Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. Nonetheless, I called Crutchfield, who said Kenwood's marine units should handle the application and so they are sending me a replacement. The tech also suggested rigging-up a support for the rear of the HU, given the heavy BT amp sitting on top of it. Anyone do this?


Yes, using Biketronic's adapter. So far I'm very pleased.

 

never had a need to do it but it certainly won't hurt. Crutchfield folks aren't very well versed on the way these head units mount in the bikes with the 2 screws on each side through the fairing brackets and that makes a pretty solid mount.

 

Thanks for the response. I knew any aftermarket HU with an output for steering wheel controls would work, I just didn't know for sure if marine units even had a steering wheel output. That's one of the things that had always kept me from looking too seriously at them.

 

Update on skipping: What is happening is, when I hit small potholes etc., I get a few seconds of high-pitch sounds -- not a garbled audio track. It's not like anything I've heard before. The Crutchfield tech said the HU was designed to survive boats slamming waves and that if it is positioned level or <30 degrees it should not "skip." He immediately labeled it defective and is sending a new HU. I also called BT tech support (to get another vinyl water barrier). After hearing of the symptoms, BT said it sounded like a misaligned laser, particularly because of the high-pitch sound.

Re the brace mentioned above: Like UltraNutZ, BT said HD's centrally-located dual fastener design is solid and so there's no need for another brace.

I guess the install will be a lot easier the second time ... .

 

I would say it's safe to assume that about 80 - 90% of all aftermarket head units above $100 have steering wheel controls. Either by virtue of the 3.5mm plug which is more common, or by a single wire like the Kenwood and JVC units have.

 

CD players these days (actually since about 2003 or so) are pretty standard to have a buffering mechanism called Anti-skip or Skip-free where the laser reads ahead about 10 seconds or more and writes that to RAM/memory so in the event of an actual skip, most times you will never notice it at all. Doing what your unit is doing sounds logical to me that something is awry in it's manufacturing. Maybe it was a Monday morning build.

wait til the 4th time.. you'll be able to do it blind folded with a beer in each hand.

 

I had a Kenwood It skipped even when the Harley was just sitting there idling. Crutchfield took it back and I got an Alpine HU never skips, (well very rarely). Alpine was more Expensive plus Marine grade , don't know if it is difference in brands or luck of the draw.

 

Got the second Sony head unit yesterday, personally tested by Bill at Biketronics. Turns out it's the international version as well, and doesn't work either. Not sure how he tested it, but he swears he did........

Now we've got a Kenwood unit coming with a new harness. My bike has been sitting at the shop for a week, and both my mechanic and myself are starting to get a little pissed off.

 

The Email I received from Biketronics said 1 in 10 radios was effected. Sounds like it may be more than that if you've gotten 2 messed up ones.

The MEX I received is working properly.

 

Looks like you got lucky....

1 in 10 bad is what I was told too. The strange part is they say they tested the second one on Friday before it was sent to the shop. Bill said he was able to find two good ones, mine and another, tested both and sent them out. Both were bad when they arrived at the customer.

Looks like Crutchfield has pulled all of their stock too, Bill said he had talked to them and they were seeing 1 in 10 as well, but their website shows out of stock now.

I've got a Kenwood head and harness coming now, hopefully today, probably tomorrow. Not exactly what I wanted, but $50 cheaper. My mechanic is started to get a bit upset, he's had my bike on the lift twice now, and it's taking up room in his shop.