Most dealerships don't even have the SWR meter & adapters to check the reading, many of those that have the tools don't have a technician that has a clue how to do it. Manuals cover the procedure, but are pretty sketchy on what to do if the SWR is high so I don't fault the dealers for not being able to resolve these issues. There is no knowledgeable support available from H-D, so the dealers are on their own.

My buddy & I are both HAM radio operators so we have some technical expertise with radios & antennas and he has the antenna analyzer test equipment.

With the changes/improvements we made to our bikes, we were able to increase bike to bike range from less than 1/2 mile to slightly over 1-1/2 miles.

We found the power output of the H-D CB into a 50 ohm load to be no more than 2-3/4 watts. Legally, the output can be up to 4 watts. While I can't say for sure, typically most CBs are design with protective circuitry that will decrease output power when a high SWR is detected, so the actual power output into the antenna (that has a high SWR) will be even less than that measured into the 50 ohm load.

Again, Good Luck!

 

I checked what connections I could,ie ground strap connections, coax cable going into the radio, all looks good. I'm waiting for the new antenna to come in. Should be here by Friday.Thanks for your help

 

I spent $102 at the dealer for diagnostics on the static issue. I had used up about 70% of the squelch to get rid of the static, but that cut down on the range of the CB. Dealer said it was the Belkin Micro Auto Charger for iPod and iPhone PN F8Z446 that was causing the static. I had used this to charge the phone in the tour pack. I have a 2014 Limited. Had the converter in the tour pack for probably a year and I guess it just went bad.

 

As it turned out, it was the intercom cord that was bad. Sometimes we overlook the obvious.