Harley radio Problem

[nowhereman]

There should be a ground from the fairing to the neck.

But I had the same thing happen to my 02 UC. A local builder hooked me up with "Radio Sound", I called them and arranged a swap for a refurbished radio. I shipped them mine, they said the amp was blown and they did an exchange with me for 130.00. I received a refurbished radio from them in a couple days and it works perfectly. They said when a battery is dead and all you get is a click click, that click click along with amps from a charger can and will send a surge through the radio circuit and that popped the amp. So pull dead/low battery and charge it slow, avoid jump starts. They also said they have seen this exact same thing many times and they weren't surprised. Could be smoke could be true, but my radio is sounding great. Now I never turn off my bike with the radio on. Good luck.

 

[nowhereman]

A number would be helpful, Radio Sound 877-655-9421.

nowhereman

 

[glider]

I don't understand where a "voltage spike" would come from if the source was a 12v automotive battery charger. Are you saying the 13.5-14.5 volts it produces constitutes a "spike" to the bike?

The voltmeter on my Ultra Classic reads around 14 volts consistently when I'm riding.

Suppose you had a dead battery and then hook up jumper cables to this dead battery. Most people would leave the donor vehicle running which means the alternator is putting out a charge as soon as the demand is there (hooking up a dead battery to it) Once the dead battery is realized, the alternator kicks in and also the amperage from the other vehicles battery and takes the bikes battery from dead to whatever push it can get from the donor's battery and alternator.

Let's not even get into hooking up a large output charger on boost to a dead battery to get it started.

Electronics are very easy to damage with sudden spikes in voltage or amps.

 

[Jim Baxley]

A number would be helpful, Radio Sound 877-655-9421.

nowhereman

Hey guys,
Thanks for the updates. Is the refurbished radio from Radio Sound a refurbished Harley radio which is probaby made in China by Sony. I noticed when I took my fairing off that the back of the radio says made in China. I found a new Sony radio on the internet for 130.00. It has a CD player rather than a cassette like my fried Harley radio. The only problem with the new Sony radio and cd combo is that I have to buy a 200.00 dollar plug and play converter to still be able to use the controls on my handlebars.
How hard is it going to be to take the old radio out and put a new one in? Is it not possible to take my fried Harley radio to someone in the know and have a new amp put in?
Jim

 

[HarleyHarry]

I would imagine that a good electronics engineer is able to fix your radio. Often it's a capacitor that has blown and not a whole pcb. You may find that if the offending part is located quickly the cost is next to nothing due to the fact that electronics parts in radio's are rather inexpensive.

 

[nowhereman]

Yes Jim the swapped radio is a refur'b HD exactly like the one I sent them. They do not do upgrades, you get back what you send. They rebuild yours and shelf it for the next customer so turnaround is very quick. Doing the R&R is fairly easy. To make it easier on me I drilled a 7/16 hole on either side of the radio bracket that made mounting bolt access much easier. Two bolts left and right, the wire plugs and antenna and out it comes. I did not go with a after market replacement because I wanted plug/play and a good fit without extra trim work or gaskets + I like the CB and intercom feature of the HD radio. Good luck to you.

nowhereman

 

[dhorne]

by boosting with a truck or fast charger what else can it blow??

 

[glider]

by boosting with a truck or fast charger what else can it blow??

It's not worth it to find out. Charge on a trickle or replace the battery and be sure.

ECM etc get very expensive to replace.