Music options for a Tourer

[rmrc51]

I have a Valk Tourer with a Motor Trike conversion. I'd like to add some kind of music capability to her. I don't need a radio, just a way to play my favorite music. I was thinking of some type of option that could use a flash drive which contains all my music files (only 50s & early 60s, lol). Also keep in mind that I have a full set of Motosen gauges so the area by my risers is completely full.

Any suggestions?

[Chrisj CMA]

This system was made by two wheel tunes, I think now its call cycle tunes......Anyway I seen them in J&P catalog.  I really like them.  The speakers were supposed to be mounted on the handlebars.  I detest anything mounted on the bars thats not OEM, so I adapted the mounts to fit on the corners of the Honda shield brackets.  Them things are ugly anyway so they are covered now


I pu tthe amp under the trees, they are supposed to be in the wind to keep them cool.  I wanted to put it under the seat, but I was advised by the vendor I purchades from not to do that


The whole system is plugged into the 5A accessory plug so its keyed and it has never failed me

[rmrc51]

This system was made by two wheel tunes, I think now its call cycle tunes......Anyway I seen them in J&P catalog.  I really like them.  The speakers were supposed to be mounted on the handlebars.  I detest anything mounted on the bars thats not OEM, so I adapted the mounts to fit on the corners of the Honda shield brackets.  Them things are ugly anyway so they are covered now


I pu tthe amp under the trees, they are supposed to be in the wind to keep them cool.  I wanted to put it under the seat, but I was advised by the vendor I purchades from not to do that


The whole system is plugged into the 5A accessory plug so its keyed and it has never failed me

That looks perfect!!! I'll definitely check that out on the J&P web site.  

Can I use a flash drive for the music? If not, how is music stored?

By the way, I have the same colors as you, red & white, lol.

[Davet261]

I too own a Tourer and through trial and error and a lot of money IMO the system I describe below in an older post I placed  describes it pretty well..........




I am not going to say I am an expert on  audio systems but by trial and error (and a lot of wasted money) I found probably the best system for a motorcycle for the cost.  

I started out with a Shark 300 watt system, not a bad amp but speakers are poor quality, cheap plastic speaker housings that scratch if you look at them wrong.  They hiss, crackle, distort even at the low watt settings, and have very poor mounting brackets for the speakers.  The wiring on the speakers are poor quality, one very thin wire surrounded by a flimsy jacket that is used as a ground.  The cost for this system was $137.00.

I decided the upgrade the speakers and bought a set of Patriot speakers, better quality speaker but only 65 watts so I had to turn down the watt power to keep them from blowing (yes I blew one of them the day I installed them and they sent me a replacement)  The handlebar mount is a cheap one piece bracket that you have to open up and bend around the handlebar
The cost for the speakers was $90.00

After these fiasco's I did my research on the Kuryakyn Sound of Chrome but before I bought another system I was going to find someone that had it.  I started going to biker bars looking for the Sound of Chrome and I did not have far to look.  (The Kickstand Bar in Lancaster OH).  I asked questions, and I listened to it, good sound quality, but not a lot of volume, the brother had a Harley and he said at 55 mph it gets hard to hear, the system is only 50 watts and cost $300-$350.00 so my search was still on.

I ran into a guy at another bar (Jimbo's in Hocking Hills, they serve the biggest hamburger you ever saw) and he had a system called Uniq Cycle Sounds and listened to it.  I was sold on it.

Uniq Cycle Sounds system has Pioneer 2 way 300 watt waterproof speakers, an excellent amp, excellent 2 pc speaker mounts that are heavy, not some cheap flimsy bracket that scratches your handlebars.  The system has a plug in wiring harness, not a bunch of loose wires, just mount the amp, mount the speakers, plug them in secure the wires to the frame under the gas tank and its done.  There is no distortion, perfect stereo seperation at any speed and clarity even over 85 MPH.  I ride through downtown Columbus to and from work, almost everyone is on their cell phones in their cars and when I pull up beside them they wind up their windows because I drown them out.  

This system comes with a lifetime warranty, if it breaks they fix it.  The cost of this system is $300-$350.00 on their site but if you watch for them on Ebay they usually have a system on there to bid on and you can get it under $300.00.

I suggest not trying to buy different components from different suppliers and trying to make your own.  Buy a complete system, there are too many things that can and will go wrong, I have to disagree with the previous post about getting a higher watt amp, it will just blow speakers.  I am living proof of that..

I will take pictures of the system and post them here later on today.

One more tip - cover your speakers with plastic bags when washing your ride!!!!!!

[rmrc51]

I too own a Tourer and through trial and error and a lot of money IMO the system I describe below in an older post I placed  describes it pretty well..........




I am not going to say I am an expert on  audio systems but by trial and error (and a lot of wasted money) I found probably the best system for a motorcycle for the cost.  

I started out with a Shark 300 watt system, not a bad amp but speakers are poor quality, cheap plastic speaker housings that scratch if you look at them wrong.  They hiss, crackle, distort even at the low watt settings, and have very poor mounting brackets for the speakers.  The wiring on the speakers are poor quality, one very thin wire surrounded by a flimsy jacket that is used as a ground.  The cost for this system was $137.00.

I decided the upgrade the speakers and bought a set of Patriot speakers, better quality speaker but only 65 watts so I had to turn down the watt power to keep them from blowing (yes I blew one of them the day I installed them and they sent me a replacement)  The handlebar mount is a cheap one piece bracket that you have to open up and bend around the handlebar
The cost for the speakers was $90.00

After these fiasco's I did my research on the Kuryakyn Sound of Chrome but before I bought another system I was going to find someone that had it.  I started going to biker bars looking for the Sound of Chrome and I did not have far to look.  (The Kickstand Bar in Lancaster OH).  I asked questions, and I listened to it, good sound quality, but not a lot of volume, the brother had a Harley and he said at 55 mph it gets hard to hear, the system is only 50 watts and cost $300-$350.00 so my search was still on.

I ran into a guy at another bar (Jimbo's in Hocking Hills, they serve the biggest hamburger you ever saw) and he had a system called Uniq Cycle Sounds and listened to it.  I was sold on it.

Uniq Cycle Sounds system has Pioneer 2 way 300 watt waterproof speakers, an excellent amp, excellent 2 pc speaker mounts that are heavy, not some cheap flimsy bracket that scratches your handlebars.  The system has a plug in wiring harness, not a bunch of loose wires, just mount the amp, mount the speakers, plug them in secure the wires to the frame under the gas tank and its done.  There is no distortion, perfect stereo seperation at any speed and clarity even over 85 MPH.  I ride through downtown Columbus to and from work, almost everyone is on their cell phones in their cars and when I pull up beside them they wind up their windows because I drown them out.  

This system comes with a lifetime warranty, if it breaks they fix it.  The cost of this system is $300-$350.00 on their site but if you watch for them on Ebay they usually have a system on there to bid on and you can get it under $300.00.

I suggest not trying to buy different components from different suppliers and trying to make your own.  Buy a complete system, there are too many things that can and will go wrong, I have to disagree with the previous post about getting a higher watt amp, it will just blow speakers.  I am living proof of that..

I will take pictures of the system and post them here later on today.

One more tip - cover your speakers with plastic bags when washing your ride!!!!!!

Thanks for the tip and great review. I'm looking at their site now and I'll probably call them later. 

[..]

Like loud pipes loud music blaring to the world adds to nuisance noise.

Why do riders think that EVERYONE else wants to hear their tunes?

Especially frustrating when you ride in a group. Stop somewhere in the middle of nowhere with spectacular views of nature and some one has to leave their music fouling the atmosphere.

You're as annoying as the car in traffic with its window bulging from overly loud music.

Flame suit on.

[rmrc51]

Like loud pipes loud music blaring to the world adds to nuisance noise.

Why do riders think that EVERYONE else wants to hear their tunes?

Especially frustrating when you ride in a group. Stop somewhere in the middle of nowhere with spectacular views of nature and some one has to leave their music fouling the atmosphere.

You're as annoying as the car in traffic with its window bulging from overly loud music.

Flame suit on.

Britman, I respect your opinion and I agree with you! My purposes for wanting music is to have it just loud enough that I can hear it. I also hate when I hear cars with their music so loud that I can feel the bass in my chest! And as far as loud pipes go, I run with stock baffles. This is how I prefer my ride to sound, but I also respect others who enjoy the report of loud pipes.

[..]

Like loud pipes loud music blaring to the world adds to nuisance noise.

Why do riders think that EVERYONE else wants to hear their tunes?

Especially frustrating when you ride in a group. Stop somewhere in the middle of nowhere with spectacular views of nature and some one has to leave their music fouling the atmosphere.

You're as annoying as the car in traffic with its window bulging from overly loud music.

Flame suit on.

Britman, I respect your opinion and I agree with you! My purposes for wanting music is to have it just loud enough that I can hear it. I also hate when I hear cars with their music so loud that I can feel the bass in my chest! And as far as loud pipes go, I run with stock baffles. This is how I prefer my ride to sound, but I also respect others who enjoy the report of loud pipes.

I'm not an audio tech but having speakers to the air so that you can hear them at speed requires a fair bit of audio power and volume. How is that volume regualted as you slow down? If you have to adjust the volime as your speed decreases / increase that's a little part of your brain NOT paying attention to your surroundings. Yeah, yeah I know I'm a worry wart.  

Why not something simple like an Mp3 player and earbuds? Less on you handlebars to be distracting?

[Chrisj CMA]

That looks perfect!!! I'll definitely check that out on the J&P web site. 

Can I use a flash drive for the music? If not, how is music stored?

By the way, I have the same colors as you, red & white, lol.

I have an MP3 player that plugs into the system with a standard plug.

And To those that would hate us for wanting music on our bikes.....maybe you dont know the whole story.....dont hate, dont judge, if my music ever offends you just tell me, Ill do something to fix it for you.  Peace

[rmrc51]

As you probably can guess, this is all new to me. (MP3 players, iPods, ect.). I'm really,, "old school". That being said, I'm also considering seeing if i can install some kind of headphones in my helmet that an iPod nano (which supposedly can be clipped to my jacket) can be hooked up to. The external speakers would still be a nice addition for the time's I like to hear my 50s music without the helmet. (parked? low speed? what ever! lol)

and by the way, I really do appreciate all of the feed back and suggestions! 

[..]

I have music on both of my bikes.

Smart phone and earbuds with a volume controller from Aerostich.

http://www.aerostich.com/koss-earspeaker-volume-control.html

[Davet261]

Like loud pipes loud music blaring to the world adds to nuisance noise.

Why do riders think that EVERYONE else wants to hear their tunes?

Especially frustrating when you ride in a group. Stop somewhere in the middle of nowhere with spectacular views of nature and some one has to leave their music fouling the atmosphere.

You're as annoying as the car in traffic with its window bulging from overly loud music.

Fire Hose Out

For one thing, I WANT to be heard.  Before I got louder pipes and an audio system do you know how many cars and truck cut me off?"??  More times than I can shake my middle finger at.  With my audio system  I have a better chance of being seen and heard.  

I ride with people that do not have audio systems on their bikes and not once have I ever been told anything about drowning them out.  If your getting drowned out running down the road then you are most likely riding too close to others causing  a hazard yourself.  

My system is loud but I still have no problems hears anytthing in my suroundings..............

Flame Suit On

[snohunter]

Take a look at this one i have it on my 2000 tourer its been pretty nice. I mounted the box in my battery box it fits well you can mount the speakers anywhere it has a radio too .and its fairly inexpensive .I used mine all last summer with out a problem www.extremecycleradio.com/

[Hoser]

"Why not something simple like an Mp3 player and earbuds? Less on you handlebars to be distracting?" 
+1, I use the foam earbud heads, so I can hear car horns, sirens, etc.  4MB of music set on random play,  I can ride all day without hearing the same song twice.  Total investment, 50 bux.  I synced the albums in my cd collection of classic rock and country.   Hoser   

[Bob E.]

I have a system from www.motorcycletunes.com and for what I paid for it, I like it.  I listen to my ipod through it and at one time, had an xm radio on it.

As for headphones, there are several negatives in my mind.  First, in some states (Like PA where I live) it is illegal, although I had done it for years prior to my current setup and never had a problem.  Also, headphones can block out alot of surrounding noises like horns and sirens and such (probably why they are illegal).  And on top of that, I tend to get a headache if I listen to them for too long...but that's just me.  Finally, earbuds are uncomfortable to me inside of a helmet.  It always seems like the wires are pinched between the helmet and my face/neck so that any movement tends to pull the buds on my ears.  My wife wears them though when she goes with me and she doesn't seem to have this problem, so its probably an individual thing. 

I did have a neat setup on my last helmet (Shoei full-face).  I bought a cheap set of over-the-head type headphones.  I removed the foam from the speakers and removed the speakers from the head-band, leaving me with these two flat plastic oval plates with the tiny speakers mounted in them.  I was able to cut a slit in the lining of the helmet just behind the ear pockets.  Then I slipped the speaker plates inside and they fit perfectly with the wires exiting the base of the helmet between the cheek pad and the neck pad.  The sound was good and they weren't inside of my ears, so the comfort was good.  I now have a modular helmet and the ear pockets arent as big, so I don't think it would work with this one though.

And as for open-air speakers disturbing the peace, I guess that's a personal thing.  I know I've had motorcycles like goldwings and full-dress harleys go past my house in a quiet, rural setting and though I could hear that they had music playing as they went past, it wasn't any more disturbing than just the noise of any other vehicle passing.  I guess if you had them really cranked and sat in one place for a long time, it might get to be annoying.  But then again, for the most part, we are talking little tiny 4" or smaller speakers without much bass...not 15" subwoofers thumping down the road that you can hear coming from 2 miles away.

[..]

Like loud pipes loud music blaring to the world adds to nuisance noise.

Why do riders think that EVERYONE else wants to hear their tunes?

Especially frustrating when you ride in a group. Stop somewhere in the middle of nowhere with spectacular views of nature and some one has to leave their music fouling the atmosphere.

You're as annoying as the car in traffic with its window bulging from overly loud music.

Fire Hose Out

For one thing, I WANT to be heard.  Before I got louder pipes and an audio system do you know how many cars and truck cut me off?"??  More times than I can shake my middle finger at.  With my audio system  I have a better chance of being seen and heard.  

I ride with people that do not have audio systems on their bikes and not once have I ever been told anything about drowning them out.  If your getting drowned out running down the road then you are most likely riding too close to others causing  a hazard yourself.  

My system is loud but I still have no problems hears anytthing in my suroundings..............

Flame Suit On

Reading comprehension is a lost art.

At NO POINT in my post did I write anything about being in proximity to another rider in motion who was playing music.

As to your assertion that your loud music alerts other road users. It may alert a very small minority.  On the other hand do you think of how many other road users around you are texting, talking, eating, drinking, cell phone, their own music, half sleep, reading, GPS, dealing with kids, kids watching onboard entertainment systems etc etc etc. If you honestly believe your loud music will atttact their attention I wish you all the safety in the world.

[BF]

Fire Hose Out

"Fire Hose Out".     

[Jess from VA]

The Interstate has an automatic controller that increases/decreases volume with speed/rpms.

I mostly listen to classical symphony orchestra music... I get some odd looks at stops, but I don't believe I annoy anyone with volume.  Nothing beats Vivaldi or Dvorak riding the Skyline Drive.  The only time I crank the volume at stops is to cover the rap music from the car beside me.

One day listening to a great tenor opera singer while fiddling with the bike in the drive, I had a neighbor lady come over and tell me I had the sweetest voice she ever heard.  

[RudyF6]

Smart phone: $200
Earbuds: $9.95
Pandora radio app: Free
Stock, quiet pipes: Priceless! 

[scoot]

I have a J&M audio / cb/ intercom system on my standard. It uses the speakers in the helmet, so I don't need to have it up load. I sometimes almost feel a little selfish.
 I also get the pleasure of hearing my wonderful wife's beautiful voice nagging me on how fast I'm going, did I see that, I gotta go to the bathroom......Crap 

[BF]

I have a J&M audio / cb/ intercom system on my standard. It uses the speakers in the helmet, so I don't need to have it up load. I sometimes almost feel a little selfish.
 I also get the pleasure of hearing my wonderful wife's beautiful voice nagging me on how fast I'm going, did I see that, I gotta go to the bathroom......Crap 

Sounds like a valid argument for handlebar speakers.   

[PAVALKER]

My I/S has the radio obviously, but previously on my VTX1800R I used an MP3 Player, that has my music on an SD card, in my jacket pocket with ear-buds that had a volume control in line on the headphones so I could reach for my chest and adjust the volume as needed.  When I got off the bike, it all came with me and nothing got tangled.   I later installed a Garmin GPS (Nuvi 660) on a RAM Mount which also has an MP3 Player and used that, but only had to pull the headphone wire from the Garmin when I got off.  Most of the time in city, I would use one ear bud, but out in the country I would put in two and I would still be able to hear the traffic, horns, my buddy next to me etc etc.

Now my Garmin feeds my Aux input on my I/S and does music, traffic and navigation directions, it pauses the music when it interrupts to tell me direction info.   If you have considered a GPS, get one that does MP3's and you won't need to get a different MP3 or IPOD etc.

[Warlock]

I have a Valk Tourer with a Motor Trike conversion. I'd like to add some kind of music capability to her. I don't need a radio, just a way to play my favorite music. I was thinking of some type of option that could use a flash drive which contains all my music files (only 50s & early 60s, lol). Also keep in mind that I have a full set of Motosen gauges so the area by my risers is completely full.

Any suggestions?

Here's a picture of my Jensen radio. The amp is mounted in my bag. It's waterproof. AM/FM with a built in 1 gig memory. Also has aux in to play MP3 play/Ipod. Can also add XM radio if you choose.

The speakers play very well. It looks like it blocks my speedometer but I can see over it. I have my bike set up solo at present, but when I mount my trunk I can plug in the rear speakers and play 4 speakers. Amp is a 4 channel setup. 
 David

[bogator]

 WELL, here goes, --I tried the Shark system --could not hear it ---- now--I have a J&M unit and a mp3 player that plugs into it. I downloaded all 697 songs my self and it works great with my headset speakers-since I wear hearing aids I can hear them good--cost----about 50 bucks--I will sell the Shark system if anyone wants it ..--------------GOD BLESS--------------

[Chrisj CMA]

"Why not something simple like an Mp3 player and earbuds? Less on you handlebars to be distracting?" 
+1, I use the foam earbud heads, so I can hear car horns, sirens, etc.  4MB of music set on random play,  I can ride all day without hearing the same song twice.  Total investment, 50 bux.  I synced the albums in my cd collection of classic rock and country.   Hoser   

I have speakers in the earpockets (sewed in) and the cord tacked to the back of the helmet.  Totally legal.  Here in FL at least earbuds while operating a motor vehicle....not legal.  I never use the speakers on the bike, they are for Judy because due to her neck/spine problems she cant wer a helmet large enough to have speakers in it.  She could use ear buds, but with an open type helmet its a pain

[rmrc51]

Thanks for all of the suggestions everyone!!!   

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

[Karen]

I agree with the Uniq, have it installed on my Majesty Scooter, use an iPod to play the tunes.

Ear Buds make the ambient noise too soft, also headphones are illegal here. I want to hear it before it hits me. Also have sub woofers on both the trike and the scooter, not for volume but for clarity. If it's too loud, I'll gladly turn it down, and do so at traffic stops.  ||:BOOM    da  dat BOOM    da dat BOOM BOOM:||