But do you get the handlebar contrOl with just the cable from iron cross?

 

i do.. and it charges the ipod/iphone to boot! :-)

 

just to be clear.. this is not just some cable that Iron Cross slaps on the unit. They pull the case apart and wire it into the circuit board. The tracks can be changed and that's all I've done so far. I'm sure the handlebar buttons do more like going from folder to folder but I'm not 100% sure about that. But I do know it charges both my ipod and my iphone and I can change tracks with the handlebar controls...

 

They offer three different things. You can get the aux jack installed in the back of the radio so you can play your ipod without having the ipod cable pluged into the face of the radio. You still have to use the ipod itself to control your song selection etc. Nothing shows on the face of the radio, you can not use your handle bar controls (except for volume of course) and it does not charge the ipod.

Or You can get an ipod cable installed into the back of the radio. Same as above, but it charges the ipod as well. I have not used this cable, but that is my understanding of it. Here is a note from their website about this cable:


Note:
1. The "line level" out of the dock connector is "fixed" and can't be controlled using the iPod volume setting on the iPod/iPhone. Only the headphone jack output is controlled using the iPods volume setting. iPod volume will be controlled via handlebar controls once connected.

2. The cable does not control or display text on the radio. It is used for Audio and Charging.

3. The unit will function as it is supposed to with the iPhone with the exception of when connected, there will be a nag screen asking to go into airplane mode, if you select "NO" the phone options will remain functional.


Thirdly, you can buy the ipod interface. This is a module that allows you to use the handle bar controls and see your songs, playlists etc. on the face of your radio. It is very similar to what Harley sells. The differences as far as I can tell are price (Harley's is much more expensive), a bit more versatility on iron cross's version as far as being able to control playlists with handle bar controls instead of the soft buttons on the face of the radio like the Harley version, and the one from Iron Cross has an "unlocked" mode that allows you to access the ipod features on the ipod itself such as the equalizer. Harley's version did not allow that as far as I could tell. In other words, if you wanted to change ipod settings at all, you would have to unplug the ipod on the Harley version to do so and then plug it back in. You don't have to do that with the Iron Cross version.

I just installed the Iron Cross version last night and seems to function very well. I installed the Harley version on a buddy's bike awhile back and the install, appearance, and function is nearly identical with the exception of the things listed above. I would recommend either one of them, but for the price difference and good customer service at Iron Cross they get the nod from me.

 

You might need to explain this to us again...they flat say it does nothing on controlling the song choice. You can't control the ipod/iphone from the handlebar controls. It simply charges and allows the music to be played through the HK. Volume works as usual.

Unless you bought the ipod interface which is a plug and play and no wiring is needed from iron cross.

 

to be totally fair and compare apples to apples, the iron cross unit (actually from on the move tech) has an msrp of 299.00 though right now they are offering at an introductory price of 279.00. ironcross is acting as a 'discounter' and selling it for 270.00

harley's msrp is 399.00, but can be had from a discounter for less. i got mine for 330.00

one thing i found out on the hd version, when selecting something using the 'soft' keys on the hk unit, 9lets use artist as an example since i don't do playlists), after you select the soft key + or -, you can then use the thumb switch on the handlebar to continue scrolling until you get to where you want....

i don't know about the unlock thing, haven't needed that yet...

either one is definitely a worthwhile purchase. while i have the hd unit, even though the ironcross one is cheaper, i have no regrets about buying it. the benefits far outweigh the disadvantages.

 

yup, they are Ebay now @$270 shipped.

 

i stand corrected. Been a while since I used it. the ipod device is NOT controlled by the handlebars controls. Only the volume is. Sorry about the confusion.

 

I got mine from Iron Cross for 250. See pic of invoice. They had my radio for repairs and I was paying shipping anyway to get it back so I thought it was a pretty good deal.

The thing I found nice was the extra function of the mode button on the Iron Cross version. The mode button on the handlebar will scroll through songs when you bump it up or down just as the HD version does, but if you hold the button up or down for a second or two it will also scroll through whatever folder you have highlighted on the face of the radio. It moves this function to the handlebars instead of having to use the soft buttons on the face of the radio like on the HD version. Hope I'm explaining this right.

The real advantage to this in my opinion is to speed up the album or artist selection process. If you have a bunch of music on your ipod like I do, it can take forever to scroll 1 album or artist at a time to get to what you want to listen to. So by making playlists say A-E, F-J, K-O etc, you can highlight the playlist folder on the face of the radio, hold the mode button on the handlebar to scroll through your alphabetized playlists, stop on the one you want, and then bump the mode button instead of holding it to scroll quickly to the album or artist in the playlist. It cuts the time it takes to get to a particular place on the ipod dramatically. I don't recall the HD version I installed on my buddy's bike having that ability on the handlebars. You can do it, but you have to use the soft buttons on the face of the radio. I'm telling this for the truth to the best of my memory of how the HD unit worked.

The cool thing about being able to "unlock" the ipod function for me is to access the equalizer on the ipod without unplugging it. I have found that the difference between music that sounds good and music that sounds great on the bike is the eq settings on the ipod. It makes a much bigger difference on the bike than it does in my car, home etc. and different types of music sound much better with different eq settings. Having to unplug the ipod to do this usually means it just stays where its at and music doesn't sound as good as it could. This is also a function I don't recall on the HD unit.

I'm really not trying to pimp I C although I am happy with them. Just giving an honest review of my experience with both of them for anyone trying to decide between the two. Hope it helps.

 

For you guys that have an amp such as the Rockford Fosgate mounted above your head unit, where does this ipod interface mount? I'm sending my HK to Iron Cross tomorrow and would like to get the ipod interface.