Seriously messed up audio

[AzBones]

Hi all - I've owned this bike since the new year and just recently encountered my first real problem...

 

I have been plugging a mp3 player into the Aux audio jack and have had great results with no commercials like you get on FM.

 

The other day, something strange happened - probably a short, but not really sure where to begin looking. The audio has been randomly switching back and forth from AM radio, CB and the mp3 player on its own. This morning, plugged in the mp3 player and had no right channel. Still bounced around from AM to CB to mp3. Went out on another ride later and left the mp3 player at home and opted to listen to FM radio. The right channel was working properly again, but still bouncing between audio settings all by itself.

 

Almost got hit by a cager and hit the horn - and the horn sounded through the speakers.

 

Even if the volume is turned down all the way, the AM & CB audio will still come through the speakers at a pretty loud volume. Strangest thing I've ever seen out of an audio system.

 

Any ideas of where to start? Thanks to all.

[djh3]

Sounds like there is definatly a short in some wiring. Loose connection is proably more correct. Good place to start looking is probably under the fairing. Some more experienced folks will probably speak up shortly.

[playboy]

You sure the cb is not on. Picked my bike up from shop one day and thought they had jacked up mine was getting some wierd sounds pulled over to get the owners man out to reset my stations and finally noticed the little red light for cb was on.

[dacheedah]

Echo playboy on looking at the simple stuff like what is on... Check the connections and clean and dry, dielectric grease around the connections before reconnecting. Did water get into the connector in the aux jack???

[AzBones]

Thanks for the replies - still hoping for someone that has experienced this to reply.

 

I'm certain that the CB is not powered on - the 'Select' button chooses between AM, 3 sets of FM presets, Auxiliary, Cassette or CB.

 

Living in Arizona, we don't see much rain, but on those rare times that we have this year, the bike has been sheltered from the weather.

[wes0778]

Almost got hit by a cager and hit the horn - and the horn sounded through the speakers.

 

 

 

Any ideas of where to start? Thanks to all.

 

Turn down the intercom volume...

[joboo]

Reach in there with a pair of side cutters and firmly cut all the audio wires directly in two, Tapes the ends firmly and take the bike out for a ride, enjoy listening to the wind whistling by!

[Cougar]

CB has it's own button tho.

and like some others say.

open that fairing and get them plugs cleaned out

and put di-electric in those plugs/

good luck, keep us posted.

Jeff

[LilBeaver]

This is a bit of a long shot, but I had some very screwy behavior on mine when my regulator/rectifier unit bit the dust. I would pull the seat off, start the bike and measure the terminal voltage of the battery at idle as well as at high revs. It should never exceed 14.2V. If it does, bada-bing. Like I said, this is a long shot but a malfunctioning rectifier/regulator unit can cause all sorts of problems. After mine did this, I needed to replace my main radio amp as well as a handful of other electronic parts.

 

As others stated, checking the audio connector wires inside the front fairing and under the passenger seat are also good places to start. You could also pull fuses and check for continuity between different circuits on the bike, but in this case a null result is inconclusive.

 

Checking the simple stuff first, seems like a reasonable way to proceed though.

 

Electrical problems, ESPECIALLY intermittent ones, are the absolute WORST!

 

[AzBones]

Reach in there with a pair of side cutters and firmly cut all the audio wires directly in two, Tapes the ends firmly and take the bike out for a ride, enjoy listening to the wind whistling by!

 

 

That's why I keep the Vulcan around... the sweet, sweet music of straight pipes.

[rbayler]

I have an 05 since it was off the shelf and mine started doing the same thing at 86,000 miles Audio went crazy. Cb would work when it wanted to and IC would put out an awful hiss. I split the faring and unplugged all the audio cleaned out all the terminals, put dielectric grease on them and replugged them tight with wire ties to hold them in place. (stated on another thread in here) and to my suprise the system went back to working like new.

[AzBones]

Thanks - I'll give that a shot... wasn't sure if I needed to be opening up the audio control unit on the handlebars or not.

[playboy]

Thanks - I'll give that a shot... wasn't sure if I needed to be opening up the audio control unit on the handlebars or not.

 

 

Not yet anyway Check everything mentioned first and the cb as its own on and off even with it on everything else still works.

[Wanderer]

Thanks for the replies - still hoping for someone that has experienced this to reply.

 

I'm certain that the CB is not powered on - the 'Select' button chooses between AM, 3 sets of FM presets, Auxiliary, Cassette or CB.

 

Living in Arizona, we don't see much rain, but on those rare times that we have this year, the bike has been sheltered from the weather.

 

I had my 09 a total of 2 days before it did the same as you describe. Sleeperhawk and I took the fairing apart and all the connectors got dielectric grease. While I don't have it now

to my knowledge there is still no problem with the audio.

[AzBones]

Thanks Wanderer - that did the trick. I just hope that I don't have to split that fairing again - a real pain in the keyster. But, I followed Freebird's Splitting the Fairing thread and got 'er done.

[Wanderer]

Thanks Wanderer - that did the trick. I just hope that I don't have to split that fairing again - a real pain in the keyster. But, I followed Freebird's Splitting the Fairing thread and got 'er done.

 

It gets easier the more you do it!

[Cougar]

Got my Fairing removal down to about 8 mins 40 seconds now !!

[Kawdon]

Just got my 2007 venture and am having trouble with the control buttons not doing anything, when I first try it worked for a little bit now it is just on one station could this be a loose connection somewhere?

[Freebird]

It is possible. I'm not optimistic but splitting the fairing and checking the round connectors is the first thing I would try. Just unplug them and plug them back in a few times. Also a good time to add a bit of dielectric grease and maybe secure them with some nylon ties.