MP3 Player Install On '99 Yamaha Venture

[Wayne McClain]

Gentlemen , I absolutely love this forum as a wonderful source of information! That being said , I was thinking of installing a CD player but after reading several posts, I believe an MP3 player may be a better choice? Is there a "clean looking way" other than using the aux plug on cassette deck, which I plan on converting to storage box as seen on other posts and since mine doesn't operate anyway,and is there a wiring harness or adapter to accomplish this? We ride in some remote areas that radio reception is poor at best. I may have placed this in the wrong forum as I have a '99 yamaha venture...don't know how to move to gen 2. Thanks for your help in advance!

 

Last edited by Wayne McClain; Today at 09:23 PM. Reason: wrong forum I think

 

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[k9cottage]

i fitted a garmin gps to my bike a 99 venture it plays mp3 placed on a sd card,it has a fm transmitter so i just tune the radio to it and put all my music and audio books on the sd card and play it through the gps if i am using the gps for navigation and it needs for me to turn right in 100 meters the music turns off when it is finished its message the music comes back on it also answers my phone through bluetooth i got a second hand garmin 760 it is for cars but on a venture it is like being in a car much cheaper than buying an mp3 player .and it tells you where to go for when the wife is not with you

[Wayne McClain]

I've never heard of doing this. Is it common place? Where did you get the mount and is the gps thing water-proof? Thanks

[Atoolnut]

Try venturemp3.com...fits in trunk wires direct to head unit in place of cd input..uses Ian stick or SD cards..retains all handlebar controls.....$149shipped from Spain

 

 

http://venturemp3.com/

[Wayne McClain]

So if I currently don't have the cable to the cd player, I would need to install that I assume? I would just order the cable from yamaha or can I get from the place you mentioned? Thanks

[Wayne McClain]

....ok , I watched the you tube video of install of the venture mp3 or sd player from spain and I think install looks pretty easy! It 's not going to change the appearance from the outside of the bike that I can tell . This is a nice option!! Thanks!!

[k9cottage]

I've never heard of doing this. Is it common place? Where did you get the mount and is the gps thing water-proof? Thanks

if it is just a shower it is fine while moving but if it is really bucketing down i put the gps in my pocket it will run for about 6 hours on its own battery the mount was easy a piece of aluminium with a hole to fit the mirror and i screwed the gps mount to the other end pick attached. just plug it into the power socket in the faring goes on and off with the key .

[djh3]

Wayne, I would hold off on buying the CD cable and the spanish (or whatever it is) MP3 player. Check out the brand new (cough cough) 2013 Venture. It has an MP3 or I-pod option cable instead of the CD player. May be a better deal to buy the cable and an I-pod. You will losse less space in the saddle bag.

On the GPS option. I have a 765t (simular unit to one discribed) and have had it on a bike for 3 or 4 yr now. Like the man said if it aint pouring your OK. If you have to have it out when raining cover it with a plastic baggie and a rubber band. The mount most of use is from RAM mounts. I think I got mine from www.gpsmounts.com or something like that.

[Seaking]

If you take the front fairing off and look at the back of the radio unit, you will find a small RCA jack (same type you would install a set headphones to) hanging out the back of it... Run an extension RCA wire from that back towards the instrument panel. From there you can plug it into your favourite MP3 player or music device. Set the radio control unit to AUX and voila, you have tunes blaring out of your speakers. It is that simple to set up.. nothing elaborate or technically difficult about it.. (if *I* can do it, anyone can...)

 

I run a Garmin 450 Zumo which has a built in mp3 player, and in this configuration I can hear the voice direction prompts through the speakers (safer than looking down at the GPS screen!). I've hooked my iPhone, iPod and other devices to this and it works like a charm.

 

I've had the Zumo 450 since 2006 and it's been exposed to all kinds of downpours and it's still kicking strong..

[KeithR]

I have the Venturemp3 player and am having some issues with it. Nothing serious but enough that I'll go back to using my Zumo. They did offer for me to send it back to Spain for testing but the shipping for me made it not worth it.

 

 

Keith

[Wayne McClain]

If you take the front fairing off and look at the back of the radio unit, you will find a small RCA jack (same type you would install a set headphones to) hanging out the back of it... Run an extension RCA wire from that back towards the instrument panel. From there you can plug it into your favourite MP3 player or music device. Set the radio control unit to AUX and voila, you have tunes blaring out of your speakers. It is that simple to set up.. nothing elaborate or technically difficult about it.. (if *I* can do it, anyone can...)

 

I run a Garmin 450 Zumo which has a built in mp3 player, and in this configuration I can hear the voice direction prompts through the speakers (safer than looking down at the GPS screen!). I've hooked my iPhone, iPod and other devices to this and it works like a charm.

 

I've had the Zumo 450 since 2006 and it's been exposed to all kinds of downpours and it's still kicking strong..

 

 

I have the fairing apart now and was making repairs on cb when I came up with this idea of mp3 thing. The RCA jack or whatever on the back of the radio, is it located off the amp or the cassette unit ? Also what model , if the one you guys are talking about, of Garmin is now being made that is similar to the ones you gentlemen have since you have had yours a while or are the models you have still available? I like this idea.

[k9cottage]

I have the fairing apart now and was making repairs on cb when I came up with this idea of mp3 thing. The RCA jack or whatever on the back of the radio, is it located off the amp or the cassette unit ? Also what model , if the one you guys are talking about, of Garmin is now being made that is similar to the ones you gentlemen have since you have had yours a while or are the models you have still available? I like this idea.

 

i just looked on ebay for a garmin 760 as it had the features i wanted i have a 750 in the car but it does not answer the phone [no bluetooth ] i got them both for $90 au each took 5 days from america sitll has the us maps on it as well as australia & new zealand the bike ones were out of my price range about $600 when i was looking. i am very happy with both the 750 and the 760 i have a 4 gig sd card in both if i am going away for a couple of days i just take extra cards with different music

Edited November 24, 2012 by k9cottage
added a bit

[Wayne McClain]

i just looked on ebay for a garmin 760 as it had the features i wanted i have a 750 in the car but it does not answer the phone [no bluetooth ] i got them both for $90 au each took 5 days from america sitll has the us maps on it as well as australia & new zealand the bike ones were out of my price range about $600 when i was looking. i am very happy with both the 750 and the 760 i have a 4 gig sd card in both if i am going away for a couple of days i just take extra cards with different music

 

I've about decided to pursue this route. Do you have to use the big round and dc output on the fairing? I was hoping I could use the cassette power supply when I remove it and neatly run wiring into fairing. Thanks

[Seaking]

I have the fairing apart now and was making repairs on cb when I came up with this idea of mp3 thing. The RCA jack or whatever on the back of the radio, is it located off the amp or the cassette unit ? Also what model , if the one you guys are talking about, of Garmin is now being made that is similar to the ones you gentlemen have since you have had yours a while or are the models you have still available? I like this idea.

 

The cassette deck is removed from my bike, so it's the radio amp, mounted under the fairing frame.. if I remember correctly, its located to the left side of the unit when you're facing the front of the bike near where the other cables come out of the unit.. probably only 4 inches long?

 

You would have to check out the garmin site (gpscity is another place to check) to see which models are available. I believe the 450 is discontinued but they carry the newer versions of the same unit, 660 and up models I think..

 

I didn't bother with the bluetooth version at the time for the ability to take a phone call while riding.. because you don't need that extra distraction while riding..

 

It takes some getting used to using a GPS on a bike, hence why being able to hear the voice prompts through your stereo system is essential, you get to keep your eyes on the road and on the look out for texting cagers on the highway.. while the prompts tells you that in 500 meters, keep left then turn left and then ..

 

GPS doesn't always pick and chose the most obvious routes as it looks at the roads on the maps it carries and their classifications (a four lane road is typically seen as a faster road to use while a single lane road is seen a slower road, so it will pick the 4 lane road even though it's of a much slower speed limit and longer to travel.. )

[Seaking]

I've about decided to pursue this route. Do you have to use the big round and dc output on the fairing? I was hoping I could use the cassette power supply when I remove it and neatly run wiring into fairing. Thanks

 

If you get the motorcycle version of the Garmin, for example, it should come with the holder that you mount on your ram mount onto the handle back. This has the cables and fuse installed so that you can hook it up to a switched on power source on the bike. It all sits up there in a neat little package that you can latch your GPS onto and remove easily.. most motorcycle GPS units should have an in-car adapter you can purchase separately so the same GPS unit can be used in all vehicles.. I've even used mine in aircraft and boat..

 

Best of luck

[djh3]

I think the audio connection the fellow was talking about is actually a 1/8" (3mm) headphone type jack. RCA are actually about a 1/4" or more around. Anyways the advantage to using the "new" OEM cable would be you could control the I-pod thru the handelbar controls. Otherwise its just sort of plugged in and you control volume only. Check out the http://forums.gpsreview.net/ All major brands of GPS have a section. I think last time I looked the only "new" Garmin that had and audio out was the motorcycle specific units. Which sucks. But if you check e-bay and amazon you can find an older unit that has the features we like, MP3 player, programable routes, audio output/input. The programable routes is something else the GPS guys are leaving off newer units for some reason.

[k9cottage]

these look ok

ebay item number 310323716337

[Seaking]

I think the audio connection the fellow was talking about is actually a 1/8" (3mm) headphone type jack. RCA are actually about a 1/4" or more around. Anyways the advantage to using the "new" OEM cable would be you could control the I-pod thru the handelbar controls. Otherwise its just sort of plugged in and you control volume only. Check out the http://forums.gpsreview.net/ All major brands of GPS have a section. I think last time I looked the only "new" Garmin that had and audio out was the motorcycle specific units. Which sucks. But if you check e-bay and amazon you can find an older unit that has the features we like, MP3 player, programable routes, audio output/input. The programable routes is something else the GPS guys are leaving off newer units for some reason.

 

Yes you are correct, dunno why I keep referring to them as RCA connectors (face palm, probably because I'm installing a stereo amp to the bike that used the RCAs)

 

The "car mount" I have for my Zumo 450 has speakers in it and an audio jack, the motorcycle mounting system has an audio plug in to connect to the bike's audio system. As the Zumo blasts out the tune, Alice (the nice voice that tells me where to go) will cut out the mp3 music so she can be heard and when she's done, the tunes resume automatically.. nice feature..

 

I don't know if the mount is Zumo 450/550 specific and can used on all the motorcycle Zumos that followed..

 

when in doubt, drop them a line and find out..

[djh3]

It appears the e-bay listing has the wire and a handlebar mount you would then just pop your GPS on instead of the suction cup windshield mount. Should work fine. The ram mount will run you about $40 and be without any wire. I just use the cig lighter one. Which ever would work fine I think.

[Wayne McClain]

:)Gentlemen , thankyou so much for your input on this! I can't imagine trying to figure this out by myself....simply put, wouldn't have happened!!

[djh3]

No problem Wayne. I think most of us would like to keep someone from making a mistake we did or helping them to do some maintenance or mod an easier way if we have learned one. Well that is unless we can sit by and watch you struggle with it.