Now that the install is just about complete, let me offer this update in the hope that it helps someone else with this decision on sound system and install. Let me start by saying I am decent with a tool or two but am no wrench by any means. I hemmed and hawed about what to do for months. Rich (TIF2) acted as my sensei as he has done for many others, so a quick thanks to him. However, I was very torn on what amp and speakers to use. If he lived closer, well you know the rest. What finally got me over the hump was when I read the posts by Sea Biscuit, cvostu and others. I called the shop they used, Soundz Customz and spoke to Pete the owner. He uses Focal 165KRC for the fairing and the lowers mated to the 2 channel Arc Audio amp. I did not do the saddle bags due to lack of available speakers and the fact that it would make the install much more complex (see Rich's posts) and beyond my ability. I also did not put tweeters in the stock holes in the fairing. The Focals are coaxial thus a tweeter is in the speakers. At some point I may add those, but not sure if it would be worth it. Soundz Customz also made a custom harness which really did make this plug and play. I did not cut any wires at all. I used the stock HD speaker grills in the lowers as I wanted a stock look. The HD logo covers the tweeter, but I am guessing that I am not hearing those highs anyway at speed so it probably doesn’t matter. Please chime in if you have a different opinion or idea. For the fairing I have ordered from Hawg Wired their speaker grills. They look like stock so that should be good. Rich did tell me that you can take apart the stock grill from the speaker and use those but I had already ordered the pair from HW.
Now the install. Quite frankly I was a little nervous about taking the bike apart. For others, don’t be. It is quite easy. I really took my time and I mean it. With the cold weather riding is limited so I didn’t have that on my mind. Fairing on the Street Glide is a breeze to take off. Total of 7 screws I believe. Unsnap the headlight and you are done. I then took off the gas tank. 4 bolts and then you take off the gas line which is a coupler. You simply push up on the ring and gently pull off the gas line. You also have to disconnect the vent tubing and 2 connections for the LED and gas gauge. If you can, have as little as gas in the tank as possible. The extra liquid makes the tank a lot heavier but also more awkward to lift off and carry around. I was down to very little. Of curse make sure you wrap these parts in a soft towel or blanket and put in a safe place. I also started labeling all the bolts as I took them off. I used some masking tape with a black marker. I did the same as I disconnected any wires, just in case. At this point I made my only boo boo which set me back a little. The vent tubing line connects at the top of the gas tank. It then runs the length of the frame on the left and comes out down near the passenger peg. I inadvertently pulled on it and it came out of its place. Because there is tension on the tubing it sprang out in such a way that I could not figure out how it went back in. I called a HD service tech and he explained it to me. Basically there are two zip ties that are on the frame where the tube runs through. Again, quite simple once you know the answer. Once tank is off you can pop off the plastic cover that houses all the wires. If you are thinking, do I really need to take the tank off, yes you do. You have to run a new power line from the amp to the battery. There is no way to do this cleanly and professionally if you don’t take the tank off. The wire fits neatly in this tunnel and I had no issue closing it back up.
I also removed the stock amp for the Boom audio system that comes standard on the CVO's. It is attached by two torx bolts on top of the radio. Simply unplug the harness and remove. I cleaned the surface with some alcohol and attached the Arc Audio amp there with Velcro. Seems to be very secure.
Installing the speakers in the lowers were pretty easy as well. The only challenge is that like most I did not want to cut any wires. I found in another post that I would need a male Delphi connector to mate into the existing one that came with bike. I soldered the speaker wires to metal inserts and plugged the two halves together…and it actually worked. As I mentioned I used the stock grills. The holes of the grill lined up perfectly with the speaker holes. Done!! All I am waiting for are the speaker grills for the fairing. The wires for those come off of the amp so it is simply attaching 2 wires to the tweeter portion and the other 2 to the woofer. I have turned it on to hear how it sounds. Even with only 2 speakers it is very loud and very clear. There is some bass, but not the real deep tones. However, Van Halen and others sound great. Hopefully by weekend it will be all done. I hope that this helps give someone else the confidence to tackle this. Without Rich and other members of this forum I never would have tried. Ride safe all.
Ted
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Topic: Have finally decided-little long -Updated (Read 2216 times)