Finishedthe audio upgrade on my '94 FLHT tonight. I replaced the HD AM/FM/Cassette unit with an aftermarket Sony unit with the Biketronics Retro Radio kit. I picked the SonyCDX R30M Marine grade unit for the weather resistant properties, the ability play MP3 andoperate the unit using the handlebar controls. It was a fairly easy swap, the Sony unit is slightly smaller than the stock HD unit. The wiring was very easy - the Biketronic wiring is color coded to match the Sony harness. In the last pic,the area surrounding the silver part of thefaceplate was a cream color and looked pretty ugly on a black bike.I took the rattle can, masked off the silverand sprayed the rest of it black -looks so much better.

The best part of the upgrade is the Biketronics module exceeded my expectations.The abilityto control the radio functionality is suprising - I was only expecting basic functions -change channels, volume and mode. In addition you can adjust the balance, fade and more thnigs that I don't understand yet.

Jeez, I'm giggling like a school girl cause this is so cool.

I'm really pleased with the end result.

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Nice job, rizzo. Wish my Radio Sound had balance, fade, etc. What kind of speakers are you running?

 

Still have the factory speakers but they need to be replaced.

 

Hey Rizzo, I have a 89 FLHTCU with the same dash and Radio that was orig on your bike. Can you point me in the direction for the parts you used. And do I understand correctly that you can still use your had contolls?

You can reply to this thread or get back to me directly

seth.bruni@usss.dhs.gov


Thanks

 

The install is really pretty straight forward. I would really recommend having the HD manual for the wiring diagrams and photos of how the components fit back together under the outer fairing. There are many Sony radios available that will work but they must have the ability to take a wired remote control. This connection is used by the Biketronics module to make the handlebar controls function. It's as close to "plug and play" as you can get.

Go to www.biketronics.com to view the control module. The module requires very little wiring - for mine there were two plugs that connect directly to the factory harness, the plug to the sony unit remote connection and wires to the Sony harness that are color coded the same as the Biketronics unit. Mike at Biketronics was very helpful and can make recommendations on a Sony unit.

Considering there are really no alternatives for early models fairings, I will warn you that the face of the Sony is slightly smaller and the rubber weatherstrip doesn't fit as tight as I would have liked it to fit. This is just the nature of the beast and it just takes a little "getting used to". The other thing I found was that the 1 amp fuse would blow when I turned up the volume, so I installeda 3 amp fuse and it works great in the garage. I will not have it on the road for a few months.

On a scale of 1-10, I would rate it at 8.5 - 9.0. I hope this helps.

 

Looks Great Rizzo! Glad to hear that you were able to get so many functions, the retro radio is a great deal.

For speakers, J&M makes replacement 4"60 Watt Speakers that I definitly noticed a big improvement with over the factory units.

I like the way you updated the glide with the fairing mounted mirrors. I used that space to add an additional J&M 4" speaker to each side. With four speakers in the fairing it's real easy to hear the tunes.