Will I be sorry

[Bigfoot]

The cost alone may keep me from doing this but I am considering it. I stopped by a local Yamaha dealership the other day looking for advice regarding changing out my Audio system. I use the AM/FM when in my home area and I use my Garmin/XM when out of the range of the local stations. I plug the XM into the Cassette player to use the speakers. As anyone knows who does something similar the sound is not as loud when using this method and according to the people at Yamaha there is not much that can be done about the decreased sound. Something about running one system (XM) thru the Cassette which will always play at a reduced sound.

I'm trying to improve the system by looking for a FM I can listeN to at all times BY hitting a scan button. This seems to be a frutless search so far as there appears to be no system to replace the Yamaha stock system. The dealer even sent me to a local place that installs systems in cars and motorcycles and have been doing so for over 25 years.

This place pretty much said I need to consider letting them take out the cassette and replacing it with a one piece system that does it all. GPS, Am/FM/CD and who knows what else. They would have to do some cutting to make it fit and a 7 in screen pops out when in use. When you turn it off it disappears back into itself. This system does not pop out for safekeeping.

 

My question is: Will I be sorry installing something like this? Does anyone here have anything similar or have any suggestions? As a nearly 30 year police officer I'm aware of the danger of having something like this on my bike when I'm traveling and can't watch the bike all night when parked. I'm going on a 30- day ride this August and would like some decent sounds.

[LilBeaver]

Have you tried an FM transmitter for your XM radio?

Presuming there is an audio out plug on the XM radio you could get a reasonable FM transmitter for ~$30, then it would go directly to the radio and you would not have the loss through the cassette.

 

Or, have you tried the line in next to the Cassette player? I have a MP3 player that I run directly into the line in plug next to the Cassette on my 01 RSV and have no problems with the sound out.

 

- Rick M.

 

P.S. congrats on nearly 30years of service!

[Bigfoot]

Have you tried an FM transmitter for your XM radio?

Presuming there is an audio out plug on the XM radio you could get a reasonable FM transmitter for ~$30, then it would go directly to the radio and you would not have the loss through the cassette.

 

Or, have you tried the line in next to the Cassette player? I have a MP3 player that I run directly into the line in plug next to the Cassette on my 01 RSV and have no problems with the sound out.

 

- Rick M.

 

P.S. congrats on nearly 30years of service!

 

Lilbeaver,

 

Thanks for the congrats. Appreciate it. I'll admit right up front I am not a techno geek so electronics is not my thing. I thought the guy at the shop said nothing would boost the sound and I really believe he was leveling with me. From the looks of things they do not need my business. I'll ask about the FM transmitter.

[DragonRider]

XM and Sirius radios can be received thru your fm radio on you bike, they have a built in FM modulator, all you have to do is go to the settings on the sat. radio and set it to an FM freq. that is not being broadcast on and tune your fm radio to that freq, and you radio sat radio will play through your fm radio and speakers.

Lilbeaver,

 

Thanks for the congrats. Appreciate it. I'll admit right up front I am not a techno geek so electronics is not my thing. I thought the guy at the shop said nothing would boost the sound and I really believe he was leveling with me. From the looks of things they do not need my business. I'll ask about the FM transmitter.

[MiCarl]

XM and Sirius radios can be received thru your fm radio on you bike, they have a built in FM modulator, all you have to do is go to the settings on the sat. radio and set it to an FM freq. that is not being broadcast on and tune your fm radio to that freq, and you radio sat radio will play through your fm radio and speakers.

 

I used to sell Sirius radios. Every single one of them had a choice in the set up menu to adjust the output level. Every one of them needed to be cranked up to sound good with the amps we had them hooked up to in the store. I wouldn't be surprised if the XM radios are the same.

 

I'm not a big fan of FM modulators. If the 2nd gen as an aux port in the audio system I'd hook the XM into that.

[Steve S]

Bigfoot.

Are you using a cassette adapter or an auxiliary cord plugged into the auxulary port right beside the cassette player?

 

I have been using a satelite radio for 3 years and before that a Walkman CD player plugged directly into the auxiliary port of the stero system. I haven't noticed any difference in the quality of sound from the FM radio and sound through the auxiliary system.

 

Good Luck.

 

P.S. I picked my auxiliary cord up at Radio Shack for about 7 bucks.

[BuddyRich]

I have a Jensen VM-9412 in my truck. DVD,am/fm/GPS and a bunch of aux in. Has the 7 inch motorized touch screen. Its not something that's waterproof that's for sure. What make and model you considering.

[Bigfoot]

Bigfoot.

Are you using a cassette adapter or an auxiliary cord plugged into the auxulary port right beside the cassette player?

 

I have been using a satelite radio for 3 years and before that a Walkman CD player plugged directly into the auxiliary port of the stero system. I haven't noticed any difference in the quality of sound from the FM radio and sound through the auxiliary system.

 

Good Luck.

 

P.S. I picked my auxiliary cord up at Radio Shack for about 7 bucks.

 

I'm plugging a line into the GPS/XM to the aux port on the cassette player.

[Bigfoot]

I have a Jensen VM-9412 in my truck. DVD,am/fm/GPS and a bunch of aux in. Has the 7 inch motorized touch screen. Its not something that's waterproof that's for sure. What make and model you considering.

 

 

Not sure what the model/brand. Didn't really look at it that close. And yes, this one was not waterproof which is another negative for it.

[az1103]

Buy a Mix-It unit and plug everything through that. I have the Zumo 550 and my Sat XM going through it and I can balance and amplify them any way I want... Works great!!! I can be listening to FM or XM or the MP3 on the Zumo and the instructions will interrupt when needed. The Mix-it has improved the sound quality.

[Mariner Fan]

I'm plugging a line into the GPS/XM to the aux port on the cassette player.

 

Wayne,

Do you have your garmin's volume set all the way up? I don't have a drop in audio level from my Garmin XM unit.

[Guest tx2sturgis]

Before you go to all the expense of swapping to a highend unit, you should at least TRY to use the output on your XM to feed a cassette adapter. For me, this has provided the best sound quality, and the volume is better than using the aux port. You do end up with a small cable running out of the cassette door, but thats a small price to pay for much better sound.

 

Be sure to go in to the menu settings on the garmin/xm and adjust the audio level to the highest setting which does not distort. Also, when running the adapter sometimes the Yamaha head unit will display BLS, which means blank skip. If it does that, and doesnt return, just power the unit off, then back on.

 

If you hang a big buck stereo in the dash, your almost asking someone to take it.

[RoadKill]

The cost alone may keep me from doing this but I am considering it. I stopped by a local Yamaha dealership the other day looking for advice regarding changing out my Audio system. I use the AM/FM when in my home area and I use my Garmin/XM when out of the range of the local stations. I plug the XM into the Cassette player to use the speakers. As anyone knows who does something similar the sound is not as loud when using this method and according to the people at Yamaha there is not much that can be done about the decreased sound. Something about running one system (XM) thru the Cassette which will always play at a reduced sound.

I'm trying to improve the system by looking for a FM I can listeN to at all times BY hitting a scan button. This seems to be a frutless search so far as there appears to be no system to replace the Yamaha stock system. The dealer even sent me to a local place that installs systems in cars and motorcycles and have been doing so for over 25 years.

This place pretty much said I need to consider letting them take out the cassette and replacing it with a one piece system that does it all. GPS, Am/FM/CD and who knows what else. They would have to do some cutting to make it fit and a 7 in screen pops out when in use. When you turn it off it disappears back into itself. This system does not pop out for safekeeping.

 

My question is: Will I be sorry installing something like this? Does anyone here have anything similar or have any suggestions? As a nearly 30 year police officer I'm aware of the danger of having something like this on my bike when I'm traveling and can't watch the bike all night when parked. I'm going on a 30- day ride this August and would like some decent sounds.

I used a Boostaroo Amp, battery powered, (battery last a LONG time) ended up allowing me to reduce volume by half.

[hillrider]

For what it's worth, I use a XM Radio and a Garmin GPS. Both outputs jacked into a 2into1 adapter (Radio Shack) and that plugged into the Aux Input. Works great after adjusting individual volumes. GPS a little louder than XM (so the instructions override the music). Oh, and I'm a little hard of hearing too, so volume is a condsideration.

[timgray]

The place you took your bike to knows nothing about stereo's in bikes. I know this simply by what they suggested to you to put in the bike. The pop out motorized screen will die in very short order on a motorcycle from vibration and shocks they dont get in cars or trucks, plus they are not even slightly water resistant. Plus if you want to see the screen you will have to stop and shade it with your hand. NONE of the pop out motorized screen car stereos are viewable in direct sunlight.

 

I would search for the aftermarket solutions that others have posted about the audio. As for the being to able to hit scan at any time on the handlebars for XM... nothing exists. no car stereo will give you that either as you will either need to dig a remote out of your pocket, or reach foreward and poke at the screen.

 

What you CAN do is have an electronics engineer modify a XM radio IR remote to reroute the scan remote button push to a handlebar button and then route the IR from the remote to the face of the XM radio reciever. If your garmin has a remote, you can have it modified. If it does not have a remote you will have to get a XM reciever that does. There are no car stereos that exist that has a wire that can be hooked up to a button on the handlebars.

Edited April 27, 2009 by timgray

[Bigfoot]

Thanks all. I'll be looking into a few of these suggestions.

[Guest tx2sturgis]

There are no car stereos that exist that has a wire that can be hooked up to a button on the handlebars.

 

I agree with everything you suggested as far as trying to re-invent the wheel, but actually there ARE some aftermarket stereos that will interface to handlebar controls.

[friesman]

I am going back to my oem stereo after installing a pioneer car stereo in my 85 G1 last year.

I dont notice a huge difference in sound when moving at any speed. and I REALLY miss the heads up tuning and mute buttons, and the speed sensitive volume control is great when pulling up at a light is a huge plus to me that I didnt think I would miss.

Ive tried the FM transmitter and they didnt work very well, I found I got more volume and clearer sound using the cassette adapter with my OEM stereo.

 

Brian

[50btripn]

Just last week I installed XM Radio on mine. I use an Audiovox Xpress receiver (as listed here http://store.xmfanstore.com/xpress.html). I purchased the RAM-Mount system to mount to the handlebar. I then purchased an FM Direct adapter (http://store.xmfanstore.com/fmdirect.html). It wires directly into the antenna on the bike, which negates any static or interference discovered when using FM modulators.

 

All in all, it took me about an hour to install and run all wiring (I like to work slow and meticulously), and everything cost less than $100.

 

From one cop to another...hope this helps.

[Bigfoot]

Just last week I installed XM Radio on mine. I use an Audiovox Xpress receiver (as listed here http://store.xmfanstore.com/xpress.html). I purchased the RAM-Mount system to mount to the handlebar. I then purchased an FM Direct adapter (http://store.xmfanstore.com/fmdirect.html). It wires directly into the antenna on the bike, which negates any static or interference discovered when using FM modulators.

 

All in all, it took me about an hour to install and run all wiring (I like to work slow and meticulously), and everything cost less than $100.

 

From one cop to another...hope this helps.

 

 

Can you come to Virginia and set mine up????

[50btripn]

Can you come to Virginia and set mine up????

 

For a case of Mich Ultra and a hotel room...sure.

[SilvrT]

Just last week I installed XM Radio on mine. I use an Audiovox Xpress receiver (as listed here http://store.xmfanstore.com/xpress.html). I purchased the RAM-Mount system to mount to the handlebar. I then purchased an FM Direct adapter (http://store.xmfanstore.com/fmdirect.html). It wires directly into the antenna on the bike, which negates any static or interference discovered when using FM modulators.

 

All in all, it took me about an hour to install and run all wiring (I like to work slow and meticulously), and everything cost less than $100.

 

From one cop to another...hope this helps.

That's the exact same system I have ... unfortunately, I dropped the danged receiver when I removed it from my '87 (was gonna mount in on my '06) and it don't work no more!

 

:crying:

[RedRider]

If you have the Garmin Zumo, get a cable from Rick Butler and tie it into the stereo system under the fairing cover. It works great and is recognized by the stock Yama stereo on the Aux channel. Problem solved for a $30 cable.

 

RR