I usually never listen to AM frequencies but the other day I wanted to listen to the baseball game on an AM station while riding. It was a low numbered station (670 AM) and while I could hear the game there was a lot of "snaps-crackles and pops". I tried a few other AM stations up the dial and the static was much less but not completely gone. (FM reception is perfect)

So I'm wondering if what I experienced was typical or should I investigate further? I tried another antenna set but had the same results, so I know it's not the antenna themselves. Could a resister spark plug have gone bad? Or, maybe the station just isn't pumping out a good enough signal since some of the other AM stations did have considerably less static?

It's really not the "end of the world" because I seldom listen to AM.... in fact it's only the second time in two years that I tuned to AM...lol

Just curious as to what others have experienced.

 

Does the static go away with the engine off? If it does, then the bike may be part of the issue- alternator, spark plugs, whatever. If it does not go away, then you can rule out the engine running as a possible issue. AM radio can be static prone, so it may be only that.
Lots of other things can cause issues, like how far away the signal is, etc...
Or maybe the AM part of the infotainment system is just cheap. I haven't listened to AM radio in decades, and have never tried AM on my Limited.

As Steely Dan sang, No static at all FM,......no static at all.........

 

That's why I listed to XM in the AM, then FM in the PM, lol

 

I should have mentioned that when the motor is not running and I've turned on just the "Accessory" the AM has no static on any channel. So as you suggest it does sound like it could be a wire/electrical interference issue with the motor or electrical system.
Just wondering if a resister plug may be an issue? The only thing I added (electrically related) are LED turn signal inserts in the front turn signals.

 

Well, unless you changed away from stock spark plugs, spark plugs should not be the issue. Stock ones are resistor.

 

Still have the stock plugs..... is it possible for a resister plug to go "bad" from a resister point of view but still fire off properly? I ask because the cycle operates perfectly and there's no sign of a "bad plug" otherwise.

 

I have never heard of such a thing. However, this may or may not be related, when we installed a J&M CB radio on my wife's 2014 Heritage, every time she would key the mic, we could hear the engine RPM over the radio. We moved the ignition wire for the CB so that it tapped into the tail light and the noise went away.

 

If it's under warranty I'd take it in and have the dealer take a look. We paid enough for these bikes that regardless if you use it often or not it should work without issue. I had to take my 16 limited in because FM reception completely dropped off. They had to replace all the antenna cables from he head unit ack.

 

Yeah, take advantage of any warranty you can. That said, you could easily swap in a new set of plugs and see if anything changes. I have no idea if a resistor plug could go south in a way that'd interfere with your AM reception.

 

AM radio does that a lot. That's just one of several reasons it was made obsolete by FM!