The stereo on my 2018 CVO Limited started acting wonky last Aug. At first it would cut off and on like a razor blade (either on or off, no static). Sometimes it would work fine for several hours and sometimes only for a few minutes. It might stay silent for a few minutes or a few hours. Bumps on the road had no effect either on or off. It did not matter what source I chose. If I used my Bluetooth headphones then everything was great from all sources. Now it so bad that every time I get above about 30 the stereo cuts out and then only comes back if i sit a red light for a few minutes. As a side note that may or may not be related, last Sept the bike started charging at 16+ volts continuously and they ended up replacing the regulator. Could this have effected something else?

My EX dealer (fro whom I had purchased my last 3 bikes) fiddled around with it and ran me in circles until it was too late to make a lemon law issue out of it (I should have stayed on top of it better). Finally 2 weeks ago they told me they could not fix it and the I needed to take the bike elsewhere. They actually said that to me! They even went so far as to question whether it was really a warranty issue and told me that they could not replicate the problem! When I told them that if they were not willing to fix my bike I might need to contact a lawyer they literally told me to get off the premises!

This turned out to be good a thing as I then took my bike to a dealer that is actually trying to help me and fix my bike. Within a few hours they called me back to tell me that they had replicated my problem and that it was most certainly a warranty issue. They disconnected the speed sensor to see if it was the SVC (Speed Volume Control) and it seemed to do the trick. They got permission from HD to replace the radio and did so. Out of an abundance of caution their service manager called me up and asked my permission to do an extended test ride just to sure everything was fixed. After about 30 miles the stereo cut out again!. They then got permission to swap the amp. They did this, but the problem still remains The new dealership has escalated the issue to HD and I am told that HD will assign an engineer to the problem.

Over all I pleased with the way that new dealership has treated me and worked on the problem. I was just wondering if any of the stereo gurus here might have any ideas as to what might be causing my problem.

Things we know;
1) It's not the radio (it was replaced)
2) it's not the amp (it was replaced)
3) The blue tooth headset works 100% when connected. (Wish it had louder volume for music.)
4) Don't think it is a short / open as going over bumps has no effect
5) It is most likely not a setting. (See 1 and 2 above)

So if any of the stereo experts here have a good idea ( would settle for a remotely possible idea) I would really appreciate it.

 

Something in the wiring harness would be my guess. Either a wire broken under the insulation or a connector. Probably something in the speaker wiring based on your statement the bluetooth works flawlessly.

Wiring can be funny and hard to find. My RG started cutting out on me one day. I left a stop light and got on it a little when it acted like it lost spark. It sputtered a few times then came back to life. I'm pretty mechanical and couldn't figure it out. Replaced a few parts (plugs, wires, even crank position sensor). Nothing worked. Finally caved and took it to dealer. Long story short they traced it to a broken injector wire. The wire visibly appeared fine, but if you felt it with a light touch you could feel the break. It was right where the factory had put a zip tie on the harness. In low gears the engine had enough torque to rotate on the mounts far enough to pull the wire apart. In high gears or under light acceleration it wouldn't do it.

Long story to illustrate, wiring issues can be a bitch. Maybe the dealer can get permission to swap out the harness?

Zach

 

Just an update
Biggzed wins the prize!
The problem was twofold. 1) The SVC was turning the volume off instead of up. 2) There was a lose ground connection under the battery. Since they fixed those 2 items the stereo has worked perfectly!