OK, this info will be useful, I hope.

2017 SGS. I bought the GTS radio, installed it myself.
It went in easily enough, and yes, it beeped every three seconds. A dealer flash fixes this.

Now, as far as the CarPlay issue-
IF you don't have the HD WHIM (I don't)when the dealer flashes the radio, carplay will not work. Some nonsense about a fight between Apple and HD is the story I was given at the dealership, but I find it more likely that HD wants to sell you $700 in additional accessories.

HERE'S THE WORKAROUND -

There is a part available on Amazon for ~$12 - do a search for "Carplay Jumper for Harley Davidson GTS" The description of the item says that it only works for 2019 & up, but this is not entirely correct. The GTS radio didn't come out until 2019, so you still have to buy one and install it on an older bike.

Step 1-
Install your radio as normal - do not install the jumper.
Step 2-
Take your radio to the dealer for a flash. Be sure that when they flash the radio, it is NOT flashed for a WHIM. Just standard. My bike just has 2 speakers, no CB, no WHIM. If you have 4 speakers, they will flash it for 4.
So my bike is flashed for-
2 Speakers
Nav On (North America)
WHIM OFF
CB OFF

Step 3 - open the fairing back up and insert the jumper you bought on Amazon. You connect it to the GREY wiring harness for the WHIM. The jumper has instructions on the website. Re-install your outer fairing cover.

Step 4- Turn the bike on and let the GTS radio fully boot up.
Now, plug your Iphone in via the USB.
CarPlay will work.

Contrary to what I have read in other places, you DO NOT have to buy a new USB cable. All of my existing connectors worked fine. Even the Sat Radio card from the old radio slid right into the slot on the new radio.

I have an LS2 helmet with a linkin Ride Pal2 headset and I have not yet tested out all of the features like "speech to text reply" while riding yet, but it does connect.

Hope this helps.

Again, 2017 SGS. It works!

 

The difference is the 76000834A is for the Road Glide fairing and the 76000779A is for the bat wing fairing (but I have the 76000779 in my RGU)... important thing is they are both revision "A" so they have the software update that makes them "retro-fitted" to pre-2019 bikes from the factory. Both being Revision "A" will mean they have the same maps installed (each newer revision should have newer maps). Sooooo, you're good there.

Are all of your other features working, like NAV for instance or do you get the big compass instead?
Also as you are speaking are you trying to turn the volume up? All the volume controls are independent somewhat and you have to adjust a particular functions volume as you are using it. Have you tested the headset by actually making a phone call for instance, and verifying you have a mic problem?

As far as the updates, I agree it's probably not the cord. Seems like the issues turns out to be either that the update files aren't all on the root of the drive (nothing in any folders) or for some reason the drives isn't in the right format or has to be reformatted, even though it'll be seen in every other device.

I would probably pay the $50 if I had to, just to verify all settings are what they are supposed to be, and that WHIM is disabled on the bike... and I'd be even more inclined to if I had any amps, CB, Sirius, etc.

 

The "nonsense" you heard is correct, it resulted in HD having to remove a function from their bike diagnostic/programming software (Digital Tech) in the late spring/early summer of 2020. In order to use CarPlay the "system" has to be "hands free" and that means the system must have a mic as part of it. It is in Apple's licensing agreements. But originally HD had these 2 settings that could be changed (had to do both) and make CarPlay available on bikes that had no headsets (mic). One was enabling WHIM on a bike without a WHIM module or the headset jack (the specials for instance) AND the other setting was disabling "CarPlay Mic Type", which makes the system stop looking for a mic (I had a dealer do this to mine when I put the GTS in my bike in late 2019). Apple found out about this "work around" and put the kibosh on it. So obviously HD has to be able enable or disable WHIM depending on the bike configuration, and I think a software update fixed that... and it is why if you have a bike without a WHIM module, that has been enabled for WHIM, the jumper hack will not work until you have WHIM disabled. But HD also had to remove the ability to disable CarPlay mic from their diagnostic/programming software, because that was a violation of their used agreement with Apple.

So its really not an issue of someone trying to get more money... its just a Special isn't configured for CarPlay without doing something to it, because to use CarPlay you have to have a headset (mic). Thats just a CarPlay requirement... so you add WHIM or a wired headset kit to meet the CarPlay requirements.... or hack it

 

All other features work.
When I first installed the unit, the NAV did NOT work (Just the compass came up) After the flash, everything worked as it should.

As I said in the post, I have connected my BT headset, but have not tested the most of the features. I don't have answers for you on that stuff.
But all of the existing cables work perfectly.

It's worth the $50 if you want full functionality. To the guys complaining about the $50 to have it flashed, all I can say is - If you can't afford the $50, then probably can't afford the $2k for the radio.
We all knew what we were getting into when we bought these bikes.

 

Actually those questions were for JdhogH

Your headset setup is a whole 'nother animal that I am not familiar with.

 

The dealership was able to flash the radio and that did fix 99.5% of the issues. NAV did work, but was missing some of the options in the route options and avoidance's (unpaved roads, ferries and scenic...). It's good to go now along with the headset communication problem. But no,originally it was not volume related. I had tried those thing you mentioned to try to fix it earlier. NOW I have one problem left; Fade is all four speakers are on the front channel. I have a Rockford amp which was previously working with the original GT radio. This was installed before Harley made them stock. The flash kicked it out I guess. Tech told me I need to re-tune it. I've done that, but the "Fade" is not working correctly. Fade it to the front, all four speakers play, fade it to the rear it goes quiet. Any advice for that?
I saw the "fade" displayed on the screen after the radio flash, but I don't remember trying it. Originally before the flash it was not there so just seeing it I may have in my excitement just assumed it would work.

 

This is just what I "think", because I know very little when it comes to the different "flash"es for amps & speaker configuration, but... there are all kinds of speaker and amp configurations and the dealer would have had to know exactly what's yours is to set the new head unit up properly, if they did not know, or did not set it correctly, that is what I'd suspect needs to happen.

Do you know if they set the speaker configuration to 4 speakers and 1 amp or not? (which is what I have too, only its an HD amp and the fader works correctly)

I got lucky when I did mine, I was with the tech and we went thru every screen, and he verified everything was working before I left... this was back in 2019 and it was the guy's first "retro-fit" of a GTS in a pre-2019 bike too, so he was just as interested in what he was doing as I was, and he explained to me what he was doing as we went.

You're getting closer, hang in there!

You may also try starting a new thread, specific to changing to the new head unit and now having the fader issues, and see if more of the guys that know this audio stuff see it. There are some guys that are really sharp on audio configurations. I'd bet there are some here that can tell you exactly what's going on with this issue.

 

Perhaps I'll have go visit him again later this week to get that worked out. He did tell me the amp selection in the program only allows for HD/Rockford and not the original Rockford. So although the CVO comes with an amp, it's the HD Boom amp and is recognized in the setup, where as mine is now aftermarket. Therefore I don't think he selected any amp option which is why I had to dial it back in. Still he should have given it a 4 speaker setup so the fader would work. He may have missed it, I don't know.
I hope that he can just fix this one thing without doing another flash and knocking the amp out again. I've got the remove/replace of the fairing and headlight down, but doesn't mean I want to do it every weekend.

 

Hopefully some others with more knowledge will weigh in on this, but I think it has to be set to 4 speakers (2 front 2 back) with 1 amp in fairing, as at least a base to start with... and thats what mine is set to, but it is an HD amp...

Ironically, when I first put the amp in, in 2017, when I got the bike back from the shop after programming, and with the updated fader software from HD, I had almost no sound from the rear speakers with the fader in the middle??? and if I slid the fader to the back speakers you could barely hear any sound from them (so little I'm not sure it wasn't just static), slide the fader all the way forward and the fronts worked good... walked back inside and asked them if they "tested" it before calling it good... they took the bike around back and literally 15 minutes later all was well. He mumbled something about having forgot to run one wire to the back speakers??? Which I suspect it was just a setup misconfiguration in Digital Tech (cause he didnt have enough time "to run a wire" from under the fairing, and the tank, to the back, but I don't know for sure).

 

I think I've found the answer to the problem, from the Rockford Fosgate website. The dealership I used is not on their list of authorized installers which is needed to do this specific flash. Hmmmm
Below is from the "about" associated with my kit.
T-harness integration supports front/rear fader control (requires "Rockford Fosgate 2014+ All Bikes" flash) and my dealership is not on the list of authorized shops that can do a RF flash.