What did you do about the 6 screws around the original opening? Do they interfere or did you leave them out or change them to countersunk style?

 

Only used the top and bottom screws to secure the cover. The radio slides through it and holds tight using the stock back brace. The only complaints is that it's tint makes seeing the radio difficult in daylight, and the latch is plastic and will break in the cold of winter if your not careful.

 

I finally got around to mounting the new radio. I decided to go without the splash cover because I couldn't find one that didn't overhang the sides and top/bottom and I didn't like the tinted cover, either. Plus this radio shouldn't need it and I'm running a really tall windshield that will also help protect it from rain.

Here's a pic of it installed:


The speakers are temporary until I decide whether or not to upgrade to a set of Polk's. They actually sound much better now that I can run digital-quality sound rather than relying on scratchy FM.

I haven't tried it riding yet, but I already really like this radio a lot. I have a miniature 16gig flash drive loaded with most of my music collection jacked into it and the sound is awesome. After a little tone-tuning, I can reach volume 37 out of 40 completely distortion-free. Plus I have a jack for 3.5 stereo headphone-style input, weatherband and satellite-ready. I doubt the CD player will work with the engine running, but I couldn't find a heavy-duty head unit with front USB jack that didn't have the CD slot.

While I had the radio caddy apart, I added some foam tape to strategic spots to help combat buzzing and vibrations. Now I freed up the Pioneer CD head unit that I had in there to go into the beater car I use for bad weather.

 

Looks great! I used some plastic plugs to fill the 6 holes. I just glued them in. I had to buy a box of 50 so if you want me to send you a few just PM me.

 

I'm actually using the metal support behind the plastic, so I am using the screws, no need for the plugs but I appreciate the offer.

 

Are those openings I see are for the plastic grill holder tabs. It might sound a little better with them plugged / covered.

I used stainless bolts and locking nuts because it gets wet there.

When the speakers were first installed the tweeters were positioned toward the inside, closest to the radio. I repositioned them to the outside edges and it opened up the projection of sound giving me better stereo separation, and overall improvement in sound.

Are you reusing the factory grills?

 

Yeah, I haven't drilled or molested the original radio caddy in any way. The holes you see peeking out around the speaker grilles are for the push-in original grille holders. I swapped to these scoshe speakers last year and was in a hurry, so I just surface mounted them and haven't gotten around to doing anything else with them yet. They were just Walmart cheapos, but they sound a little better than my old stock ones did.

If I decide to keep them, I will probably remount them from behind and put the stock grilles back on. If I decide to go with Polk's, I will probably do the same thing, go back to the stock grilles. Unfortunately one of my stock grilles has a spot where it looks like a previous owner tried to super glue the mesh back to the plastic, and it bled through the cloth and looks ugly. I am always keeping my eyes open for nice-looking replacements.

 

I finally got to ride some with the new radio. I like it a lot better than the old car CD deck I had in there, but I still have trouble with the volume. At highway speeds, it is difficult to hear some songs.

Would replacing the Scosche 4" speakers with the Polk D402's improve the volume or make it worse? Do I need to think about adding an amplifier? Would adding another pair of speakers somehow/somewhere help?

I was thinking that if I relocated my volt gauge and oil pressure gauge, I might be able to mount another pair of 4" speakers where the gauges are now, although it would mean cutting into my fairing. Then I would have 4 speakers in the fairing; two in the factory radio caddy and two right below them with the cavity of the fairing behind them. Sound-wise it should be twice as loud with better bass... Anyone have any thoughts?

 

Here's an older shot that shows where the gauges sit below the original speakers, with chrome rings around them. I haven't measured yet, but it looks like there is enough room for a 4" speaker in that panel. Then maybe try to find a pair of low-profile digital gauges to relocate elsewhere. I think it could work. It would probably do a lot more to improve the sound than adding rear speaker pods to the tour pack that just fire into my wife's hips anyways...

 

Perhaps you need an AMP, or, a radio with a built in AMP.

I just installed a Sony DSX-MS60 Marine with a built-in amplifier, 4 x 4" speakers and retro kit from biketronics and it really sounds good in a 1995 Ultra.