2014 Infotainment issues Part 2.
Stellar HDF Member
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 2,674
Likes: 84
From: New Jersey
By what measure do you make this statement?
Show me a 10 year old motorcycle infotainment system that equals the 2014 Harley system.
Exactly what motorcycle manufacture's stock system is better than the Harley in 2014? Honda - no. BMW - no. Indian -no. Victory - no.
Bluetooth control of cell phones, USB control of iPhones, iPods, etc. Music playback from USB sticks. CB communication. Full voice and handlebar controlled GPS with ability to plan trips on computer and load to bike. ...
Show me a 10 year old motorcycle infotainment system that equals the 2014 Harley system.
Exactly what motorcycle manufacture's stock system is better than the Harley in 2014? Honda - no. BMW - no. Indian -no. Victory - no.
Bluetooth control of cell phones, USB control of iPhones, iPods, etc. Music playback from USB sticks. CB communication. Full voice and handlebar controlled GPS with ability to plan trips on computer and load to bike. ...
Cruiser
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 134
Likes: 0
From: arizona
Just got my bike last week, and so far I have no real major issues with the 6.5 system, except my phone doesnt have MAP (yet) for text messages. Torn on the issue of using a headset bluetooth or otherwise to answer calls while riding, like the fact that when I ride i dont get calls. Why spoil it. Tomorrow will be first Nav journey, we shall see how the system works.
Tourer
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 266
Likes: 2
From: LI, NY
By what measure do you make this statement?
Show me a 10 year old motorcycle infotainment system that equals the 2014 Harley system.
Exactly what motorcycle manufacture's stock system is better than the Harley in 2014? Honda - no. BMW - no. Indian -no. Victory - no.
Bluetooth control of cell phones, USB control of iPhones, iPods, etc. Music playback from USB sticks. CB communication. Full voice and handlebar controlled GPS with ability to plan trips on computer and load to bike. ...
Show me a 10 year old motorcycle infotainment system that equals the 2014 Harley system.
Exactly what motorcycle manufacture's stock system is better than the Harley in 2014? Honda - no. BMW - no. Indian -no. Victory - no.
Bluetooth control of cell phones, USB control of iPhones, iPods, etc. Music playback from USB sticks. CB communication. Full voice and handlebar controlled GPS with ability to plan trips on computer and load to bike. ...
Stellar HDF Member
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 2,674
Likes: 84
From: New Jersey
What makes you think the Harley system won't be upgradable? I have the same software in my last two Jeeps and a BMW. Both had frequent system software updates, adding new functionality as well as patching bugs. In addition to yearly Map updates.
Stellar HDF Member
Joined: Dec 2013
Posts: 2,198
Likes: 282
From: Long Island NY
By what measure do you make this statement?
Show me a 10 year old motorcycle infotainment system that equals the 2014 Harley system.
Exactly what motorcycle manufacture's stock system is better than the Harley in 2014? Honda - no. BMW - no. Indian -no. Victory - no.
Bluetooth control of cell phones, USB control of iPhones, iPods, etc. Music playback from USB sticks. CB communication. Full voice and handlebar controlled GPS with ability to plan trips on computer and load to bike. ...
Show me a 10 year old motorcycle infotainment system that equals the 2014 Harley system.
Exactly what motorcycle manufacture's stock system is better than the Harley in 2014? Honda - no. BMW - no. Indian -no. Victory - no.
Bluetooth control of cell phones, USB control of iPhones, iPods, etc. Music playback from USB sticks. CB communication. Full voice and handlebar controlled GPS with ability to plan trips on computer and load to bike. ...
Tourer
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 266
Likes: 2
From: LI, NY
Not bashing Harley at all. I love them and plan on buying a 2015 model that will have the infotainment. My son has a 2013 Jeep and it has a Garmin system and works just like my Zumo does. The Garmin unit on the BMW's actually slides into the dash and looks built in. Would have been nice if Harley did something similar but they didnt so I will have a Garmin mounted on my handle bars just for long trips, not that big of a deal but it would be nice in the built in units were up to par with whats available on the market
Tourer
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 492
Likes: 0
From: Castle Rock, CO
By what measure do you make this statement?
Show me a 10 year old motorcycle infotainment system that equals the 2014 Harley system.
Exactly what motorcycle manufacture's stock system is better than the Harley in 2014? Honda - no. BMW - no. Indian -no. Victory - no.
Bluetooth control of cell phones, USB control of iPhones, iPods, etc. Music playback from USB sticks. CB communication. Full voice and handlebar controlled GPS with ability to plan trips on computer and load to bike. ...
Show me a 10 year old motorcycle infotainment system that equals the 2014 Harley system.
Exactly what motorcycle manufacture's stock system is better than the Harley in 2014? Honda - no. BMW - no. Indian -no. Victory - no.
Bluetooth control of cell phones, USB control of iPhones, iPods, etc. Music playback from USB sticks. CB communication. Full voice and handlebar controlled GPS with ability to plan trips on computer and load to bike. ...
A gps that chokes on 10 via points, won't hold more than 200 custom poi's, limits the number of routes it can store - all milestones surpassed by gps's long ago.
Bluetooth that isn't capable of supporting a helmet headset - hello?
$150/quarter map updates, when lifetime updates for garmins became available for less than $100/forever some years ago - and now they're free forever...
No AUX input for non-b/t devices - like a functioning gps.
Why celebrate that it is "integrated" when it has such glaring performance issues?
Check a couple of posts back and you'll see that H-D is finally offering a $40 adapter - to bypass their integrated gps.....
Tourer
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 405
Likes: 2
Why limit comparisons to integrated systems when components are available that are better, cheaper, and easier to upgrade?
A gps that chokes on 10 via points, won't hold more than 200 custom poi's, limits the number of routes it can store - all milestones surpassed by gps's long ago.
Bluetooth that isn't capable of supporting a helmet headset - hello?
$150/quarter map updates, when lifetime updates for garmins became available for less than $100/forever some years ago - and now they're free forever...
No AUX input for non-b/t devices - like a functioning gps.
Why celebrate that it is "integrated" when it has such glaring performance issues?
Check a couple of posts back and you'll see that H-D is finally offering a $40 adapter - to bypass their integrated gps.....
A gps that chokes on 10 via points, won't hold more than 200 custom poi's, limits the number of routes it can store - all milestones surpassed by gps's long ago.
Bluetooth that isn't capable of supporting a helmet headset - hello?
$150/quarter map updates, when lifetime updates for garmins became available for less than $100/forever some years ago - and now they're free forever...
No AUX input for non-b/t devices - like a functioning gps.
Why celebrate that it is "integrated" when it has such glaring performance issues?
Check a couple of posts back and you'll see that H-D is finally offering a $40 adapter - to bypass their integrated gps.....
Easy fix... then just don't buy one. Vote with your wallet and be confident in your choice. Makes sense? [Sorry, I'm just tired of reading people rag-on about how crappy they believe the radio is... kind of misses the point that we bought these things to ride, and the radio/GPS is merely an accessory]
Oh, and I think you'll find the $40 widget is a means to push audio into the radio (it only seems logical, $40 buys so little these days)
Best of luck and ride safely!
Last edited by mgibson61611; Jan 27, 2014 at 02:46 PM. Reason: Clarified my agnst
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Grand HDF Member
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 4,928
Likes: 285
From: Edmond Oklahoma
Not bashing Harley at all. I love them and plan on buying a 2015 model that will have the infotainment. My son has a 2013 Jeep and it has a Garmin system and works just like my Zumo does. The Garmin unit on the BMW's actually slides into the dash and looks built in. Would have been nice if Harley did something similar but they didnt so I will have a Garmin mounted on my handle bars just for long trips, not that big of a deal but it would be nice in the built in units were up to par with whats available on the market
Looking at new cars a couple weeks ago, we test drove several different brands all with their own info system. And none of them come close to being as user friendly as my Garmin or cell phone. I also agree that these info systems will be one of the drawbacks of buying a Harley 10 years from now. The systems just will not be capable of functioning with the change of 10 year old technology. The info system alone will date the bike as almost obsolete. Go drive any car with an integrated info system and it will have the same feelings as dragging your fing nails across the blackboard. I dont think it would have been hard to design a modular system that could be removed and replaced as technology change. Or even no info system option for us that dont really care for it. Anybody still use their 10 year old Garmin?
That being said, I love everything else about the 14s. By far their most advanced bike and I love my 09 SG. Yes, I want the new front end, saddle bag, the ugly fairing scoop and I even like the WetHead. But I just dont want the info system. I dont like in Corvettes and I dont like them on HarleysNot sure what I will end up doing, but the info system wont stop me from owning a Harley, I just wont keep it ten years.
Beary
Tourer
Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 496
Likes: 0
From: Plainview, NY
I'm wondering how I rode motorcycles in the past without GPS? I figure so long as whatever GPS I have tells me when to turn left and right, it's doing what it's supposed to do! GM wants me to pay 200 bucks every year for a new disk for my truck, I seem to get everywhere I want to go with the 4 year old disk that's in it!
Personally, I'll be enjoying my music through my speakers and looking at the road ahead, not staring at the GPS screen or caring that it's an arrow and not a motorcycle displayed on it.
So I gotta plug in to listen to the prompts and the CB in my helmet, did the research and there's no bluetooth available to pair with an incoming device and an outgoing headset at the moment, I don't know how I'm going to survive...
Personally, I'll be enjoying my music through my speakers and looking at the road ahead, not staring at the GPS screen or caring that it's an arrow and not a motorcycle displayed on it.
So I gotta plug in to listen to the prompts and the CB in my helmet, did the research and there's no bluetooth available to pair with an incoming device and an outgoing headset at the moment, I don't know how I'm going to survive...