Adding a radio to an IS trunk

[gordonv]

I posted before that I was adding a marine radio to my Valk IS trunk which I mounted onto my Honda Shadow ACE Tourer. This would be a similar mod to any Valk, IS or otherwise, as long as you have an IS trunk.

You can find a more detailed post of this mod on the HSATF.
http://hondashadowacetourer.yuku.com/topic/15234/Adding-a-stereo-to-my-ACE

I choose the Polk d501 like most here use, and a Clarion CMS1 marine radio. This is a very nice radio, no clock but the memory is a flash, so you only need power when you want it turned on. A nice 10' of cable for the remote front control. The system will scan for stations and save them, a very nice feature when out driving from your local area. It has an Aux imput, and a USB connector.



Since the trunk was mounted on a Tourer model, the brake light was still there, and took up some of the space where the stock CB location is, under the trunk. So I had to mount it further to the back. It can be seen more this way, but to remove the fender mounted brake light was more work than I wanted to do.



The controls work very well, and it was nice to mount them on the front handlebars. A custom mounting plate, and a RAM mount.



I have since started covering the red of my IS trunk with the vinyl wrap, making the trunk completely black. It is looking nicer, even though I haven't gotten it applied good enough, the day was too cloudy, so I wasn't able to stretch it in the sun, so it will take more work to make it look good up close. From a few paces, it looks fine. I just need to cover the top of the trunk to complete the job. Nice thing of it all, is that it is reversible, all I have to do is peel it off and get the red trunk back again.



After ridding it for a while, at max volume and going 70mph, you almost can't hear the radio on the front seat. Just waiting for my wife to go for a fast ride, I'm sure it will be too loud for her. I'm going to look for a set of small bullet speakers for the front handle bars. I always found the IS too loud in the front, when I made the music loud enough for my passenger, so now I'm having the reverse effect.

Now I'm waiting for a set of arm rests for the IS trunk from BikeBikeBling. Barry mentioned he has one set left, and may only make more upon enough orders to make it worth while.

http://www.bigbikethings.com/armrests.html

I'll post another picture after I receive and install it. My wife will be happy when she can safely fall asleep on those long rides.

[OverdueBill]

Good looking bike.  I like the radio controls like that.  Great job!

[gordonv]

I had an email about the ability of removing the radio controls, to avoid theft. This is what I wrote.


The control unit is "screwed" into the RAM arm, which is just a simple wing nut, loosen and pull the ball, and it's off. There is about a 1' lead on the remote (you can see in the top most pic, behind the box), plugged into the 10' extension. I forget if the extension has a cap or not, so if the unit is left off it might be subject to the weather.

I was going to do like I saw with another forum member, a tie strap to stop the arm from easily being opened (but this may not be it's final mounting spot, so I haven't done that yet).

Someone suggested making a cloth cover to slip over it, to hide what it is. If they don't know, they are less likely to mess with it.

I'm not too concerned, my back rest is just a simple pull out, and I've had it 2 years now.


I have rain all week (welcome to motor biking weather), and someone suggested covering their GPS with a plastic baggy, so I tried it, and it fits really tight on this one, so it made it a nice skin. It is a marine radio controler, but it will be sitting in the rain.