B-2017 speaker open?
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2nd Gear
Joined: Jul 2009
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B-2017 speaker open?
My Thunder Mountain Frontier has the Harmon Kardon H-D radio and there is no sound coming out of the speakers. There are no detectable shorts or open wires and occasionaly the radio works for a short period. It has the 8.11 update. No local harley dealer will touch the bike as its titled Thunder Mountain even though it most all Harley wiring, gauges, and motor. I have reset the radio by pulling the master fuse and sometimes it will work for a short while then shuts off. Any ideas?
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Joined: Apr 2009
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My Thunder Mountain Frontier has the Harmon Kardon H-D radio and there is no sound coming out of the speakers. There are no detectable shorts or open wires and occasionaly the radio works for a short period. It has the 8.11 update. No local harley dealer will touch the bike as its titled Thunder Mountain even though it most all Harley wiring, gauges, and motor. I have reset the radio by pulling the master fuse and sometimes it will work for a short while then shuts off. Any ideas?
There is the possibility of having it refurbished or repaired. I think that this process is simply bringing it back to factory specifications. I've read nothing about a new design or correction of the poor design. In other words you are paying to make a reservation for yet another failure.
My recommendation is to install a quality head unit from Sony, Alpine ect. There are a several sources for information on this installation; Firecap and Biketronics are two. Just do a forum search under "audio." Your Thunder Mountain Frontier is by definition a modified Harley. No sense in keeping the head unit stock.
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This is typical of the Harmon Kardon head unit. Some have had luck with it, but many on this forum (include myself) have experienced the dreaded "no sound from speakers." I would agree that it is probably the amplifier in the head unit.
There is the possibility of having it refurbished or repaired. I think that this process is simply bringing it back to factory specifications. I've read nothing about a new design or correction of the poor design. In other words you are paying to make a reservation for yet another failure.
My recommendation is to install a quality head unit from Sony, Alpine ect. There are a several sources for information on this installation; Firecap and Biketronics are two. Just do a forum search under "audio." Your Thunder Mountain Frontier is by definition a modified Harley. No sense in keeping the head unit stock.
There is the possibility of having it refurbished or repaired. I think that this process is simply bringing it back to factory specifications. I've read nothing about a new design or correction of the poor design. In other words you are paying to make a reservation for yet another failure.
My recommendation is to install a quality head unit from Sony, Alpine ect. There are a several sources for information on this installation; Firecap and Biketronics are two. Just do a forum search under "audio." Your Thunder Mountain Frontier is by definition a modified Harley. No sense in keeping the head unit stock.
There are in fact a number of corrections that have been installed over the years of this unit. There is no comparing the 06 or 07 to the later units. More liquid intrusion mods, more anti-vibration correction, better Cd drives. Any unit refurbed by HD at HK are treated to all the current updates and upgrades. Any unit repaired and refurbed by Iron Cross Audio gets even more.
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There are in fact a number of corrections that have been installed over the years of this unit. There is no comparing the 06 or 07 to the later units. More liquid intrusion mods, more anti-vibration correction, better Cd drives. Any unit refurbed by HD at HK are treated to all the current updates and upgrades. Any unit repaired and refurbed by Iron Cross Audio gets even more.
Thanks for the information. Good to know that there may in fact be hope for my unit.
I assume that you are a tech at Iron Cross Audio. It would be nice to know exactly what is done to correct the problem and keep it from happening again.
While I do not doubt that there have been corrections over the years, the fact remains that failure of these units in 2008 and 2009 bikes is not an uncommon experience.
Check out the link below. Some riders have even experienced failure with their 2nd unit.
https://www.hdforums.com/forum/touri...-went-out.html
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Thanks for the information. Good to know that there may in fact be hope for my unit.
I assume that you are a tech at Iron Cross Audio. It would be nice to know exactly what is done to correct the problem and keep it from happening again.
While I do not doubt that there have been corrections over the years, the fact remains that failure of these units in 2008 and 2009 bikes is not an uncommon experience.
Check out the link below. Some riders have even experienced failure with their 2nd unit.
https://www.hdforums.com/forum/touri...-went-out.html
I assume that you are a tech at Iron Cross Audio. It would be nice to know exactly what is done to correct the problem and keep it from happening again.
While I do not doubt that there have been corrections over the years, the fact remains that failure of these units in 2008 and 2009 bikes is not an uncommon experience.
Check out the link below. Some riders have even experienced failure with their 2nd unit.
https://www.hdforums.com/forum/touri...-went-out.html
In 20+ years of OEM automotive / motorcycle electronic experience I think I can say I've seen it all. While the 2006 and 2007 units were certainly a serious probelm, the 2008 and 2009 units fail at a rate only slightly higher than any other OEM car system I ever worked on. Add to that the fact that alot of these failures are actually bike related (broken mounting brackets) and the environment these things live it, it actually holds up pretty well. Even the disastrous 2006 had a failure rate of less then 6%. If you're one of those people with a unit that failed, you don't want to hear that, and it's a pretty poor number, but things have certainly improved since 2006. Consider the fact that ever warranty claim costs HD money, and as of 2010, they are still using these units.
After the mods and updates are done, the units currently being repaired have return rate of just over 1%. If you would like to discuss what is done along the lines of mods and updates, contact Iron Cross Audio.
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2nd Gear
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After reading all the posts about the HK I went ahead and ordered the Biketronics kit with sony 630 head, biketronics amp and 6.5" titan speakers along with the HogTunes HF-1 tweeter set-up. I will be contacting you about repairing the HK. Thanks for the help. p.s. glad my wife is on vacation.
Pete
Pete