I have a police bike with no stereo or speakers at all, so I'm starting from scratch.

Tell me the ideal system to put in here - stereo/speakers/amp

I have the '09 EG with fairing....

Thanks!

 

1. What budget are you working with?

2. Contact Mike, the owner of biketronics.com, about his police handlebar switch product, interface module, installation kit, etc.

There is plenty of information available using the "search" function. "Ideal" is pretty individualized notion in any case.

Good luck with your project.

 

Right now I'm keeping the HK stock radio, but I've just about got the money saved for the Hawg Wired front/rear speaker and amp set up. Can't wait to order it next week!

Late,
***

 

I've got some money to spend, but I dont need the biggest baddest system in the county either. I guess when I said "ideal", I was looking for you guys to tell me what your ideal would be. Then I can get ideas picked from there on what my ideal would be. How about that?

Appreciate the search suggestion, but the info so scattered everywhere. Just thought you'd like to make a individualized suggestion as to what a nice complete setup might be.

Thanks again!

 

I dont know 100% on the handlebar setup but I just installed the hawgwired hua470 install kit with an alpine idax100m radio with 6.5" alpine coaxes, I have $722 into it so far and it blows away the stock head unit. I couldnt stant having acd player wit a aux port on the front. the unit i instaaled has no cd player,. it has usb input which works with ipod and thumbdrives/portable harddives, The supplied cable was long enough to run to the saddle bag as well.

 

Can iask why it would bother you to have a cd player and aux in the head unit?

 

Without ever hearing the stock setup, I did the Hogtunes 5.25" speakers, Hogtunes Tweeter Pod, and Hogtunes amp. It's not bad -- I can hear it at highway speed (sounds great at a standstill), but I oughta be able to do better. Going with the ARC upgrade that's been going around this forum -- 6.5" speakers & bigger amp. Look for posts by Firecap. I've spoken with him & I think this'll do it for me.

 

I asked about your budget in order to avoid a sort of global reply (and the effort to type it all); i.e. one that covered the most typical installations of stereos on police model EG's. Since you haven't "narrowed" the options by providing a budget, the following is a fairly comprehensive description of your choices. I haven't addressed options like an Ipod with amplifier, but no headunit, and some possible other less typical solutions to having audio on a police bike.

Okay, "ideal," version 1.0 for a police model EG would be:

1. A Biketronics police handlebar mounted switch kit, if you want to retain the police handlebar switches or don't want the expense of replacing them with civilian switches and dealing with additonal wiring issues caused by the fact that the police interconnect harness is different than the civilian interconnect harness which not only creates challenges for audio enhancements, but also if you want to add cruise control, oil pressure gauge, etc.

2. A Biketronics retro radio kit that will include an interface module to allow you to use a large variety of primarily Sony headunits controlled by the handlebar switches, and an installation kit for a neat headunit installation. You can also get the speaker adapters that allow you to install speakers to the inner fairing. These speaker adapters are included on all EG's except the police model. Instead of buying the standard speaker adapaters which allow you to mount 5.25" speakers, you could use speaker adapters that allow you mount 6.5" speakers. These 6.5" speaker adpaters are available from a variety of vendors, including Biketronics, FireCap501, Throttle-up Industries, etc.

3. A variety of amps are available with some mounting inside the fairing and others that mount in the saddlebag or tour pak. The Hawg-wired and Hog Tunes products are intended for use on civilian bikes and have electrical connections compatible with the civilian interconnect harness, but not the police inteconnect harness. With effort, the differences between the civilian and police interconnect harnesses can be overcome and those products used on a police bike. Other amps, such as the popular ARC mini 125.2 don't rely on the civilain interconnect harness IIRC.

"Ideal" version 2.0:

1. Purchase the civilian interconnect harness and install it in place of the police inteconnect harness, AND install the civilian handlebar switches and switch housings. This will give you the same wiring as the civilian bikes so installation of audio products, cruise control, oil pressure gauge, etc. will be the same as a civilian bike. The intial cost of this approach is more expensive than version 1.0, but ultimately less costly in $$$ and effort than version 1.0 should you decide to add cruise control and other electrical items later. The right side switches and housing are included in the HD cruise control kit, and the left side are occasionally available when civilian EG owners add CB. That's how I acquired my civilian switches and housings.

2. Decide if you are going to want CB on the bike. If you do, buy a Harman Kardon factory headunit and the CB module. These are available as take-offs and at prices significantly below MSRP if you are patient. J&M makes an excellent add-on CB product, but by the time you buy everything you will be north of $500 in cost for the parts.

3. If you don't plan to add CB, choose an aftermarket headunit that is compatible with the Biketronics headunit and has the features you want. Amps are available as discussed in version 1.0 above. Hawg-wired also offers an excellent installation kit and interface module that allows use of a larger variety of headunits. FireCap 501 also offers an interface module. The latter two do not include the Automatic Volume Control feature that Biketronics has that adjusts the headunit volume based on the bike's speed.

Shortly after I purchased my '04 police EG in Feb. '05, I had an automotive audio shop do a "simple" installation of a Sony headunit and speakers (I supplied the speaker adapters purchased at my local HD store). I refer to this as a simple installation because it simply meant installing the headunit, finding a power and ground, and wiring the speakers. Voila, I had a stereo, albeit that I had to control pushing the buttons on the headunit, and with gloves on, I didn't always push the right button.

After my buddy purchased an '06 EG Classic and added cruise and CB, he gave me his handlebar switches. By comparing the wiring diagrams for civilian bikes with my police bike, I fabricated the base audio connector (purchasing the necessary electrical parts from my local HD store) that's included on the civilian interconnect harness, but missing on my police interconnect harness. Using the biketronics interface module and my fabricated base audio connector, and installing the civilian handlebar switches, I had handlebar control of the headunit.

I later added the oil pressure and oil temp gauges; again, by comparing the civilian and police wiring diagrams and purchasing the necessary electrical connector parts from my HD store. And still later installed the HD cruise control using a wiring harnesss fabricated by the owner of Cruisemount. I later studied the wiring diagrams and found that I could have done what I did re the audio harness and oil pressure/oil temp gauge wiring--compared the civilian and police interconnect harnesses and added the missing cruise control wiring without using a separate wiring harness provided by Cruisemount. Nevertheless, everything worked flawlessly for 2+ years though the wiring inside my fairing looked "busy" with the add-ons to the police interconnect harness for the various connectors that were added along the way.

When I did my recent paint project, I purchased the civilian interconnect harness used, and removed the police interconnect harness and the add-on wiring I'd added over the past 3+ years. The civilian harness was a straight swap so my wiring is now the same as
a civilian '04 EG. I retained my biketronics interface module and Sony headunit, added the Hog Tunes tweeter pod and fairing lower speaker kit/speakers, and am very happy with the stereo on my bike. The cruise control harness provided by Cruisemount was removed and the cruise control is now wired the same as it is on a civilian bike. Ditto the oil pressure and temp gauges.

Bottom line: If you plan to keep the bike for a few years and add cruise control, oil pressure gauge, want handlebar control of the headunit, etc., replace the interconnect harness with the civilian version and do the same with the handlebar switches. If that doesn't appeal to you, use the Biketronics police handlebar audio product. I recommend that because, frankly, it's dangerous to operate the headunit taking your left hand off the handlebar and looking at the headunit instead of the road to push a button.

PS: Depending on how handy you are, you can also investigate PAC modules. They make products for automotive applications that allow use of aftermarket heaunits in cars with steering wheel audio controls. They offer a Harley Davidson product but it requires adding resistors so it's not plug n play.

Good luck with your project.

 

Why do you think biketronics are so good? only thing I see great from them is their digital amps....if you are into them. Maybe the plug n play wiring harness?

Their 6.5s are an odd ohm.. not 2..not 4....like 3 something. You'd have a hard time running another set of speakers in parallel.

Their head units look pretty cheesy..sony low end.

 

Because they offer an excellent interface module that has a lifetime guaranty which allows use of Sony and some other compatible headunits for those who don't have an OEM HK or Radio Sound headunit and want handlebar control of the headunit or want a headunit to replace the OEM unit with one that offers more/better features.

Hawg-wired offers an interface module as does FireCap that allows use of other headunits which I mentioned in my post.

As for Sony being "low end," can't comment since I'm not an audiophile and haven't researched the specs on the various headunits available. There are plenty of very happy Biketronics/Sony users among HDF'ers, myself included. Ditto speakers, amps, etc. Much like exhaust systems, the choice is very individualized--buy what you like.