Hey all, I am running an aftermarket alpine deck and I have wired it into the factory harness on the bike. It works great but occasionally shuts off and restarts. It doesn't loose memory, comes back where it left off but sometimes it will reset itself. Annoying as hell more than anything.
It will happen at completely random times. The radio is a known good radio and I know it isn't the problem.

Where should I start, any suggestions for a different wiring method?

 

You are losing power or ground. I don't think you need anything different, just recheck what you have. Is there a protection circuit in the radio?

 

Yes, I agree. Your symptoms are caused by a brief interrupt in power. Could also be a short on that circuit momentarily dropping the voltage below whatever threshold the Alpine unit needs.

 

Agree with the above diagnosis - you have a poor connection, damaged wire or dodgy ground. All of those things are mechanical, so you can visually inspect, dismantle clean and tighten. Otherwise get busy with a meter and check continuity, while disturbing the power wires. There isn't much involved!

 

Go ahead Graham and just say to double check his earths.

 

"while disturbing the power wires"
Translated into redneck "While meter is hooked up, wiggle the wiring around and see if the reading changes "

WP

 

Good one. You may also want to do a search on the Alpine model and see if there are any issues.

 

Thanks for translating!

 

My issue was the rear brake switch wire directly under the bike. For a long time the sensor stopped working. One day I took a good close look and noted the hot lead was dangling and often touched the frame.

Now I thought it was a ground seeking circuit and because of that it touching ground would do nothing more than flash the brake lights. But once I taped both wires to prevent them from touching together or the frame the radio stopped resetting at odd times.

The secure ground to the radios chassis is another source of this. Do you note any flicker in the units lights when it "resets"?

 

Ex. car stereo installer of 15 years. Alpine is great stuff but they use there own wiring color codes . etc., Did you use manuals to interconnect the Alpine to the Harley speaker system ? The speakers will work either way but max. base reproduction is attained by correctly phasing only.
As to your ploblem ... ensure a solid ground connection as the bros. have said .
Your description of your problem is a little confusing as you say the unit will shut off and keep memory but also shuts off and "resets " ? I have to assume you mean it cuts out quickly and intermitantly .?
The unit requires a acc. feed to operate on request but also requires a constant bat. feed to keep the memory . Check your acc. feed , battery feed and ground . If its a din. deck , spray some cleaner into the connector block at the rear of the din. reciever box.