The Official 2014 audio upgrade thread
Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 5,788
Likes: 203
From: SW Florida
Will do , I guess I'm thinking the fairing cut out would decrease in diameter even more with the CVO grills installed that I'm using. The stock speakers are noticeably smaller in actual cone diameter.
Filing a slot to clear the grill mounting screw may not change the over all fairing alignment over the speaker and the grills make it hard to see this. When I trial fitted the fairing the 1st time I did it with the grills installed and it looked good.
Filing a slot to clear the grill mounting screw may not change the over all fairing alignment over the speaker and the grills make it hard to see this. When I trial fitted the fairing the 1st time I did it with the grills installed and it looked good.
Cruiser
Joined: Aug 2014
Posts: 104
Likes: 0
From: Perry, Ohio
So add me to the list of exterior pod mounted speakers. I have no idea why it sounds better, but to me it's night/day difference. When I switched back-n-forth between the two (right interior and left exterior at the same time), the outside mounted one is clearer, not muddy, and has better base response. When I mounted the speakers on the inside of the pod, they sounded muffled and there was alot of noise/vibrations at higher volume. I was very disapointed as the rear sounded so good and the front ones were not even close. I did not end up porting the pods, as the sound was so much better once I moved the speakers out of the pods. I am using the V-Twin grills, so no issues with the tweeter.
I don't understand it , but I can tell you that I went from very disapointed in the sound quality after the speaker swap to extremely happy. UN told me I may be satisfied with just a speaker swap out for the Kappas and he was right
. I have not installed the amp yet and am waiting to see what happens with the flash issues (and UN's fix 
) In the meanwhile the fairing stays off until either there is a fix or the weather turns enough to start riding 
I don't understand it , but I can tell you that I went from very disapointed in the sound quality after the speaker swap to extremely happy. UN told me I may be satisfied with just a speaker swap out for the Kappas and he was right
. I have not installed the amp yet and am waiting to see what happens with the flash issues (and UN's fix ) In the meanwhile the fairing stays off until either there is a fix or the weather turns enough to start riding
Stellar HDF Member
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 2,620
Likes: 1,091
From: Eastern IA
Well I had pretty good luck mounting them inside. I've been out in the garage for an hour side by side comparing them for sound , one inside and one outside the pod. I can't really tell a difference between them.
I sealed it up pretty good though, that ring on the inside is so thin there just isn't much surface to work with like the out side of the pod .
I went to Lowes and got a $1.83 piece of pipe insulation with the adhesive seam. Electing not to cut the mounting pins down I used the insulation to wrap around the ring a little bit taller than the mounting pins, this is so it compresses a little when you bolt the speaker in.
I used electrical tape around inside of the ring to cover it so I wouldn't see the white pod surface through the grills and to help seal the insulation.
It's patch work as it's hard to work around the webbing and tight spots but I think it's worth it .
PS; Just running the stock Boom 4.3 no amp yet , and these sound so much better than the stock speaker's .
I sealed it up pretty good though, that ring on the inside is so thin there just isn't much surface to work with like the out side of the pod .
I went to Lowes and got a $1.83 piece of pipe insulation with the adhesive seam. Electing not to cut the mounting pins down I used the insulation to wrap around the ring a little bit taller than the mounting pins, this is so it compresses a little when you bolt the speaker in.
I used electrical tape around inside of the ring to cover it so I wouldn't see the white pod surface through the grills and to help seal the insulation.
It's patch work as it's hard to work around the webbing and tight spots but I think it's worth it .
PS; Just running the stock Boom 4.3 no amp yet , and these sound so much better than the stock speaker's .
Last edited by Stopit; Mar 8, 2015 at 07:09 PM.
Road Captain
Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 713
Likes: 97
From: Castle Rock, Colorado
Look at the out side diameter of the speaker in relationship to the fairing cut out , as you get towards the top you can see the fairing pushing in on the outer rubber ring of the speaker cone. I wonder how many have ever looked at this with out grills installed ? I wouldn't have if it wern't for replacint the fairing .
Tourer
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 356
Likes: 1
From: Mesa Arizona
Well I had pretty good luck mounting them inside. I've been out in the garage for an hour side by side comparing them for sound , one inside and one outside the pod. I can't really tell a difference between them.
I sealed it up pretty good though, that ring on the inside is so thin there just isn't much surface to work with like the out side of the pod .
I went to Lowes and got a $1.83 piece of pipe insulation with the adhesive seam. Electing not to cut the mounting pins down I used the insulation to wrap around the ring a little bit taller than the mounting pins, this is so it compresses a little when you bolt the speaker in.
I used electrical tape around inside of the ring to cover it so I wouldn't see the white pod surface through the grills and to help seal the insulation.
It's patch work as it's hard to work around the webbing and tight spots but I think it's worth it .
PS; Just running the stock Boom 4.3 no amp yet , and these sound so much better than the stock speaker's .
I sealed it up pretty good though, that ring on the inside is so thin there just isn't much surface to work with like the out side of the pod .
I went to Lowes and got a $1.83 piece of pipe insulation with the adhesive seam. Electing not to cut the mounting pins down I used the insulation to wrap around the ring a little bit taller than the mounting pins, this is so it compresses a little when you bolt the speaker in.
I used electrical tape around inside of the ring to cover it so I wouldn't see the white pod surface through the grills and to help seal the insulation.
It's patch work as it's hard to work around the webbing and tight spots but I think it's worth it .
PS; Just running the stock Boom 4.3 no amp yet , and these sound so much better than the stock speaker's .
Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 5,788
Likes: 203
From: SW Florida
I mounted mine on the inside like you. I am very happy with my sound now. One thing I did was I reinforced the area where the speakers mount (those Kappas are pretty heavy hanging off the back (inside) of that pod. I didn't trust four screws going through that pod material. What I did was I used my old speakers that came off the bike...I simply cut the top flange off the speakers and mounted it on the outside of the pod in it's original position. That gave much more bearing surface to hold the weight of the new speakers. It may be overkill, but I had an accident during my install...I knocked the speaker pod off the workbench (with the Kappa mounted inside). The outer pod casing cracked like an egg...it was useless. I couldn't believe how fragile it was. It cost me a hundred bucks or so to buy a whole new pod. After seeing how brittle/fragile that material is, I decided to use the old speaker shell as a reinforcement. It worked like a charm.
Cruiser
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 118
Likes: 1
From: Georgia
Hey JWilson:
These two sets of instructions below confuse me.
When I first took my bike to the dealer before installing the speakers and amp the DT showed two amps off. This meaning the external amps.
This setting did not allow any
changes to be make all tabs were grayed out
So when you first look at the DT do you turn the two external amps ON then go in and turn the internal amps OFF and choose 8 speaker to get 135_OFF.BIN?
1. Local dealer let me in the back today to try some stuff.
This is what I learned about 135_OFF.BIN.
On a 14 FLHTK if you turn off amp1 and amp2,
then select 2 amps installed and 8 speakers you get 135_OFF.BIN.
This flattens the EQ, retains AVC, retains Bass and Treble control but kills the fader.
2. When you enter 2, the EQ changes. When you then back out and look at system settings you can enter the setting of off or on for amp1 and amp2. Both amps off got me to 135_OFF.BIN.
the fader.
These two sets of instructions below confuse me.
When I first took my bike to the dealer before installing the speakers and amp the DT showed two amps off. This meaning the external amps.
This setting did not allow any
changes to be make all tabs were grayed out
So when you first look at the DT do you turn the two external amps ON then go in and turn the internal amps OFF and choose 8 speaker to get 135_OFF.BIN?
1. Local dealer let me in the back today to try some stuff.
This is what I learned about 135_OFF.BIN.
On a 14 FLHTK if you turn off amp1 and amp2,
then select 2 amps installed and 8 speakers you get 135_OFF.BIN.
This flattens the EQ, retains AVC, retains Bass and Treble control but kills the fader.
2. When you enter 2, the EQ changes. When you then back out and look at system settings you can enter the setting of off or on for amp1 and amp2. Both amps off got me to 135_OFF.BIN.
the fader.
Stellar HDF Member
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 2,620
Likes: 1,091
From: Eastern IA
I mounted mine on the inside like you. I am very happy with my sound now. One thing I did was I reinforced the area where the speakers mount (those Kappas are pretty heavy hanging off the back (inside) of that pod. I didn't trust four screws going through that pod material. What I did was I used my old speakers that came off the bike...I simply cut the top flange off the speakers and mounted it on the outside of the pod in it's original position. That gave much more bearing surface to hold the weight of the new speakers. It may be overkill, but I had an accident during my install...I knocked the speaker pod off the workbench (with the Kappa mounted inside). The outer pod casing cracked like an egg...it was useless. I couldn't believe how fragile it was. It cost me a hundred bucks or so to buy a whole new pod. After seeing how brittle/fragile that material is, I decided to use the old speaker shell as a reinforcement. It worked like a charm.
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Stellar HDF Member
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 2,620
Likes: 1,091
From: Eastern IA
I too found that the top of my 62.11i speakers came in contact with fairing spkr opening. Do you have any concerns regarding sound quality because of this and/or the spkrs longevity. Don't have the amp yet, but the spkrs sound good through 3/4 volume then gets some distortion.
Advanced
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 63
Likes: 0
From: East Peoria, IL
Molex connectors to speakers and radio main harness
Can anyone give me details on the Schematics or a copy of the Service manual diagram on the Molex connectors to speakers and radio main harness?