Hey Hoyt. As you're aware, I made the switch from my previous 2012 UC (which was a great bike) to the current 2020 RGL and haven't looked back. More "giddy-up", quieter, smoother, etc, etc.

I either stream (Spotify) my music from my iPhone...or quite often listen from my library of music (1600+ songs) stored on the phone. It's an older 64 gb, 8+ model and works well...although I will be upgrading soon.
Anyway, I can use the hand controls to navigate through playlists. You could look for a cheap, used, older iPhone to use as just a music source (iPod replacement). Dump all you music from the iPod to the iPhone.
You can bluetooth it to the GTS and you're good to go. Mine is almost always in my jacket pocket. Or, plug it into the USB and stow it in the cubby. Just another option.

I know this will be blasphemy here in the audio section but I rarely, if ever, use the bike system anymore. I originally upgraded to a basic amp & 4 speaker system (Arc Moto 600.4, GZ's upfront & Mmats in the TP pods).
Works well & sounds great...does everything & more than we need. Summer of 2022, we picked up a couple of Cardo PackTalk comm units to talk (we ride 2-up 80+% of the time). We find we almost exclusively use them for music now.
My wife listens to what she wants, I listen to what I want. JBL speakers are awesome and the sound is right where it needs to be...over my ears. No fighting wind, road, exhaust noise anymore. The vox works so well and auto mutes the music.
We then upgraded to Shoei Neotec II helmets last spring...even better. I think the only times I used the bike system last summer was a handful of times when making a quick trip in town.

Anyway...please go easy on me here in the audio section and don't skewer me. This is strictly my experience and works well for us. Good luck & happy bike shopping!

 

Lefty, no skewering here. If you have a setup that works for you, without getting carried away on it....Salute!!!

 

Those are some VERY good points Lefty.. I haven't had good luck with helmet mounted audio because I typically wear half helmets (especially in the summer) but if prices come down enough I'd be willing to try it. You've got me curious about how you use playlists though. On your Samsung phone what music app do you use that allows you to cycle playlists? I'd love to be able to create playlists on my computer and somehow have the sync on my phone. I really do hate tinkering with cell phones but if I can get it to sort of take the place of my old iPod it might be worth it.

 

Yes...I hear you on the helmets. Other than early days on sport bikes, I was exclusively 1/2 helmet guy. A few years ago that morphed into a 3/4 that I really liked. And now...a full face modular.
They key is to find one that fits properly. Being able to flip up the front is a big bonus & selling feature for me. It took a while to get used to a full face again but I can wear it all day in comfort now.
And a good quality one is also important...quiet & light weight with a pinlock shield (fog-free). That being said, my Cardo set-up in my Bell Pit Boss (1/2 helmet) works very well. It has the zip-off neck curtain/ear flaps (with speaker pockets).

I'm using an iPhone, not Samsung. In fact I'm pretty Mac centric here. I just use iTunes for my music. Create playlists, etc on my computer and they're automatically on my iPhone.
Again, my iPhone is connected to the GTS by Bluetooth, and my Cardo is Bluetoothed to my iPhone. This way my music is in my helmet (or bike if I choose) and shows up on the GTS screen.
Bike is out in the frozen garage right now so I can't go double-check, but I'm sure I can toggle through playlists, artists, etc (on the screen of the GTS) using the hand controls.
Unless iTunes has changed...it's been a while since I created my playlist...it works for me. Are you using iTunes on your iPod?

 

Actually I use CopyTrans to manage my iPod. It allows me to copy music to and from the iPod without having to "sync". I also create my playlists with it. A short push on the track forward or back button changes one song, a long push changes through the playlists.

So from what I gather you connect your phone to the GTS so you can control it, but get the actual audio from the phone? If that works it sounds like it could get around some of Harley's proprietary shenanigans.

 

That is correct...phone connected to the GTS by Bluetooth most of the time. So yes, the audio source is my iPhone, be it from the music loaded on it, or streamed from Spotify (or Amazon Music, XM Sirius app, etc).
The odd time that the phone is running low on battery, I will plug it into the USB to charge...so it's hardwired then.

 

Id rather keep my phone plugged in. In fact I guess I ddint know you could use blutooth and connect AA or car Play.

But yes...connect phone...use your phone/Android Auto to control your music through a music app playing music from a streaming service like iHeart radio or amazon prime music OR music stored locally on your phone. So you phone would also act as a flash drive in a way.

If I remember, I'll get some pics of some of this and send you this weekend.

 

Well I'm a happy little potlicker now.

After some tinkering I found out that any playlists that I copy from my computer to flash drive (in the Playlists folder with all the music folders) will show up on the GTS screen for me to select. My musc is in organized folders just like on my PC so the playlist knows where everything is at. I also created a playlist with Playlist Creator 3.6.2 as shown in this very good video:


and that worked fine as well (putting THAT playlist file in the root of the drive). So basically I have duplicated the functionality of my old iPod with a four dollar USB flash drive (32gb Team Group). Those Team Group flash drives have corrupted on my a couple of times before and given head units fits, but I have a pile of them I use for OS installs and such so I thought I'd give it a good workout. The neat thing is since the GTS has built in navigation I can just chuck my phone in the tour pak and forget about it while riding.

At this point I may leave the audio as is for now. With the stock pipes I can hear the factory system just fine. Maybe some day I'll get to tinkering with it but the bike itself is so amazing I'm just enjoying it for right now.

Thanks for all the advice y'all. I think I'm starting to head in the right direction.

Edit: Well after some tinkering I found that the playlists I created in that program show up but won't actually play. Oh well at least the ones I created in Windows Media Player (legacy) work fine.