What size ground wire do you have going to your amp? I have a Rockford 300pbrx4. I am using an 8 gauge ground wire going under the gas tank with the rest of the wiring. The amp sits on top of the radio and is wired directly to the battery. I get ALOT of engine noise. Drives me so crazy that I don't even listen to the radio anymore. The noise is a little less with the radio off but it's still there.

I was told by some audio guys to try a 6 gauge wire.

Thoughts, ideas?

 

The ground wire is usually the same size as the power wire. It should also be as short as possible, but must also not be grounded inside the fairing because of the steering head bearings. 10 gauge wire is big enough for the amp you are running. 8 won't hurt, but 6 is overdoing it.

Make sure all connections are tight. Also make sure that the speaker wires are not wire-tied or too close to the power and ground wires. If that doesn't work, try grounding it to the frame under the tank.

 

I also have my amp, JL xd100/4, wired to the battery with 8 gauge. No problem on mine but, Ya might try grounding the amp to the frame, not the forks, near the steering head. most manufactures/installers recommend a short ground wire to cut down electrical noise.

 

I'm using a Fosgate PBR300X4 with 8 guage ground, mine is grounded behind the crashbar top mount allen head bolt, no noise at all!!...It's short and grounded to the frame.

 

I have my 2-ch. Elf amp (125w x 2 @ 2Ω) connected to the battery by 28A-rated 12-ga. wire and I've had no problems of any kind.

 

Check the ground. Like the others say, keep it as short as possible and to the frame.

 

My HW amp is grounded this way as well, no issues.

 

As I mentioned earlier, mine is connected directly to the battery. The folks at Hogtunes once told me this was the preferred method because of possible noise issues that can crop up when grounded elsewhere. I'm just relaying info and am not taking a position on this other than to say that my setup works as above.

 

The guage of wire will have no effect on the noise you are picking up, but, as has been said, WHERE you catch ground will.
You may also want to try a line filter if you can't get rid of it. As advanced as "systems" have become nowadays, a passive line filter will trap and dump any unwanted frequencies making their way in.

 

What source are you listening to music from when you get the engine noise?
Reason I ask is, if you are listening to an ipod or mp3 player and that mp3 player is connected to the charging system, you will get engine noise from it.

I found that it is damn near impossible to eliminate the engine noise so I run my mp3 player not connected to a charger, it runs off its own internal battery. If I need to charge it on the road, I toss it in the tour pack on the charger when I am off the bike.

I have no other engine noise anywhere else, even listening to the radio.
I use 4 gage for the power and ground but I also run 2 amps. So far I have had no issues with noise from the charging system.

If you are getting noice from the amp no matter what source you play from, you can install a Capacitor in between the battery and the amp and that should solve your problem.

Only downside to that is, those capacitors are huge. It is round but probably bigger than the RF amp and you will have to stick in in the tour pack or one of the bags.