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[RJ749]

I just read the last 7 pages of this post and I might have missed someone else doing this. I cut 12 inches off from both antenna masts. The FM antenna is not a problem. It works fine but is receive only. I added 12 inches of 14 ga. wire between the antenna mast (inside the tour pack) and the wire that cnnects to it. Since it is on the same side of the tuning coil as the section I removed, the effective length is the same. I believe the SWR should be as good as it was from the factory. I really don't want to hear anything over about 5 miles anyway. I just don't want to destroy the finals in the radio. I will check the SWR when I get up the courage to pull the fairing.
CUDOS on this extreamly well read and managed site. You are realy doing a service. My 07 red/black SEEG is my fourth new Harley in five years. My last one was a 05 red SEEG. I love the 110. I also have a 1977 blue FLH with 12,000 miles. It was my Dads.
I just got it out (upstate NY) and I will deal with the lean mix / muffler stuff next. Anyway, thanks.

Welcome aboard and you'll continue to appreciate the site as long as you are here.

[Eqcons]

Get the J&M's, they are worth the money spent.  Just my $0.02.
Cheers ,

Hi Charlie. Finally checked the SWR on mine this weekend.  Standard whip was over 3:1 over most of the range (!).   These radios sure must have a tough output stage!   The J&M started at between 2.5 and 3.2 over the range, and I ended up cutting about 5" of wire from it, in ¼" chunks, which got it down to between 1.3:1 and 1.7:1 over the whole range (I was aiming to get it as low as possible on ch 30, which is what we use.)  So I think that's now reasonable, and on paper it should work better than the standard whip at least!  Not done any checks for range yet, as I had nobody to check it with.  Also flashed the radio firmware to the 8.19 version, but can't see any difference.  One thing I can say for sure is that the HK radio on this bike behaves a whole lot differently than the one on my '06 CUSE did, in many respects (vox, squelch, CB.....) and it had the same firmware as the new one originally came with, so I suspect they are shipping radio mk2 now.. 

Cheers,

Jim

[RedDevil]

Hi Charlie. Finally checked the SWR on mine this weekend.  Standard whip was over 3:1 over most of the range (!).   These radios sure must have a tought output stage!   The J&M started at between 2.5 and 3.2 over the range, and I ended up cutting about 5" of wire from it, in ¼" chunks, which got it down to between 1.3:1 and 1.7:1 over the whole range (I was aiming to get it as low as possible on ch 30, which is what we use.)  So I think that's now reasonable, and on paper it should work better than the standard whip at least!  Not done any checks for range yet, as I had nobody to check it with.  Also flashed the radio firmware to the 8.19 version, but can't see any difference.  One thing I can say for sure is that the HK radio on this bike behaves a whole lot differently than the one on my '06 CUSE did, in many respects (vox, squelch, CB.....) and it had the same firmware as the new one originally came with, so I suspect they are shipping radio mk2 now.. 

Cheers,

Jim

Jim,
Good numbers across the board...your antenna should work great now.  Surprising they were that high out of the bag, but John Larazoni from J&M told me that each bike would be different based on the individual radio.  I reflashed my radio to 8.19 also and don't see any difference what-so-ever, so not really sure what it fixed.  I wish HD, like most other companies when they come out with a software update, they state what issues that particular version addresses.  Sometimes the MoCo is too secretive.  It's almost like they're paranoid that someone may find out a secret of theirs.    I can't vouch on the differences between last year's model and this year's, but I do know it's a heck of a lot better than the radio I had on my '02.
Cheers ,
Charlie

[Eqcons]

Sometimes the MoCo is too secretive.  It's almost like they're paranoid that someone may find out a secret of theirs. Cheers ,
Charlie

Amen to that Charlie!    You know what drives me crazy?  In HOG Tales, or The Enthusiast, every single time - each and every time! - the Moco mentions "H-D" or "Harley" or "HOG" or "Sportster" or "Dyna" or "ABCs of Touring" or any one of a million other words, they feel they have to stick ™ or ® or © after it.  Like we didn't know already. 

Jim

[RJ749]

Amen to that Charlie!    You know what drives me crazy?  In HOG Tales, or The Enthusiast, every single time - each and every time! - the Moco mentions "H-D" or "Harley" or "HOG" or "Sportster" or "Dyna" or "ABCs of Touring" or any one of a million other words, they feel they have to stick ™ or ® or © after it.  Like we didn't know already. 

Jim

Hey guys, it drives me crazy too, but having been involved in a couple of trademark infringement deals with VW and Porsche in which they are protecting the trademark, I can tell you not to blame them.  Guess who?  The Feds, if the MoCo does not "aggressively" market and defend the trademark it will become public domain and then everyone would have free access to it.

That would be millions of dollars in licensing and sales for them.  So while it is another annoyance, it will remain. IMHP

[Eqcons]

Hey guys, it drives me crazy too, but having been involved in a couple of trademark infringement deals with VW and Porsche in which they are protecting the trademark, I can tell you not to blame them.  Guess who?  The Feds, if the MoCo does not "aggressively" market and defend the trademark it will become public domain and then everyone would have free access to it.

That would be millions of dollars in licensing and sales for them.  So while it is another annoyance, it will remain. IMHP

Yes, I know RJ - but in their own members magazine?  Surely they only need - for it to be legal - to do it once per item per issue, or even have a tiny sub paragraph somewhere listing all their registered trademarks?  I think it's WAY over the top to be insulting members' intelligence like that....  Just my 2c worth, of course!

 

Jim

[RedDevil]

Hey guys, it drives me crazy too, but having been involved in a couple of trademark infringement deals with VW and Porsche in which they are protecting the trademark, I can tell you not to blame them.  Guess who?  The Feds, if the MoCo does not "aggressively" market and defend the trademark it will become public domain and then everyone would have free access to it.

That would be millions of dollars in licensing and sales for them.  So while it is another annoyance, it will remain. IMHP

Rog,
I agree wholeheartedly as to why they do it, but like Jim said, it would be nice to have just a single disclaimer, like most adds have at the bottom, or beginning, etc, that states, such and such, and so and so, are registered trademarks of the Harley Davidson Motor Company^TM instead of everytime they mention it in their magazine...
Cheers ,

[Eqcons]

Rog,
I agree wholeheartedly as to why they do it, but like Jim said, it would be nice to have just a single disclaimer, like most adds have at the bottom, or beginning, etc, that states, such and such, and so and so, are registered trademarks of the Harley Davidson Motor Company^TM instead of everytime they mention it in their magazine...
Cheers ,

Yup, it's just so.... so.... so.... Moco™®©, I guess! 

Just like every time they put anything into print, they feel the need to say whatever it is "may cause death or serious injury".  Hell, if they branded toilet tissue, they'd warn you that it "may cause death or serious injury"!  So motorcycling is dangerous?  No, Really?  Wow, I'd never have guessed!! 

Cheers,

Jim

[IronButt]

Hi Charlie. Finally checked the SWR on mine this weekend.  Standard whip was over 3:1 over most of the range (!).   These radios sure must have a tough output stage!   The J&M started at between 2.5 and 3.2 over the range, and I ended up cutting about 5" of wire from it, in ¼" chunks, which got it down to between 1.3:1 and 1.7:1 over the whole range (I was aiming to get it as low as possible on ch 30, which is what we use.)  So I think that's now reasonable, and on paper it should work better than the standard whip at least!  Not done any checks for range yet, as I had nobody to check it with.  Also flashed the radio firmware to the 8.19 version, but can't see any difference.  One thing I can say for sure is that the HK radio on this bike behaves a whole lot differently than the one on my '06 CUSE did, in many respects (vox, squelch, CB.....) and it had the same firmware as the new one originally came with, so I suspect they are shipping radio mk2 now.. 

Cheers,

Jim

Jim,
I got the J&Ms for looks.  Let me ask a question about range... Isn't CB a line of sight type of wave?? IE taller antenna greater reach? Shorter antenna shorter reach??

Iron

[Eqcons]

Jim,
I got the J&Ms for looks.  Let me ask a question about range... Isn't CB a line of sight type of wave?? IE taller antenna greater reach? Shorter antenna shorter reach??

Iron

Yes, to some extent, Iron.  But a shorter antenna with a good VSWR will outperform a longer one with a poor figure......  Also worth remembering that radio waves are polarised, so the standard whip flexing about on the move will have an effect too - how great I don't know (Charlie??) - while the short ones flex less. But as well as plain line of sight, all sorts of other phenomena come into play - reflections etc....

Jim

[RedDevil]

Jim,
I got the J&Ms for looks.  Let me ask a question about range... Isn't CB a line of sight type of wave?? IE taller antenna greater reach? Shorter antenna shorter reach??

Iron

Iron,
You're somewhat right, but that's only because of power.  You're only allowed, legally, 4 watts.  CB's operate in the HF band which is an excellent long-haul band, which is why you'll notice "skip" chatter on your CB at various times of the day and year.  Depending on solar activity and atmospherics.  Okay now, that I've totally bored you, Jim is absolutely right, shorter antennas tuned right will always give you better results then badly tuned, like the factory whips, antennas.   If the factory whips were tuned properly, you wouldn't notice that much difference between the shorties and the factory whips.  You're pretty much limited to ground wave for normal communications and also antenna height.  Remember, the factory whips are electrically no higher than the shorties...you measure antenna height from the base of the antenna to the ground, they just give you a little more radiating surface, but the actual radiation pattern of vertically polarized omni-directional antenna is pretty much identical.  So the short answer is no, you're not going to see much better performance out of properly tuned factory whips, then you will out of the shorties.  But remember, the factory whips are badly out of tune...I still can't believe the MoCo lets those bikes go that way out of the factory.   Sorry to ramble Iron...
Cheers ,

[IronButt]

Iron,
You're somewhat right, but that's only because of power.  You're only allowed, legally, 4 watts.  CB's operate in the HF band which is an excellent long-haul band, which is why you'll notice "skip" chatter on your CB at various times of the day and year.  Depending on solar activity and atmospherics.  Okay now, that I've totally bored you, Jim is absolutely right, shorter antennas tuned right will always give you better results then badly tuned, like the factory whips, antennas.   If the factory whips were tuned properly, you wouldn't notice that much difference between the shorties and the factory whips.  You're pretty much limited to ground wave for normal communications and also antenna height.  Remember, the factory whips are electrically no higher than the shorties...you measure antenna height from the base of the antenna to the ground, they just give you a little more radiating surface, but the actual radiation pattern of vertically polarized omni-directional antenna is pretty much identical.  So the short answer is no, you're not going to see much better performance out of properly tuned factory whips, then you will out of the shorties.  But remember, the factory whips are badly out of tune...I still can't believe the MoCo lets those bikes go that way out of the factory.   Sorry to ramble Iron...
Cheers ,

So on a CB the base height not tip height, is what matters, for the non-Cliff Claven answer?

[RedDevil]

So on a CB the base height not tip height, is what matters, for the non-Cliff Claven answer?

Yep...in radio licensing terms it's called HAAT (Height Above Average Terrain).  Now, if I can just figure out how to mount the shorties on top of a 75 foot tower mounted to the tour pack..........
Cheers ,

[Eqcons]

Yep...in radio licensing terms it's called HAAT (Height Above Average Terrain).  Now, if I can just figure out how to mount the shorties on top of a 75 foot tower mounted to the tour pack..........
Cheers ,

 

Jim

[Midnight Rider]

Iron,
You're somewhat right, but that's only because of power.  You're only allowed, legally, 4 watts.  CB's operate in the HF band which is an excellent long-haul band, which is why you'll notice "skip" chatter on your CB at various times of the day and year.  Depending on solar activity and atmospherics.  Okay now, that I've totally bored you, Jim is absolutely right, shorter antennas tuned right will always give you better results then badly tuned, like the factory whips, antennas.   If the factory whips were tuned properly, you wouldn't notice that much difference between the shorties and the factory whips.  You're pretty much limited to ground wave for normal communications and also antenna height.  Remember, the factory whips are electrically no higher than the shorties...you measure antenna height from the base of the antenna to the ground, they just give you a little more radiating surface, but the actual radiation pattern of vertically polarized omni-directional antenna is pretty much identical.  So the short answer is no, you're not going to see much better performance out of properly tuned factory whips, then you will out of the shorties.  But remember, the factory whips are badly out of tune...I still can't believe the MoCo lets those bikes go that way out of the factory.   Sorry to ramble Iron...
Cheers ,

Thanks, RD...I appreciate your expertise in this area, as I know as much about a CB and how it works as a cat does about a shotgun.