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[Twolanerider]

Radio and harness arrived today.  Installed and working.  Hopefully the XM package will be delivered tomorrow and the task can be buttoned up.

Roeders Harley in Sandusky, OH is the dealership that supplied the parts and did whatever software load was required to make the new radio work in the 05 and earlier bikes.  The rep there to speak to is Tom in the Parts Department.  Phone number there is 419-621-1046.  If you're interested in doing this don't hesitiate to give him a call.  Service and support have been outstanding.

At time of order I was told the cheaper and less involved accessory harnesses (there are two of these) can't be used for our purposes.  They are supposed to only work on Ultras and they plug in to harness points that are part of the 06 Ultras stock harness.  So if you're retrofitting you have to use the "big harness" that is HD part number 70169-06.  It's MSRP is $125.00.

The other parts to complete the job of retrofitting an Advanced Audio Radio and XM package are the radio/speaker kit itself (HD # 76412-06), the XM accessory kit (HD # 76404-06) and the XM antenna mounting bracket (HD # 76456-06).  Full MSRP on all the pieces would be about $1625.00.  Final freight inclusive price on the parts from Roeders was just over $1325.00.

[Twolanerider]

The harness is at least considerable.  Lots of things there we'll likely never use unless you're willing to change dash or switch housing or other things to complete the intercom or CB kit or other options.  But if anyone wants to get that energetic starting with this harness allows it.

Notice in the picture that one of the plugs has green tape on two wires.  That plug would normally connect to the bikes harness on 06 and newer bikes.  It energizes the accessory functions.  The two wires currently taped are the only things in the whole retrofit that are not directly plug and play.  One of those two wires needs a leg tapped off of it that goes to ground.  The other needs a leg tapped off of it that goes to an unswitched 12v source.  That "always on" 12v source is what keeps the XM radio from forgetting what channel it was on whenever you turn the bike off.

[Twolanerider]

The radios are physically somewhat different.  The new radio (on the left) is thinner.  But you'll gain the thickness back when you start stacking XM or CB modules on top of it.

[Twolanerider]

Both radios from the rear.  The new one is on top.  The connector to the left (as seen in the picture) is identical on both radios.  That's the main connector from the bike's harness.  The big connector on the new radio goes to the accessory harness.  The other connector on the old radio goes to the overlay harness.  Don't forget, the radios in the SEEGs aren't a "stock" radio.  The amplified radio has that overlay harness that carries the amplified source out to the speakers.  In other words, our original speaker connections come from a harness WE DON'T USE ANYMORE.

[Twolanerider]

The original "stock" connectors for the speakers are part of the stock harness though.  You just use those.  Here's where you'll find the left one (on the right side as your facing the front of the bike).

[Twolanerider]

And the right side (left side as your facing the front of the bike).

[Twolanerider]

The overlay harness for our original radio is no longer used.  It looks like this as it's tied up over out of harm's way.  After imaging it the connector was capped and taped to keep it clean.

[Twolanerider]

The XM antenna bracket may have been the biggest puzzle in the entire project so far.  Couldn't figure out where it mounted.  After about 10 minutes and a couple of foul oaths finally found the place and orientation.  It goes here just inboard of the left speaker. Don't be confused by the white round thing spanning across the picture.  That's the AM/FM antenna (TuneTrapper) I use since I hated the whip antenna and removed it.

[Twolanerider]

The radio itself mounted and connected to the bike.  Right now tidier than the stock radio.  Will look much busier once the XM hardware gets added and much much busier when that large overlay harness gets added and has its remaining connectors dangling as neatly as they might.

[Twolanerider]

Radio on startup.

[Twolanerider]

Radio playing (can you hear it?).

[Twolanerider]

Will finish this up hopefully tomorrow evening if the box with the XM kit shows up tomorrow.  The radio itself, however, was a simple swap out.  Don't forget to change which speaker wires you're using and then just R&R the radios.

First impression of sound for those wondering about whether the accessory amp will be necessary or not is that I don't know yet.  It is better than a "stock" Harley radio.  With the Hogtunes installed and the bike in the garage I can't notice much difference as to "how loud" about half volume seemed before and after.  They seem close to the same.  But that's in the garage.  Will have a much better clue how acceptable it'll be after the XM parts get here so I can get the fairing back on and try it on the road.  First impressions were promising for audio quantity and clarity.  But those were only first impressions.

Also realized I'm going to have to see what kind of owner's manual Harley has out for the Advanced Audio package.  Whether it's something separate or part of an 06 touring bike's owners manual.  Just need to make sure I'm not missing any cool functions.  Already noticed, for example, that this radio scrolled through more than the 4 weather bands that the old radio searched.

When Harley finally releases it's own version of a retrofit package the radio part number might change so don't take the one listed above here as gospel.  It also seems very likely that a new accessory harness would be engineered that was a direct plug in for the power source.  There is little in the way of "directions" supplied with the kit except for the instructions for handling the two wires to take to "12v unswitched" and "ground." That's not a big deal though.  Everything is straightforward.  Hopefully posting the process here will be enough extra help to get the job done should someone feel slightly unsure.

[Crawdaddy]

2lane

Am I understanding you right, you have a after market retrofit of the 06 advanced radio?

I have wanted this since I saw the 06 Ultra.  Only I want the CB/interrcom in addition to the XM.

Is there any confirmation that you are aware of that HD will have this on the market anytime soon?

Your pics and commentary are good, but I am not sure I have the electrical aptitude (being a mechanical guy) to install this myself.  How do you rate the learning curve from one to ten?  Judging from your post time, you burned some late night oil.  How many hours do you have or expect to have to complete this install?

Craw

[hd-dude]

Great write up on the new radio Don. I'm really interested if the sound will be as good as our units. What is the wattage output of the new radio?

[Twolanerider]

2lane

Am I understanding you right, you have a after market retrofit of the 06 advanced radio?

I have wanted this since I saw the 06 Ultra.  Only I want the CB/interrcom in addition to the XM.

CD,

Actually it's not even an "aftermarket" installation; all Harley parts.  I've seen nothing from the aftermarket yet to make accomplishing this.  Also, I've read nothing from Harley anyplace about a factory released retrofit package yet.  As usual, there probably won't be any advanced warning.  It'll just show up someday.  But so far everyone and everything says we can't do this; at least not yet.  So I went ahead and did it anyway.

So far as time on task it's not totally done yet.  Only two of three boxes that were shipped arrived yesterday.  So the XM package isn't on the bike yet.  But the radio installation itself was a snap.  Was working on it during the overnight because that's just when I got around to it (I'm a bit of a night owl).  Total time to pull the fairing, swap the radios, and have the radio itself working was just a bit over an hour.  

The radio itself is a pretty simple task to R&R.  The XM addition shouldn't be any big deal either.  The CB kit you're interested in, however, will take as long as all the rest of it put together.  It'll require adding a new switch and housing to your left controls.  That means running more wires through the bars.  The CB kit is also described as adding a "dash pod."  I haven't even seen that part in person yet.  But you've got to guess it means changing our dash (that matches our paint job) to something that will accept this "pod."  Again, it's just a guess here but I'm assuming the "pod" is a place to plug in a headset (too bad Harley doesn't offer us a Bluetooth helmet to eliminate the ugly and annoying cords and plugs).

So, in short, yes, the 06 radio is in the 05 bike and (so far) working flawlessly.  It's not a big deal to install.  The XM kit won't be either.  All of the other accessories could also be added if one were so inclined.  In some cases, however, we'd have to be changing dash or switch components to be able to get it done or hanging enough stuff in the tour pak that, in practice, we'd never want to take it off again.  That's not isolated to just us though.  Anyone with an 06 touring bike that didn't have all of it to begin with would have to make the same changes.  It's just part of the package.

CD, if you want to get started on a changeover sometime but don't want to muck about inside the fairing just give me a call.  We're only just over an hour away from one another.  Get your radio, ride down here, we'll hole up in the garage some Saturday afternoon, drink a beer or three and install you a new radio.