Radio for 04 R1150RT

[steve635]

Unfortunatly there is no sound system on the 04 R1150RT, however there are places for speakers and a pocket for a radio built into the fairing. My question then is has anybody installed a system on this model and if so what specifically. Could I put an Ipod or an XM radio in the pocket? Funny, 20 years ago I was almost a tech nerd, 10 years ago I was still functional, and now.........well it's just sad.

[BradfordBenn]

I just took mine out of my 02RT. I decided it was wasted weight and space. So I am using the radio box as my connection point and documentation (registration insurance... etc.) location. For my personal use I found that an AutoComm sounds better and does what I want to do.

[146657]

As the owner of a former CHP '04 R1150RT-P, and since I am in the midst of installing an iPod, I thought I would share some of my experience to date and also some of my remaining challenges.

This iPod installation is part of a much larger revamp of the RT. When the CHP decommissions a bike, they stick their wire cutters in various holes, never removing any plastic or such, and snip out all the parts they don't want the ultimate end user, like me, to have. What this leaves is many floating end wires and keyed and hot wired harnesses. These can be a blessing and a curse.

What I don't have is a regular radio. Instead, in that port side plastic hole is the secondary battery running most all the lights from amidship on back. Again, good and bad. Yank the battery to make room for a radio and I need to, for the most part, is rewire the stern. No way. I intend, rather, to use this battery to my pleasure.

But, I do have a pair of speakers in the dash. Unfortunately, I have nothing to hook them to and, in fact, the wires to the speakers were snipped. This leaves me with parts, but no simple solutions.

I have power, speakers, and an iPod. But if I simply hook the speaker wires to a minijack stereo connector, and then plug in the iPod, then I am left with music barely able to be heard over the Two Brothers exhaust sounds. So I'm going to need a 12v amp; a very small 12v amp.

I found a really nice amp for $180, but decided to forego that until later and instead picked up a Boosteroo. It has a 12v connector, which I will cut off and wire direct to the secondary battery with a 2a fuse inline. The Boosteroo also has a minijack input for the iPod, along with a 12" male-to-male connector. Lastly, the amp has two female minijack connectors.

My intent is to drill a hole through the removal panel on the port side of the console below the foglamp switch and above the left speaker. The challenge I am left with is mounting the iPod in such a way as to sufficiently secure it and also to dock it in a manner offering both sound and charging. If any of you have ideas, I am open to the advice.

Stay tuned, (no pun intended) as I will be posting the complete overhaul including pics in the weeks to come. Some of the highlights are PIAA driving lamps, garage door open/closer, and the iPod installation. :bikes

[OfficerImpersonator]

The easiest solution is to simply replace your earplugs with earphones, and connect the earphones to an iPod that sits in your tank bag or is nestled in a pocket of your riding jacket/suit.

No re-wiring, no blasting your music to your fellow citizens, no worries about not hearing the music over road/wind noise, etc. etc.

I always thought the motorcycle blasting the tunes was a Harley/Gold Wing thing...