerned that the high SWR may have damaged the finals in the radio, so if anyone does check the actual output of wattage, then please advise. Also I am very curious on how everything is wired inside the tour pack and under the metal piece used as a ground plane. It is hard to see the wiring trail without taking it all apart and the HD dealer was no help either. The cb mount has a small wire that comes off and goes under the metal plate, at first I thought this was the ground, but it isn't and appears to run into a connector and then into a coax. I do not see a regular PL259 connector, but there is one on the AM/FM mount. I really would hate taking the entire thing apart, just to see how it works, but may have to.

 

Most folks who run more that legal power run it dirty. Granted some may have a clean signal, but come on vaham, we are talking 11 meters here. A lot of 10 meter options with the right equipment to check outputs, like a tuner maybe. Not normal stuff you find at a truck stop. Consider me schooled if that's what you want.

 

A dirty signal is the product of the equipment design if you are talking about RF amplifiers, they have no bandwidth filtering, and amplify the poorly-chosen components noise floor. Using discrete components has made that worse, as the cheap ones have a phenomenally-high noise floor that is captured, amplified, and transmitted..

This is NOT the principle cause of dirty signals.. I can transmit a kilowatt on AM and it be cleaner than the average two watt radio... Why ?operator ignorance. The first thing everyone does is buy a "Power" mike and run it wide open...after all , more is better, right ? They overdrive the audio section, it starts clipping the envelope peaks, folds back, then repeats.... Sounds like absolute hell.... Then, these idiots add an "echo" box or talk-back, further processing and muddying up an already overdriven audio....
This is the same mindset that drops off their radio at a truck-stop technician to have it tuned up. So, a golden screwdriver goes into the radio, completely ignorant of the relationship between output power and modulation envelope, and how they affect and generate false meter readings.. And you get a radio that sounds like hell...
But it has NOTHING to do with power output...

 

Roger
73

 

Unmodified 2012 TG CB:
3.8 watts forward
.5 watt reflected
2.19:1 VSWR

 

You are in a good usable range at 3.8 watt. (4 is max) check the modulation if your meter will do that. You don't want anything over 100%, but as close as possible. The modulation isn't adjustable on the HD unit without taking the unit apart & doing it on a bench & scope. Even then I doubt it can be changed as I think it is filled with epoxy.
Your SWR is a little high. If possible it shouldn't go over 1.5:1. But without some kind of ground plane for the signal to work with you won't have a lot of range. A lot less off the rear.

 

I suspect that SWR is indicative of most unmodified triglides. I actually do better than I expected to the rear. Far enough back that they are hard to see in the rear view mirror. I've ordered some goodies to address the SWR issue, and will take another look. There's a bigger problem with the radio. Speakers have been intermittent, but went down hard 2 days ago. Ran the self-diagnostic and got the following (helmet headphones still work perfectly fine): Open FL speaker code, open RL speaker code, RR shorted code, RR shorted to ground code, and RR shorted to 12V code. It's a real soup sandwich now.