Glad to help.

Loving my Limited after a year myself.

 

There is a software update on the HD website 1.18.1

 

Where are you seeing 1.18.1? When I checked this morning it was still 1.17.4.

 

I put 1.18.10 on the bike last night.

http://www.harley-davidson.com/app-c...5GT_1.18.1.zip

 

Make sure your browser isn't using a cached web page and showing you a previous page it saved.

Basically find
Internet Options
Clear Cache

And did you notice the date on the bottom of the Instructions page? September 23, 2014
I know September couldn't have gone by that fast

 

I would love to hear reviews on the update

 

I went through the menus last night and I rode to work this morning and noticed nothing new. I was one of the few fairly satisfied with the 6.5 with 1.17.4.

There was a section in the Bluetooth called Ringtones - was that there before?

 

Yes, ringtones were there before.

I am posting pictures of the update in the other thread.

https://www.hdforums.com/forum/showt...=994622&page=3

 

I mean no disrespect to anyone - but sometimes, the complaints over the Infotainment system really do cause me to laugh.

My '14 Limited is my first Harley; I bought a Suzuki 1400 Intruder in 1996 & a Yamaha RoyalStar Venture in 2002. In both cases, my HD riding friends - of which I had/still have many - chided me for not buying one. My answer was always the same: the extra money, in my opinion, didn't buy me any extra bike & maybe not as much bike. I didn't have to worry about replacing base gaskets, welding broken exhaust brackets, top end rebuilds, etc. - I just wanted to ride.

I was told the same old line: "If we have to explain, you wouldn't understand." That proved true, because I never did.


Fast forward to 2014, & the new Harleys are as well built as anything on the market. While all of that other stuff was accepted before as "part of the ownership experience" - which cost more - now HD owners are upset over things like the Infotainment System not booting to the same music source each time the bike is fired up.

My personal take is this: the system isn't really that "buggy". The sound through the 6.5 system is fantastic even at 70MPH. My FM radio & reception seems fine when I use it; I'm able to stream music via Bluetooth from my Android phone effortlessly; I can also plug a memory stick or my MP3 player into the system & play music that way. I've made & taken phone calls while riding with my 3/4 open touring helmet that contains my headset without issue, my wife tells me she wouldn't have known I was riding. Tried the CB for the first time last weekend & although I didn't measure out a maximum range, I had my friend pull way out in front as if we had a 50-bike pack between us & we communicated without issue.

My XM reception is not as good as I had hoped for; it is not as good as in my old bike witch also had an in-fairing antenna & neither is as good as our GMC SUV with a rooftop antenna. For me, it is acceptable, but just barely. I'll move the antenna to the top of the dash; folks here report it adds at least "1 bar" in all conditions. The antenna is barely bigger than the button for closing the vent in length & width.

The Navigation system works for me. If I plug in a location & hit "GO", it plans a route & gets me there. I haven't had it fail to do that yet. I've seen the posts that claim the system was going to turn them into a lake, or didn't show roads that existed, etc., the compass points the wrong way, the screen shows the turns in the wrong direction, etc. I honestly believe some of that is confusion over how the display is set, either with North always pointing up or the direction of travel pointed up. Some could be due to the maps needing updated, which I hope will be every year or so.

There will be times a GPS makes an error. My 665 Garmin did too - in one particular spot near my old home, it would never allow me to enter one highway going south - it always directed me north to the first exit, then had me get back on to go south. Going to DC for Rolling Thunder, I swear every year it would take me a different route to the hotel. They are not perfect & that is why I always have good maps with me & study them before I leave.

I will agree, at least as far as I can tell up to now, there could be a better working relationship between Ride Planner & the 6.5 system. But let's face it: it will not be as good as a portable Garmin. With the Garmin, you plug the actual GPS unit into your computer & use the maps inside the GPS unit to plan your route (assuming you are using Basecamp) on your PC, probably in your living room or den. I don't see that happening with an onboard system, & if the on-line map isn't matched up perfectly with the 6.5 there could be issues when planning specific routes. I'll stress again though I had the same type of issue with my 665 from time to time. As a Road Captain, I planned a lot of rides & learned quickly to also study maps as it could, on occasion, act unpredictably.

I too hope the system is further improved by firmware updates, but I don't look for the general method of operation to be changed much. Map upgrades will come, but be prepared to spend dearly for them. While you can buy Garmin with lifetime upgrades, you won't see it with the 6.5 system - my wife & I don't see it in our GMC either, I believe updated maps are around $150 for that vehicle.

Like everyone else here, I spent in the neighborhood of $30 large for my bike. Certainly, there could be some improvements in the system but it is far from being a bust. It reminds me of when my company went to the SAP system for our operating software: you can try your hardest to get it to work exactly as you want, but sometimes you'll have to adapt to how it wants to work.

 

Thanks, for some reason my browser was caching things.