FLTRX Audio Odyssey – Pt VIII

A couple more posts, pix and misc. thoughts to finish this up….

Here is a pic of the outer fairing off and the filler I used to wrap the speakers. I will be removing the Fairing this winter to check my connections and make some adjustments after measuring the system response (no, haven’t done that yet! My measurement equipment is on the fritz and I need to wait for my tech [son] to get back from college for Thanksgiving so we can check power supply and circuits!)

Don’t know if I covered this but I ordered acoustically transparent waterproof fabric from Cycle Sounds (Hydrophobic Grill Cloth for Bagger Audio™ Saddlebag Lid Kit) http://www.cyclesounds.com/bagger-au...-lid-kits.html as the Kicker 6x9’s I used were not marine or waterproof. I thought about this for a long time and decided to either glue the cloth to the speaker grills or to the lids above the speakers. Ultimately I ended up using black silicon caulk and cutting the fabric to shape placing it on top on the speakers.

 

I also ordered some Lid rain covers from Cycle Sounds for when the bike is out in the elements for added protection. http://www.cyclesounds.com/bagger-au...aker-lids.html

 

Here are a couple shots of the rain covers after an absolute gullywasher Tstorm. The covers showed water droplets on them. When I took the covers off the speaker grills were just a touch wet. This indicates the covers work but WILL let water through given enough force....and that storm was kickin'!

But the speakers were protected and still work great.

 

FLTRX Audio Odyssey - Pt VIII - 4


Last on the to-do list was the GPS mount.
I ran an extension cable from the left glove box Iron Cross Audio’s HDPDPLUS2 iPod Interface cable back to the instrument pod. It was a 30pin to 30pin iPod extension with an Apple 30pin to iPhone 5 adaptor plugged into that. My hopes were that this would all work for music and GPS turn by turn commands when I needed GPS. In theory it should work and for the most part it does. I can play iPhone music through the sound system and receive GPS instructions as needed from either Maps or GoogleMaps as I ride. However, the iPhone is awkward as it is not very user friendly when trying to search places/routes/other information and in general use when attached in this fashion to a motorcycle. Best thing to do is to stop and take a break and check out your settings as needed. Not surprising as it is awkward to try to use the HK headunit while moving also. But if you want to blow up the map to get a bearing on where you are….stop and take a break… If you have a route selected and just want to follow the turn by turn it works great! Also, I was hoping this setup would charge my iPhone as I rode but this does not appear to be the case. The phone says charge’ but it does not gain charge, it looses charge but at a slower rate. I suspect it is because of a difference in charging voltages between legacy iPod devices (30 pin) and the new iPod/iPhone devices. I seem to remember reading something about this on an Apple blog or such… I will check with Iron Cross Audio to see if there is something that can be done…

One last thing…. I love to just get out there and explore and get lost and find myself and …. RIDE! But when in the mountains of WV, on a route handwritten by a friend (excellent ride planner that he is!!), with only the Wife and myself, and having the requirement of being back at the hotel bar by dark, I want a GPS so I don’t hear the banjos!! Nuff said….

I needed a iPhone 5 cord cover to protect the exposed cord plug-in when not in use so I used some shrink tube and an old model part from the model parts box (yes, even though I have not built a kit in years I still have all my model making supplies, not to mention about 70 kits in storage from 25 years ago just waiting for my 'elderly' years!) I just shrunk the tube around the cord and the mtel piece and now I have a watertight cord cover. I made several to keep on the bike just in case...

As you can see from the pix the mount I decided on was black plastic and would cover the Iron Aces piece. As I said before I did not want to cover that and I could not figure out a mount that was easy to remove from the Iron Aces piece and still be sturdy enough for the vibrations so I came up with the following as seen in the pix.

 

FLTRX Audio Odyssey - Pt VIII - 5

I decided on this mount from ProClip http://www.proclipusa.com/accessorie...cessories.aspx

I researched mold making and decided on the Smoth-On Company as posted in a previous installment. After calling and speaking to a salesman about what I wanted to do I purchased 2 sample packs, Mold Star 15 SLOW Platinum silicon rubber mold compound and the EpoxAcast 690 Clear Castable Epoxy. Following the directions in the Smooth-On sample pack I made mold boxes and mixed the compound. Set the pieces I wanted to duplicate into the mold boxes and poured…. Having extra compound I decided to make a Willie G mold too. Might come in handy on the bike…. The Mold Star took about 24 hours to cure but I was not in a hurry. The molds separated from my originals pretty easily and it was time to pour the reproduction. I mixed up some EpoxAcast (a gram scale was needed as the amounts I was mixing were relatively low and everything I read on their site stressed the importance of correct ratio mixing) and poured that too. Fortunately I have a food scale since our older son did some Appalachian Trail hiking and was ultra serious about pack weight! I don’t remember how long the EpoxAcast took to cure but I do remember I could flex the molded part even hours after the minimum cast time so I was not too confident the piece would hold up! When I drilled it to mount on the bike it seemed soft. But over time it seems to have become stiffer and stronger. Maybe my mix ratio was wrong but now the piece is deemed reliable and has even seen a weekend trip to the mountains with excellent results holding the iPhone/GPS. See the pix for the results. I’m pretty happy with my first foray into mold making…

The iPhone holder is actually one I purchased from Best Buy as a belt clip modified to work with the other piece from the ProClip seen in the 3rd pic. I modified the clip by removing the belt clamp an using the double faced tape that came with the ProClip. I also purchased a swivel base from ProClip as seen in the last pic.

 

I was hoping to have a full report with riding impressions, sound judgements (pun intended...), frequency response measurements, circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one describing the .... Well, you get it....

But, as stated, the measurement equipment ain't working... Time has not been on my side... And life has taken me away from riding more than I would like...

My source audio is mostly from an iPod touch and most of the music is at 190kbs or higher. I mostly listen to Blues but R&R kicks in from time to time. Not so much the J&M flavor AC/DC... More like Alternative, Punk, Alice In Chains, Nickleback styles.
What I can say is, the system DOES play LOUD! Loud enough to hear on the highway under most conditions. Excessive wind seems to dampen the sound like on windy days. But during calm wind, high speed riding days I hear it just fine. The rear speakers are audible at lower speeds (less than highway) but I still know they are there when I turn my head on the highway. (I have my fader set at 2 bars to the back) I am not sure lower speakers were worth it as I don't know just how much I hear them, at any speed. Need to disconnect, ride, then re-connect. But I like the look!! The rear Kicker 6x9 three way speakers have a more balanced sound than the J&M's. And they play loud, too.... I DO have a SPL meter and will do front/lower/back SLP tests soon....hopefully this weekend. I like the bass from the J&M's and their mid/highs. They sound too boosted in the mid-bass at times and this is why I want to freq analyze the system. It might just be my sensitivity to that spectrum (or my hearing loss at other frequencies!) One mans poison is.... you know the rest. I do know my ears have been beat to hell and back through the years of loud concerts, my job as I wear a headset and receive transmissions all day, and age. But I like to think I can still hear enough to know when something is not quite right... In the interim before I get the audio test gear fixed I purchased a set of Polk MM651's and will take a weekend and swap out the J&M's in the upper fairing to see if my perceptions are skewed.
These tests and follow-up measurements, etc will be posted in a new thread as it might be Christmas before I get everything together.
But overall I can say the system mostly thrills with occasional disappointment. The mid bass thing being the issue. I'll let you know what I find....

Go Penns....!

 

Had a couple more pix I would like to share with the GPS mount.....

 

Dang dude nice job. My junk is hack! lol

 

dude thats some pretty slick work there! hats off to you for a nice, clean install and detailed explanation with pics...